Marvle Comics loves adjectives! The Amazing Spider-Man! The Uncanny X-Men! The Incredible Hulk! The Invincible Iron Man! You don’t see DC giving Batman or Superman adjectives. It’s almost a Marvel Comics exclusive! And in recent years, they’ve started mixing and matching the adjectives to make new comics! The Uncanny Avengers, The Amazing X-Men, etc., etc. It’s like a game of musical chairs!

Well this week we’re talking about Marvel’s newest, most dastardly adjective: Superior! When a comic is given the ‘Superior’ moniker – like last year’s Superior Spider-Man or the new Superior Iron Man – it means the hero and the villain are about to switch places!

To the tune of $1 billion+

Heroes becoming bad guys, and vice versa, is a long-standing comic book tradition, but Marvel has found a way to glam it up and get some extra mileage out of the idea. I’m all in favor of this push, especially if they do it well. Writer Dan Slott’s Superior Spider-Man was an amazing comic book, and Superior Iron Man has a cool new armor, so that’s something. But Marvel isn’t the sort of company that lets go of a good idea. I can imagine all sorts of Superior comics in the future – and here are six!

6. Thor

Those ravens poop everywhere

We’ve got a female Thor. We’ve had a frog Thor and an alien horse Thor. So what about Superior Thor? A villainous or anti-hero take on the God of Thunder could be a very powerful series. Maybe Thor is cursed by some evil spell, or maybe Loki switches bodies with his brother, or maybe an older, more arrogant Thor from the past comes to the present day; whatever the origin might be, a less-than-virtuous Thor would be an exciting character. Imagine him on the throne of Asgard, ruling over the Nine Realms like a magnanimous tyrant! He’d rule his people with an iron fist, but at the same, heroic time, save the world and keep them from danger over and over again. He’s be the Hero King!

5. Hulk

He has become Hulk, destroyer of worlds

The Incredible Hulk just wants to be left alone. The Superior Hulk would want to get all up in your faces! Evil or jerkily Hulks have been done in the past, but most of the time, the big guy is out to help people. But considering how many relaunches and reboots the Hulk gets these days, why not go nuts and have him be a bad guy for awhile? I know this Kluh thing exists from Axis, so why not run with it and tell a big, bombastic story about the Hulk on the loose? He’s the biggest, strongest, most dangerous threat in the entire Marvel Universe, do something wicked with that!

4. Darkhawk

I can’t be the only one

Darkhawk is my pick for a future Phase 4 Marvel movie. He’s not as pure 90s as people think, and his costume still looks totally badass! But he’s in desperate need of a reinvention. Marvel tried to make him cosmic and cool a few years ago, but that didn’t work. Then he got trampled upon in the pages of Avengers Arena. Marvel needs to embrace the darkness with a really slick, dangerous Darkhawk series.

3. Venom

So much Venom

Speaking of slick, dangerous 90s characters who need a good reinvention, why not Venom? Granted, his most recent solo series as ‘Agent Venom’ eventually got cancelled, and these days he’s hanging out in space with the Guardians of the Galaxy, but the world needs to once again embrace our Lethal Protector! Marvel has waited long enough to bring Venom back to full prominence. Make him big and deadly, with a long, slimy tongue and a taste for human brains! Sic this sick serial killer on the world and really put some menace back into superheroing!

2. Doctor Doom

He could save the world in a Tuesday

Or put some altruism back into super-villainy! Just like Tony Stark, Doom’s mind has been flip-flopped in the pages of Axis, turning him into something of a good guy. If that warrants a series relaunch for Iron Man, I don’t see why Marvel can’t create a new series for a good guy Doctor Doom! Have we ever even seen a good guy Doctor Doom? Does such a thing exist anywhere in the Multiverse?

I bet Doom would be even more magnanimous than Doctor Octopus trying to be the superior Spider-Man. Imagine Doom as an international charity, using his power, wealth and prestige to try and make the world a better place, but doing so with the usual tropes and schemes of a super-villain! I think that idea has legs! Big, metal legs.

1. Wolverine

Wolverines and fire are natural enemies

Why kill Wolverine? Marvel made a huge deal this fall about killing Wolverine, one of the most popular comic book characters of all time! The fallout from his death is going to continue into next year. But why kill him? Everybody knows that death never lasts, and it’s not like Marvel did anything all that interesting with his death. So why do it?

Because he got too big, too noisy. It’s time for him to step back into the shadows. Wolverine became popular because he was the outsider, the loner with the heart of gold who could kick ass and claw jerks! He was the guy who spit in the face of authority and ‘The Man’. But then he got too popular. Soon Wolverine was a member of both the Avengers and the X-Men, as well as every extra branch, like X-Force. Soon he was the headmaster of his own X-School, friends with everybody from Captain America to Spider-Man to Deadpool. Wolverine became the biggest figure in the Marvel Universe!

So he had to die.

Hell has no room for Wolverine

And when he comes back, he should be Superior! I think that’s the best way to relaunch Wolverine into the Marvel Universe. They’ve got to give him his edge back. Why bring Wolverine back from the dead if you’re just going to put him right back where he was? Sure he’ll still have all his friends and loved ones, but so what? Do something dark with Wolverine. Do something really nasty. Keep him in the shadows, have him kill again; give him a reason why he doesn’t just run back into open arms. Wolverine needs to come back with a vengeance!

Or, if they don’t want to wait that long, make a Superior Wolverine series about Sabretooth trying to be a good guy. He’s already going to be a member of this new weekly Wolverines comic. And the heroic Age of Apocalypse Sabretooth is one of the coolest heroes of all time. Make it happen, Marvel!

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Who would you like to see go the Superior route next? Any superheroes out there who you think would make compelling villains? What about any villains who you think could take a whirl as an anti-hero? Let me know in the comments!

Oh, and while you’re at it, feel free to wish my brother – Cip Mills – a happy birthday! Maybe he’ll comment today and give us his list!

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