Highlights
- Popular Marvel characters from movies and TV shows often make their way into comic books as brand-new characters.
- Characters like Erik Selvig and Darcy Lewis from the Thor movies have continued to appear in both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and in comic books.
- Some characters, like Morph from X-Men: The Animated Series and H.E.R.B.I.E. from The Fantastic Four , were created specifically for TV shows and later introduced into comic books.
Marvel is a company that is first and foremost known for its comic books. They have brought so many iconic characters over the years, such as Spider-Man, The Hulk, Iron Man, and The Human Torch to name a few. In fact, some of these Marvel characters have been so popular that they leaped off the page to receive a movie or animated show. However, these characters couldn't exist on their own.
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Whenever it comes time to adapt a project based on a comic book character, they need to be molded to fit the new medium and sometimes the best way to do this is by adding some new characters to their story. Sometimes these new characters are so popular that they make it back into the comics as brand-new Marvel characters.
7 Erik Selvig
- First Appearance: Marvel Studios: Thor (2011)
- First Comic Appearance: Avengers Standoff: Welcome to Pleasant Hill #1 (2016)
Erik Selvig was first portrayed in live-action by Stellan Skarsgard in the first MCU Thor movie in 2011. The character was a brilliant physicist who sought to prove the existence of other realms in our galaxy. His research was so important to the world, that even Loki sought him out as one of his servants in the first Avengers film.
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It seems that a scientist with information relating to other realities was also of use to Marvel Comics writers, as the character made his debut on comic book pages in 2016. The character is still part of the comic books and is still around for further use in the MCU.
6 Darcy Lewis
- First Appearance: Marvel Studios: Thor (2011)
- First Comic Appearance: Scarlet Witch #1 (2021)
Darcy Lewis is an MCU character who has had several appearances in the franchise. She first appeared in Thor in 2011 as the intern to physicists Erik Selvig and Jane Foster. Since then, Darcy has completed her doctorate and popped up again as a consultant in WandaVision. Her last appearance was in Thor: Love and Thunder in 2022, but there are plenty of opportunities for Kat Dennings to reprise the character in future projects.
This comic relief character was so popular that she even made her debut in the comics. Darcy's connection to Wanda in WandaVision made her the perfect choice to include in the reboot of the Scarlet Witch series in 2021.
5 Morph
- First Appearance: X-Men: The Animated Series "Night of the Sentinels: Part 1" (1992)
- First Comic Appearance: X-Men Adventures #1 (1992)
X-Men: The Animated Series was one of Marvel's early mainstream successes in a medium outside the comic books. It was this show that introduced the likes of Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, and Rogue to a new generation of kids. Although, there was a character named Morph in the series who was killed off in the first episode.
This wise-cracking shape-shifter never got to reach the heights of some of the other X-Men. However, the writers at Marvel didn't want to see the jokester go to waste, and Morph was included in the very next run of X-Men comics.
4 Phil Coulson
- First Appearance: Marvel Studios: Iron Man (2008)
- First Comic Appearance: Battlescars #6 (2012)
Agent Phil Coulson was one of the most recognizable faces in Phase One of the MCU, with his character appearing as early as the first Iron Man in 2008. Sadly, Phil Coulson was killed off by Loki in The Avengers to help motivate the team to join forces.
However, Phil Coulson's death this early in the franchise didn't stop the character from returning for his own spin-off TV show, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., that ran for seven seasons. The character has also been folded into the comics' universe, and he appears in plenty of animated Marvel shows, with actor Clarke Gregg returning to provide his voice.
3 H.E.R.B.I.E.
- First Appearance: The New Fantastic Four "A Monster Among Us" (1978)
- First Comic Appearance: Fantastic Four #209 (1979)
The inclusion of H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot as part of The Fantastic Four was a result of censorship rather than creativity. The owners of the network that aired the 1978 Fantastic Four animated series were worried that the character of the Human Torch would encourage impressionable young viewers to light themselves on fire. As such, they decided to replace the character with H.E.R.B.I.E., the friendly robot.
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The show may not have been a hit, but H.E.R.B.I.E. sure was, as he made his way into the comics the very next year. In fact, H.E.R.B.I.E. has become so synonymous with the group that many consider him to be the honorary fifth member, although don't expect him to feature in any Marvel vs Capcom games.
2 X-23
- First Appearance: X-Men: Evolution "X23" (2003)
- First Comic Appearance: NYX #1 (2004)
With Wolverine being one of the most popular Marvel characters ever, it makes sense that his clone would also be a hit with fans. The young X-23 has appeared as a dangerous weapon in comics over the last twenty years and even had a leading role in Hugh Jackman's curtain call of Wolverine, in Logan.
However, the concept of a Wolverine clone came from the X-Men: Evolution show that aired at the start of the 2000s. Mostly set in a high school setting, the show primarily focused on the younger cast of Mutants. Sadly, this left fan favorite Wolverine on the sidelines, but a younger female clone could provide the show's target audience with a version of the character that they can see themselves in.
1 Firestar
- First Appearance: Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981)
- First Comic Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #193 (1985)
The new show Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends from 1981 was desperate to capitalize on Spider-Man's popularity. However, there was one problem, Spider-Man didn't have any amazing friends in the comics at the time. That is why the creators of the show decided to pair him up with a fire-and-ice combo of Mutants. Since there was no immediate Ice-Man parallel in the X-Men comics to choose from, Firestar was born.
The absence of a feisty fire-based mutant was clearly recognized by those at Marvel Comics, as Firestar was soon folded into the X-Men comics a few years later.