Marvel Comics, as seen through the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has a long history of adaptations that take its characters beyond the pages of the comics. Whether it be through movies, TV shows, or video games, Marvel’s heroes and villains can thrive in outside media. Yet while Marvel continues to provide adaptations of its most iconic characters, like Spider-Man and Doctor Doom, these outside forms of media sometimes create entirely new characters as well. Not only that, but these original characters sometimes prove to be so popular that they transition to the comics and forever change the Marvel Universe.
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Marvel Comics is no stranger to drastically altering its comics to fit its film and TV adaptations better, as shown by its constant attempts to create synergy with the MCU. And when a movie or show creates its own unique characters, Marvel is oftentimes quick to implement them into the comics. This list also includes characters made specifically for a non-comic medium but, because of publishing schedules, appeared in comics first.
10) Scarlet Scarab
Making her debut in the hit 2022 Disney+ series Moon Knight, Layla El-Faouly, aka Scarlet Scarab, is one of the few original superheroes the MCU created. A brilliant archaeologist and Marc Spector’s ex-wife, Layla became the avatar of the Egyptian goddess Taweret. Dubbed the Scarlet Scarab, Layla could manifest metallic wings and swords. In 2023, Scarlet Scarab made her comic book debut in Moon Knight Vol. 9 #25, where she was given a significant reimagining. In the main Marvel Universe, Layla was a mercenary and love interest of Marc Spector until she died during a mission. After arriving in the Egyptian Underworld, known as Duat, Layla was approached by Taweret and offered the chance to become her champion. Empowered by the Scarlet Scarab gem, Layla became the guardian of Duat. However, after reuniting with Moon Knight, Layla was given a second chance at life and an opportunity to bring her crime-fighting career to the mortal realm.
9) Darcy Lewis
The MCU has plenty of comedic side characters, but Darcy Lewis from 2011’s Thor movie soon became one of the franchise’s most unexpected recurring characters. In the MCU, Darcy is Jane Foster’s close friend and assistant, along with an ally to Thor. Yet, despite being a supporting character in the Thor films, her stint in the Disney+ WandaVision series directly led to her leap to comics. Debuting in 2023’s Scarlet Witch Vol. 3 #1, Darcy was reimagined to be the close friend of the master sorceress instead of Jane Foster. A disgraced journalist, Darcy came into Scarlet Witch’s care after she was on the run for accidentally killing an Amazon in self-defense. Darcy would then go on to not only be the manager of Scarlet Witch’s occult shop, the Emporium, but also to be her student. Soon enough, Darcy began to develop a skill in the arcane arts that is only growing stronger. Not bad for someone who started as the comic relief intern.
8) Melinda May
In 2013, one of the first MCU-adjacent television shows, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., followed the global organization that fought threats the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes didn’t know about. Featuring an almost completely original cast of characters, Agent Melinda May, aka Calvary, was one of the show’s primary leads. Agent Coulson’s second-in-command, Melinda is a stoic ace pilot and martial artist who can fight on par with superhumans and aliens. As one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s best agents, it was only a matter of time until she brought her skills to the main Marvel Universe. Debuting in S.H.I.E.L.D. Vol. 3 #1 in 2014, Melinda worked alongside Phil Coulson to deal with all manner of terrorists, supervillains, and demons. Even when S.H.I.E.L.D. was disbanded, May has continued ensuring national and global safety as both an FBI agent and the head of security for Iron Man’s company, Stark Unlimited. With her fierce determination and fighting prowess, Melinda is a force to be reckoned with.
7) Morph
As one can imagine for a shapeshifter, Morph’s origins are extremely complicated. When developing the X-Men: The Animated Series in 1992, the creators wanted to include the shapeshifting mutant Kevin Sidney, aka Changeling, who made his first appearance back in 1967’s X-Men Vol. 1 #35. However, due to legal issues, he was rebranded and redesigned to become the hero Morph. With his wise-cracking personality and incredible shapeshifting abilities, Morph found his way into the Marvel Multiverse. During 1994’s Age of Apocalypse event, Marvel introduced an alternate-universe version of Changeling who went by the name Morph and had a personality and appearance much closer to his TV counterpart. In 2001, Marvel introduced another version of Morph from Earth-1081, who became a founding member of the underrated multiverse-hopping superhero team known as the Exiles. This version of Morph became a fan-favorite and helped save countless worlds. Morph’s fame eventually grew to the point that the Changeling of the main Marvel Universe renamed himself after his more popular counterpart.
6) Luna Snow
In 2015, the mobile role-playing video game Marvel Future Fight let players command some of their favorite heroes and villains, along with some original characters. Soel Hee, aka Luna Snow, is a South Korean K-Pop superstar who, when she isn’t performing for her millions of fans, fights the forces of evil with her potent cryokinesis. Soel gained these abilities as the result of a lab accident and now uses her ice powers as both a singer and hero while operating under the stage name Luna Snow. A fan-favorite with players, Luna brought her musical talent to the main Marvel Universe in 2019’s War of the Realms: New Agents of Atlas #1. Since then, Luna has been a prominent member of the Asian superhero teams Agents of Atlas and Tiger Division. Her popularity only increased when she received her own miniseries, Luna Snow: World Tour. No superhero singer has matched Dazzler’s talent and power.
5) Reptil
The Superhero Squad Show from 2009 may be best known for depicting Marvel’s greatest heroes and villains in a cutesy and kid-friendly light, but one of its few highlights was the creation of the hero Reptil. Despite appearing a few months earlier in Avengers: The Initiative Featuring Reptil #1, he was developed specifically to be one of The Superhero Squad Show’s main cast of characters. Humberto “Berto” Lopez was a regular teenager until he discovered a fossilized amulet that buried itself into his chest. This amulet gave Berto one of the coolest superpowers in comic history: he could transform parts of his body into those of any prehistoric creature. Reptil could give himself the claws of a velociraptor, the wings of a pterosaur, or the spiked tail of a stegosaurus. As a part of Marvel’s next generation of heroes, Reptil joined Avengers Training Academy to harness his newfound powers. Although Reptil has since fallen into obscurity, his unique powers and lighthearted personality make him someone Marvel should bring back into the spotlight.
4) H.E.R.B.I.E.
The Fantastic Four are always creating new scientific advancements that change the Marvel Universe, so naturally they would make a robot butler. When a Fantastic Four animated series was developed in 1978, licensing issues meant that they couldn’t use the Human Torch. To round out the superhero quartet, the small flying robot H.E.R.B.I.E. was introduced. Standing for Highly Engineered Robot Built for Interdimensional Exploration, this plucky comedic sidekick was built by Reed Richards to assist the Fantastic Four in missions. H.E.R.B.I.E. made his comic debut in 1979’s Fantastic Four Vol. 1 #209. Instead of being a core member of Marvel’s First Family, H.E.R.B.I.E. was reimagined as the Fantastic Four’s assistant, babysitter for Franklin and Valeria Richards, and caretaker of the Baxter Building. H.E.R.B.I.E. immediately became a fan-favorite character who, while oftentimes acting as a glorified butler, wields enough firepower to protect the Baxter Building and the Fantastic Four from virtually any threat.
3) Firestar
In 1981, Marvel created the animated series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, even though the Wall-Crawler didn’t really have frequent superhero friends at the time. Since founding X-Man member Iceman was set to be a part of this trio, the creators decided to create a fire-themed mutant hero named Angelica Jones, aka Firestar. As her name implies, Firestar can shoot flames from her hands and fly. Together, the three superpowered roommates fought crime and teamed up with other heroes. Despite her friendly roots, Firestar’s first comic appearance was as a villain. Firestar debuted in 1985’s Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1 #193 as a brainwashed member of the supervillain team the Hellions, who opposed the X-Men. However, Firestar soon broke free of her brainwashing and sought to become a hero. Like her original animated counterpart, Firestar has a long history of joining superhero teams, including Freedom Force, the New Warriors, the X-Men, and the West Coast Avengers.
2) Phil Coulson
One of the most important supporting characters of Phase One of the MCU was Agent Phil Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D., who made his first appearance in 2008’s Iron Man. Famously, he was killed by Loki in The Avengers. However, Agent Coulson’s death was greatly exaggerated, as state-of-the-art medical equipment allowed him to come back to life and become the lead of the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series. Coulsen would make the transition to the main Marvel Universe in 2011’s Battle Scars #1. On top of being one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s best agents, Coulson was also a member of their Secret Avengers team. As in the MCU, Coulson would fall in the line of duty, although there at the hands of Deadpool during the Secret Empire event. Coulson was resurrected, but it was even crazier than in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: he was temporarily resurrected and became the president of the United States in a rewritten reality, thanks to a deal he made with Mephisto. Coulsen would eventually be fully restored when he became the bearer of the all-new seventh Infinity Stone, the Death Stone, granting him omnipresence and a lethal touch.
1) X-23
The highly underrated 2000 X-Men: Evolution animated TV show gave Marvel one of its most iconic next-generation heroes, Laura Kinney, aka X-23. She was introduced as a young female clone of Wolverine that Weapon X created as the ultimate killing machine. She has all of Wolverine’s powers, including adamantium claws, a healing factor, and heightened senses. Although X-23 initially tried to kill Wolverine for his supposed role in her creation, she soon learned to let go of her anger and escaped Weapon X. With her compelling origin, X-23 made her first comic appearance in 2003’s NYX #3 and changed the Marvel Universe forever. Wolverine has had proteges before, but X-23 is essentially the daughter he never had, and the pair has grown together as characters. So when the iconic X-Man died, X-23 was more than ready to step up and become the new Wolverine. From her debut, X-23 signified the rise of a new generation of legacy Marvel heroes.
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