Characters that Marvel Needs to Pull Into the Lime Light

[Post Monster]

Warren Worthington (616 Adult Warren)
Of all the characters Marvel has in a perfect spot for an awesome total overhaul, Warren is in the number 1 spot. I love mind wiped Warren and all the possibility he holds, and I hope he's just not reset to normal, destroying his recent character development. Let me explain why:

Warren has been treated like a walking wallet that isn’t given the support he needs from the X-men. In fact, if there was an X-man who should cut active ties with the X-men and start his own life on another non-mutant team that is actually supportive of him, Warren is it. I also despise the way Betty and Warren worked as a couple, because it's not good for either of them, and neither seems really committed to it. Warren is an object for the X-men, one that Scott used shamelessly. That's why I like how disassociated Warren is in his amnesiatic state: Even he views himself as an object rather than a person, which is exactly how he's treated most of the time by those around him. But that doesn't stop him from caring and trying to do what's right; really, if any current Marvel character is analogous to DC's Shining Knight, Warren is it.

This is where DC screwed up recently with Shining Knight: Like Warren, Justin is partly an objectified male stereotype of an ideal that makes others see him as a role rather than a person. In making Shining Knight a woman, DC completely failed to recognize that the character is actually about male objectification, something which is every bit as worthy a subject as female objectification. I see Warren's amnesia and disassociation as an encouraging sign that Marvel may get this about Warren and may be willing to explore it (which they should).

Warren's personality could easily tip over into Marty-Stu territory, but Marvel has managed to avoid that by keeping Warren's core personality Warren in spite of the amnesia: he's innocent (yet not stupid), caring, and brave. His willingness to give unwisely and his self-apathy are still his weaknesses. He just doesn’t have all the baggage, which is something I think that needs to stay even if he gets his memory back. The death and mind wipe should be a "you can never go home again" moment for this character in the same way traumatic brain injuries can alter a person's personality and perceptions. If he does get his memories back, I think they shouldn't really change him back to pre-mind wiped Warren, but just be there. Likewise Betty and Warren needs to be over, and any future relationship Warren has needs to be checked for being meaningful and not just desperate and lonely.

Warren's new powers of life vs. Archangel’s powers revolving around death are also very interesting changes that need to stay. It was past time to give him a better skill set that will let him be a meaningful character in stories, and it’s the perfect time to play up the angel concept for this character. And Marvel should play it up as long as they can.

So my suggestions:

• Get Warren off the X-books where he's in the background a couple of time a year. Get him away from mutants and into a team that can actually appreciate him. After the last Archangel arc, Warren just needs to get far, far away from the X-men and what seems to have turned into a toxic/abusive relationship for Warren. This character needs to do some major soul searching and redefining their life and priorities. New Warren should not fall into the traps old Warren fell into. Maybe it's time to stick him with Inhumans as a sort of Nuhuman mutant hybrid?
• Warren's past memories should never have any real emotional weight attached to them if he gets them back. This gives Warren’s death real weight and meaning.
• Warren's new powers need to stay and grow, and Marvel needs to play with the "angel" concept. What is an angel? What does that mean? Is Warren one? Play with all those questions and use it as a frame work for establishing who Warren is now. Being both Death and Life now, Marvel can play with both sides of this and really make Warren a fascinating and important character.

Black Bolt (and Medusa)
Marvel is doing wonderful, wonderful things over in Inhumans, and I think this series will end up being insanely popular once it has a few arcs under its belt (think Game of Thrones in space with Khan Noonien Singh running the show, kree everywhere, politics social climbing manipulative bastards everywhere and thousands of hybrid Inhumans). It’s shaping up to be everything I think X-men should be but isn’t and on a cosmic scale.

Marvel has Medusa down to a T and needs to keep going with it. My one suggestion here is that Black Bolt be used as a male "damsel" character for Medusa, as he's a mute glass cannon. His inability to speak (without killing things) means he can be put into a situation he can't get out of (particularly politically) and someone will have to help him out. In this sense Marvel seems to have realized Medusa has all the power, while BB has very little. It's something I hope Marvel Studios realizes as well (forget about Widow and Captain Marvel and give us Medusa and BB!). Their relationship is also adorable and not full of contention like Susan and Reed Richard, which is something we don't have enough of in the MU (couples who aren’t headed for divorce for the sake of drama). Now if they just get Ronan and Crystal back together and drop us into Kree politics…

Adam Warlock
Adam is a horribly underused character, and he needs more exposure badly. Personally, I think he's a fascinating character that ties religion, spirituality and science all together in one neat package. Marvel needs to embrace the fact Adam is an artificially constructed god and just go with it.

• This opens the door for asking interesting questions like, what is a god, what is the role of a god, what is the relationship between a god and everything else/worshipers/other gods/science? Being an orphaned god with no worshipers (only Magus gets those apparently), what does that mean? Is it painful or difficult to be a god who has no attachment to the traditional things gods seem to be drawn toward?

• Adam gives High Evolutionary a chance to shine as a non-villainous character, and I really think Marvel needs to let the relationship between these two be familial. I would kill to see High Evolutionary vs. the Church of Universal Truth over Adam, since High Evolutionary is basically the MU version of Dr. Moreau.
• Adam needs to encounter other gods and pantheons. We need to see him dealing with what he is and what they are. Seriously, he should be getting adoption offers. There should be insulted gods and enraged gods over the fact some mortals dared to make a god. Some may even want to kill Adam as an abomination.
• The above also applies to various cosmic peoples. How do you react to a god that's constructed if you believe gods have always been? Lots of mixed reactions there and some very juicy meat for stories.
• Keep the magical skills thing from the DNA run because it was awesome and Marvel is short on magic users anyway.

[Post Monster]

Hit the post cap! Woo-hoo!

Dr. Strange
I’m not going to beat this one to death (I've done it in plenty of posts).

I think we're headed for the lime light with Strange, but its past time for him to be running Defenders and possibly have his own solo. I think the movie will skyrocket this character to unprecedented levels of popularity, much like Loki, so Marvel needs to get it together for this.

IMO Strange has some of what makes Batman popular: the potential to have a big family of supporting characters that have real relationships with an introverted loner character who is brilliant and interesting. He even has an advantage Batman doesn't in that he's actually a fairly charismatic character. And a Defenders team stocked with magical/spiritual anti-heroes and reforming villains is just too delicious to pass up.

Like Batman, Strange doesn't have any innate magical powers. He's basically a Dungeons and Dragons Cleric who channels the powers of various gods/forces he represents (on their behalf; with an infinite number of Domains/specialty areas for every god out there). That is so, so huge and story driving that it boggles the mind Marvel hasn't jumped all over this, and that Strange isn't surrounded by god characters all the time that want him to work for them. It's pantheon exposure central here folks.

Strange is the reasonable guy who knows how to listen. He's also the kind of person others go to for advice. IMO Strange needs to be spending a lot of time training people with magical/spiritual/mystical skills to not be a threat and proactively watching for developing threats to nip them in the bud. If he gets a solo, it should revolve around his duties as the Supreme Sorcerer defending Earth.

So what I'd say:

• Strange really does need a big supporting cast: Wong should be played up with the traditional household servant being his disguise/secret identity while his main role as a servant to the Supreme Sorcerer is to be a Battle Butler and all around awesome physical fighter. Strange should never be better at combat than Wong, and Wong should never be better at magic than Strange. Clea needs to be a regular character that is awesome in her own right, but also very non-traditional as a wife and as an equal. Honestly, I can see Strange and Clea both being a little on the naughty non-conformist side with their marriage (more open minded that the normal couple). Loki and Doom should be frequent associates. So should Moon Knight, Black Panther, Blade, Hellstrom, Satana, and a host of other often neglected characters who are awesome.
• His activities are related to dimensional/magic/spiritual things. No getting involved if it’s too far below or outside his scope without really good reasons.
• Deities should be all over the Supreme Sorcerer trying to get him to serve them. Clea will be so jealous....

[DurararaFTW]

Warren Worthington (616 Adult Warren)
Of all the characters Marvel has in a perfect spot for an awesome total overhaul, Warren is in the number 1 spot. I love mind wiped Warren and all the possibility he holds, and I hope he's just not reset to normal, destroying his recent character development. Let me explain why:

Warren has been treated like a walking wallet that isn’t given the support he needs from the X-men. In fact, if there was an X-man who should cut active ties with the X-men and start his own life on another non-mutant team that is actually supportive of him, Warren is it. I also despise the way Betty and Warren worked as a couple, because it's not good for either of them, and neither seems really committed to it. Warren is an object for the X-men, one that Scott used shamelessly. That's why I like how disassociated Warren is in his amnesiatic state: Even he views himself as an object rather than a person, which is exactly how he's treated most of the time by those around him. But that doesn't stop him from caring and trying to do what's right; really, if any current Marvel character is analogous to DC's Shining Knight, Warren is it.

This is where DC screwed up recently with Shining Knight: Like Warren, Justin is partly an objectified male stereotype of an ideal that makes others see him as a role rather than a person. In making Shining Knight a woman, DC completely failed to recognize that the character is actually about male objectification, something which is every bit as worthy a subject as female objectification. I see Warren's amnesia and disassociation as an encouraging sign that Marvel may get this about Warren and may be willing to explore it (which they should).

Warren's personality could easily tip over into Marty-Stu territory, but Marvel has managed to avoid that by keeping Warren's core personality Warren in spite of the amnesia: he's innocent (yet not stupid), caring, and brave. His willingness to give unwisely and his self-apathy are still his weaknesses. He just doesn’t have all the baggage, which is something I think that needs to stay even if he gets his memory back. The death and mind wipe should be a "you can never go home again" moment for this character in the same way traumatic brain injuries can alter a person's personality and perceptions. If he does get his memories back, I think they shouldn't really change him back to pre-mind wiped Warren, but just be there. Likewise Betty and Warren needs to be over, and any future relationship Warren has needs to be checked for being meaningful and not just desperate and lonely.

Warren's new powers of life vs. Archangel’s powers revolving around death are also very interesting changes that need to stay. It was past time to give him a better skill set that will let him be a meaningful character in stories, and it’s the perfect time to play up the angel concept for this character. And Marvel should play it up as long as they can.

So my suggestions:

• Get Warren off the X-books where he's in the background a couple of time a year. Get him away from mutants and into a team that can actually appreciate him. After the last Archangel arc, Warren just needs to get far, far away from the X-men and what seems to have turned into a toxic/abusive relationship for Warren. This character needs to do some major soul searching and redefining their life and priorities. New Warren should not fall into the traps old Warren fell into. Maybe it's time to stick him with Inhumans as a sort of Nuhuman mutant hybrid?
• Warren's past memories should never have any real emotional weight attached to them if he gets them back. This gives Warren’s death real weight and meaning.
• Warren's new powers need to stay and grow, and Marvel needs to play with the "angel" concept. What is an angel? What does that mean? Is Warren one? Play with all those questions and use it as a frame work for establishing who Warren is now. Being both Death and Life now, Marvel can play with both sides of this and really make Warren a fascinating and important character.

I think using the term mind-wipe and amnesia, highly misleading.

Warren Worthington is dead. The Life Seed created a new body using DNA as a template. That's the extent of his connection to the deceased X-Men.

And Austen explored the whole Angel concept in his X-Men run with Warren. It wasn't very well received.

[Star_Jammer]

I think using the term mind-wipe and amnesia, highly misleading.

Warren Worthington is dead. The Life Seed created a new body using DNA as a template. That's the extent of his connection to the deceased X-Men.

And Austen explored the whole Angel concept in his X-Men run with Warren. It wasn't very well received.

Austen explored a lot of concepts that weren't well received. They're knocks against Austen, however...not the concepts.

[Nomads1]

Hercules!

Peace

[DurararaFTW]

Austen explored a lot of concepts that weren't well received. They're knocks against Austen, however...not the concepts.

Making Angel and Nightcrawler literal angels and devils respectively are some of the things that gave Austen a bad name.

[Darth Phoenix]

Mantis bring her back and put her on SWORD so they need to build her up so she can kick ass in Movies

[sifighter]

Lyra, she is literally the daughter of the Hulk and we haven't seen her since Fear Itself(although I'm sure she's going to show up real soon in Duggan's Omega Hulk Arc).

[Post Monster]

Making Angel and Nightcrawler literal angels and devils respectively are some of the things that gave Austen a bad name.

I never thought he intended Angel to be a literal angel, but he was starting to play with these questions, which was good. Angel needs to break free of the straightjacket X-men have put him into.

I think using the term mind-wipe and amnesia, highly misleading.

Warren Worthington is dead. The Life Seed created a new body using DNA as a template. That's the extent of his connection to the deceased X-Men.

Well technically these sorts of things a happen all the time with characters going right back to who they were. Death is a revolving door in superhero land. Actually they've not really completely explained what the heck happened and who Warren is now.

[Doc Omega]

Jack of Hearts. Bring him back to life first of course

[drwho]

Jack of Hearts. Bring him back to life first of course

Jack was already resurrected and appeared in the marvel zombies supreme mini series.

[Mockingbird]

Mockingbird!

Skilled in a number of areas, with an interesting backstory that has barely been explored, super soldier abilities that we know very little about, a family mystery that was never solved, her own supporting cast and links to a number of characters that Marvel already has in the limelight, and she's going to be showing up on TV soon. She's also one of the only characters who hasn't even had a solo limited series.

This is the perfect time to give her the push into the limelight she both needs and deserves.

[DurararaFTW]

Well technically these sorts of things a happen all the time with characters going right back to who they were. Death is a revolving door in superhero land. Actually they've not really completely explained what the heck happened and who Warren is now.

Beast explained it quite clearly. That won't stop them from bringing back Angel eventually off course but given that teen Angel is here now and one of the leading characters in the best selling current X-book it's not exactly a priority to Marvel anymore.

[drwho]

Sleep Walker is just waiting to be revamped a little and at least given a mini. I always thought that if they made him a character in a more horror based type comic that they could try new things with him.

Sleepwalker_Vol_1_19.jpg

[TheMadTitan]

Lyra, she is literally the daughter of the Hulk and we haven't seen her since Fear Itself(although I'm sure she's going to show up real soon in Duggan's Omega Hulk Arc).

Bruce has a lot of kids. Isn't Scorpion (Carmilla Black) also a Hulk kid?

Lyra and Skaar would be a good buddy book.