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  1. #1
    Extraordinary Member superduperman's Avatar
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    Default Who are Marvel's "Big Three"?

    We all know DC has their "Big Three". Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. But who would you consider Marvel's three most recognized characters? Mine would be:

    1) Spider-Man.

    2) Captain America.

    3) Hulk.
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  2. #2
    Astonishing Member Electricmastro's Avatar
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    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.

  3. #3
    Astonishing Member Adekis's Avatar
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    In ye olden times I never questioned that it was Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, and the X-Men as a whole, or Wolverine specifically if I had to pick just one.

    Then the MCU hit, and I feel pretty strongly at this point that it's become Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor. Spider-Man is kind of doing his own thing, and while he's got tons of fans from decades of being in Marvel's top spot (and from Spider-Verse being like the best super-hero movie ever made) I still think the top three Avengers have the most pop-culture awareness. I mean, look at the conclusion of Endgame and the way it started with those three facing down Thanos.
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  4. #4
    Mighty Member Hybrid's Avatar
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    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.

  5. #5
    Astonishing Member Electricmastro's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Adekis View Post
    In ye olden times I never questioned that it was Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, and the X-Men as a whole, or Wolverine specifically if I had to pick just one.

    Then the MCU hit, and I feel pretty strongly at this point that it's become Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor. Spider-Man is kind of doing his own thing, and while he's got tons of fans from decades of being in Marvel's top spot (and from Spider-Verse being like the best super-hero movie ever made) I still think the top three Avengers have the most pop-culture awareness. I mean, look at the conclusion of Endgame and the way it started with those three facing down Thanos.
    Interesting point, and know that I think about it, even before the MCU arrived, Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor were some of of the most frequently appearing heroes on the Avengers rosters (two of which were founders and the other is more consistently the leader), as well as having their own solo books which all reached over 200 issues from the 1960s-1990s.

  6. #6
    Astonishing Member Adekis's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Electricmastro View Post
    Interesting point, and know that I think about it, even before the MCU arrived, Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor were some of of the most frequently appearing heroes on the Avengers rosters (two of which were founders and the other is more consistently the leader), as well as having their own solo books which all reached over 200 issues from the 1960s-1990s.
    It's definitely true that Thor, Cap and Shellhead were all probably the biggest names on the Avengers, and popular enough in their own right, but I'd argue that first of all, their popularity was mostly limited to those who were already comic fans, as opposed to someone like Spidey or Hulk with their TV shows, and second of all being the Best Avengers didn't mean as much then as it would later on either. Keep in mind, when they started Ultimate Marvel, the reason the team was renamed "The Ultimates" was because the powers-that-be thought the Avengers IP wasn't marketable enough to push the line the way they wanted. Fast forward to 2012, and we're living in a whole different world.
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  7. #7
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    Iron Man, Captain America and Thor definitely have the most recognition at the moment. But I think that Spider Man is more iconic, everyone knew him regardless of movies or cartoon well before the MCU, nothing lasts forever, the super hero movie trend eventually will play down, and two of them are already out of the pictures in the MCU, so I believe Spider Man is still and will be the bigger character going forward.

  8. #8
    The King Fears NO ONE! Triniking1234's Avatar
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    Spider-Man: Marvel's mascot
    Captain America: Most popular Avenger
    Wolverine: Most popular X-Man
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  9. #9
    Astonishing Member Adekis's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PeterParked View Post
    Iron Man, Captain America and Thor definitely have the most recognition at the moment. But I think that Spider Man is more iconic, everyone knew him regardless of movies or cartoon well before the MCU, nothing lasts forever, the super hero movie trend eventually will play down, and two of them are already out of the pictures in the MCU, so I believe Spider Man is still and will be the bigger character going forward.
    Yeah, Spider-Man's definitely in it for the long haul, no doubt about that. Like I said, I think Spider-Verse is like the best super-hero movie ever made, and he's got tons of fans sitting around from that time period when DC was Superman first-and-foremost, and Marvel was Spidey.

    But I think in terms of current pop culture awareness, with the just massive success of the MCU's Avengers series, the Big Three Avengers have become the Big Three Marvels.

    It's worth saying, I do think it's temporary. I think a lot of their success is tied to the movies, which just aren't going to happen anymore. No more Downey Tony, no more Evans Steve. That'll take a toll on their place as the Top Dogs, and I think it was prescient of Marvel Studios to want Spider-Man to replace them as the Biggest Avengers, even if that didn't really work out for them.
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  10. #10
    X-Cultist nx01a's Avatar
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    Spider-Man, Hulk, Wolverine.
    Quote Originally Posted by The General, JLA #38
    'Why?' Just to see the disappointment on your corn-fed, gee-whiz face, Superman. And because a great dark voice on the edge of nothing spoke to me and said you all had to die. There is no 'Why?'

  11. #11
    Mighty Member capandkirby's Avatar
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    According to the poll conducted by CBR: Spider-Man, Captain America and Wolverine

    https://community.cbr.com/showthread...ers-discussion

  12. #12
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    Spider-Man, Wolverine, and maybe Iron Man and Cap replacing Hulk.
    The movies elevated some actors as some characters and the Avengers franchise, but even with the MCU and even today there is no way in this life that Cap, Iron Man or Thor alone are bigger franchises than Spider-Man or X-Men.

  13. #13
    Incredible Member Grapeweasel's Avatar
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    Stan, Jack, and Steve.

  14. #14
    Mighty Member
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    X-Men, Avengers, Spider-Man

  15. #15

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    who knows. at this point maybe marvel should think beyond those boundaries. For lots of DC stories they base them loosely on what the potential interaction with "the trinity is going to be". or even just the batman/superman dynamic. That can be a limiting boundary creatively, potentially.

    Especially after the "MCU" movies took off, all related characters have an elevated profile. Most obviously, Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor. of course, they are the "big three" in Avengers comics, traditionally. But compared to Wolverine, who also is a major, major crossover figure.

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