Imagine if superheroes had Instagram accounts. Their feeds would pretty much just be their pets, right? Maybe some pretty sky-high selfies. For as long as there have been superheroes, there have been super pets. Some of them are even going to get to star in their own movie!
Whereas the major DC heroes tend to have pets, it's rare that major Marvel ones do. Still, many of the greatest pets in all of comics belong to Marvel. Here are the ten most iconic pets in Marvel, ranked.
10 Zabu
Zabu is a sabretooth tiger. He doesn't really need anything else to qualify him an iconic pet, but in the interest of fairness, he's the trusty companion to Ka-Zar of the Savage Land. Zabu is actually the last living sabretooth in existence after his family was killed by Man-Apes. Evil Man-Apes. Zabu saved the life of young Kevin Plunder and taught him how to live in the prehistoric wilds of the Savage Land, and they've been inseparable ever since. Zabu also has been a member of the Pet Avengers, like some of the other pets on this list.
9 Lockjaw
Another member of the Pet Avengers and one of the most instantly recognizable pets in all comics is the massive bulldog with a tuning fork on his head, Lockjaw. Lockjaw debuted in Fantastic Four #45 back in 1968 and has been a mainstay of the Inhumans ever since. Lockjaw has - surprisingly - incredibly strong jaws, and even the Thing couldn't shake him loose when they battled. Lockjaw can also teleport, which he does for the other Inhumans frequently between Earth and their home base on the moon.
8 Bats
Bats is a recent and outstanding addition to the Doctor Strange mythos. The Sorcerer Supreme adopted the basset hound after Strange briefly became a veterinarian. That didn't last, and when Strange faced off against Loki, the God of Mischief inadvertently killed Bats with a spell. Like any good dog, Bats came back. He's green and a ghost and just kind of cool. His spirit can speak in human languages and inhabit human bodies, and he provides some charming if gruff tonic to Doctor Strange's sometimes somber moods.
7 Lucky (Pizza Dog)
Pizza Dog, or Lucky as he's properly known, featured in one of the best comic book stories of the last decade. And he's going to feature in the upcoming Hawkeye Disney+ series if concept art is to be believed. Once owned by the Tracksuit Mafia, bro, he gave up all that for some pizza.
Originally, Hawkeye named him Arrow but this was a bit too on the nose, so he went with Lucky, which was certainly more apt. Lucky went on to make some appearances alongside Clint Barton and Kate Bishop in successive issues of their respective Hawkeye runs.
6 Jeff The Baby Landshark
Jeff the Baby Landshark stole his way into the heart of Gwenpool after she discovered him in an issue of West Coast Avengers. She then teleported him to her weird island where everyone fights and he didn't get into that too much, but he did watch Gwenpool beat the stuffing out of the Hulk. Since Gwen had doubts about keeping her solo series going, she handed Jeff off to Deadpool. They may have only been pals for a brief time, but he's forever in our hearts.
5 Throg
One of the absolute best Thor stories is when Walt Simonson turned the God of Thunder into a frog. It was during that adventure that he met Puddlegulp, and they become friends after Thor defended Puddlegulp's people from some rats. Sometime later, Puddlegulp finds a little tiny shard of Mjolnir and becomes Thorg, the Frog of Thunder. While not technically a pet, he's certainly a friendly companion to a Marvel hero and he also joins up with Pet Avengers on a mission to find the missing Infinity Gems.
4 Redwing
Redwing is the trusty sidekick of Falcon, and sadly he's been absent from the MCU (so far). Redwing was a wild falcon trained by Sam Wilson in Harlem, and never left his side as Sam trained with Captain America and became the Falcon. While at first neither Sam nor Redwing had powers, some ill-advised futzing with the Cosmic Cub by the Red Skull mentally linked them and granted Sam a mental link with all living birds, as well as some control over them. Naturally, Redwing is also a Pet Avenger.
3 Chewie
Though the Captain Marvel movie didn't portray them as particularly close, Chewie - Goose in the movie - and Carol Danvers are best buds. Chewie provides Carol with a little bit of normalcy and domesticity away from fighting cosmic battles, but the truth is, she's an alien, too.
Chewie is not a Wookie, but a flerken. What's a flerken? Something that looks exactly like a cat, but lays eggs and shoots scarry tentacle things out of its mouth, that's what. Crazy as all that is, Carol could never give up Chewie, not even when Rocket the Racoon tried to kill her.
2 Devil Dinosaur
A dinosaur as a pet? A gigantic red T-Rex as a pet? Hands down, Devil Dinosaur is one of the coolest pets in the Marvel universe, and he's also one of the most unique characters. Originally from Dinosaur World, he ended up in the Savage Land and became pals with Moon Boy. After Moon Boy died, Devil Dinosaur wandered through a portal into New York City and somehow didn't get clocked by local authorities before befriending Moon Girl. The two became fast friends and allies.
1 Lockheed
There is no better sidekick than Lockheed, trusty alien dragon friend of Kitty Pryde for decades now. Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons have nothing on Shadowcat. After Lockheed rescues Kitty from the Brood on an alien world, he comes back to Earth with her and joins her through all her many ups and downs, always lending a hand or a blast of alien fire breath. He can't be too happy at the moment, because of her recent death, but one suspects that the two friends won't be separated for long.