Line #13 CommonKnowledge/MarvelUniverse


1	!!Franchise/MarvelUniverse
2	!!The following have their own pages:
3	[[index]]
4	* CommonKnowledge/SpiderMan
5	* CommonKnowledge/XMen
6	[[/index]]
7	----
8	[[foldercontrol]]
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10	[[folder:Avengers]]
11	* ComicBook/TheAvengers are commonly thought to have always been the most feared and respected superhero team in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, and ''the'' AlternateCompanyEquivalent of DC's ComicBook/{{Justice League\|OfAmerica}}. The latter point is true to an extent, as both teams consisted of heroes who already appeared as solo characters. They've also had Earth's Mightiest Heroes as a tagline since issue 103 of Vol 1 (Release Date June 13 1972, Cover Date September 1972).
12	** [[NewerThanTheyThink The idea of them being the most feared and respected superhero team in-universe dates back]] to TheOughties but it wasn't the case for most of the team's history. It's actually the ComicBook/FantasticFour who have historically been portrayed in-universe as the Marvel Universe's greatest superhero team, and (according to WordOfGod) ''they'' were conceived as a direct answer to the Justice League (see below). Out-of-universe, the ComicBook/XMen were consistently Marvel's most popular team from the early-'80s all the way until the '00s, and Marvel even wanted them to be the backbone of the entire universe. In comparison, the Avengers never really became a flagship title until shortly before [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse the movies]] made it big. However, they have always been an AlternateCompanyEquivalent of DC's ComicBook/{{Justice League\|OfAmerica}} in another sense, being (mostly) made-up of heroes from pre-existing titles rather than an all-new team book.
13	** Creator/StanLee and Creator/JackKirby originally envisioned ''The Avengers'' as a showcase for lesser-known Marvel Comics characters who weren't popular enough to have their own series, which is why the original team was mostly made up of superheroes who debuted in Marvel's various anthology books.[[note]] Iron Man made his debut in the anthology series ''Tales of Suspense'', Thor debuted in ''ComicBook/JourneyIntoMystery'', and Ant-Man and the Wasp debuted in the same story in ''Tales to Astonish''. The Hulk's first solo series, meanwhile, had recently been cancelled after just six issues, and the character wouldn't really become widely popular until Marvel relaunched it.[[/note]] This remained the case when Stan Lee's successor Roy Thomas took over the series, and it stayed true for around four decades; Marvel's editorial staff even expressly forbade Thomas from using characters who had their own solo series, which is why ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, ComicBook/IronMan, [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]], and the [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] were eventually replaced by then-obscure characters like ComicBook/{{the Vision}}, ComicBook/ScarletWitch, ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}}, ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}, ComicBook/BlackWidow, [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHercules Hercules]], ComicBook/{{Black Knight\|MarvelComics}}, and ComicBook/BlackPanther (some of whom were original characters created for the Avengers). Rather than being made up exclusively of the greatest superheroes in the world, many of the Avengers' longtime members have actually been former supervillains who joined the team [[TheAtoner seeking redemption]] for their past misdeeds, leading to the common observation that the team often serves as something of a "halfway house" for criminals seeking a second chance at life.
14	** This is the reason why Creator/MarkMillar's reimagined AlternateContinuity version of the team was called ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'': ''The Avengers'' was considered a relatively obscure comic book in the early 2000s, and Marvel's editorial staff didn't think its title had enough brand recognition to be marketable.[[note]]Though this is itself a bit of an exaggeration. While ''The Ultimates'' and ''New Avengers'' definitely turned out to be much stronger sellers than the mainline ''Avengers'' series at the time, Creator/KurtBusiek's run was still outselling titles like ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'' while he was on the book. Sales dipped once Busiek left and Creator/GeoffJohns (and, later Chuck Austen) took over, but Millar's frequent assertion that ''Avengers'' was a dead title nobody was reading when he launched ''The Ultimates'' is demonstrably false.[[/note]] In the mainline comics, three events gave ''The Avengers'' a bigger push. All these storylines happened in TheOughties.
15	** ''ComicBook/HouseOfM'', which ended with the mutant population reduced to low numbers and concomitantly had the X-Men and the mutants [[DemotedToExtra shuffled out of the spotlight]].
16	** ''ComicBook/NewAvengers'', which had the Avengers based in Stark Tower, a detail carried over for the first two films, and which had Wolverine and Spider-Man join the group, to give it the star power it had lacked until then. That last part became especially ironic after the franchise blew up, since most people nowadays would consider many of the classic Avengers (who, as mentioned, were largely considered B-list at best prior to this) such as Iron Man, Cap, Thor, Hulk, Black Panther, and ComicBook/CarolDanvers to have sufficient star power on their own.
17	** ''ComicBook/{{Civil War\|2006}}'', which totally changed the status-quo of the entire universe and placed the Avengers and its mythos at the heart of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse.
18	While not invalidating the above exposition, it should be noted that Marvel superteams and franchises each have their own PopularityPolynomial. Yes, the Avengers tended to be in the Fantastic Four's shadow in the 1960s. However, the 1970s saw a period where the FF ran into decline without Lee and Kirby, while the Avengers saw a sort of golden age and really GrowingTheBeard with Roy Thomas, Steve Englehart, and Jim Shooter. During that decade, they really were Marvel's greatest team in and out of universe. But by the time the 1980s came along, the Avengers were overshadowed by Claremont's X-Men.
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20	* If you ask someone who the quintessential Avengers are, Hulk will probably be on the list. Hulk, however, was on the team for just two issues, fought against the team for a couple other issues, and that was it. Except for some cameo at some special issue every now and then, Hulk had never been a recurring member of the team. The idea was explored first in ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'', then ''ComicBook/MarvelAdventures'', ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' animated series and the film; and only then would Hulk rejoin the team in the mainline comics.
21	* ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} is often held as that one guy with [[TheTeamNormal no powers]] who's largely useless, and is only kept out of tradition (with the joke often being "they're so sure they got it covered, they even let Hawkeye tag along!"). Not so. Many don't know that Hawkeye is a skilled leader, tactician, martial artist, acrobat, master of multiple weapons besides his signature bow, has access to a variety of gadgets including {{Trick Arrow}}s and his own FlyingCar (the Sky-Cycle) that help leverage his own lack of powers. There was a reason he's led multiple teams, most famously the ComicBook/WestCoastAvengers and the ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}. "Having no powers" doesn't equate to "being utterly useless", as Hawkeye [[BadassNormal often proved]]. Much of this perception came from the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, where not only is Hawkeye OutOfFocus compared to the over Avengers, but [[AdaptationalWimp his skills don't get nearly as emphasized as much when he is onscreen]] ''and'' he flat-out lacks much of his gadgets, other weapons, and Sky-Cycle; thus many just know him as the "arrow guy".
22	* ComicBook/IronMan:
23	** His best friend is [[ComicBook/WarMachine James Rhodes]], and his love interest is [[ComicBook/{{Rescue}} Pepper Potts]], right? Sort of true. When Iron Man first got a supporting cast (Tales of Suspense #45), Pepper ''was'' his love interest, whilst his best friend was his chauffeur/bodyguard, Happy Hogan. There was a love triangle between the three for years before Happy and Pepper eventually got married and moved away. By the time Rhodey entered the scene, Tony had dated many other women, notably Madame Masque and Bethany Cabe. Whilst Happy died during ''ComicBook/{{Civil War\|2006}}'', and it is certainly true that Rhodey and Pepper are Tony's two most prominent supporting characters, Pepper still hasn't been a romantic interest of Tony's for years - in fact, a plot point in Kieron Gillen's run hinged on the fact that she got engaged. Like many examples here, this perception is largely due to [[Film/IronMan the movies]], which had Pepper as the primary love interest and Rhodey as Tony's best friend from the beginning, with Happy [[DemotedToExtra taking on a much smaller role]].
24	** Iron Man is also known as ''the'' celebrity superhero, one without a SecretIdentity and who is basically a rockstar who both fights bad guys and is renowned by the public. While that's true ''now'', for most of his history, it wasn't. Iron Man's identity was as closely guarded as Spider-Man's. Notably, he founded the Avengers without ''any'' of the other heroes knowing who he is (Hank Pym wasn't pleased to learn he wasn't the lone super-genius of the founders, either). Many of his allies didn't know he was Iron Man, and Stark constructed a backstory that Iron Man was his personal bodyguard with many stories hinging on no one knowing that Tony Stark is Iron Man. Rhodes (aka ComicBook/WarMachine) didn't know he was Iron Man until much later on. As for when he became public, that wasn't until 2002, where he revealed himself as Iron Man for the purpose of saving a dog when one was in danger of an incoming car, and he couldn't avoid it. Even then, he was actually able to back out and be secretive a while longer. It wasn't until the ''ComicBook/{{Civil War\|2006}}'' arc in 2006 where Tony Stark completely announced to the world he was Iron Man as a gesture of support for the Pro-Reg side he was leading, and has remained that way ever since. As such, the idea of him being public is NewerThanTheyThink. This perception is fueled by the MCU's portrayal, with the iconic "I am Iron Man" scene setting the stage for the rest of the franchise. It should be noted that they [[WhatCouldHaveBeen intended him to have a secret identity there as well]], but as the movie was largely improvised, Creator/RobertDowneyJr came up with that on the spot, they went with it, and the rest is history.
25	* ComicBook/CaptainAmerica:
26	** ComicBook/UltimateMarvel Captain America is often thought of as a racist. While this version of Cap is written as a product of his time in many ways, he wasn't actually racist per se. The scene that gets cited as proof was when Cap woke up in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, and couldn't believe that ComicBook/NickFury was a Colonel, and thought it was a German setup before forcing his way out to learn of the world he now lives in. That wasn't because he was racist though, but because he couldn't wrap his head around the idea that ''America'' wasn't racist -- as in the '40s, the highest ranked black man in the U.S. Army was a Captain (and Captain America knew him personally, having grown up with him). The breaking point for him wasn't that Nick Fury was black, but because he was told that he had been out for ''60 years''.
27	** A very frequent misconception is that Captain America's trademark shield is a mixture of vibranium and adamantium, and that the movies had to change it to pure vibranium due to adamantium being associated with the X-Men, who as mentioned above, had their film rights controlled by Fox when the MCU first began. Not only does the shield ''not'' contain adamantium, it actually predates the invention of that metal both within Marvel continuity and in real life by ''decades'' (admittedly, the shield also predates vibranium in real life by decades as well; the metal wasn't first mentioned until the 60s). In the comics, a scientist named Myron Maclain created Cap's shield after accidentally bonding a new steel alloy to a sample of Wakandan vibranium, and [[NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup was never able to duplicate the procedure]]. Though unable to replicate that experiment, Maclain created a similarly durable metal called adamantium years later, which Weapon X later used to create ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'s unbreakable skeleton. Part of the confusion seems to stem from the fact that while adamantium was never part of Cap's shield (and thus did not need to be omitted in the movies), adamantium ''did'' compose ComicBook/{{Ultron}}'s body in the comics, which is why his final form had to instead be made of vibranium in ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron''. Note that this misconception is common enough that even Mark Gruenwald, Cap's longest-running writer and a notorious continuity nut, erroneously identified the shield as being composed of adamantium during a crossover with Wolverine back in TheEighties.
28	** Most comic fans will know ComicBook/{{Bucky\|Barnes}}, and now that ComicBook/TheFalcon is in the MCU and even [[Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier getting his own show]], they will probably know him as well, but Bucky is generally considered Cap's one and only sidekick and Falcon is seen as more of a secondary character who works closely with Cap but isn't really a "sidekick", per se. However, not only was he Cap's ''de facto'' sidekick for decades (The book even getting renamed to "Captain America and the Falcon"), but Cap has had loads of other sidekicks over the years, including D-Man, Jack Flag, and Nomad. Not only that, but Bucky isn't even the only character to go by that name - Some of them were retcons, but there have been as many Buckies as there have been ComicBook/{{Robin}}s at this point.
29	* ComicBook/BlackWidow:
30	** She is seen nowadays as the quintessential female Avenger, thanks to the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse promoting her greatly in status. In actuality, she has had a long association with the Avengers, but wasn't a big name player for them in the same way she is in the movies and of the MCU's founding six was easily the least prominent among them beforehand. For many years there were multiple heroines more associated such as ComicBook/TheWasp[[note]]who was ''the'' founding female Avenger in the comics, and came up with the name no less[[/note]], ComicBook/ScarletWitch[[note]]famously joined after her HeelFaceTurn, and made up ComicBook/CapsKookyQuartet alongside Cap, her brother Quicksilver and Hawkeye, and has had a very long history as an Avenger despite being a mutant[[/note]], ComicBook/CarolDanvers[[note]]rose to fame as an Avenger, and has been heavily associated with them[[/note]], and even ComicBook/{{Mockingbird}}[[note]]spent many years as an Avenger, and co-led the West Coast branch alongside her former husband Hawkeye[[/note]]. Much of her fame is NewerThanTheyThink, with a lot of it from the MCU promoting her to A-list status when beforehand she was firmly a C-lister (or at best, B-lister) on the fringe rather than a headliner.
31	** She is ''not'' a BadassNormal. In the comics, Black Widow has vastly slowed aging and an enhanced immune system that enables her to survive conditions that would kill normal people. She also has peak human attributes in all categories similar to Captain America -- the Red Room giving her a version of the serum. About the slowed aging part? She was born in ''1928''. This misconception is derived entirely from the MCU, which made her into a BadassNormal without the slowed aging, enhanced immune system, or the serum, and since that was the first exposure to the character many had, that's the version that stuck in the public consciousness.
32	[[/folder]]
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34	[[folder:Other]]
35	* The first appearances of some comic characters can count as this. For example, ask a ComicBook/{{Venom}} fan what comic he first fully appeared in and they'll say "Amazing Spider-Man #300." Which is false. He actually fully appeared on the last page of #299 [[note]]If you wanna split hairs, though, Venom's "first appearance" was in [[ComicBook/SecretWars1984 Marvel Super-Hero Secret Wars #8]] -- when Peter Parker put on a strange alien costume not knowing it was a symbiote on the Beyonder's planet. And if you really wanna split hairs it was either seven months before that, when the black costume made its first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #252 (in a story set after MSHSW #8) or a month before MSHSW #8 when ASM #258 established that the costume was a sentient alien being. Then there is the matter of Eddie Brock, the man who together with the symbiote became the first Venom. He was first seen in a cameo in Web of Spider-Man #18, 19 months before ASM #299[[/note]]. Likewise, all X-Men fans know ComicBook/{{Gambit}} first appeared in ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen'' #266. Although chronologically this is correct, his true first appearance actually was in "Uncanny X-Men Annual 14," which, though taking place after the story from #266, was also released ''a month'' before said comic came out.
36	* Everybody "knows" that the [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] is a childish green-skinned ragehead who [[ClothingDamage wears ripped shorts]] and [[HulkSpeak has a three-year-old's grasp of English]]. While not ''wrong'', this is actually just one of the Hulk's many incarnations (Savage Hulk). Depending on the occasion, he's also a scheming grey-skinned mobster [[BadassInANiceSuit who wears fine suits]] (his "Joe Fixit" persona), a [[GeniusBruiser brilliant scientist]] in a full-body spandex suit (his merged form, or [[FanNickname "Professor Hulk"]]), a cunning BarbarianHero who wears armor into battle (his "Green Scar" persona), or a smirking monster who [[ResurrectiveImmortality rises from the grave]] to torment the wicked (Immortal/"Devil" Hulk). One of his earlier incarnations was dumb, but not child-like, nor monosyllabic (and didn't even refer to himself in the third person), but was about on-par, intelligence-wise, as a drunk, angry stevedore. As Bruce Banner has Multiple Personality Disorder[[note]]A disorder that, in real life, is fast becoming a discredited trope, but, hey, this is comic book land[[/note]], there is no singular "'''The''' Hulk"--they're all just aspects of his personality.
37	** Also it's commonly said that The Hulk was originally gray, but a printing error made him be green in his first issue. While it's true that he was intended to be gray, and that there were printing issues, they didn't make him appear green. They actually made him appear wildly varying shades of gray due to it being a difficult color to print at the time, resulting in the Hulk being a different color in every panel. Creator/StanLee eventually decided on green for ''The Incredible Hulk'' #2 which was easier to print consistently. [[note]]Less commonly known was that ComicBook/IronMan was gray in his first appearance as well, but was colored gold in his second appearance for the same reason.[[/note]]
38	** Like much of Silver Age Marvel, the original Stan Lee/Jack Kirby ''Hulk'' stories had a lot of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness. As mentioned above, the Hulk originally had gray skin instead of green, was smaller, and was noticeably smarter and more articulate, even speaking in complete sentences instead of HulkSpeak. Banner also changed [[NighttimeTransformation when the sun went down]] instead of whenever he got angry. Most of these elements were glossed over or outright ignored for years (with certain reprints of the Hulk's debut [[OrwellianRetcon even changing his skin from gray to green for consistency]]), before finally coming back in the late 80s/early 90s. While Creator/PeterDavid is the one credited with bringing back the Gray Hulk and acknowledging those early inconsistencies via the whole multiple personality angle, the Gray Hulk's return actually occurred during Al Milgrom's run, which happened right before David took over the series. David definitely explored the idea in much greater detail, but the seeds had already been planted by the time he began writing the series.
39	* A general misconception by the public is that any comic with a #1 on the cover is worth a lot of money. Whilst it's true for some issues - ''ComicBook/ActionComics'' #1, ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' #1 - the more important thing to collectors is which character(s) debuted in that issue, leading to things like ''Detective Comics'' #27 and ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 being amongst some of the most valuable comics. This was a belief encouraged by comic companies in [[UsefulNotes/TheGreatComicsCrashOf1996 the 90's]], where some comic collectors were making big money on classic issues. This resulted in everything having a [[https://web.archive.org/web/20131010020040/https://library.missouri.edu/exhibits/alleyoop/images/death_of_superman.jpg "special limited edition"]] with {{Feelies}} thrown in or having [[https://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/n_iv/600/873127.jpg various #1 issues]] proclaim them a "collector's item" to drive up demand (and thus the price) to a gullible public who believed that comics were the next gold rush. [[note]] Real comic collectors were smart enough to stay away though.[[/note]] Most of them aren't even worth the cover price today.
40	** One thing that ''is'' true about #1s is that they tend to be the highest-selling issue of a comic. Part of it is the above belief, while the other part is the simple idea that a #1 is where a new reader can get started. Because of this, stores tend to order the #1 issues the most, since any reader looking to pick up a run of comics or find a new series is obviously going to value the first issue over the twentieth. (Publishers have been known to try to exploit this by relaunching a book to give it more #1s - ''[[ComicBook/MsMarvel Captain Marvel]]'' received a total of four #1s over the course of about five years.)
41	** It also helps that the most valuable #1 issues, such as ''Action Comics'' #1, were published at a time when comics were disposable and not collector's items (and [[ItWillNeverCatchOn were published in modest numbers as nobody suspected they'd be massive hits]]), meaning that there are just plain few of them in any sort of condition to go around.
42	* The ComicBook/{{Runaways}} are commonly thought to be Marvel's premier young superhero team (alongside the ComicBook/YoungAvengers, who fit the bill much more closely). In reality, they're not superheroes. At least they don't think of themselves nor are they treated this way. They're literally a group of teenage runaways who left once they learned their parents were an evil organization known as the Pride. Sure, they have unique powers, tech, and they fight crime, but they also eschew the tropes normally associated with superheroes. They don't have costumes, they don't use codenames (they ''did'' attempt to adopt them, but it didn't stick), they aren't considered a true superhero team by other characters in the Marvel Universe (in fact, the Runaways were actually neutral during the ''ComicBook/{{Civil War\|2006}}'' event despite the Young Avengers attempting to recruit them to the Anti-Reg side), and they fully mock the idea of being a superhero team. The closest any member had gotten to being a traditional superhero was ComicBook/NicoMinoru, who served in the (short-lived) AmazonBrigade Avengers sub-division ComicBook/AForce when the team was disbanded for a time. Finally, they do not call themselves "[[IAmNotShazam the Runaways]]", and originally that wasn't their name at all (they had no name), but the name of the story. It eventually became their official team name, but they never actually call themselves that. It wasn't until the 2019 storyline [[https://terrigen-cdn-dev.marvel.com/content/prod/1x/docjusticejteam_runaways.jpg "Doc Justice & The J-Team"]] where the characters would finally dabble in being a traditional superhero team, adopting new aliases and costumes. Marvel even hyped up the arc, joking that they would join the ranks of their other preeminent superhero teams like The Avengers and The Defenders.
43	* It's commonly assumed by the general non-comic audiences that anyone who has superpowers will become a superhero/villain in a superhero world. The reality is that we mostly see the ones who do, but there are plenty of superpowered characters in Marvel/DC who simply live normal lives, much like how not everyone in the real world becomes a cop or a soldier. An example of this that was explored was in Marvel's ''ComicBook/{{Civil War\|2006}}'' CrisisCrossover, where Congress passes a SuperRegistrationAct that causes the titular event, and part of that act involves drafting superhumans to the government to become a civil servant, regardless if they want to or not. A specific example of this shown was when a mutate named Abigail Boylen, or Cloud 9, who has the ability to fly but had no desire to be a hero, was stopped by ComicBook/WarMachine for not registering (although she later became a superhero during ''ComicBook/AvengersTheInitiative'', after ComicBook/IronMan won the civil war). Another example is that the vast majority of mutants at [[ComicBook/XMen Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters]] ''don't'' become X-Men, they just go there to be in a safe place away from persecution.
44	* The ''ComicBook/{{Civil War\|2006}}'' event is often believed to be about the titular war over the SuperRegistrationAct forcing superheroes to reveal their [[SecretIdentity secret identities]] to all the public. Unfortunately, this isn't ''quite'' true. The titular war was actually about the act forcing superheroes and superhumans, whether they want to or not, to be agents of the government. It essentially meant conscripting superhumans with no desire to put their lives at risk, including ''[[ChildSoldiers teenagers]]'', to be soldiers, which was seen by ComicBook/CaptainAmerica and his companions as unconstitutional and was likened to slavery. The act also turned people who risked their lives on a regular basis into criminals just because they didn't want to subject themselves to a government official's agenda. The part about revealing their identities wasn't to the public, but to the ''government'', and there was no obligation for them to be publicly known. The confusion likely stems from ComicBook/SpiderMan publicly revealing his identity to the world in this event (which spread all over the Internet like wildfire at the time), but that wasn't because of the law; rather it was a gesture of support to Tony Stark (i.e. a publicity stunt).
45	* ComicBook/RedSkull:
46	** Johann Schmidt was ''not'' the original ComicBook/RedSkull--just the best-known. He was [[LegacyCharacter the second one]]; the original was a man named John Maxon, who barely anyone remembers. Even though the Red Skull is '''the''' archetypal Nazi supervillain, Maxon was--ironically enough--an evil ''American'' businessman with Nazi sympathies.
47	** Even though he's always been ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's arch-nemesis, Johann Schmidt wasn't the one responsible for shooting Cap down over the Arctic Ocean and leaving him a HumanPopsicle; that was [[Characters/CaptainAmericaCentralRoguesGallery Baron Zemo]], who isn't quite as iconic[[note]]especially since this version, Heinrich, was KilledOffForReal a mere 11 issues after his first appearance. The most iconic version, Helmut, is his son, who continues to this day[[/note]]. Because of this, [[AdaptationOriginConnection many adaptations simply have Red Skull be responsible for Cap being frozen instead]].
48	** Finally, Red Skull was ''not'' the founder of ComicBook/{{HYDRA}}. That was Baron Strucker, who likewise is far more obscure than Schmidt. Because of this, Schmidt is portrayed as the founder in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse for simplicity's sake.
49	** In relation to the above: Baron Wolfgang von Strucker was a highly ranked Nazi officer answerable only to Adolf Hitler himself and the Skull, Hitler's right hand man. The Skull, fearing that WWII would not end with a Nazi victory, dispatched Strucker to the Far East to establish a power base there. That power base eventually became HYDRA, which is why it can be argued that Red Skull was indeed the ''original'' "founder" of HYDRA.
50	* ComicBook/{{Thanos}} is often described as an {{Expy}}/CaptainErsatz of ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}. This is only ''sort of'' true at best; Jim Starlin took some inspiration from Creator/JackKirby's design for Darkseid while designing Thanos’s look (at the suggestion of an editor no less), and they're both incredibly powerful characters who come from space, but that’s pretty much the extent of any similarities. They appeared in more or less the same timeframe (Darkseid in 1971, Thanos in 1973) and they’ve never really had much in common; their motives, personalities, and general roles are all wildly different. Even weirder are those who believe the inverse, that Darkseid is an Expy of Thanos, which is just bizarre given that Darkseid came first. Thanos was actually an {{Expy}} primarily of Metron in his early days (their outfits are a bit similar, they're {{Wild Card}}s, they're TheChessmaster, and they both fly around space in a techno-throne), which was exactly why said editor made the recommendation of "If you're going to rip off ''New Gods'', at least rip off the really cool one." Part of the problem is that when they're suffering from {{Flanderization}} or VillainDecay, a lot of their differences tend to be scrubbed off, due to writers treating them as generic super-strong [[TheHeavy heavies]]--the Thanos who appears in the 2012 ''Avengers Assemble'' and the Darkseid who appears in the 2011 ''Justice League'' reboot, for instance, end up being basically identical.
51	* On a similar note, ComicBook/{{Nova}} is often thought of as an {{Expy}} to ComicBook/GreenLantern. In reality, the only thing the two have in common is that they're both part of a SpacePolice organization, but otherwise their backstories, personalities, and powers are completely different; Green Lantern being an adult AcePilot who uses a special ring to [[ImaginationBasedSuperpower construct whatever he needs]], while Nova joined as an inexperienced [[KidHero teenager]] with a FlyingBrick power set. In fact, Nova for a long time was a ButtMonkey and used as the poster boy for brash, naive rookies trying to get in with the big leagues but often [[TheMillstone getting in the way]] and it wasn't until the ''ComicBook/{{Annihilation}}'' event in the '00s where he TookALevelInBadass, which is a far cry from Green Lantern's portrayal as a hotshot who nonetheless had the skill to justify his behavior.
52	* It's commonly thought that ComicBook/AmericaChavez's CatchPhrase is "Holy menstruation!". Cringeworthy as it is, America only ever said the phrase ''once'', in the first issue of her widely-panned [[ComicBook/America2017 solo series]] that did a number on her character, making it a massive case of NeverLiveItDown. Though saying a phrase like that is certainly an example of bad writing, it was from a writer who had no prior experience with comics, and her only saying it once and never again doesn't exactly make it her catchphrase by any stretch.
53	* ComicBook/{{Loki}} is ''not'' a SquishyWizard as he's often thought to be. While he does prefer deception and magic over direct combat, he is very much capable of fighting when needed. He's a Frost Giant, a ''Deity'', who on top of his magical abilities can bench press at least 50 tons. He just seems this way, considering his adoptive brother is ComicBook/TheMightyThor, but to a normal human, he's a KungFuWizard.
54	* ComicBook/DoctorDoom: Thanks to AdaptationDecay, with the Four never properly being adapted in the first place, ComicBook/DoctorDoom in the movies is presented as someone who has superpowers, originating from the same accident that powered his nemesis team, the ComicBook/FantasticFour, for the sake of AdaptationDistillation and simplifying the story (following on from Ultimate Fantastic Four which was a movie-friendly distillation to start with). In actual fact, Doom's origins have little to do with the team -- [[EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether he did attend college with Reed Richards]] before his rise to dictator of Latveria, and that's where his hatred of Reed began, but much of Doom's story happened separately before menacing the family. Doom was born as an oppressed Romani peasant in the fictional Latveria, before toppling a corrupt dictator and becoming a dictator himself, albeit not a personally corrupt one but still quite tyrannical and authoritarian. As for his powers, Dr. Doom is not personally superhuman. He is primarily a brilliant scientist and genius, who is also a political, legal, military and criminal mastermind, a powerful sorcerer who blends magic with science through the use of {{Magitek}}, wearing armor that can stand up to {{Physical God}}s and wielding enough power to take out some of Marvel's biggest heavy-hitters.
55	* ComicBook/BlackPanther: Shuri is almost always imagined as being a GadgeteerGenius who invents her brother's tech, thanks to the massively successful ''Film/{{Black Panther\|2018}}'' movie portraying it this way. In the comics, it's a bit different. T'Challa is TheChessmaster, and ''the'' GadgeteerGenius himself, being a master inventor who creates his own gadgets, considered one of the eight smartest people in the world (the others being Reed Richards, Bruce Banner, Tony Stark, Hank Pym, Victor Von Doom, [[ComicBook/BeastMarvelComics Hank McCoy]] and Amadeus Cho). He's essentially the smartest guy in the room in most cases, but isn't typically imagined that way by non-comic audiences. The movies made him into an AdaptationalDumbass, losing his inventor status while [[DecompositeCharacter giving it to Shuri]], and instead focusing on his political aspects, done to make the cast more well-rounded. Shuri in the comics ''is'' a genius, but is more into sorcery than technology. Because the heavy magic might've seemed a little too much to introduce in an already jam-packed movie, it was downplayed in favor of this. Also, Shuri as a whole is NewerThanTheyThink, as she didn't debut until 2005, a full 39 years after her brother. This makes what a lot of people ''imagine'' what they like about Shuri and Black Panther as being more a product of the movie, rather than the actual comics.
56	* Similar to the ''Avengers'' example, many people are surprised to learn that the ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy weren't really a big deal in the Marvel Universe until relatively recently, or that the specific iteration of the team the films are based on didn't come into existence until 2008, a mere six years before [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014 the first movie]] was released. Even then, the Guardians certainly weren't a major part of the Marvel Universe the way they currently are, and mostly stuck to their own little corner without too much interaction with Earth. That really only changed once Creator/BrianBendis relaunched the series in 2013, specifically to raise the team's profile ahead of the then-upcoming film. It was under Bendis that the Guardians became more integrated into the Marvel Universe, with additional[[note]]Former Captain America sidekick Jack Flag was part of the 2008 run, but he's so obscure that many people tend to forget him.[[/note]] Earth-based heroes like Iron Man, Captain Marvel and even Agent Venom joining the team, and the characters getting involved in the major crossovers of the day like ''ComicBook/{{Infinity}}'' and ''ComicBook/CivilWarII''. If you want a snapshot of just how much the team's popularity has skyrocketed since the movie, take a look at recent video games that prominently feature the Guardians like ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomInfinite'' or ''VideoGame/{{Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3\|The Black Order}}'', and then check out older installments from those same series. You likely won't find a single Guardian as a playable character in just about any Marvel video game made prior to 2013 or so, with the one major exception being ''Ultimate VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'', which featured ComicBook/RocketRaccoon to help build up the character's profile in advance of the movie.
57	* Everyone knows ComicBook/PowerPack is a kid-friendly, wacky and lighthearted series starring {{Kid Hero}}es who go on fun hijinx and like many superhero stories starring kids were basically harmless, as part of Marvel's attempt to appeal to the young demographic as they would with comics like ''ComicBook/MoonGirlAndDevilDinosaur'' and ''ComicBook/{{Champions\|2016}}'' many years later... except, that's not true at all. While the heroes were kids, the comic played its superhero premise ''entirely straight'', and included as many dark themes as fellow heroes Spider-Man, X-Men and Daredevil. They took part in crossovers like ''ComicBook/SecretWarsII'', ''Fall of the Mutants'', ''ComicBook/Inferno1988'' and the aforementioned ''Mutant Massacre'', and none of them were kid-friendly. [[SarcasmMode With such kiddie themes like]] child abuse, guns in school, bullying, and genocide, it was major AudienceAlienatingPremise despite being well-received by just about all those who did read it, amounting to it being a CultClassic to this day. Still, because it stars four children as protagonists, it's assumed it must be for kids, hence it's often suggested by those unfamiliar with it for Disney to adapt it into an animated series or movie similar to ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'' to appease young audiences as if it were the kid-friendly fare it gets mistaken for.
58	** A large part of the blame for this might be owed to the team's multiple ComicBook/MarvelAdventures miniseries. The subline was specifically based around providing LighterAndSofter fare, but while it also included versions of much more popular characters and teams, the Power Pack was the only one to suffer AdaptationDisplacement as a result, perhaps because it was the Adventures title with the most obscure source material.
59	* ComicBook/TheDefenders is often thought to be an alliance between the [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]], ComicBook/DoctorStrange, ComicBook/SilverSurfer and Namor the ComicBook/SubMariner, and anyone's image of that team will be these four (at least, when it's not the InNameOnly [[Series/TheDefenders2017 Netflix series]]). While not technically wrong, this iteration is actually much BrieferThanTheyThink. As in, every iteration featuring this lineup only lasts a few issues. For the most part, the two most consistent members are Strange and Hulk, while the team itself is more of a loose alliance of individuals fighting otherworldly threats, who more often [[WithFriendsLikeThese can't stand each other]] and are only [[TeethClenchedTeamwork working together out of necessity]]. Also, the team has had a HighTurnoverRate to rival ComicBook/TheAvengers, with just about every hero and even some villains having held "membership" at some point.
60	* It's often stated that ComicBook/ShangChi is Franchise/MarvelUniverse's [[BruceLeeClone answer]] to Creator/BruceLee, but that's not completely true. While Shang-Chi was created during the dawn of the 1970s martial arts craze popularized by Lee, his creators Jim Starlin and Steve Englehart loosely based him off Kwai-Chang Caine from the TV series ''Series/KungFu1972'', after failing to obtain the rights to adapt the television show as a comic book series. It wasn't until Paul Gulacy joined as an illustrator several issues into ''Master of Kung Fu'' and long after Starlin and Englehart left the series that Shang-Chi was redrawn to resemble Lee. Gulacy himself was a noted film buff and many of his characters including Shang-Chi were modeled off film stars during his tenure. Since then, DependingOnTheWriter and Artist, Shang-Chi has been drawn to resemble Lee or at least paid homage to him.

Context CommonKnowledge / MarvelUniverse