MERGE: Marvel's Big Three

[austin316gb]

I've posed this question before and much the same answers came out then. Since I fist posted this question I've been reflecting on the answer during insomniac nights. I came to the conclusion that Marvel don't have a big three in the same way as DC. DC's trinity represents what the non-fan population know as Super Heroes. Ask someone for another DC character (apart from Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman) and see what you get? The most popular answer I got back, after much deliberating and wrong answers was Robin. Cheats!! However ask people to name marvel characters and you get a plethera of names (some included superman and batman and wonder woman though). Spider-Man normally comes first (ask MJ!! :D ) followed many many different characters - Hulk, Daredevil, Punisher, X-Men - my Dad even rememberd Thor from the Hulk live action special!

Marvel has a stronger character base than DC and this is reflected by what people know as heroes. However DC has two of the three most popular super heroes. Which position would you rather be in?

[Evil-Spidey]

Um... but I wasn't talking about what "most people know". The Avengers are the core of the Marvel Universe, regardless of popularity, sales etc. The X-Men certainly aren't the core of the MU, given that they're a semi-legal underground group that rarely interacts with the rest of the MU. You could make a claim that the Four are the core figures of the MU, but for my money, the central figures of the Marvel Universe are the Avengers.

only this was directed to your post:
"marvel isnt dc.the x-men were always the core of the mu since the all new all diffrent x-men."

nearly every big event was somehow connected to the mutants.i wouldnt call it an underground if their leader becomes a monster and trys to destroy the world or if they deafet some of the biggest enemies of mankind everytime they pop up.thats not much underground.

[Shellhead]

Um... but I wasn't talking about what "most people know". The Avengers are the core of the Marvel Universe, regardless of popularity, sales etc. The X-Men certainly aren't the core of the MU, given that they're a semi-legal underground group that rarely interacts with the rest of the MU. You could make a claim that the Four are the core figures of the MU, but for my money, the central figures of the Marvel Universe are the Avengers.

Jim Starlin has done several big crossover projects for Marvel: Infinity Gaunlet and the sequels. He generally ignores the mutants or gives them minimal exposure.

[cable guy]

You can't compare Marvel to DC in terms of a big three.(if we had to, it would be Hulk, Spiderman and Wolverine I guess. Maybe Captain America or X-Men even. I don't think we can all agree on on a Marvel's top three.

What Marvel has, is alot of depth. Besides Spider-Man, alot of different heroes and teams come and go in terms of popularity. But they stick with the general public forever.

[AllisterH]

You can't count Conan though. He was around for 40 years BEFORE Marvel got the rights to publish the comic, and they aren't even publishing it now, someone else is. The same could be said of Tarzan which Marvel also publish in the past.

True, but ask any Conan afficiando, and Marvel's Conan is a large part of why Conan is still in the public consciousness. Not as great an extent as the movies with Arnold but still a large part.

Ask any fantasy fans, who was Conan's true love and you'll get more than half saying Red Sonja (even in the general public, Red Sonja is somewhat known) and Red Sonja's fame is 100% due to marvel. As an aside, the proper answer is Belit, queen of the pirates.

With regard to the core of the MU, its hard to say. In general crossovers, the mutants tend to be ignored (see Secret Wars/Atlantis Attacks (any of the summer annual crossovers/Infinity XXX) or have a very low presence. That doesn't change the fact that the X-franchise supports at last count close to 10 books which means most of marvel's resources are directed towards them.

One thing I'll give Bendis credit for, HoM is arguably the best crossover to use/spotlight both Avengers and the X-men. AoA pretty much ignored the non mutant MU (other than non-powered cameos and 1 issue).

[jugernaut]

You can't count Conan though. He was around for 40 years BEFORE Marvel got the rights to publish the comic, and they aren't even publishing it now, someone else is. The same could be said of Tarzan which Marvel also publish in the past.

Of course you are right. I forgot he is on Dark Horse now.

My "non-comics" friends could name Superman, Batman, Batgirl and Robin before Spider-man, Hulk, She-Hulk, "the guy with the claws in that movie", FF and Doom (since they just saw the movie), "The blind guy in that really bad movie", the Avengers (though no members!) and Punisher.

What Marvel has, is alot of depth. Besides Spider-Man, alot of different heroes and teams come and go in terms of popularity. But they stick with the general public forever.

I agree with this

[kelvingreen]

nearly every big event was somehow connected to the mutants.

Um, except for all the Infinity crossovers, Galactic Storm, Avengers Forever, Disassembled, etc, etc.

As AllisterH says, the mutants tend to dominate Marvel's events because of the sheer number of books, not because of their importance in the Marvel Universe.

[kelvingreen]

What Marvel has, is alot of depth. Besides Spider-Man, alot of different heroes and teams come and go in terms of popularity. But they stick with the general public forever.

You're probably right. Perhaps Marvel doesn't have Big Three at all.

[Calamas]

To the real-world general public:

Spider-Man, Hulk, and . . . well, uh . . . maybe . . . uh. . . .

I guess there is no clear-cut number 3. If I was forced to name someone, probably Wolverine, based solely on being the primary focus of both X-Men movies. If Marvel’s other comic-related movies had been better, Daredevil or the Punisher could have easily over taken him, primarily because of solo versus team member status.

Within the Marvel Universe:

1) Captain America: A natural leader who inspires everyone around him to exceeded any real or self-imposed limitations.

2) Reed Richard: An acknowledged genius who not only has directly saved the universe several times over, but also indirectly, by providing the means for just about every other Marvel hero to do the same.

The third should be Dr Strange, if he was ever written to be everything he can be. But barring that:

3) Thor: Yes, Thor. Though he isn’t always written that way in his own title, at least within the Avengers there is a certain awn in his presence, even by those who have known him for years: He is a god among gods.

[Tommy]

Honestly I think Dr. Doom should be in Marvel's top three. He plays a major role in allmost every crossover. He has apeared in every single major title fighting agaist allmost everyone in the universe. Has taken over the planet a few times. Doom certainly should be in the top three.

[Red State Cap]

--To the non-comic public: Spider-Man and Hulk for certain. After that it gets dicey: maybe Iron Man (thanks to the Ozzy song) or Captain America (various social references).
--To comic-readers in terms of exposure across comics: Spider-Man and Wolverine for sure. After that there are a load of candiates for a distant third place here -- Captain America, IM, Thor, etc.
--Within the context of the Marvel Universe: Captain America, Iron Man, and either Reed Richards or Thor.

RSC

[Jessica Drew]

Hey. I've got an idea. I'm a high-school teacher, so one day this week (probably tomorrow), I'm going to ask all of my students to list as many super heroes as they can and to tell me a brief bit about them: powers, secret identities, etc.... I won't mention any heroes I know to them, as I don't want to sway the poll in one area or another.

I'll report back with the results as soon as I get them.

[Will.S]

Hey. I've got an idea. I'm a high-school teacher, so one day this week (probably tomorrow), I'm going to ask all of my students to list as many super heroes as they can and to tell me a brief bit about them: powers, secret identities, etc.... I won't mention any heroes I know to them, as I don't want to sway the poll in one area or another.

I'll report back with the results as soon as I get them.

That would be most interesting to see.

Can't wait to see the results.

[tricksterpup]

To the real-world general public:

Spider-Man, Hulk, and . . . well, uh . . . maybe . . . uh. . . .

I guess there is no clear-cut number 3. If I was forced to name someone, probably Wolverine, based solely on being the primary focus of both X-Men movies. If Marvel’s other comic-related movies had been better, Daredevil or the Punisher could have easily over taken him, primarily because of solo versus team member status.

Within the Marvel Universe:

1) Captain America: A natural leader who inspires everyone around him to exceeded any real or self-imposed limitations.

2) Reed Richard: An acknowledged genius who not only has directly saved the universe several times over, but also indirectly, by providing the means for just about every other Marvel hero to do the same.

The third should be Dr Strange, if he was ever written to be everything he can be. But barring that:

3) Thor: Yes, Thor. Though he isn’t always written that way in his own title, at least within the Avengers there is a certain awn in his presence, even by those who have known him for years: He is a god among gods.

I agree with the whole statment here but I would have to toss in one more bit of info. For the General public some may even say Blade in the lists. Since he has already had 3 movies and 2 of them were well recieved by the general public.

But for your heroes in the Marvel U and their amount of respect, the 3 you mention is spot on. I think number 4 would be Iron Man, just imagine Donald Trump having a Body Guard like that, the media would have his pictures every where. Kids would want to be Iron Man, heck, I am surprised writers never thought about this but hell, Stark would license out and have action figures made of Iron Man and War Machine in the Marvel U. :D

[Private America]

Spider-Man, Captain America and Wolverine (I'm not joking)

That's my answer as well.