Marvel Comics followed the example of DC in the Golden Age in a lot of ways, even creating sidekicks in the people of Bucky and Toro. However, back then, they couldn’t beat DC at its own game and went in other directions until 1961, when the success of the Justice League and DC’s rebooted hero line would lead the company to publish Fantastic Four #1. The Marvel Universe was born and the House of Ideas would change the superhero forever. While there were sidekicks and legacy heroes, they weren’t like the ones of their distinguished competition. Legacy heroes worked differently; there wasn’t this idea that someone like X-23 would actually become Wolverine, she was just a cool side character.
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However, Marvel’s use of legacy changed and they started to play hot potato with their most popular mantles. Oftentimes, the characters you expected took up the mantles (like X-23) before the originals came back, giving readers a different look at the heroes they loved. However, there were others who could have taken up those mantles and it honestly would have been better in the long run; they’ve been completely misused over the years. These five Marvel heroes deserved better than they’ve gotten from their mentors and one of them is one of the most underrated characters in the MCU.
5) Wiccan
Scarlet Witch has become the Sorcerer Supreme, paying off years of development. Two of the most important parts of her history as a character were her children, Billy and Tommy. The two of them were created by her out of pieces of Mephisto’s soul when she was married to Vision and they ended up causing years of shenanigans for their mother. Eventually, they would end up in real bodies, with Billy Kaplan gaining magical powers like his mother, joining the Young Avengers and becoming a superhero (first as Asgardian and then Wiccan). He’d marry his boyfriend Hulkling and was the First Husband of the largest empire in Marvel history.
Wiccan is an excellent character. His marriage was an important part of his evolution, but it also led to him being sidetracked for years. He and Hulkling are back on Earth, but no one is really going anything with them. Wiccan is a great character and honestly, the best thing for him would be to set him up as the next Sorcerer Supreme. He’s a powerful character with an important history and he deserves a bigger role in things.
4) Danny Ketch
Ghost Rider is a popular character, but most fans don’t know that it wasn’t Johnny Blaze that made the hero popular. Johnny Blaze was based on Evel Knievel in the ’70s and wasn’t able to keep his popularity longterm. Eventually, it was decided to bring back the hero in a new, ’90s-friendly mantle. Danny Ketch was born, becoming the Spirit of Vengeance in order to save his sister Barbara. His adventures would take him across the breadth of the magical Marvel Universe, teaming with Johnny and becoming the Spirits of Vengeance. Johnny would later take back his mantle, putting Danny into limbo.
Since then, Danny has bounced between mantles, even becoming the Spirit of Corruption. He battled Johnny but would be able to take back his soul and then appeared sporadically. He ended up as the Spirit of Violence, helping Johnny fight against Barbara, who had been possessed by Corruption. While he, Johnny, and Hellverine were able to save the day, he died. Danny Ketch became Ghost Rider when no one cared about the mantle and become massively popular in the early ’90s. The only reason you know about the character is him and he deserves better treatment than he’d gotten over the years.
3) Rachel Grey-Summers
The X-Men and alternate universes go together like peanut butter and chocolate, and many scions of those other Earths have ended up on Earth-616 with them. “Days of Future Past” was the most popular alternate X-Earth (until “Age of Apocalypse”). On that Earth, Jean Grey never killed herself, her and Cyclops having a daughter Rachel, who was born with a portion of the Phoenix Force into a world where Sentinels ruled everything. She’d come back in time to stop her timeline from happening, ending up joining the X-Men as Phoenix II. She’d help found Excalibur, but got less and less popular as the years went by.
She ended up getting thrown through time in the mid ’90s and would return in the mid ’00s. She paid homage to her then-dead mother by taking up the name Marvel Girl, rejoining the X-Men. Since then, she’s changed her name to both Prestige and Askani (in the future where she raises Nathan Summers, her alternate universe half-brother who is also her full-brother, she uses that name as Mother Askani, so she decided to start early), but has rarely been actually important to any stories. Rachel is a beloved character and the fact that no one has had anything interesting to do with her other than make her Betsy Braddock’s girlfriend is depressing.
2) The Winter Soldier
Bucky Barnes was chosen to be Captain America’s sidekick in World War II. The young soldier was a highly trained commando, which allowed him to keep up with Cap in battle. He would sneak behind enemy lines by himself at night and weaken Nazi defenses, which would make him and Cap’s later attacks on them more successful. Everyone thought he was dead after the explosion of a drone bomb he was trying to defuse, but he survived. He was taken by the Soviets and transformed into the Winter Soldier, becoming the most legendary assassin in world history.
Cap would eventually learn he was still alive and devoted himself to saving his former sidekick. It worked out and Bucky has been a hero ever since, even serving as Captain America for a time. However, the time since then has been disappointing. Marvel never really came up with anything interesting for him to do and he’s been languishing for a while, buoyed by his MCU success. Buck could use another run as Cap or something interesting. Hopefully, the Avengers: Armageddon tease will lead to the bigger and better things he deserves.
1) Monica Rambeau
There have been various Captain Marvels over the years, with the most well-known one being the fifth, Carol Danvers. Marvel has tried to make a big deal of the mantle of Captain Marvel, but has never really been able to succeed. After the death of Mar-Vell, the House of Ideas would wait a few years before creating a new Captain, introducing Monica Rambeau. Her powers gave her control over light and energy, allowing her to move at the speed of light, absorb and redirect energy, and take on an energy form. She joined the Avengers, even leading to her becoming the chairwoman of the team, a favorite of her creator Roger Stern.
Monica would fade away after Stern stopped writing the group, eventually taking up the names Photon and Spectrum. She’s never made it back to the Avengers and no matter how much fans beg for more Monica, we never get her. Monica was popular back in the ’80s and she could be again. Comic Monica has the same problem as MCU Monica – no one knows what to do with her unless they’re putting her behind Carol. She’s completely and totally underrated and deserves a showcase for just how great she is.
What Marvel heroes do you think deserve better than they’ve gotten? Do you think I’m wrong in any of my choices? Sound off in the comment section below.
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