Marvel heroes who didn’t originally belong to Marvel have fascinating pre-Marvel histories.
Long before Chris Evans ignited audiences as the wise-cracking Human Torch of the Fantastic Four, there was an entirely different Human Torch—and this one was an android.
If any character embodies Timely Comics’ early success, it’s Namor the Sub-Mariner.
While Captain America has become synonymous with Marvel and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, his origins predate the modern Marvel empire by two decades.
Angela represents one of the most interesting acquisitions in Marvel’s history because her journey involves a legal battle between two industry titans.
Miracleman (formerly Marvelman) has one of the most convoluted publication histories of any character in comics.
The Black Widow of modern Marvel lore is the Russian spy and Avenger made famous by Scarlet Johansson in the MCU.
Long before Marvel faced criticism for its lack of diverse female characters, Timely Comics debuted Miss America in 1943 .
Conan the Barbarian represents a different category of character entirely—one that Marvel never owned but licensed for publication.
The Vision exemplifies how Marvel has reused character names and concepts across different eras while creating entirely distinct characters.
Patsy Walker has the most “meta” story of any character in Marvel’s history. Modern audiences may know her best as Jessica Jones’s friend “Trish”.
Toro appeared alongside the original Human Torch with nearly identical powers—a result of artificial cells implanted in his body by his parents, who had helped create the android Human Torch.
Her name, while appearing to be a lazy derivative of Namor, actually functions as a nickname for her considerably longer name: “Aquaria Nautica Neptunia.”