5 Marvel Heroes Who Proved They Could Be Better Than the Originals

Marvel Comics has been around for a very long time, with its first heroes appearing way back in 1939. Over the years, the House of Ideas has created some amazing mantles, ones that have been passed down through the decades. While legacy was never all that important a part of the overall story of the Marvel Universe, it’s always been there, with even their first superhero comic in years – Fantastic Four #1 – having a legacy character in it. Many mantles were passed down, but they were rarely the important ones. Sure, sometimes Iron Man would be James Rhodes or Steve Roger would get replaced by Johnny Walker, but for the most part, it was the B-listers and below that had their mantles passed down.

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That changed in the 21st century, as Marvel started to lean on legacy more and more, replacing some of their greatest heroes with new ones. While the success of this has been mixed over the decades, there have been some legacy heroes who were able to step into an older mantle and be a success. In fact, some of them have reached such levels where they proved that they could be better than the originals. These five Marvel legacy heroes were able to surpass those who came before them, showing that the legacy of the Marvel Universe is in good hands.

5) Laura Kinney

Wolverine has created an impressive legacy, becoming one of the greatest heroes in the Marvel Universe. It was honestly surprising that it took Marvel so long to create a Wolverine legacy hero, with Laura Kinney introduced as X-23 in the early ’00s. At first, she was thought to be a clone, one programmed to be a ruthless killer. She was able to break her programming with the X-Men and the Avengers Academy, becoming a human after years of being a killing machine and learning that she was actually a daughter of Wolverine and not just a clone. His death would see her step up to the plate and put on the yellow and blue fighting togs as the new Wolverine. Logan had a hard time overcoming his past, but he has nothing on Laura. She had to break through programming that they had put into her since she was born in order to become a hero. On top of that, she’s been known to take her father down every time the two of them have tangled. While you can argue that Laura doesn’t have the feats her dad does, she still showed that when she’s put in the lurch, she could be better than the old man.

4) Carol Danvers

Carol Danvers has been around since the ’70s, working with the first Captain Marvel, Mar-Vell. Her Kree powers (which she didn’t know she had back then) awakened and she became Ms. Marvel, working with her mentor, battling evil on her own, and joining the Avengers, playing a key role in some of the best eras of the team. Eventually, she’d change her name to Warbird but would go back to Ms. Marvel after House of M (on that Earth, she was the most popular superhero on the planet and it inspired her), fighting her way to a promotion. She’s since became Captain Marvel, taking over for her mentor’s son Genis-Vell. Personally, I always enjoyed Genis, but he was only able to keep the mantle of Captain Marvel for a few years in the early ’00s (his books were written by Peter David, so they’re worth checking out). On top of that, he was never positioned as a major hero. Carol has been the entire time, even becoming a leader of the Avengers. She’s not the best Captain Marvel (more on her later), but she’s better than the last one and even her own mentor.

3) Johnny Storm

Johnny Storm was one of Marvel’s first legacy heroes, taking up in the mantle of the Human Torch after gaining his powers from cosmic rays in Fantastic Four #1. Johnny found himself at the head of the Marvel Universe in its early years, going on wild adventures with the rest of the Fantastic Four and facing us against threats like Doctor Doom, Galactus, Annihilus, Blastaar, and other cosmic horrors. He’s always on the frontline, ready with a quip and a burning fist, and has made the name Human Torch his in such a way that most people have never heard of the first Human Torch, Jim Hammond. Jim was a Golden Age android who battled Namor and the Nazis, fighting for good during World War II. He was a member of the Invaders and even ended up burning Hitler to death. However, most modern fans barely know anything about him and all they usually know is that he killed Hitler. Killing Hitler is hard to beat, but just the fact that fans care about Johnny and not Jim really says it all.

2) Monica Rambeau

Mar-Vell came to Earth as a Kree infiltrator, but fell in love with humanity, becoming Captain Marvel. As Captain Marvel, he fought the greatest threats in the universe, even becoming Thanos’s main enemy for a time. However, this didn’t mean what it means now; it doesn’t even mean what it meant in the ’90s. Mar-Vell was an ally of the Avengers, and friends with every hero on Earth, but he was never a member of the actual team. His death was a massive blow to the superhero community, but Captain Marvel would return in the form of Monica Rambeau. She ended up joining the Avengers, using her light-controlling powers to become one of the team’s most potent members. She even was able to become leader of the team. She was a favorite of co-creator Roger Stern and he wanted to push her even harder, but Marvel wasn’t ready. She was the first black woman to lead the Avengers, making her much more important than Mar-Vell in a lot of ways and was able to operate at a level that he never reached. She’s a low-key icon and we should always be singing her praises.

1) Kamala Khan

So, Carol Danvers did an amazing job as Ms. Marvel, setting up the mantle for greatness. In fact, she had a legacy character in the ’80s, while she was Binary, with Sharon Ventura using the name before becoming She-Thing (the whole saga of Sharon is wild), making her the direct predecessor to Kamala Khan (yes, Carol did come back to the mantle, but also I don’t think that counts, since it was her second stint). Kamala grew up with Carol Danvers as her hero and after her Inhumans powers manifested, she decided to pay homage to her favorite. She took up the name Ms. Marvel, becoming one of Marvel’s best characters of the ’10s. She made a huge splash immediately, quickly joining the Avengers and becoming a leader of the teen hero community. She founded a new version of the Champions with a team of legacy teen heroes, and helped legitimize them immediately. It’s hard to say that she can better than current Carol, but she’s definitely a better Ms. Marvel than Danvers and Ventura.

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