Marvel has been one of the biggest name in comics for decades, creating some of the most respected heroes in the comic industry. Marvel has been wowing audiences for years, putting out tales that have stood the test of time. While many of Marvel's icons are among the most well known in pop culture, not all of them started out as popular as they would become.
With some characters, they started off in a very different place than where they'd end up. Not every character is a hit right away and some need time to hit their stride. Patience is a virtue, though, as many unpopular characters have reached the highest heights of the comic industry since.
8 Deadpool Took Years To Become Truly Popular
There's a legend attached to Deadpool, often told by co-creator Rob Liefeld, that Deadpool was immediately popular and fully formed from his first moment on the page in New Mutants #98. This isn't exactly true— Deadpool got the '90s X-book rub but he wasn't exactly a household name or even that much of a fan favorite, as he was kind of a generic evil assassin character.
Eventually, after a miniseries and an ongoing comic, Deadpool would become the fourth wall breaking jokester he's now known as. That change would set him on the road his future mega success. He's quickly become one of Marvel's most popular anti-heroes and a beloved part of the Marvel Universe.
7 It Took Joining The Avengers To Make Hawkeye Popular
Hawkeye has had a long strange road over the years. He began as a villain fighting Iron Man at the behest of Black Widow, which has always been a strange thought. Villainy wouldn't prove a good fit for the character and he would eventually debut as an Avenger in Avengers #16, the first major roster shake-up for Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Becoming a member of Marvel biggest team did wonders for the archer.
Hawkeye would quickly become one of the most popular Avengers, eventually getting a starring role in West Coast Avengers. Since then, Hawkeye has bounced around the Marvel Universe, mostly as an Avenger, and proven over and over again just how great of a hero he is.
6 The Eternals Were Never Very Popular Despite Multiple Attempts
With their big screen debut upcoming, the Eternals have been brought back in their own book by writer Kieron Gillen and artist Esad Ribic. This is the first time they've had some spotlight since 2006, when writer Neil Gaiman and artist John Romita Jr. tried to reboot them. The reboot didn't stick and the characters fell into obscurity again. This has actually been pretty indicative of the Eternals since their debut.
Billed as the return of Jack Kirby to Marvel, the first Eternals book wouldn't even hit its twentieth issue before being cancelled. A Kirby book getting cancelled so early in its run was just about unthinkable but the Eternals proved to be a concept that fans just weren't ready for. The characters have made other appearances over the years but on their own have never really been that big of a seller thus far.
5 The Black Knight Started Life As A Villain & Wasn't Very Popular At All
Black Night is also debuting on the big screen in Eternals and he's another character that wasn't very popular at first. Starting out as a member of Henreich Zemo's Masters of Evil, Black Night and his Ebony Blade clashed with the Avengers but eventually, the character would become a hero. As a villain, Black Knight was a bust and Marvel made him a hero to try something new with him.
Black Knight would become an Avengers mainstay in the '80s and '90s but he never actually became popular, even when he led the team. His Avengers are one of the least beloved in the team's history. He would be better thought of than when he was a villain, though, so he has that going for him.
4 Thanos Wouldn't Hit His Stride Until He Was Pitted Against Captain Marvel & Adam Warlock
Thanos is known as one of Marvel's greatest villains and for a lot of fans, it's hard to imagine a time when he wasn't one of the most popular characters in the Marvel Universe. That time did happen, though, as Thanos wasn't exactly villain of the year material right off the bat. In fact, after his first appearance fighting Iron Man, he would disappear until creator Jim Starlin brought him over to the cosmic side of things.
Battling against Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock would bring the character to prominence before Starlin would pen the arc that would transform Thanos forever: Infinity Gauntlet. That story propelled the Mad Titan into the stratosphere and the rest is history.
3 The Scarlet Spider Was Set Up To Fail
The Clone Saga is one of the most infamous periods in Spider-Man history and the titular Spider-Clone suffered the most. The Scarlet Spider was introduced to be the focus of the whole story and fans weren't exactly sure how to feel about him— some liked him, but most were either indifferent or more interested in how the story was going to shake out than anything else. The problem came when thing started to drag out.
The biggest nail in the character's coffin was when it was revealed that he was the actual Peter Parker, something that angered fans immensely and led to a mass exodus of readers from the book. Eventually, the truth would be revealed and Ben Reilly would go the way of the dodo, although revivals have tried to bring him back many times over the years.
2 The Hulk's First Comic Was Cancelled
Silver Age Marvel didn't have a whole lot of missteps but the Hulk was one of them. While the character would prove to have legs that would propel him into one of Marvel's most beloved characters, at first the Hulk didn't do well with the audience and his book was cancelled after its sixth issue. He'd be shunted over to one of Marvel's anthology titles, slowly but surely gaining a following before that book was renamed The Incredible Hulk.
Since then, there have been many versions of the Hulk and he's starred in TV, movies, and video games. It's strange to think of a time when the Jade Giant was on the chopping block, but it happened.
1 It Took The X-Men To Make Wolverine Popular
Wolverine is the best there is at what does and sometimes, that was make no impression upon his first appearance. Wolverine would debut at the end of Incredible Hulk #180 before making his full appearance in the next issue, as Hulk battled him and Wendigo in the Canadian Outback. This debut would also be the last appearance of the character for years, until creator Len Wein brought him into Giant-Size X-Men #1.
This would put the character on the road to popularity. Wolverine would become one of Marvel's greatest heroes and most popular characters, helping propel the X-Men to stardom. He's a household name now but it definitely wasn't always that way.