Every now and then, Marvel Comics can give fans an unexpected gem. Their latest is the Infinity Warps series. It’s a spin-off from the big Infinity Wars event which has Gamora getting her hands on the Infinity Stones. Driven mad, Gamora is out to remake the universe with the heroes rising up to stop her. In a surprising moment, Gamora literally starts merging these heroes together to craft a new world. This has led to the “Warps” as we see the lives of these heroes and villains growing. It appeared as if this world had a finite life and would be ended when things were set right. But to the joy of fans, the latest issues reveal that this “Warped” world now exists as its own separate reality in the Marvel multiverse.
The joy is how the writers are clearly having a blast combining Marvel characters together. Rather than go for obvious mash-ups, some creators seem to go out of their way to take two characters that have nothing in common and mixing them into one. The results have been amazing with some characters mentioned but not delved into (such as D.E.A.D.P.O.O.L.). The main Warps comics have short stories debuting these while there are some mini-series focusing on others. It allows fans to enjoy some amazing mixes of characters and new takes on origins. With the universe now set, fans are hopeful for more returns there and expanding on what’s been shown. There have been a few shown but here are the 15 best “Warped” combinations that show why fans are eager to see this reality expand in the future.
15 FANTASTIC TWO
There were slews of possible character mash-ups for the Fantastic Four. Leave it to Marvel to do the unexpected by crossing the FF with…themselves. Reed and Ben Storm are brothers who take the flight into space on their own. When they crash, each have powers combining aspects of the Four. Ben is Hot Rocks, a rocky hide that’s constantly on fire. Reed is Mister Invisible who can stretch his body and invisible force fields.
The two also mix the personas as Hot Rocks has the gruff humor of Ben and the arrogance of Johnny while Reed mixes science wizardry with Sue’s good sense. They fight the Master Mole and his Sentinel Moloids and come out on top. Sure, it may be just two of them but they’re still the First Family of Marvel and truly fantastic in any way.
14 KAMALA KANG
Since her debut, Kamala Khan has been a huge breakout character for Marvel. The current Ms. Marvel, her shape-shifting abilities make her capable in the field. She also carries the burdens of being a Muslim teen in modern-day America. For this mash-up, Kamala was caught in a Terrigen Mist storm in a faulty protective suit. It allows her to “stretch” across time and space to protect New Jersey. Yes, it’s Kamala crossed with the Avengers’ old time-travelling enemy Kang.
Her initial story has her feeling guilty over distracting an old man who’s hit by a bus. She thus goes back to prevent it only to learn the hard way that meddling with time has consequences. A time-traveling Marvel is an intriguing idea and the comic shows Kamala shines in any form.
13 CAT’S EYE
She’s only made one appearance but it’s been enough to get fans going. Patsy Walker was a former star of Marvel’s old romance comics who later made a go of it as the costumed Hellcat. Kate Bishop was an heiress who’s become a good partner to Clint Barton and a second Hawkeye. Cat’s Eye mixes the duo up as she wears the Hellcat costume while firing off bows and arrows.
She aids Green Widow in a fight with Iron Titania and shows she has a great sense of humor. She also has the Hawkeye arrogance and boasting down pat and her athletic abilities are enhanced. Her real name hasn’t been revealed yet she shows the best of both characters to be a good one in her own right.
12 MAN THING THAN THOOM
Older than the regular Marvel Universe we know, Fin Fang Foom was a monstrous dragon from the old 1950s sci-fi comics. The MU revived him, revealing him as an alien from another world who can still attack Earth now and then. Man-Thing has long been a good recurring character, a monstrous creature known for the famous line of “whatever knows fear shall burn at the Man-Thing’s touch.”
Someone must have had the whole alliteration in mind when he came up with this mash-up for Sleepwalker. During their trip through realities, Sleepwalker and Darkhawk run into this monstrous combination of a swamp dragon who can burn cities with a touch yet becomes an unlikely ally. The name alone is fun while the character backs it up for a strange pairing.
11 PUNISHER PACK
You can’t get more of an offbeat mash-up than this. The Punisher is of course famous as a brutal vigilante who has no problems wiping out crooks. Power Pack are a group of kids who use their powers to help others and celebrate a family bond. Here, the Power kids witness their parents taken out by (wait for it) lizard men mobsters from outer space.
Granted powers by an alien, they now embark on a quest for revenge against Ma Snarks-Gnucci. It’s the classic Pack with the same names and powers only now boasting skulls on their suits and using their powers to take out alien mobsters with glee. It’s a short tale but it has to be noted just for mixing two properties you never thought of matching and shows the fun of the event.
10 MADAME HEL
Hela has long been a popular figure in the Thor comics. She really came to prominence thanks to Cate Blanchett’s terrific performance in Thor Ragnarok. Meanwhile, Madame Masque has long had a serious love-hate relationship with Tony Stark. Thus, it makes perfect sense to mix the two together to face Iron Hammer. She wears the classic Hela costume with the Madame gold mask.
She’s the embodiment of death who works with Malekith and Stane to take over Asgard. After Sigurd was victorious, he sought out Hel to thank her as the fear of death sparked his new heroic life. He then gave her a kiss, making him the only man to see her face and live to tell of it. Maybe a future romance is in store for a unique take on death herself.
9 DIAMOND PATCH
It was obvious Wolverine would be part of this event and fans wondered who he could possibly be matched with. The answer was, of course, unexpected in the form of Emma Frost. In the comics, the two have long been at odds yet can make unexpected allies. Here, a blonde-haired Patch has a diamond-lined skeleton and mental powers (which only work when he’s cutting someone) with a healing factor.
He lives a dashing romantic life as he enjoys hob-nobbing with the rich and sinister and holding to himself. Mixing Logan’s gruff attitude with the White Queen’s elitist persona is fascinating to watch even if the character hasn’t been shown as much as the others. Yet you can’t have an alternate reality without some intriguing take on Wolverine and fans hope to see more of this version soon.
8 GREEN WIDOW
In terms of personalities, Black Widow and She-Hulk often clash. Widow is a highly trained spy who can be cool and intriguing and prefers being in the shadows. She-Hulk is open, a good sense of humor and loves showing off her form. Yet somehow, they make an intriguing match-up. The idea is that Natasha was trained in the “Green Room” of the KGB which subjected her to serums that gave her a huge green form.
Her outfit is a bit more conservative than usual for She-Hulk but still notable for the red pigtails clashing with the green skin. She can turn into a “normal” form and fun in how she doesn’t talk too much on the job. It shows that these two offbeat personas can mix together rather well.
7 GHOST PANTHER
Usually, versions of T’Challa always have him as prince of Wakanda, Here, T’Challa has been exiled from his land after a fight with his father. Saving the life of stunt rider Brother Crash, T’Challa takes on the name of Johnny Blaze to be a star rider. He’s nearly killed in a crash and confronted by Zarathos, the Panther Queen of Vengeance. Recovering, T’Challa learns his father has been killed and returns home to take the throne.
However, his father’s killers have also destroyed the sacred herbs, meaning there can be no Black Panther. Knowing his nation needs a champion, T’Challa accepts Zarathos’ offer to become her Rider and hunt down the guilty atop a flaming panther. It’s a fantastic mix of the Panther and Rider mythologies to create a truly unique character that deserves to take off more.
6 MOON SQUIRREL
For years, Squirrel Girl has been a long-favorite character for fans. They’ve also fallen in love with Moon Girl, the 12 year old who’s the smartest person on Earth and a mental bond with a dinosaur. So when you throw both together, you get pure and total fun. Luneen Lafagreen was your typical super-genius kid when she ran into Tippysaur, a squirrel that could grow to the size of a T-Rex. She now aids him in fighting crime.
Just as with Squirrel Girl, the fun is how no one puts together this lady with a huge squirrel tail and a memorable costume goes unrecognized by others. Her entry was quite funny beating Doomatacus and showing a lovely charm. It shows what happens when two fan favorite characters are pushed into one great composite.
5 ARACHKNIGHT
This is one of those mash-ups you’d never think of but makes perfect sense. Peter Parker was attacked in the park by a goblin-like creature that also killed his aunt and uncle. Already mortally wounded, Peter was bitten by a radioactive spider. It allows him to have great abilities but also fractures his mind into different personalities. One is light-hearted and joking; the second is darker and brutal; the third is the businessman and CEO of Parker Industries; and the fourth is a scientist terrified of heights.
This makes him highly unpredictable in a fight as even Peter can’t be sure which persona is going to be taking charge. It also has the fun touch of how he’s basically got a different love interest for each persona. The outfit looks fantastic and the humor sells how Spider-Man and Moon Knight make an intriguing pair.
4 IRON HAMMER
Over the years, Tony Stark and Thor have clashed a lot. As a scientist, Tony just can’t get behind gods and magic and their attitudes often rub each other the wrong way. So having a mash-up of the duo is brilliant. Odin is the ruler of an Asgard that’s run like a corporation. When his arrogant son Sigurd attacked foster brother Stane, an angered Odin stripped him of his memories and sent him to Earth as a human. Still retaining his knowledge of technology, Sigurd takes on the name Stark and becomes a rich industrialist.
On a trip to Norway, he regains his memories when he’s captured by dwarves and creates a suit of armor to escape. Taking on the name of Iron Hammer, Sigurd saves Asgard when Stane turns out to be working with Malekith to take it over. Despite being welcomed back, Sigurd continues to fight on Earth. Seeing a Thor in high-tech armor is intriguing and mixing such two brash egos leads to a fun character.
3 DOOMATACUS
At long last, Victor Von Doom found a body big enough to contain his ego. It makes total sense to have a version of Doom against a version of Squirrel Girl as the cult character made her debut defeating Doom. Thus, Moon Squirrel takes on Doomatacus, a mix of Doom and Galactus. Instead of feasting on planets, Doomatacus transforms the population into robotic minions who worship only him.
Moon Squirrel realizes Doom’s ego fuels him so uses a translator that makes Doomatacus “hear” only praise for him from the population of Earth. Believing this world is “the only correct one to worship me,” Doomatacus spares the planet. Only a cosmic-powered Doom could let his own vanity be his weakness.
2 SPEED WEASEL
Fans of X-23 have come to know and love Gabby Kinney aka Honey Badger. The “sister” of Laura, she’s a younger clone with the same claws and healing factor as well as a fantastic sense of humor. Weapon Hex already had the intriguing mash-up of X-23 and the Scarlet Witch with magic claws. That might have been good on its own. But even better is Speed Weasel which mixes Badger with both Quicksilver and Deadpool’s comic relief buddy Weasel.
The result is an absolute joy of a character whose speed is matched by her motor mouth and quick wit along with sharp claws. She’s taken off huge with fans to the point some are demanding she get her own action figure. Just as with the regular Badger, Speed Weasel steals the show from her “big sister” and creates one of the best mash-ups of the entire event.
1 SOLDIER SUPREME
This was the first of the mash-ups and still an intriguing one. The idea is that when Stephen Rogers was drafted into the army, rather than Project Rebirth, he was placed in a branch using magic. Thus, we have a Captain America using magic to fight off Dormammu Red (an obvious mix of the Red Skull and the ancient demon). Instead of being frozen in ice, Stephen is trapped in another dimension for decades fighting his old enemy.
It’s a great mix of both characters and while you’d never think of the two crossing together, it actually works. It makes sense he leads his world’s version of the Avengers and proves that in any reality, Cap is a big deal and mixing him with magic just makes him better.