Marvel is one of the most popular entertainment brands on the planet, and the company's comics are some of the biggest sellers in the comic industry. This gives them some leeway when it comes to putting out comics. They can afford to throw everything at the wall and see if it sticks. Beyond that, MCU debuting characters usually get solo books when their movies come out, an attempt at cross-media synergy.
Marvel has led in sales for longer than the MCU existed and has always given all kinds of character solo books. A lot of them didn't deserve it and nowadays, there are plenty of characters who don't really need a solo book anymore either.
10 Doctor Strange Only Got A Book Again Because Of The MCU
Doctor Strange was a Marvel stalwart for a long time but he ran out of steam in the '90s. For a long time, the character disappeared before coming back to team books. Eventually, when news of his MCU debut hit, he was given another chance at a solo book, with the superstar team of writer Jason Aaron and artist Chris Bachalo working on it.
While their run worked very well, later runs on the book fell flat. Doctor Strange is too powerful to just have a book constantly; a creative team needs an overarching story to make him work. Beyond that, Strange as a character just isn't that interesting, so keeping him in a solo book for long periods of time makes no sense.
9 Shang-Chi Hasn't Had A Solo Book In Decades And Only Got One Because Of The MCU
Shang-Chi has a solo book again and the reason is kind of mystifying beyond the MCU. The last time Shang-Chi was a big deal was in the Seventies and while he had some fans in the modern-day, his appearances in the ensuing years weren't exactly high profile. Marvel gave him a full court push when his movie was announced but he's nowhere near ready for prime time.
Shang-Chi really only works in certain kinds of stories and Marvel having him beat superpowered heroes and villains is just kind of weird. The book doesn't sell very well and once his MCU star fades, his books will go away.
8 Deadpool Has Gotten A Bit Too Ridiculous
Deadpool was a big seller for a long time, but his shenanigans have become staid. Deadpool is more than the jokes, but too many writers fall back on the ridiculous ultra-violence. While that's a lot of fun, a comic just can't get by for years on Deadpool's insanity, and that's what happened. While he doesn't have a book currently, an argument can be made that he never needs one again.
The best Deadpool stories are far in the past. While there may be new ways to present the character, too many fans just want the same old, same old and that leads him down paths that are too familiar for fans to enjoy long term.
7 Scarlet Witch Doesn't Do Well In A Solo Environment
Scarlet Witch is one of Marvel's most powerful heroes and she's become rather important in recent years, both in comics and the MCU. A long term Avenger, she made her name in team books but solo Scarlet Witch comics don't really work. At first glance, it's kind of bizarre; she's a character with a storied history and lots to explore.
In practice, it never really works out that way. She doesn't have too many foes who are out to get her exclusively and the magic corner of the Marvel Universe isn't the most interesting. She's still a great character but no writer has ever found a way to make her work on her own.
6 Marvel Keeps Trying To Recapture Doctor Octopus's Superior Spider-Man Stardom
Doctor Octopus is one of Spider-Man's oldest foes. He got a major upgrade when he became the Superior Spider-Man, taking over Peter Parker's body and trying to prove that he was better than his old foe. It brought a renaissance for Doctor Octopus but after the story ended, Marvel kept trying to recapture that.
It's never worked as well again; Marvel often has a tendency to beat a dead horse and that's exactly what happened with Doc Ock. He's a great character but he's a better villain than a long-term solo star and every time Marvel tries to cart him back out for another nostalgia tour, they just cheapen the whole thing.
5 Cable's Time Is Long Over
Cable's status as a Summers makes him powerful mutant royalty but his popularity has always been a bit inexplicable. One of the violent mystery men of the Nineties, his big guns and lots of pouches aesthetic went out of style a long time ago but he's still around. He's one of the few mutants to sustain a long-term solo book but it's difficult to say he needs one.
When it was announced he was getting a solo book instead of plenty of other great mutants during the early stages of the Krakoa era, fans were mystified. Cable's been a fossil for years and even bringing a younger version of him in didn't breathe new life into the character.
4 The Thing Works Better In An Ensemble Setting
The Thing is one of Marvel's most popular powerhouses but putting him by himself is a strange idea. Marvel has recently tried another Thing comic and while people like the character, his solo books never last. He had a starring role in Marvel Two-In-One in two different volumes but that's not really a solo book and he flounders on his own.
The Thing is a great character when he can play off others. By himself, he's just not as interesting. Putting him in team-ups can't work forever, so his solo books for him just don't work very well.
3 Black Cat Is Better As A Supporting Character
Black Cat is literally Marvel's Catwoman. She's a cat burglar with a crush on Marvel's premiere vigilante. While there are some differences, she's still a supporting character at best. Felicia Hardy can be fun but she isn't Selina Kyle level. Marvel has only recently tried to push her as a solo star but it's all dependent on the talent on the book; it takes a great writer to make her work solo long term.
Divorced from Spider-Man, Black Cat is just another thief with a heart of gold. She's not exactly a big-stakes character and her stories are always going to be the same. Eventually, even the best writers will run out of good Black Cat stories.
2 Venom Has Always Been A Strange Choice For A Solo Star
Symbiotes have been a big deal at Marvel for a long time and it's all because of Venom. Starting out as the most popular new Spider-Man villain of the '90s, Venom jumped onto the anti-hero bandwagon and has stayed there ever since. While there have been more interesting runs with the character, such as the Flash Thompson Agent Venom version, Eddie Brock has never been an interesting hero.
Venom always feels like a character who is coasting off his success in the '90s. There's not much new that can be done with him, and any ideas that do seem like they could work are kind of vaguely ridiculous.
1 Iron Man Hasn't Been Popular In The Comics In Years
Iron Man may be popular in the MCU but the comics are a different story. Iron Man is one of Marvel's most disliked heroes in the comics and he's earned that with years of terrible acts. He's betrayed his friends, went full fascist after Civil War, and created the Illuminati, and helped them commit genocide on a massive scale during the Incursions.
Marvel tried to make him more in line with the MCU version of the character but fans never bought it. He's at his lowest popularity in years and yet has an ongoing and stars in a miniseries with Captain America, who doesn't have his own book. Iron Man having a book and Cap not is a travesty. Iron Man hasn't needed a book in years.