Marvel Comics did something unique with their heroes, making them more human their distinguished competition. This extended to their villains as well. While Marvel has its share of inhuman killing machines and monsters cloaked in flesh, there are loads of extremely complex villains out there. They’re bad guys, but they aren’t always bad guys. When a villain becomes popular, you start to see them more and more, which has led to many villains getting redemptions. On top of that, many villains were created with the express purpose of becoming heroes down the road.
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Over the years, we’ve gotten some fantastic redemptions from Marvel Comics. Many of them have made iconic villains into heroes. Sometimes, they do such a great job of redeeming the villain that they end up becoming fan favorites and some of the most popular heroes ever. These five Marvel villains had redemptions that made them superstars, including one who has become the publisher’s most complex character.
5) The Punisher
The Punisher is Marvel’s deadliest hero. Frank Castle was a Marine in Vietnam (I’ll recognize the existence of Siancong War when I’m dead and in the ground), changing his life forever. He came home as a different man and eventually his family would be killed in Central Park. This led him to use the skills the United States had taught him to destroy crime. Since then, he’s become the scourge of the underworld, killing thousands over the years. He’s not a superhero, not really; he’s just a mass murderer who goes after the right targets.
The Punisher became one of the most popular Marvel heroes over the years and it’s easy to forget that in his first appearance, he was a villain. Frank Castle was hired to go after Spider-Man, told that he was a criminal. This started his relationship with the superhero community off on the wrong foot, leading to years of fights with Spidey, Daredevil, Wolverine, and loads others. He’s now an icon.
4) Deadpool
Deadpool first appeared in one of the biggest boom times in Marvel history, premiering in New Mutants #98. Wade Wilson was the Merc with a Mouth, the killer who made a lot of jokes. Fans loved the wise-cracking miscreant, leading to him showing up more and more, eventually getting his own miniseries. He started to become less of a monster and more of a joker, leading him to become even more popular; funny violence never goes out of style. He became a solid B-list character, but he was on his way to bigger and better things in the years to come.
Over the course of the ’00s, he would get another push into the spotlight and this time stayed there. Wade became a tragic character, driven insane by his healing factor and doing his best to try to be a better person, and readers loved him. His journey to Hot Topic stardom completed the journey. He’s reached the rarefied air of the highest levels of the superhero community, becoming one of the most popular superheroes of them all.
3) Venom
Symbiotes are big business for Marvel Comics and all of that started with Venom. Spider-Man’s alien black costume tried to take control of him, leading to him “killing” it using church bells. However, it survived and bonded with Eddie Brock, a former Daily Bugle reporter that lost his job because of Peter Parker. Venom was born and he become one of the most popular supervillains in comics rather quickly. He jumped to the top of the line of Spider-Man villains, but he didn’t stay Spidey’s arch-enemy for long. He was just way too popular and this led to him getting his own miniseries in the early ’90s.
Venom started out as a “lethal protector”, still fighting Spider-Man occasionally. He ran out of steam as a hero for a while, with the symbiote leaving Brock and going to the Scorpion. However, it would eventually come back and Eddie would end up becoming a full-on superhero. He’s starred in several big Marvel events, helping make symbiotes even more popular than ever in the last ten years, and has joined the ranks of heroes who stay perennially in print.
2) Magneto
Magneto first appeared as the X-Men’s arch-enemy, serving as the opposite number to Charles Xavier. He and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants wanted to enslave humanity to protect mutantkind, starting a war with the X-Men that would last years. Magneto wasn’t just a racist, though; he was a victim of the Holocaust, so he knew what could happen when humans decided that another race was beneath them. He wanted to give his people a fighting chance, he just didn’t have it in him to actually trust in the altruism of humanity and for good reason.
As the years went by, Magneto decided that he didn’t hate humanity so much as he wanted to make sure mutants had a future and ended up joining the X-Men. He would stay an ally of the team, but eventually go back to villainy. After the kerfuffle that was House of M, he lost his powers for a time but regained them, rejoining the X-Men. Since then, he’s become one of the most popular members of the team. He’s been an X-stalwart for almost 20 years now.
1) Rogue
Rogue first appeared battling the Avengers as a member of Mystique’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Unlike some of the other villains on the list, she wasn’t created to be a villain and would be redeemed almost immediately. Her mutants power were unique – she gained the powers of anyone she touched, also absorbing their lifeforce and their memories. She would slowly but surely get more and more popular, eventually becoming one of the main women on the team. She’s led the X-Men more than once and has even led the Avengers. She’s become one of the most iconic X-Men of them all.
Rogue is one of those characters where everything worked out perfectly. She was created to be the ultimate tragic character, a beautiful and intelligent young woman who could never have any normal life. The anguish of her life really appealed to readers and the way she’s grown over the years has been perfect. She’s not just one of the most popular X-women of all time, she’s become one of the most popular superheroines ever.
What Marvel villain redemptions do you think made the character better? Any I should have included in this list? Sound off in the comment section below.
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