The Marvel universe has experienced a lot over the past 10 years. After a series of reboots, massive changes in characters, and a Legacy to uphold, the publisher has certainly experienced their fair share of good and bad moments. For all the good within the universe though, the great writers over at Marvel Comics deserve credit for delivering some absolutely incredible stories.
Of course, some writers have had a stronger impact than others, leading to some more impactful changes within the popular universe. To honor some of the best, here is our list of the 10 best Marvel writers from the past decade.
10 Saladin Ahmed
Those who haven't read Black Bolt by Saladin Ahmed are missing out on one of the best series Marvel has recently released. Even for a less-popular character, Ahmed’s storytelling is so strong that the series was actually nominated for several awards.
Since the end of Black Bolt, the author has since inherited the Miles Morales Spider-Man title, as well as the Magnificent Ms. Marvel, both of which he builds upon seamlessly. Considering that two distinct, prominent writers were at the helm of those series for such a long time, for Ahmed to transition so well is a true testament to his capabilities as an author.
9 Jason Aaron
Jason Aaron has done a lot for Marvel comics in the last decade. Recently, he has concluded a run on Thor that has been going since 2012. However, the author has also reestablished Conan The Barbarian under Marvel, as well as Star Wars.
Though Aaron has written other mainstream series for the publisher, he is most known for his long-running Thor epic that made Odinson unworthy and established Jane Foster as the Goddess of Thunder. Likewise, with everything culminating nicely into the War of the Realms event, Aaron is easily one of the publisher’s best authors.
8 Donny Cates
Donny Cates exploded into comics with independent series like Babyteeth and God Country. After joining Marvel, Cates continued to grow, especially after his “Thanos Wins” storyline which introduced the Cosmic Ghost Rider. From there, the author’s popularity grew substantially, giving him much more creative freedom on some very big titles.
Despite being a newer author at the publisher, Cates has done wonders for series like Guardians of the Galaxy and especially Venom. For the time being, it seems as if the author is incapable of producing bad content. With a flare for darker elements and incredibly fresh ideas, Donny Cates is well-deserving of his spot on this list.
7 Ta-Nehisi Coates
Even before joining Marvel Comics, Ta-Nehisi Coates was a well-seasoned author with a lot of experience under his belt. Since then, however, Coates has done wonders for Black Panther, reinventing the character for a modern audience as well as delivering many powerful literary themes into the series.
After being on Black Panther for several years, Coates eventually picked up the Captain America series where he has enacted a similar treatment for the character. With a lot of layers to his books, it is a shame that Coates hasn’t penned more series, as he is easily one of the best authors currently writing at Marvel.
6 Tom Taylor
Tom Taylor has actually done wonders for both DC and Marvel Comics. However, his work at Marvel is far more established within the main universe in comparison to Taylor’s work at DC. Having tackled big brands such as Iron Man, the X-Men, and even Spider-Man, Taylor has proven he is capable of capturing an assortment of different voices.
With All-New Wolverine and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man in particular, Talyor has found an incredible balance of humor, heart, and action that makes his works so fun to read. With everything he has done at both publishing giants, it makes sense for him to land a bit higher than others.
5 Mark Waid
Few other Marvel authors have been as busy as Mark Waid. Throughout the decade in particular, Waid tackled all sorts of different characters all across the Marvel Universe. The author not only ended his long-running era of Daredevil, but even picked up Avengers, and managed to restore Captain America to his former glory after everything happened with “Hydra Cap.”
Waid also launched the Champions series featuring a younger group of marvel heroes and is currently working his magic on Doctor Strange. Surprisingly, Waid has juggled all of these projects on top of some independent work and still manages to keep a great, consistent quality.
4 Al Ewing
At the moment, Al Ewing is doing wonders for Bruce Banner on The Immortal Hulk series. Following the character’s return from the grave, Ewing is taking the Hulk in a whole new direction that pulls from many aspects of the character’s history while also keeping things, dark, mysterious, and exciting for readers.
While Ewing has done other work for Marvel throughout the decade, The Immortal Hulk is easily one of his greatest contributions. The author is also set to replace Donny Cates on Guardians of the Galaxy, giving fans a lot to look forward to at the start of a new decade.
3 G. Willow Wilson
As the creator of Kamala Khan, G. Willow Wilson helped launch Marvel into an entirely new era. Though she mostly kept to this series alone, Kamala quickly became one of Marvel’s biggest and most popular characters, all thanks to Wilson’s excellent writing.
Though she also wrote an exceptional A-Force run, G. Willow Wilson’s dedication to her character has had a tremendous impact on the rest of the Marvel Universe. Though she is unfortunately no longer telling Ms. Marvel’s story, Wilson is still one of the biggest and best authors for Marvel comics from the last decade.
2 Brian Michael Bendis
Brian Bendis is easily one of the biggest and best authors to ever write for Marvel comics. In his time with the publisher, he has written almost every Marvel character imaginable. While not everything he has written has been the most stellar series ever, Bendis still generated a lot of great content in the past 10 years.
After an extensive run on X-Men, Bendis helmed several major Marvel events, all while continuing to write Spider-Man: Miles Morales. He also relaunched series such as The Defenders and even brought Jessica Jones to a fitting conclusion. Even his time on The Invincible Iron Man is one of the more celebrated runs of recent. Though he definitely had a lot on his plate, it would be impossible to not include Bendis on this list.
1 Johnathan Hickman
No other author is quite like Jonathan Hickman. As one of the most prolific Fantastic Four writers ever, Hickman also built an insanely massive story through several Avengers titles, eventually building up to the new Secret Wars series.
If that epic alone weren’t enough, Hickman has just started a run on the X-Men of the same caliber, giving fans of the author’s Avengers run a lot to look forward to. However, despite the massive interwoven stories that Hickman tends to build, the quality never seems to dip. Likewise, those who follow Hickman’s runs from the beginning also have a lot to appreciate, as the author commonly refers back to earlier works. As one of the most impactful Marvel writers of the decade, Hickman lands safely as the best Marvel author of the decade.