Marvel is the number one comic publisher when it comes to sales, creating best-selling comics month in and month out. Thanks to the MCU, the publisher has also become the biggest name in pop culture, adding even more to the brand's popularity.
Marvel characters have long been household names, and the MCU has launched even more of them into stardom. Marvel's most popular heroes and villains are the biggest characters in pop culture. For some, it's been that way for decades. For others, it's a more recent thing. Regardless, their popularity is astounding.
Updated on May 17th, 2023 by David Harth: Marvel's most popular characters aren't just the most popular in one company. Thanks to the MCU, they're the most popular in the world. Marvel has long had a knack for creating amazing heroes and villains, and Marvel characters have long been the gold standard in comics and beyond. There are always more Marvel characters ready to take their place at the fore of the entertainment world.
15 Hawkeye
Clint Barton has gone by many superhero names, but he's best known as Hawkeye. Starting his career as a villain, he'd join the Avengers alongside former villains, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, then ride the team to a spot among Marvel's most popular characters. Hawkeye's sense of humor, great costume, and innovative combat styles made him a hit.
Hawkeye's popularity skyrocketed because of the two factors — the MCU and his 2012-2015 series by writer Matt Fraction and artists David Aja, Javier Pulido, Francesco Francavilla, and Annie Wu. Since then, Hawkeye's had a lower profile in the comics, with Kate Bishop mostly taking his place. However, Clint Barton has starred in multiple MCU projects, including his own Disney+ series that introduced Kate to the MCU.
14 Black Widow
The MCU proved Black Widow was a powerful femme fatale, something Marvel fans knew for years. A solid B-list character, Black Widow started as a villain before becoming a hero, joining the Champions, SHIELD, and finally the Avengers. It's in the Avengers that Black Widow found her greatest success, but it wouldn't be until her MCU debut that she joined the ranks of Marvel's most popular characters.
Since her big screen debut in Iron Man 2, Black Widow's profile in the comics grew as well, culminating in her own series. Widow's controversial death and lackluster solo film didn't hurt fan love for the character. In fact, it actually grew, since everyone agreed Widow got a raw deal that her character didn't deserve.
13 Daredevil
Daredevil has been through some ups and downs, but still belongs among Marvel's most popular characters. Debuting in the Silver Age, the blind vigilante was mostly just Spider-Man without eyesight until a writer/artist named Frank Miller came along. Miller, sometimes working with artist David Mazzucchelli, made Daredevil into a Marvel legend.
The '90s saw Daredevil fall in popularity until 1998, when director Kevin Smith would join Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti on a Daredevil relaunch. That project catapulted Daredevil back to stardom for the foreseeable future. His Netflix show was huge, and his MCU debut in She-Hulk proved how much fans loved him.
12 Storm
Storm is a Marvel bigwig, and has been for a long time. There was a time when the X-Men were Marvel's most popular characters and Storm was always in the forefront. While other character's popularity flagged, Storm's only intensified, like the hurricanes and tornados she could summon. Played by Halle Berry in the Fox X-Men movies, she was a hit on the big screen.
Storm continues her reign as the X-Men's most popular woman, which is saying something when it comes to that team. What people love so much about Storm is that she's not only a powerful Marvel character, but writers have done the work on her personality. Storm is a multi-faceted gem, and Marvel fans are lucky to have her. Storm also has the best costume game in the Marvel Universe.
11 Black Panther
Black Panther spent years as a C-lister. While his position as leader of Wakanda made him important to the lore of the Marvel Universe, he wasn't massively popular beyond hardcore Marvel fans. Black Panther had several critically acclaimed series, and Marvel even tried marrying him to Storm and putting them into the Fantastic Four to make him more popular.
However, he wouldn't truly reach the next level until his MCU debut. Actor Chadwick Boseman was perfect, and Marvel got award-winning columnist Ta-Nehisi Coates to write his solo book. Black Panther jumped to the front of the pack, and Boseman's tragic death from cancer saw an entire world mourn him.
10 Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch has done irredeemable things, but she's been popular for a long time. She joined the Avengers at the height of their popularity and was part of the team's biggest relationship. Her status as a mutant and the child of Magneto made a huge difference in her popularity, but the Avengers' '90s popularity slide affected her as well.
The 21st century saw Scarlet Witch become a huge part of the Marvel Universe, but 2015 would be her biggest break, when she debuted in the MCU. While her solo book failed that year, Wanda Maximoff had a massive bump in popularity. MCU online spaces exploded with conversations about Wanda, and her new book is looking to be a hit.
9 Magneto
The X-Men were Marvel's most popular characters for decades, with all the A-list members of the team making huge strides in popularity. For the most part, much of that has cooled off thanks to the MCU, but some mutants are still wildly popular. Magneto is one of them. For decades, Magneto was easily Marvel's most popular villain, starring in cartoons and multiple movies.
Magneto's popularity has stayed pretty stable even with the rise of the MCU. A big part of this is Michael Fassbender's portrayal of Magneto. While many of the newer X-Men movies weren't beloved, he was. Magneto's been at the forefront of the X-Men books for years now, and that doesn't look to change.
8 Deadpool
Deadpool rose to prominence because of his connection to the X-Men, but he never reached the true heights of his popularity until the late '00s. He got his first series in years and then a funny thing happened. Deadpool merch showed up in stores like Hot Topic and people ate it up. Soon, Deadpool would get his own movie and the rest is history.
Deadpool was always sort of popular in the comics, but he hit much harder with the audience outside of comics. His movies reached MCU levels of popularity and the announcement of his third movie, with the return of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and set in the MCU, made fans more excited than ever.
7 Captain America
In the Golden Age, Captain America was Marvel's most popular character. The '50s saw him fade away, but his return in the Silver Age saw him jump back to the top of the Marvel Universe. When the X-Men became ascendant, he started to wane. The '90s were an interesting time. Heroes Reborn failed, but Heroes Return reminded people why they loved Cap.
Captain America is an undoubtedly inspiring hero and the leader of Marvel's heroes, but his popularity waxed and waned throughout the '00s. His place in the MCU made him very popular. While it's questionable whether Cap is at his Golden Age levels of popularity, fans once again love Steve Rogers with a burning passion.
6 Loki
Loki was always a big villain in the Marvel Universe. There's an argument that can be made that Loki was the most important Marvel villain of the Silver Age. He was a Thor villain, yet he was the one who brought the Avengers together. However, subsequent years saw him fall from those greater heights.
Then the MCU happened, and Tom Hiddleston's portrayal of Loki made the character huge. In the comics, the character got a massive push as well, receiving a measure of redemption and starring in all kinds of books. Loki is much more popular outside the comics, but he's still wildly popular.
5 Iron Man
Iron Man is an amazing hero and a force to be reckoned with. He's long been a staple of the Marvel Universe. He's a founding Avenger, and forms Marvel's own "Trinity" along with Captain America and Thor. Of the three, Iron Man was always the middle one in terms of popularity. He didn't get as many "best of all time runs" or amazing creators, but he was solid.
The '00s and '10s saw Iron Man take a big role in the Marvel Universe after losing popularity in the '80s and '90s. 2008's Iron Man made him a huge star, and Marvel tried to capitalize on that in the comics. This never worked very well, but Iron Man's popularity with general audiences can't be denied.
4 Thanos
Marvel has created very popular villains, but few can match Thanos in recent years. In the comics, he was a B-list villain, and dead, until 1991's Infinity Gauntlet brought him back to prominence. Since then, he's had some ups and downs, but he started getting a push again when the MCU hit.
Thanos's place as the big bad of the MCU's The Infinity Saga made him into a tremendous deal again. He's starred in event books, gotten his own solo comics, and is a near constant presence in the Marvel Universe. Thanos is just as popular with comic fans as he is with general fans, becoming a true phenomenon in the superhero world.
3 The Hulk
The Hulk is the strongest one there is, but that's not all. He's also been mega popular for a very long time. The Hulk has been continually published for decades, starring in solo, team, and event comics. He has huge name recognition and became a huge Marvel star when his TV show The Incredible Hulk debuted.
In the '90s, when most of Marvel wasn't doing well, Hulk comics still had solid sales. Unlike many of his Silver Age Marvel compatriots, the MCU didn't really help Hulk's popularity much because it's never flagged. His popularity has remained fairly consistent for six decades.
2 Wolverine
Wolverine is the best there is at what he does, and that's been selling comics. His debut may not have been the biggest thing in the world, but his place with the X-Men during their biggest growth period was a huge boon for him. Wolverine quickly became the most popular member of comics' most popular team.
When the X-Men hit large, Wolverine was front and center. He still is, all these years later. Even in the years of MCU dominance, Wolverine remains more popular than the biggest MCU characters. He's a draw in every way, and his comic is consistently among Marvel's best-selling solo books. Fans are wild with anticipation both for Hugh Jackman's return and Wolverine's future in the MCU.
1 Spider-Man
Spider-Man has long been Marvel's star. Silver Age Marvel was quickly taking the spotlight from their distinguished competition, but they weren't running the table until Spider-Man debuted. Since then, Spider-Man has basically been Marvel's most popular character, selling comics and merchandise like no one else.
Spider-Man's been a multimedia star for decades, with cartoons, a Japanese live action show, video games, movie, and more. Even when fans aren't happy with what Marvel is doing with the character, as they haven't been for over a decade, The Amazing Spider-Man is still Marvel's best-selling book.