Marvel characters and their religions

[Ultimate Captain America]

That makes sense - you'd think all cosmic heroes would be, as the existence of aliens definitely contradicts the old testament. Of course, so does the real life existence of dinosaur fossils! In the Marvel Universe, the Christian/Jewish/Muslim God isn't real (though people still pray to him), but the Norse and Greek/Roman pantheons are (the same goes for DC I think). Of course these days, religion is more about the moral lessons than about actually believing God made the Earth in a week.

What part of the Old Testament rules out aliens and dinosaurs? In any case, Skrulls also have their (fictional) religion, there's an Universal Church of Truth with their own space messiah... and yes, God does exist. They usually call him "The One Above All", and he's above all cosmic entities, even the Living Tribunal himself. And Mephisto basically spelled it out during some Spider-Man story whose name I forgot.

[Ultimate Captain America]

There's also Cable, who is Askani (a fictional religion from the future).

And Marvel also publishes comics set a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... and there were Jedis and Siths at that time.

[U.N. Owen]

In the Marvel Universe, the Christian/Jewish/Muslim God isn't real (though people still pray to him),

Uh, he's real in the Marvel Universe. Howard the Duck has had drinks with Allah/Elohim/Yaweh.

The Immaculate Conception herself has appeared in one Thor comic.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

That makes sense - you'd think all cosmic heroes would be, as the existence of aliens definitely contradicts the old testament.

Pope Francis recently said that aliens can be baptised:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...s-9360632.html

So the Church is open about the idea of life on another world.

I wonder if someone can do a story about a Bible Thumping Martian or an Asgardian who spends time on Earth and converts and decides to bring a mission across the 9 Realms. That kind of stuff can happen.

Of course, so does the real life existence of dinosaur fossils!

Only for some Protestant sects. The Catholic Church has never had issues with the theory of evolution on any official level.

There was Chip Zdarsky issue with Daredevil and Reed Richards discussing faith in the context of the MU:

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/08...n-daredevil-9/

[king of hybrids]

Matt bounces between Catholic, lousy Catholic and “angry at god” non-religious depending on the writer/rule of drama

[KOSLOX]

Matt bounces between Catholic, lousy Catholic and “angry at god” non-religious depending on the writer/rule of drama

So Catholic.

[DragonKent17]

If i'm remembered correctly doesn't Peter B. Parker in Into The Spider-Verse is confirmed to be Jewish. It was shown in the flashback to his marriage to Mary Jane, where he steps his foot on a glass during the ceremony (a Jewish marriage tradition).

[king of hybrids]

So Catholic.

Essentially yes.

[DragonKent17]

Also isn't Cypher a Mormon?

Nico Minoru in The Runaways TV Series was despicted as a Wiccan rather than Caatholic in the comics.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

If i'm remembered correctly doesn't Peter B. Parker in Into The Spider-Verse is confirmed to be Jewish. It was shown in the flashback to his marriage to Mary Jane, where he steps his foot on a glass during the ceremony (a Jewish marriage tradition).

That was added by one of the co-directors as a joke, and as a personal allusion to the Jewish background of that guy. They also said that they just tossed it there and it's up to audiences to decide if it's Peter who's Jewish or if it's MJ who's Jewish and Peter converted.

For those who are interested, when Peter and MJ got married in the comics whether it's the Wedding Annual ASM Annual #21, or in the newspaper strip, Stan Lee showed it as an entirely secular wedding at City Hall with a Judge officiating, and the word god isn't mentioned there.

[Frontier]

Reed's more agnostic then a hard atheist. He had a talk with Matt in the recent Zdarsky run where he didn't completely rule out the possibility of God existing.

I think he is written sometimes to sound a little culturally Jewish which isn't unheard of given New York's multicultural vibe in certain areas.

Especially Ultimate Peter by Bendis.

Thor and Loki worship Odin so they practice ancestor-worship.

Of course, after the events of Gorr the God Butcher/Godbomb, Thor had a real crisis of faith and now calls himself "the god of the unworthy" so I don't think Thor believes that he and other gods are anything other than alien beings who constantly have to earn and live up to the faith of those who believe them.

I doubt he thinks of them as aliens, because they aren't. They are actual, legitimate, Gods in the comics.

[Drops Of Venus]

Some other muslim characters: Josiah X (Josiah al hajj Saddiq), M (Monet St. Croix), Excalibur (Faiza Hussain), Dust (Sooraya Qadir).

I think Iron Fist (Danny Rand) is supposed to be buddhist in the comics, but I'm not completely sure.

Billy Kaplan, despite the ironic Wiccan codename, is a reform jew, which I always thought was very nice, as the idea of reform judaism isn't really discussed in mainstream media, but it should, specially when it comes to LGBTQ characters. I think it's nice to send the message that an abrahamic religion can evolve and adapt to modern times.

Even though Marc Spector comes from a jewish family, could he be considered pagan, considering the amount of things he's done in the name of Khonshu?

What part of the Old Testament rules out aliens and dinosaurs?

Even if you wanna argue that the lack of explicit mention of dinosaurs in the Bible isn't evidence of a contradiction, the religious idea that men existed alongside the first animals to be created IS a very direct contradiction of scientific findings about fossils. Science does not believe that it is possible for homo sapiens to have existed simultaneously as the first living species on Earth. I don't think you can argue both religion and science are on the same page on this particular issue.

Nico Minoru in The Runaways TV Series was despicted as a Wiccan rather than Caatholic in the comics.

I don't think Nico ever truly identified as catholic in the comics. And her parents, of course, were never really catholic, as it was just a facade for their real identities. But I did like that the show portrayed her as an actual wiccan. Wouldn't mind seeing that in the comics. The show also created a whole new religion to explain Karolina's backstory, although that turned out to be a facade as well.

That was added by one of the co-directors as a joke, and as a personal allusion to the Jewish background of that guy. They also said that they just tossed it there and it's up to audiences to decide if it's Peter who's Jewish or if it's MJ who's Jewish and Peter converted.

For those who are interested, when Peter and MJ got married in the comics whether it's the Wedding Annual ASM Annual #21, or in the newspaper strip, Stan Lee showed it as an entirely secular wedding at City Hall with a Judge officiating, and the word god isn't mentioned there.

I'm not sure if Peter B. Parker from ITSV being jewish was ''just a joke''. They posted this on Twitter last year:

https://twitter.com/SpiderVerse/stat...19832960483328

Sounds like more than a joke when we get a second (and very explicit) reference to him celebrating a jewish tradition. I agree that comic book Peter Parker is probably on the more secular side of things, though.

[Digifiend]

What part of the Old Testament rules out aliens and dinosaurs?

Genesis. The bit about God making Earth in a week, and Adam and Eve being born on day six. That means anything before the evolution of humanity doesn't exist according to the Bible, and the same goes for any life not on Earth. The Church has been forced to adapt to stay relevant.

[Ultimate Captain America]

Or it can also be that the "days" are just metaphorical, and not actual 24 hours days. In any case, it's out of topic, and I was wrong to ask about that. Let's just say that religion and aliens can mix, as long as writers find a way to do that (like, as I said, with the Skrull religion, or the Universal Church of Truth)

[Reviresco]

In a storytelling sense, it's important that Matt Murdock is a Catholic (either lapsed or doubting but someone who takes religion seriously), it's important that Ben Grimm be a practicing Jew, as well as Kate Pryde, and Kamala Khan be a practising Muslim (not sure if she's Sunni or Shi'a).

But for everyone else, religion is not really very important or relevant.

Not sure about the bolded throughout the MU, but for Namor, yes, religion is important. His rule is legitimized and blessed by Neptune. He has to perform religious rites. He actually has conversations with Neptune. And he's made a few life saving godcalls. Arguably, there's probably some connection to Neptune and the Atlantean magic that Namor serves as a conduit. It isn't something Namor dwells on every story, but many of his costumes carry Neptune's symbol, the trident, and originally, Neptune himself inscribed that on his belt.