Marvel's most famous characters...a debate

[KangConquers]

DC has sort of an undisputed top 7 that they've built their entire universe around, and even call "the big 7". They kind of adhere to that list in terms of how much characters should be pushed, how they should be marketed etc. Marvel doesn't have that, and I thought it'd be fun to have a little debate thread over who the top 10-20 Marvel heroes are.


This is my list based on presence in Film, Animation, Video Games, Action Figures, and even the comics themselves.


1. Spider-Man
2. Iron Man
3. Wolverine
4. Hulk
5. Captain America
6. Thor
7. Thing
8. Storm
9. Professor X
10. Cyclops
11. Human Torch
12. Jean Grey
13. Nick Fury
14. Mr. Fanastic
15. Invisible Woman
16. Silver Surfer
17. Blade
18. Beast
19. Rogue
20. Black Widow

 

[shiva666]

Wolverine in 3rd... you're probably right, but it is so wrong... i hate Wolverine's marvel.

In my Vision:

THE AVENGERS (5 top marvel characters)
Spider-man
Iron Man
Captain America
Hulk
Thor

Fantastic 4 (original team)

X-MEN
Wolverine
Cyclops
Professor X
I would say Jean but she is more of a plot twist then a character.

The Silver Surfer is more of a power gauge limit.

You could probably have a better picture from people that know less about the marvel universe: if they can name the character, it's probably being pushed by the media.

 

[THANOSRULES]

DC has sort of an undisputed top 7 that they've built their entire universe around, and even call "the big 7". They kind of adhere to that list in terms of how much characters should be pushed, how they should be marketed etc. Marvel doesn't have that, and I thought it'd be fun to have a little debate thread over who the top 10-20 Marvel heroes are.


This is my list based on presence in Film, Animation, Video Games, Action Figures, and even the comics themselves.


1. Spider-Man
2. Iron Man
3. Wolverine
4. Hulk
5. Captain America
6. Thor
7. Thing
8. Storm
9. Professor X
10. Cyclops
11. Human Torch
12. Jean Grey
13. Nick Fury
14. Mr. Fanastic
15. Invisible Woman
16. Silver Surfer
17. Blade
18. Beast
19. Rogue
20. Black Widow

Based on your criteria..its not a bad list..however Iceman may deserve to be in the 17-20 range..Spidey and his Amazing friends was a Huge toon for the 80s...even though it didnt run for long...andi think he's been in enough other stuff...I'd really tend to think sub-mariner deserves to be on here..while he has not hit the big or small screen much..he's so old and storied.

 

[KangConquers]

Based on your criteria..its not a bad list..however Iceman may deserve to be in the 17-20 range..Spidey and his Amazing friends was a Huge toon for the 80s...even though it didnt run for long...andi think he's been in enough other stuff...I'd really tend to think sub-mariner deserves to be on here..while he has not hit the big or small screen much..he's so old and storied.

Ice Man was my #21. He was outed due to his lack of presence in the 1990s Animated series, and having a slightly lesser presence in the X-films. Nightcrawler, Hawkeye, Colossus, Daredevil, Ghost Rider, and Punisher also placed in my top 30, but a top 30 just seemed...excessive.

Sub-Mariner in the 1960s would've been top 10, but every year his stock seems to go down. He hasn't had an on-going or any major media appearances outside of comic books in 20 years.

 

[KangConquers]

You could probably have a better picture from people that know less about the marvel universe: if they can name the character, it's probably being pushed by the media.

Yeah. I work at Target and I constantly take note of different things we sell. Our Marvel T-Shirts carry a transparent M logo that's overlayed over a group shot of: Thor, Cap, Hulk, Spidey, Wolverine, Iron Man, Daredevil, Thing, and Silver Surfer (I want to say Luke Cage MIGHT be on it too; I'll have to check again today.) We also sell coffee mugs and t-shirts with the "big 6" (Spider-Man, Iron Man, Wolverine, Hulk, Captain America and Thor.)

 

[Lord Raizen]

It really is simply the "Big 6" as it were. It's the Top 4 Avengers + Wolverine and Spiderman. It's actually been this way for a long time. And that's speaking from a comic stand point as well as a media stand point.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Spider-man, then Hulk, followed by Wolverine.

Magneto is also pretty famous. At least, I see his name mentioned whenever people mention super villains (aside from Lex Luthor and the Joker).

But that's mostly in the wake of the very successful movies.

 

[RLAAMJR.]

1. Spider-man
2. Wolverine
3. Iron Man
4. Hulk
5. Thor
6. Captain America
7. Storm

and it looks like Marvel agrees with me. : )

 

[THANOSRULES]

I also noticed no DD...he's got to be in the top 20. Had his own movie, which some consider famously bad.

He also had an 80s secret war figure and appeared in the HULK tv movie. He's more famous than most of the second half of ur list

 

[runawayboulder]

Spider-Man is the most famous....PERIOD.

Iron Man may be gaining steam now but let's see what happens when the movies are done and Robert Downey Jr moves on in 5 years. I doubt we'll ever seen the Spider-Man Macy's Thanksgiving Parade balloon get replaced by an Iron Man one (or any other character).

 

[KangConquers]

The problem about doing this with Marvel is, you could argue most of their big franchises are actually teams...if I counted teams in the list (instead of breaking up individual members that don't have solo books/ video games/ films etc) I think it would be:


1. Avengers (I consider the commercial successes of Cap, Iron Man, Thor and Hulk Combined to be at least equal to Spider-Man alone. Some may disagree but...)
2. Spider-Man
3. X-Men
4. Iron Man
5. Wolverine (Solo)
6. Fantastic Four
7. Hulk
8. Captain America
9. Thor
10. Blade (based on multi-media success)/ Daredevil (based on comic books.)

 

[venom892]

For me this is the list

1.Spider-man
2.Wolverine
3.Iron Man
4.Hulk
5.Captain America
6.Storm
7.Thor
8.Rogue
9.Cyclops
10.Jean Grey
11.Professor X
12.Fantastic Four(I think putting X-men in one slot is too encompassing.It's just too many characters.same with Avengers.)
13. Beast
14.Gambit
15.Daredevil
16.Ghost Rider
17.Blade
18.Black Widow
19.Hawkeye
20.Nick Fury

Villains
1.Venom
2.Magneto
3.Dr. Doom
4.Loki
5.Green Goblin

 

[THANOSRULES]

The problem about doing this with Marvel is, you could argue most of their big franchises are actually teams...if I counted teams in the list (instead of breaking up individual members that don't have solo books/ video games/ films etc) I think it would be:


1. Avengers (I consider the commercial successes of Cap, Iron Man, Thor and Hulk Combined to be at least equal to Spider-Man alone. Some may disagree but...)
2. Spider-Man
3. X-Men
4. Iron Man
5. Wolverine (Solo)
6. Fantastic Four
7. Hulk
8. Captain America
9. Thor
10. Blade (based on multi-media success)/ Daredevil (based on comic books.)

flop avengers and spidey and this is the best list... i mean spidey appeared on seasame street after all...

 

[Quasimod0]

The avengers have the number 3 movie of all time. They have definitely moved up the list recently

 

[Donnie Darko]

DC has sort of an undisputed top 7 that they've built their entire universe around, and even call "the big 7". They kind of adhere to that list in terms of how much characters should be pushed, how they should be marketed etc. Marvel doesn't have that, and I thought it'd be fun to have a little debate thread over who the top 10-20 Marvel heroes are.

If you really think about it, though, DC's Big Seven really aren't even their most well known or popular characters, especially at the time when the whole Big Seven concept was really being pushed with Morrison's JLA. Martian Manhunter, for example, is nowhere near as popular or well-known with the mass audience as, say, Robin or the majority of the Batman rogues, such as The Joker, Catwoman, The Penguin and The Riddler.

Before 2008 and the start of the Marvel Studios movies, besides Spider-Man and Hulk, at least, by far the most popular (at least with people around my age who grew up on the cartoon) would be the X-Men. Even girls around my age who have never touched a comic book might tell you that "Gambit is my favorite" because of exposure to the cartoon.

 

[KangConquers]

flop avengers and spidey and this is the best list... i mean spidey appeared on seasame street after all...

I'd say for all-time rankings, Spidey is still higher, but I'd say for the past 5 years, the Avengers properties have far overshadowed Spidey, and in the moment, Avengers is by far the biggest thing Marvel has going for it.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

over a 70 year popularity contest?

Spider-Man
The Hulk
Wolverine
Fantastic 4
Iron Man

 

[THANOSRULES]

I'd say for all-time rankings, Spidey is still higher, but I'd say for the past 5 years, the Avengers properties have far overshadowed Spidey, and in the moment, Avengers is by far the biggest thing Marvel has going for it.

disagree...mainly because spidey is part of avengers durin that time..I mean spidey is like an icon outright...

 

[KangConquers]

disagree...mainly because spidey is part of avengers durin that time..I mean spidey is like an icon outright...

Comics mean so little to public perception though, Even the most successful comic services such a small segment of the population; many top 10 selling comics barely break 100k units. In most multimedia incarnations, Spider-Man is not a member of the Avengers.

In the past 5 years The Avengers have been the top Marvel property, between a string of hit solo films, an animated series, a team film that grossed almost as much as any two Spider-Man movies combined. Spider-Man has had a good animated series, a crappy animated series and a movie that barely outperformed Iron Man 2 (and did so with the benefit of 3-D.) To say that Spider-Man is being downplayed a bit in favor of Avengers at the house of ideas is not a stretch.

Nothing is set in stone. I remember when Batman overtook Superman as DC's top character. I also remember when Wolverine wasn't a top 3 Marvel character, and I'm not even 30. These things cycle frequently, and Avengers are currently overtaking Spider-Man as Marvel's top franchise.

 

[Quasimod0]

I think that before the first iron man, Cap was more popular than iron man.

 

[RLAAMJR.]

If we're putting teams, the X-Men is still more popular than the Avengers.

 

[Baramos]

My list is honestly based on the public's perception, currently. And I'm including all generations in it, so my old fogey parents who never saw any of the Avengers movies in theaters but have probably saw them on DVD or on TV once are taken into account.

1. Spider-Man.
2. The Incredible Hulk (yes, the TV show is just that powerful).
3. Wolverine (I'll just separate him out because he's so damned recognizable).
4. X-Men (just, as a franchise. I'm not sure any of the individual X-Men are patently recognizable to the average Joe on the street, sadly. I guess Cyclops, Storm, etc. would have the best chance.)
5. Iron Man
6. Captain America
7. Any that have been in Avengers movies (Thor, maybe Black Widow).
.
.
.
.
.
etc
Everything else.

Like you said, DC has it's top 7. Marvel has Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men as a recognizable franchise/name, and...not a lot else that has cultural cachet, or at least not up until 2008 when Iron Man came out. Oh, well, Captain America is pretty recognizable to the older set, actually. He's pretty culturally ingrained, like Superman. Heroes that used to do patriotic-type things like punch Hitler have cultural cachet because it's a cliche. So Captain America, Superman, Wonder Woman, etc. have a certain recognizability regardless of whether the people recognizing them actually know anything about them other than their names and what they look like (obviously Superman occupies a notch even above all the rest because simply everyone knows who Superman is and what he does). Taking a stance like "who would your grandfather recognize" would probably put Captain America higher on this list.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

If we're putting teams, the X-Men is still more popular than the Avengers.

I suspect that'll change with the next generation, given that they'll be growing up with Marvel and Disney putting the full force of their marketing resources behind the Avengers. I'm already seeing a lot more Avengers bedsheets and underwear in the kids sections of department stores where I used to see mostly X-Men-branded stuff. I got little cushions with Gambit's face plastered across them and an X-Men logo on the back when I was a kid in the '90s; for my 2-year-old niece now, it's much likelier that I'd find something with Iron Man's ugly mug on it instead. Times are changing now that Disney's got the full multimedia rights to the Avengers while the X-Men require Fox to get cut in.

 

[KangConquers]

If we're putting teams, the X-Men is still more popular than the Avengers.

One Avenger movie outgrossed an entire X-Men trilogy, and the solo Avengers movies had a higher gross average than the X-Men films; I'd say you need to rethink that stance.

 

[RLAAMJR.]

One Avenger movie outgrossed an entire X-Men trilogy, and the solo Avengers movies had a higher gross average than the X-Men films; I'd say you need to rethink that stance.

The X-logo is still more recognizable than the A-logo.

The X-men has more exposure so even if Avengers has grossed very well, I firmly believe that if people haven't heard the first X-Men movie, would have heard X-men on the second x-film or the third film , etc.

Besides, The X-men has a lot of cartoon series which is being replayed worldwide. Same goes to the past x-men films.

And the x-men boards still have more posts and threads on different comic sites.