Who are Marvel's "Big Three"?

[phantom1592]

I'm not even sure that Wonder Woman belongs in DC's Trinity. DC has had to continuously print Wonder Woman for copyright reasons, but it often hasn't been very successful. Green Lantern was arguably DC's big third for long stretches of time.

Agreed.

The idea of DC's 'trinity' was based on the idea of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman were the only three characters who saw continuing print during the Golden Age. Comics drifted away from Superheroes after the war and Romance, Western and Noir took over... but those three were still popular enough that they survived the purge.

That was a LONG time ago. Wonder Woman has been canceled a few times now... Especially around the Infinite Crisis time if I recall. She's had more reboots than anyone else I can think of that COMPLETELY upend her origin, abilities and mentality... and she's never really popular outside of 'the first woman hero'. People like the general idea of her a lot more than her actual stories. She really flounders and has the weakest fan base... lot more than any member of a 'trinity' should.

So yeah.... Batman and Superman are DC's most popular characters... and Wonder WOman is who they WISH was popular.... but gets her slot more out of tradition than anyone else.

[MadFacedKid]

I think before the MCU it was Spider-Man, Wolverine and The Hulk but now I’d say Ironman took Hulk’s spot.


But honestly Marvel seems to push the Avengers at the forefront and the Big three of that is Steve, Tony and Thor

[Electricmastro]

Agreed. The idea of DC's 'trinity' was based on the idea of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman were the only three characters who saw continuing print during the Golden Age. Comics drifted away from Superheroes after the war and Romance, Western and Noir took over... but those three were still popular enough that they survived the purge.

Ah, shoulda figured that’s where the “big three trinity” came from, companies such as Fox Comics having used it at that time. But even ignoring how Blackhawk and The Phantom continued to be printed after the Golden Age just leaving Clark, Bruce, and Diana, I agree that 2019 isn’t the same as the Golden Age regardless of how many times people try to push the idea of a trinity today. I mean no disrespect to Wonder Woman, but people are going to try to tell me that her success has been exactly the same Batman has had in the last 35 years, then I’m sorry, I just don’t see it.

[TheRay]

I used to think Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Captain America, or at least variations of it,

I’d add Deadpool, Mr. Fantastic, and Cyclops.

[Electricmastro]

Felt to post this ad from Uncanny Tales #23 (August, 1954):

[Odd Rödney]

I don’t think you can fit them in a trinity. Marvel is just to widespread and varied for it. The closest there is would be Iron Man, Captain America and Thor, but they can’t be called the Marvel trinity, just the Avengers trinity.

Yeah, I think this is pretty accurate.

I used to think Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Captain America, or at least variations of it, but now I get the feeling their big three are teams instead of individual characters: Avengers, Fantastic Four, and X-Men.

True, Marvel is all about the team books. Or at least, in my opinion, that appears to be there strength.

[Oheao]

Spider-Man's got to be in the top 3, I don't know how anyone can argue otherwise. Spider-Man on PS4 is the best-selling superhero game of all time, Far From Home grossed over a billion dollars, Spider-Man's merchandise sales are sky-high and comic sales are consistent. It'd be like saying Batman or Superman aren't part of the top three for DC.

[stormphoenix]

Spider-Man
Wolverine
Captain Marvel

[Ptrvc]

Marvel (still) doesn't have a big three.

Good thing too. At this point it's a triheaded albatross around DC's neck.

[Green Goblin of Sector 2814]

Spider-Man, Hulk, Wolverine.

If we were only allowed to do individual characters, I'd say this. However, if we were allowed to include whole teams, I'd say:

Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men.

I don’t think you can fit them in a trinity. Marvel is just too widespread and varied for it. The closest there is would be Iron Man, Captain America and Thor, but they can’t be called the Marvel trinity, just the Avengers trinity.

I think it's just about having the three most iconic characters, not necessarily a trio that represents all of the Marvel Universe. I mean, even looking at DC's Trinity, there's still...a lot of the DCU unrepresented there.

[Green Goblin of Sector 2814]

Felt to post this ad from Uncanny Tales #23 (August, 1954):

That is...something to think about. Can anyone imagine what it would have been like if Marvel had just continued along promoting only these three as their flagship characters, even after Spider-Man and FF were created?

[Captain Craig]

If you had asked me this in the 90s the answer would've been: Spider-man, Hulk, Wolverine(X-Men by default, cartoon was huge).

Now however I'd say: Spider-man, Iron Man, Wolverine

The MCU films have upped Tony Stark and the entanglements of contracts with Universal have held Hulk back(not that he's not still well known).

[capandkirby]

That is...something to think about. Can anyone imagine what it would have been like if Marvel had just continued along promoting only these three as their flagship characters, even after Spider-Man and FF were created?

I personally would have loved it. But then, I have a tremendous soft-spot for my Golden Age boys and Cap in particular, so, there is some bias at play here, true.

[capandkirby]

If you had asked me this in the 90s the answer would've been: Spider-man, Hulk, Wolverine(X-Men by default, cartoon was huge).

Now however I'd say: Spider-man, Iron Man, Wolverine

The MCU films have upped Tony Stark and the entanglements of contracts with Universal have held Hulk back(not that he's not still well known).

According the the owner of the CBS I buy from (and he owns two shops here in my city), the MCU has not effected/increased comic sales one iota. Movie fans don't necessarily translate to comics fans, unfortunately, though the Iron Man solo title does remain above cancellation threshold, so he does well. I'm not saying he's not popular with both audiences, just that the two groups are separate from one another. Hulk, though, is actually outselling him comic-wise.

[superduperman]

Felt to post this ad from Uncanny Tales #23 (August, 1954):

I love the fact that Cap's a "commie smasher!" now. I doubt that they would have even gone forward with the FF had the other three been making money at the time. They already had a Human Torch, after all. They didn't need another one. This would have taken the MU in a whole different direction.