Marvel sure has some great characters; characters that, thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, pretty much the whole world knows. Captain America, Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, the Black Widow… you can probably keep going without me.

But for every Spider-Man or Wolverine out there, there are (literally) hundreds of characters that, for whatever reason, either never really hit a chord with fans, or had a run of popularity, usually pretty brief, that they’ve never been able to duplicate. And while everyone loves Marvel’s big guns, if you ask any comic reader, they will probably have at least one lesser known, if not outright obscure, character that they’ve always loved that they’d love to see get another shot in the spotlight.

There are far too many to narrow it down to any kind of ranking, and it’s such a subjective topic, so instead of ranking the ‘top whatever’, here are 15 (for now) characters that, hopefully, we can all agree are under-represented in Marvel comics. Anyone we left off that you think deserves a spot on the list? Let us know!

DARKHAWK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Chris Powell
First Appearance: Darkhawk #1 (1991)
Arch-Enemies: Lodestone, Tombstone, Venom, Evilhawk

To anyone that doesn’t think Darkhawk is freaking awesome, I say you make no sense to me. Darkhawk rules.

After grabbing a mysterious amulet, teenager Chris Powell is transformed into the super awesome Darkhawk! A completely awesome suit of armor (complete with sweet razor wings, an awesome grappling hook, and the amulet, which can create both shields and insane concussive blasts) and a cool name combined with a likeable, relatable (as far as these things go, at least) protagonist, sweet powers, and frequent appearances by the likes of Spider-Man, the Hobgoblin, Venom, and the Punisher (and him appearing in titles like Amazing Spider-Man and New Warriors) kept this title alive for 50 issues.

Since his title’s cancellation Darkhawk has rarely been used across the Marvel Universe; he was in Runaways briefly as part of a former teen superhero support group, where nobody really took him seriously. At least, not until he one-shotted freaking Ultron!!

He also showed up for a significant stretch of the (insanely awesome) Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning cosmic era (Nova, Guardians of the Galaxy, and more mini-series than there are Spider-people these days), where it was revealed that Darkhawk’s amulet ties him to the Fraternity of Raptors, a group of similar looking badasses that kill and manipulate on an interplanetary scale. They kind of suck, but thankfully our boy doesn’t!

Most recently he was killed off unceremoniously in an attempt to revamp the concept, but not surprisingly, it did not connect with fans. Bring back the OG Darkhawk, Marvel, you cowards!

* * * * * 

THE U-FOES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Members: Vector, X-Ray, Ironclad, Vapor
First Appearance: Incredible Hulk #254 (1980)
Arch Enemies: Hulk, Avengers

One of two criminally underrated villain groups on this list, the U-Foes are essentially the Fantastic Four, if their accident went a good bit worse and with no Reed Richards. Capable of holding their own against the likes of the Hulk, Thor, or a whole team of Avengers, these guys are no joke. If only they were used more! Their two biggest ‘accomplishments’, if you can call them that, are the attack against Volstagg at Soldier Field in Chicago that kicked off Norman Osborn and HAMMER’s invasion of Asgard (see the ‘Siege’ storyline) and the near murder of Peter Parker in a fight with Peter and his clone, Ben Reilly. They also did a hell of a number on the Immortal Hulk!!

Between Vector’s flight and telekinesis, X-Ray’s intangibility and radiation/energy projection, Vapor’s ability to transmute her body into gases (including poisonous ones), and Ironclad’s immense strength and density manipulation, these guys are as dangerous as they come, and for the life of me I cannot understand how they aren’t a much bigger deal. They’d made great foes for any team from the Champions to the FF to the Avengers or work equally well as a superior force to a smaller group or even solo hero (as even Peter Parker himself discovered, fighting these guys friggin’ sucks).

* * * * *

 

GRAVITON

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Franklin Hall
First Appearance: Avengers #158 (1977)
Arch Enemies: Avengers, Thunderbolts

Why this guy isn’t an A-List Marvel villain, I have no idea. He’s got powers that have the potential to shame pretty much every other villain, even the likes of Magneto, but it seems like he’s either just gone for years at a time, is a complete afterthought, or gets punked out, and it’s maddening.

Maddening!

Graviton has the power of gravity manipulation, meaning he can increase or decrease the gravity of anything he pleases. He can make it so Earth’s gravity just no longer applies to you, and up and away you go, probably forever (can you imagine that shit? Terrifying)! Or, conversely, he can increase the gravity on you until you’re crushed by an invisible force. Or he can make it so the gravity of all of the cars in a parking garage, or hell, the whole parking garage, are all without gravity, and then BAM, now it’s raining cars and parking garages on people.

Just a truly terrifying power.

He’s never gotten his due, either. He’s probably most famous for being the first opponent of the West Coast branch of the Avengers and is often relegated to ‘goon’ roles for guys like the Hood, which is crazy.

Give him a big stage and let him do his thing and I bet he will have a lot of fans. It should be like a big event type story when he shows up, like the old X-Men comics when Magneto appeared.

* * * * * 

 

CAPTAIN MARVEL (GENIS VELL)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Genis Vell
First Appearance: Silver Surfer Annual #6 (1993)
Arch Enemies: Supreme Intelligence, Super-Skrull

After a number of years without the dead Mar-Vell, Marvel created a new Captain Marvel in Monica Rambeau. A decade later, the son of the original Captain Marvel laid claim to the name, and things got interesting quickly.

‘Gifted’ with a piece of the cosmic consciousness his father held, Genis sets out to protect the universe, but is quickly overwhelmed by his small piece of omniscience and from then on struggled with his sanity, which made for some very interesting stories. I highly, highly recommend the Peter David written Captain Marvel title, it’s one of the best early 00’s books Marvel was publishing.

Essentially, Genis is morally compromised, and isn’t always sure what to do, because he can see (at least some of) every outcome each action would create. Sometimes this paralyzes him into inaction, and other times what he does seems absolutely horrible, even monstrous, until you learn what he’s learned and understand his rationale, but even then sometimes he’s just a real asshole. Still, it’s very interesting to read about a character that you have NO idea what their next move or action is going to be, because even they don’t know!

Far from the patron saint of the Marvel Universe his father was, or even the stalwart hero Mar Vell’s predecessor was, Genis was at least the most interesting Captain Marvel. Sadly, he was written into joining up with the Thunderbolts around the Civil War era and was betrayed by Zemo and killed. It’s a damn shame; even if he weren’t the ‘real’ Captain Marvel, you could still get some great mileage out of Mar Vell’s batshit crazy son roaming around causing problems.

* * * * *

SLEEPWALKER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Unpronounceable by humans; host’s name is Rick Sheridan
First Appearance: Sleepwalker #1 (1991)
Arch Enemies: Cobweb

Dear comic book Gods, please bring Sleepwalker back. Not even necessarily as the star of his own book, mind you; he would be perfectly suited to be used the way Dr. Strange or Nick Fury were in the 90’s, or how Dr. Fate or the Phantom Stranger are often used over at DC: he is perfect for a few particular types of stories or scenarios, use him for those!

OK, where to begin with this guy… I’m sure many of you aren’t familiar with him, and that’s gotta change!

So, long story short, the Sleepwalkers are essentially dream police, and capture any of the random nasty things that try to infiltrate the dreamscape to cause all kinds of problems. Our boy here was tricked by his arch-enemy Cobweb, into entering the pscyhe of Rick Sheridan, where he became trapped. Rick and the Sleepwalker can communicate in Rick’s dreams, and they came to an arrangement: Rick will have full control over his body while he wakes, but when he sleeps, the Sleepwalker can hang out with him in the dream world, or he can commandeer Rick’s body in the material plane.

This arrangement can lead to some clever stuff and can also lead to Rick’s life being a Spider-Man level mess. For instance, in one case the Sleepwalker needed more time, so he drugged Rick’s orange juice! Rick wakes up, pours himself a glass of orange juice, passes out and smacks his head, and then loses x amount of hours of his day/life while Sleepwalker does his thing. Imagine if you just up and disappeared at random for even 5 or 6 hours one morning on a work day. How badly could that screw up your life? How about if it were more than a day? Can you imagine what that could do to your work life, finances, or social life? Nothing good, is my point. Plus, how much would it suck to know that your body is being used to do these amazing, heroic things, but you aren’t aware of them and are literally sleeping through them?

In addition to being a shitty brain roommate, Sleepwalker is also a stupid powerful being. He could easily be used in a situation where you’re dealing with the Dr. Strange foe Nightmare, or D’Spayre, or if communication is needed with someone that’s unconscious or comatose and you’re not the X-Men and their 1000 telepaths. But he’s not limited to just dreamscape stuff; our boy’s got powers on top of powers! He’s crazy strong, can fly, has increased stamina and durability, crazy good vision, his Warp Gaze (which allows him to alter the shape of physical objects by looking at them- if you’re standing near a fence it can suddenly wrap around you, or turn into a standalone prison cell, etc), a healing factor, the ability to absorb mental energies directed as attacks against him, and the ability to amplify mental powers and magics just by his presence.

He. Should. Be. A. Bigger. Deal!

* * * * *

DEATHLOK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Michael Collins
First Appearance: Deathlok #1 (1990)
Arch Enemies: Roxxon, Harlan Ryker

This is not the original Deathlok from the future that fought with Captain America once or twice. This is a new guy, set in the then-present Marvel Universe. Michael Collins is the half walking corpse/half cyborg Deathlok! His brain is hard wired to the cyborg half of him, so he shares thoughts with an artificial intelligence that can get him access to almost any network- no matter how safe you think your secrets are, you’re wrong, and the guy coming to teach you a lesson is like 6’7”, is already dead so you can’t kill him, is stronger than a tank, and likes giant guns.

Man, what a great visual concept Deathlok is. No matter the version, Deathlok is always cool. He’s like DC’s Cyborg with more human parts, but those parts are… y’know… dead. Just super dead. So, you like zombies? Big ass guns blowing stuff up? Cyborgs and robots? Of course you do! You’re not made of stone (anymore)! Well, put the chocolate of zombies on the peanut butter… of… guns…

I lost the analogy. The important thing to note is that Deathlok is a lot of cool things rolled up into one and it totally works.

I specifically like this version; I think the Collins Deathlok is a much more likeable version of the character, which is good if he’s going to be the star of a monthly title. If he were just going to be a recurring villain/antagonist then give me the Luther Manning version all day, but Collins is a good dude at heart who is just trying to get his (comatose but still alive) original body back and get back to his family. He doesn’t enjoy destroying things, but he is really, really good at it and will ruin the living crap out of your day if you push him.

Collins made a lot of enemies in his time, but he also made allies with a ton of heroes, especially when he helped defend New York in the Maximum Carnage event. It was always a shame to me that he didn’t stick around as a more permanent character. He’s got a fantastic design, a cool origin, an interesting goal and personality, the inner conflict of his conscience vs the analytical AI, and he kicks all kinds of ass. With the advancements in technology being used to always upgrade and revamp the likes of Iron Man or War Machine it’s a missed opportunity not to have a heroic Deathlok out there wrecking the crap out of groups like AIM or Roxxon.

* * * * * *

THE NEW WARRIORS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Members: Night Thrasher, Nova, Speedball, Namorita, Firestar, Marvel Boy/Justice
First Appearance: The Might Thor #411 (1990)
Arch Enemies: Terrax, Sphinx, Psionex

I’m specifically referring to the original line-up pictured above, but that’s a lost cause at this point. Nova has grown far beyond his days as ‘Kid Nova’ and is like the greatest hero in the universe. Firestar has been an Avenger, and X-Man, and an Avenger again, Justice has been affiliated with the Avengers and/or SHIELD for years when he hasn’t been the mentor figure in one failed New Warriors revival or another, Speedball has been aimless, and Namorita and Night Thrasher died (he got better). I won’t give up hope for maybe something like a mini-series set in the early 90’s continuity, and that’s probably the best I can hope for, because while the Warriors are unquestionably awesome, they are a product of their time and without essentially demoting Nova you can’t really team them back up (seriously, Nova could single handedly take down any threat they fought as a team back in the day; our boy is juiced up!) for any real amount of time.

So, that leaves us with the option to do what they have kind of/sort of tried to do a couple of times, which is to take one or two of the old crew and team them up with a new generation of young heroes. The problem with that is there have already been a number of teams that kind of duplicated (copied?) the Warriors’ formula, like the Runaways, the Young Avengers, or the Champions. I’m not sure if there is a really good solution, outside of team them all up, bring Nova in from time to time to smack down the big bads, add a couple of new members or bring back some of the old ones like Darkhawk, Rage, Turbo, or the Scarlet Spider and see what happens.

It’s too bad, because these are all great characters. I will always shout my love for Nova from the rooftops, but a lot of people don’t really know much about Firestar, for instance, outside of she was on the animated “Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends” show. She’s a mutant and was originally recruited by Emma Frost to be one of her Hellions, the Hellfire Club’s answer to Xavier’s New Mutants. Her on-again, off-again love interest is Vance Astro, aka Justice, who is also an incredibly powerful mutant telekinetic with an interesting twist: 1,000 years from now he will be known as Major Victory and will be the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy in their way against the hyper aggressive alien race, the Badoon. Namorita is the young cousin of Namor, the Sub-Mariner, and as such is actually Atlantean royalty, but you wouldn’t know it unless she’s pissed off as she’s much more relaxed and even borderline casual than her cousin would be caught dead being. Night Thrasher is a brilliant tactician and quite adept in hand-to-hand combat and could give Hawkeye a run for his money with the number of different weapons he can capably use. And Speedball bounces!

* * * * * * 

CLOAK & DAGGER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Names: Tyrone “Ty” Johnson, Tandy Bowen
First Appearance: Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #64 (1982)
Arch Enemies: The Answer, the Spot, Shriek

How in the world have they not been Avengers yet?? Fucking Squirrel Girl has been one!

They’ve got cool powers- Ty is powered by the mysterious Darkforce Dimension, and his cloak, which can instantly teleport anywhere he wants it to and is a gateway to the Dark Dimension itself, and Dagger has light-based powers that she can create laser-like blasts with, or focus into objects like light-knives which she can make crazy hot, and perhaps most importantly she can negate the pretty terrible effects of traveling in Cloak’s… cloak. If you don’t have Dagger’s light to protect you, you’re fair game for the things waiting in the shadows inside.

They’ve got awesome code names: Cloak and Dagger. I mean, come on!

They’ve got awesome costumes- they just look so great together. From a design sense, the only thing I would change is Dagger’s costume; put a symbol on her suit where in the images above and below it’s bare skin. Otherwise, no notes. Love their look.

I think the issue might be that their origin is so tied to the 80’s in that they were teenage runaways that got their powers from experimental drugs, but (thankfully) runaways, homelessness, and drug use all stopped in 1990. So, I guess I see why they’ve been so relegated to the sidelines. Really nothing you could say with them.

Sigh.

* * * * *

WONDER MAN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Simon Williams
First Appearance: Avengers #9 (1964)
Arch Enemies: Madame Masque, Kang, Ultron, the Grim Reaper

Originally an arms manufacturer that was in over his head and desperate due to losing ground to the growing Stark Enterprises and due to manipulation by his a-hole older brother (more on him in a second, and in another installment of Underused Marvel characters) he made some decisions that landed him in jail. From there he was further manipulated by the Asgardian the Enchantress and by old Captain America foe Baron Zemo into undergoing an experimental “ionic ray” treatment, which granted him insane strength and durability.

After seemingly dying, he discovered that his treatment changed his body in insane ways; he is now a being solely comprised of ionic energy that is capable of coalescing that energy into a human form. In short, he’s basically immortal. His experiences with death had radically changed him, and his outlook on life, and he decided to pursue a career in acting, as well as serving as an Avenger.

Despite the interesting premise of ‘super powerful Avenger that’s also a movie star in his spare time’ and his deep ties to characters like the Vision, Captain Marvel, and the Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man has remained rather aimless for a few decades now. It seems like nobody knows quite what to do with him, and it’s a shame. He’s got great relationships with a ton of characters, and his brother is a terrifying and criminally underused character himself: the villainous Grim Reaper!

They should do a Wonder Man one-shot or mini-series every summer and make it like a 3-4 issue, balls-to-the-wall insane event, like a summer movie.

* * * * * * *

 

THE HOOD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Parker Robbins
First Appearance: The Hood #1 (2002)
Arch Enemies: The Avengers, Ghost Rider, Dr. Strange

After the run of asshole behavior he pulled off in the Secret Invasion-Dark Reign era (and beyond), I was convinced Marvel had a new big-time, A-list villain on their hands. But, for some reason, that hasn’t been in the cards. Instead, the Hood was a huge deal for a couple of years and has again kind of faded into (mostly) obscurity, with the occasional appearance here and there, but not much of note.

It’s a shame; he is a very interesting character that I feel like gets more interesting every time I see him. At first it seemed like he was just a (well written) one-off character from a Marvel MAX (18+ readers only) book, but when he showed in Brian Michael Bendis’ Avengers run, and then was on Norman Osborn’s Dark Reign era Cabal and was suddenly everywhere, it was like, “All right, here we go”. He then created an army of super villains, the first of its kind, and they were a true force to be reckoned with for a few years.

Then, after he lost everything at the end of that era (around the “Siege” event), the dude went and used the tools and knowledge he obtained and learned to track down and assemble the freaking Infinity gems! To my knowledge, the first human to ever pull that off alone. He was stopped by the Avengers before he could really use them in concert, but still!

Oh, also, his hood is connected to Dormammu and the Dark Dimension, and he can use powerful magic, which he often likes to use by firing magic “bullets” out of his handguns. When he gets really angry it’s not uncommon to see his demonic form take over and his appearance and personality shift and he becomes one scary as looking guy.

A super villain mob boss with a magic cloak that likes to shoot magic bullets, has ties to Dormammu, and practically built-in rivalries with at least a half dozen heroes already? Why is this guy not used WAY more often????

* * * * * *

THE ABOMINATION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Emil Blonsky
First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #90 (1967)
Arch Enemies: Hulk

OK, the fact that this guy isn’t a top 5 Marvel villain is baffling to me.

He’s as strong as- and possibly stronger than- the freaking Hulk, and yet it seems like the only time he ever appears (it’s been a while, seeing as how he’s been dead for years now) is to fight ol’ jade jaws, not to like decimate Iron Man or the Champions, or whatever.

It seems like it’s always cool to have heroes fight the Hulk to kind of gauge how strong they are. But the Hulk isn’t going to kill or horribly wound another hero (unless it’s Wolverine, then all bets are off) so it’s always going to be a draw or the Hulk holding way back and winning by like flicking the other guy in the face or something. Well, if the Abomination shows up there is no holding back; he’s going to kill everyone in his immediate area.

Wouldn’t it be cool to see someone way out of their league have to go up against this guy? Not hilariously outclassed, like Captain America or Hawkeye, but maybe a Wolverine, or a Spider-Man, or the Thing, etc. You could have all the fun of a Hulk fight without any of the limitations of a Hulk vs hero fight. Plus, the Abomination is one of a few characters that the title character can easily lose to and not look weak or lame or whatever complaints people would have. If the Abomination wrecked the FF, or Iron Man, or a team of X-Men, it would be easily acceptable.

Please, Marvel, please, for the love of all that is Gamma, bring the Blonsky Abomination back and let him run roughshod over the Marvel universe!

* * * * * *

U.S. AGENT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: John Walker
First Appearance: Captain America #323 (1986) as Superpatriot, Captain America #333 (1987) as Captain America, Captain America #354 (1989) as U.S. Agent
Arch Enemies: Red Skull, Power Broker, the Watchdogs

You knew he’d be on here.

Jerk-ass Captain America himself, John Walker, aka Superpatriot, aka Captain America, aka the USAgent- one of my favorite Marvel characters ever.

Walker is a complete ass, a far-right leaning super soldier with the attitude of a surly teenager, the speed and strength of Steve Rogers, and the blind patriotism of most of Texas. But, he’s also one of the most entertaining characters around. He’s not a villain, either, despite how some writers seem to view him. He loves his country and wants to protect it, he’s just a little overzealous at times.

Ok, a lot overzealous. Most of the time.

But, when he was an Avenger (West Coast, baby!) he was always dependable as a teammate and in a fight, even if Hawkeye hated his guts. When he was loaned out to Canada to lead Omega Flight, he helped them defeat the Wrecking Crew and was a very capable field leader. He’s been in charge of a prison, helped run the Thunderbolts and led a team of them himself… the dude is versatile.

He’s not just the black-suited, a-hole Captain America. I mean, he is that, yes, but because he’s in the same corner of the Marvel Universe as Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson, but he’s very, very different from them and the Hawkeyes or Iron Mans of the world, he provides a different perspective, and characters react to him quite differently. Plus, he doesn’t care if he has to throw someone off of a roof, or into some helicopter blades (he might actually kind of enjoy it).

Gotta love USAgent.

* * * * * * *

BETA RAY BILL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Beta Ray Bill
First Appearance: The Mighty Thor #337 (1983)
Arch Enemies: Alpha Ray, Asteroth, Galactus, Loki, Surtur

I refuse to hear anything about Bill that isn’t about how awesome he is.

One of Walt Simonson’s most lasting creations, Bill is, on the surface, a weird, horse-faced, alien Thor. While he may be that he is so much more. The first to ever prove to be worthy of lifting Mjolnir outside of Thor himself, Bill was awarded a hammer by none other than Odin (named Stormbreaker, and it’s nearly as powerful as Mjolnir). What did he do to earn that hammer, besides lifting Mjolnir? Oh, he just beat Thor in a one-on-one fight, then saved his life when he was out cold, that’s all. Freaking THOR.

The last of his people, Bill has become a mainstay in the Asgard corner of the Marvel universe, with the occasional stint in outer space, like in Annihilators, the Guardians of the Galaxy, or the amazing Beta Ray Bill mini-series by Daniel Warren Johnson. He’s also spent time in a human body and fought alongside Canada’s Omega Flight.

When, during a recent fight/disagreement with his ‘brother’ Thor, Stormbreaker was destroyed, Bill went on a quest to find a new godly weapon and ended up killing the fire demon Surtur and taking the immensely powerful Twilight Sword for his own!

If I had my druthers he would be an Avenger, or at least pal around with the Hulk/Strange/Namor/Surfer Defenders, but I guess I should be happy he hasn’t faded into complete obscurity like some of the other folks on this list.

Beta Ray Bill is freaking awesome.

* * * * *

JESSICA JONES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Jessica Jones (alias Jewel/Power Woman)
First Appearance: Alias #1 (2001)
Arch Enemies: Purple Man

A lot of cool characters from this era hit it big and then kind of faded away pretty quickly, and out of all of them (the Sentry, Gravity, the Hood, Echo, etc) the one that feels the most missed, to me, is Jessica Jones. I love that she married Luke Cage and had a daughter, but it feels like ever since then she’s just at home being mom while Luke sometimes does stuff. It’s like without writer and co-creator Brian Michael Bendis writing her nobody has any idea what to do with her, and it’s a damn shame, because Jessica is one of a kind.

Jessica Jones was once a super-hero named Jewel, until she was forced to spend years under the mental control of the Purple Man. The trauma of what she went through led her to retire from super heroics and made her not even want to use her powers at all (flight, super strength), but she had no problem at all using her skills to be a private eye and drinking away anything else. In short, she’s very, very compelling to follow.

She’s got more curse words than a sailor that stubbed just all of the toes, she has… complicated relationships with a lot of the other heroes (Captain Marvel & Spider-Man, in particular), and she fits into one of the more beloved friend groups in Marvel: the heroes for hire gang (Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Misty Knight, Colleen Wing). She should be used so much more! She’s been an Avenger, she’s got friends and ties all over the place, and she’s even had her own 3-season show, so why she isn’t starring in a book RIGHT NOW I have no idea.

 

* * * * * 

 

THE WRECKING CREW

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Members: Wrecker, Bulldozer, Piledriver, Thunderball
First Appearance: The Defenders #17 (1974)
Arch Enemies: Thor, the Avengers

For the life of me, I cannot understand why these guys aren’t a bigger deal. They’ve got a great gimmick, cool uniforms, cool names, and are all crazy powerful. Yet, somehow, they’ve always been relegated to b-listers: usually they are used to lose to some young hero/heroes to show the kids are capable, or just as cannon fodder in a big gang of villains. These guys are powered by Asgardian magic and originally were holding their own against the likes of Thor, the Hulk, Dr. Strange, the Defenders… they weren’t pushovers, and they could really mess your day up.

Like the U-Foes, these four slabs of muscles and bad intentions are one well-written appearance that takes them seriously away from being A-listers, and while it’s cool to see them on the Masters of Evil working for Zemo or as part of the Hood’s villain army, they work best when they’re on their own and just pummeling the living daylights out of one of our heroes. I can’t be alone on this. I know the construction themed gimmick might not work for everyone on the surface, but I promise if you get these guys with the right story and creative team, you’ll see what I see in them: mayhem, destruction, and untapped potential.

(The less said about their ‘appearance’ in the MCU’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, the better, if you’re trying to take them seriously).

 

* * * * * *

That’s our list for now! There are PLENTY of more characters that can be included here- hell, you could do 15X-Men characters alone, easy- but we will save them for another list. For now, check out some comics featuring the characters above, you may end up with some new favorites (probably U.S. Agent)!