Marvel characters that are better suited to specific time periods

[PCN24454]

This is a Marvel version of a thread that was started over in the DC Universe. I feel like Marvel as a whole is even more affected by this by just how many characters have origins connected to major real-life events. It's pretty funny just how many characters from the Timely era have some form of immortality. It's as though we never left there.

At least Captain America has the "man out of time" character trait, so he can be placed anywhere. The problem comes from characters like Black Widow who are constantly portrayed as being in their mid-to-late thirties despite being part of organizations that went defunct before they even went through puberty.

The Fantastic Four got their hype from the space race. Ultimate FF modified it to extradimensional travel, but it doesn't have the same relevance that it had with the readers of the 1960's.

Many adaptations ignore Hawkeye and Nightcrawlers experiences with circus performers since circuses as a whole have lost a lot of their prestige.

[Will Evans]

Original Nick Fury

[babyblob]

Yea it really bugs me when I read a Black Widow comic and she is so young and they talk about how she was part of the KBG and that. She is way too young.

[Digifiend]

At least Captain America has the "man out of time" character trait, so he can be placed anywhere. The problem comes from characters like Black Widow who are constantly portrayed as being in their mid-to-late thirties despite being part of organizations that went defunct before they even went through puberty.

Widow is actually many decades old in the comics (unlike in the movies), and still started out as a Soviet (she first met Bucky when he was brainwashed by them). She has a Russian knock-off of the super soldier serum, which is part of the reason she's still young, and she can be resurrected by cloning whenever she dies, turns out Krakoa wasn't the first to do that, the Red Room were already doing it.

[PCN24454]

Widow is actually many decades old in the comics (unlike in the movies), and still started out as a Soviet (she first met Bucky when he was brainwashed by them). She has a Russian knock-off of the super soldier serum, which is part of the reason she's still young, and she can be resurrected by cloning whenever she dies, turns out Krakoa wasn't the first to do that, the Red Room were already doing it.

I was more referring to how she was apparently a KGB agent in the MCU. The fact that she has longevity in the comics is a totally different issue.

[nandes]

Gambit and the 90's

jk

[shooshoomanjoe]

Widow is actually many decades old in the comics (unlike in the movies), and still started out as a Soviet (she first met Bucky when he was brainwashed by them). She has a Russian knock-off of the super soldier serum, which is part of the reason she's still young, and she can be resurrected by cloning whenever she dies, turns out Krakoa wasn't the first to do that, the Red Room were already doing it.

That sounds terrible. How does cloning resurrect her?

[babyblob]

I love Captain America but that man out if time bit was so over done. I havnt read any current issues from the last 6 or 7 years so I dont know how often it is used. But it got really played out.

How do they explain Magneto not being in his 90's being a holocausts survivor. Even though he was a kid at the time that still puts him in his 80's

[DrNewGod]

I love Captain America but that man out if time bit was so over done. I havnt read any current issues from the last 6 or 7 years so I dont know how often it is used. But it got really played out.

How do they explain Magneto not being in his 90's being a holocausts survivor. Even though he was a kid at the time that still puts him in his 80's

Magneto and his (then) entire Brotherhood got de-aged to infants in a Defenders story that came along while the X-Men's title was on hiatus. Claremont had a Shiar agent re-age him to his physical prime early in his run. They can get away with Xavier being his contemporary because Xavier inhabits a cloned body after his original was consumed by The Brood.

Still, I see your point. What's more as WWII fades out of the lived experience and even 2nd-hand stories of the public, tying characters to it (other than Captain America and The Winter Soldier) grows problematic. I tend to agree with opinions I've heard that Magneto's heritage should be vague, so that he can reflect a wide array of persecuted peoples.

[Mike_Murdock]

Magneto and his (then) entire Brotherhood got de-aged to infants in a Defenders story that came along while the X-Men's title was on hiatus. Claremont had a Shiar agent re-age him to his physical prime early in his run. They can get away with Xavier being his contemporary because Xavier inhabits a cloned body after his original was consumed by The Brood.

Still, I see your point. What's more as WWII fades out of the lived experience and even 2nd-hand stories of the public, tying characters to it (other than Captain America and The Winter Soldier) grows problematic. I tend to agree with opinions I've heard that Magneto's heritage should be vague, so that he can reflect a wide array of persecuted peoples.

I would argue the specific historical grounding gives his backstory so much more emphasis. That being said, this is a problem for film adaptations. Comics don't have to do anything because (a) the explanation for his age has already been addressed and (b) they already did his origin story. Anyone who wants to read a story about Magneto in World War II can read Magneto Testament. There's no need to do the story over again.

[DrNewGod]

magneto cant be moved from the holocaust and the mcu should and likely will just write something to make that possible, it is the beating heart of the character...

Genocidal oppression have never been in short supply in our world. In the 1990s, he could easily have been moved to any of the former Yugoslavic republics. With race bending, he could be moved to China today, or a Native American from the US. For that matter, he could be remade as a Palestinian today.

As for the "something to make it possible," it's already been done.

Magneto and his (then) entire Brotherhood got de-aged to infants in a Defenders story that came along while the X-Men's title was on hiatus. Claremont had a Shiar agent re-age him to his physical prime early in his run. They can get away with Xavier being his contemporary because Xavier inhabits a cloned body after his original was consumed by The Brood...

[Kaitou D. Kid]

The X-Men AWKT (as we know them) are maybe better suited for the 1960's than they are for the 21st century. The problem with the X-Men as a metaphor for marginalized groups is that most minorities don't live in a mansion or have access to the amount of resources and safe space the X-Men have. The average person of a difference race, creed, or orientation from the "norm" has closer everyday experiences to characters like Miles Morales and Kamala Khan than they do to the X-Men. Marvel's failure to make this distinction furthermore makes the X-Men come off race-reductionist and promotes essentialist thinking.

[DrNewGod]

The X-Men AWKT (as we know them) are maybe better suited for the 1960's than they are for the 21st century. The problem with the X-Men as a metaphor for marginalized groups is that most minorities don't live in a mansion or have access to the amount of resources and safe space the X-Men have. The average person of a difference race, creed, or orientation from the "norm" has closer everyday experiences to characters like Miles Morales and Kamala Khan than they do to the X-Men. Marvel's failure to make this distinction furthermore makes the X-Men come off race-reductionist and promotes essentialist thinking.

The X-Men were also created in a time where assimilation was a goal. Most marginalized groups now seem to push toward distinct identity-based communities with equal privilege.

[JudicatorPrime]

How do they explain Magneto not being in his 90's being a holocausts survivor. Even though he was a kid at the time that still puts him in his 80's

Magneto exists to remind everyone of the ever present danger of genocide. It's not something relegated to ancient history or WWII. Google the term and you'll see valid reports of genocidal practices being carried out around the world today.

I'm not quite sure why they never bothered to make Erik immortal after the concept of Externals was introduced. All it would have taken is a simple retconning of Erik's origin. Something to the effect that he actually died at Auschwitz as a child, to be resurrected in the mass grave as an immortal. I think a story like that would only add to Erik's trauma and his legend. It would also bring an end to all of the various contrivances and plot twists designed to de-age him.

[Digifiend]

That sounds terrible. How does cloning resurrect her?

Read the Marvel Legacy miniseries Tales of Suspense: Hawkeye and the Winter Soldier #100-104. It's almost the same method as the X-Men use, they clone the body, and then implant her memories into it.