The Marvel Comics universe consists of more than 27,000 individual issues. That is a lot of comics. And a lot of comics demand a lot of characters. When you’ve got to churn out new heroes and villains every four weeks to finish a month’s issue, they ain’t all gonna be Spider-Man and the Avengers.
Some of the most notable misfires are contained below, in ScreenCrush’s list of the 30 most ridiculous, absurd, and downright awful Marvel characters ever. Some were included for their bizarre code names. Others have hideous costumes or cringeworthy powers. A couple tick every single one of those boxes. (Keep on spinning, Big Wheel! We believe in you.)
You can’t get too mad about these characters, though. Again, the pressure of monthly comics means sometimes it’s less about the best creation than the best creation you can come up with under an impossible deadline. Most of these characters have made less than a few handful of appearances through some 80 years of Marvel comics, but a few have become company mainstays A couple even appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe! And the longer the MCU goes, the better the odds we might some day see a live-action version of Dirtnap or Turner D. Century. Can you imagine?
(Note: I tried my best to exclude any character created expressly for comedic purposes. “Moosterio,” the Mysterio who is also a moose of Spider-Ham’s corner of the Spider-Verse is pretty silly, but he’s supposed to be silly. He didn’t make the cut. The following 30 heroes and villains, on the other hand, did…)
The Worst Marvel Comics Characters
The Marvel Universe contains some of the greatest fictional characters of the 20th and 21st centuries. And then it also includes these weirdos, misfits, and losers.
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