For many years, Marvel Comics fans loved to see team-ups in comic books. One of the most popular comics of the 70s and 80s was Marvel Team-Up, where Spider-Man would join forces with a different hero each month to help him defeat a specific supervillain. While not as popular, Marvel Two In One saw The Thing doing the same, with results that were usually just as entertaining as the Spidey team-ups.
However, there are also those heroes who teamed up with someone and it just stuck. In some cases, the heroes ended up so strongly connected that fans couldn't talk about one without thinking of the other. In some cases, they even ended up sharing a comic book title. Here is a look at 10 of the best partnerships in Marvel Comics history.
10 POWER MAN AND IRON FIST
A perfect example of two superheroes who remain interconnected decades after their debuts are Luke Cage and Danny Rand, better known as Power Man and Iron Fist. The characters were products of their time who teamed up to become Heroes for Hire.
The two were the best of friends and the closest of allies. They were so connected that when Netflix started their street-level hero Marvel series, they couldn't have Luke Cage without also bringing in Iron Fist. While they're not connected at the hip anymore, whenever Iron Fist is around, Luke Cage won't be far behind.
9 CAPTAIN AMERICA AND FALCON
Falcon made his first appearance in the pages of Captain America #117 in 1969. A resident of Harlem, Falcon soon embarked on a mission in the tropics, which ended up involving the Red Skull.
Sam was saved by Captain America and became a hero at Cap's recommendation. Throughout the 70s, Captain America and Falcon were partners, and Marvel even added Falcon's name to the series from issue #134-222. The two were so connected that Falcon became the new Captain America years later.
8 GROOT AND ROCKET RACCOON
There is no possible way to think about Rocket Raccoon without seeing Groot as well. This connection was truly immortalized thanks to the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Groot appeared first in Tales to Astonish #13 in 1960. Rocket Raccoon appeared first in Marvel Preview #7 and later appeared in The Incredible Hulk #271.
It wasn't until Annihilation: Conquest in 2006 that Rocket Raccoon and Groot became partners, both members of the Guardians of the Galaxy. That was also when both became regular characters in Marvel, despite debuting decades before in smaller roles.
7 DEADPOOL AND CABLE
The strangest relationship in Marvel Comics is the odd pairing of Deadpool and Cable. It is such a unique relationship that the two even knocked it out of the park in Deadpool 2 despite changes to their history. The duo first met in the pages of New Mutants #98 and immediately fell in love/hate with each other.
Cable never wanted Deadpool around, but he was stuck with him everywhere from the pages of X-Factor to their own Cable & Deadpool series in 2004.
6 CAPTAIN MARVEL AND SPIDER-WOMAN
Jessica Drew, also known as Spider-Woman, is the best of friends with Carol Danvers, the hero called Captain Marvel. This is more than a partnership as these two women have been there for each other when they needed it the most, even though they were never the best roommates.
The first time the two heroes met was in the pages of Avengers Annual #10, when Jessica saves Carol after the heinous attack by Rogue almost killed Ms. Marvel. Jessica even helped make sure that the X-Men put Carol back together again. In the Spider-Woman series from 2015, they were the best partners in any Marvel Comics title.
5 THE THING AND HUMAN TORCH
The entire purpose behind the Fantastic Four, when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby brought them to life, was to create a superhero group that was more of a family than a team. It consisted of Reed Richards and Sue Storm (who would one day be husband and wife) along with Johnny Storm, who was Sue's brother.
It also included Reed's best friend, Ben Grimm, who became The Thing. However, the best duo in the team was easily The Thing and Human Torch. Ben was always grumpy and easily irritated, and Johnny was a prankster who loved to mess with his rocky friend. Their interactions were the highlights of the series.
4 VISION AND SCARLET WITCH
Possibly the strangest partners in Marvel Comics are Vision and Scarlet Witch. Honestly, nothing about this pairing made sense. Wanda was a mutant, the daughter of Magneto, and a former villain turned hero in the Avengers. The Vision was an android created by Ultron, using the body of the android Human Torch and brain patterns of Wonder Man.
Soon, the Vision and Scarlet Witch fell in love. Wanda even created children for them, although that ended up becoming a tragedy in and of itself. While strange and unorthodox, the Vision and Scarlet Witch captured the imagination of readers and the pair will get their own Disney+ television series.
3 HAWKEYE AND MOCKINGBIRD
If Vision and Scarlet Witch seemed like a weird partnership as a couple, Hawkeye and Mockingbird looked like a match made in Heaven. Barbara Morse originally appeared in Astonishing Tales #6 and became Mockingbird in Marvel Team-Up #95. Then, in the Hawkeye miniseries in 1983, she met Hawkeye.
By the end of the four-issue miniseries, the two fell in love, eloped and got married. The two next took on the leadership roles on the West Coast Avengers team. Sadly, their marriage ended when Mockingbird allowed the villain Phantom Rider to die (breaking a no-kill rule Hawkeye had at the time) and they just couldn't repair the rift this caused between them.
2 WICCAN AND HULKLING
Possibly the cutest partnership in Marvel Comics today is that of Hulkling and Wiccan, two young heroes (and proud members of the Young Avengers) who are deeply in love with each other.
Hulking is a mixed-breed Kree-Skrull character whose father was Captain Mar-Vell, while Wiccan is the reincarnated son of Scarlet Witch. Wiccan is also one of the most powerful characters in Marvel, although his powers are still raw and developing. Their relationship was the best part of early Young Avengers comics.
1 DEADPOOL AND SPIDER-MAN
One of the most recent partnerships in Marvel Comics is that between Spider-Man and Deadpool. The two couldn't be any more different, with Spider-Man being a do-gooder hero and Deadpool the controversial Merc with a Mouth. Actually, their quips and insults make them very similar in at least one way.
Through most of their existence, Deadpool made Spider-Man's life hell, and all Spidey wanted was for Deadpool to leave him alone. It actually sounds a lot like the relationship Deadpool and Cable share. However, when the two are allowed to both be their wise-mouth selves, they are great together, as seen in the 2016-17 Spider-Man/Deadpool series.