History AscendedExtra / MarvelUniverse

* In ''Film/SpiderMan3'', Elizabeth Banks and Ted Raimi receive billing after their smaller roles in the previous films led to slightly bigger ones in the third.

* In ''Film/SpiderMan3'', Elizabeth Banks and Ted Raimi receive billing after their smaller roles in the previous films led to slightly bigger ones in the third.
* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''
** William Stryker was much less of an important character in the ''ComicBook/XMen'' comics than he was in the films.
** Pyro about 5 seconds of screen time in the [[Film/XMen1 first film]] but then became a more developed character from the [[Film/X2XMenUnited second film]] onward.
** Kitty Pryde has cameos in the [[Film/XMen1 first]] [[Film/X2XMenUnited two]] films, and then a more major role in the [[Film/XMenTheLastStand third]] and [[Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast fifth]] (seventh if you include the Wolverine movies) films.
** Comicbook/{{Jubilee|MarvelComics}} has several minor cameos in the first three movies (one of which [[TheOtherDarrin was played by a different actor]]), but is one of the main X-Men in ''Film/XMenApocalypse''.
** Same goes for Comicbook/{{Psylocke}}. She had a small cameo in ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' (where she ended up being [[DeathByAdaptation killed off]] by the Phoenix), but appears in ''Apocalypse'' as one of the four main CoDragons.
** ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}} was a OneSceneWonder in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', but was so well received by critics and audiences that Creator/BryanSinger brought him back for ''Apocalypse'' as an actual member of the team.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManSpiderVerse'': [[Characters/SpiderManSpiderVerseTheSpot Jonathan Ohnn]], a five second extra that got hit by a bagel in ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'', becomes the Spot, the BigBad in ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAcrossTheSpiderVerse''.

* In ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'', Eugene "Flash" Thompson was once a JerkJock who bullied Peter Parker, but was a major fan of his web-slinging alter-ego. After the shift away from high school, Flash tended to stick to the background before becoming a soldier. After an accident cost him his legs, he got a second chance in serving his country. He became the ComicBook/{{Venom}} for a time, has been a member of the ComicBook/SecretAvengers, and even dated Valkyrie.. Now, that's impressive.

** Comicbook/JubileeMarvelComics has several minor cameos in the first three movies (one of which [[TheOtherDarrin was played by a different actor]]), but is one of the main X-Men in ''Film/XMenApocalypse''.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManSpiderVerse'': Jonathan Ohnn, a five second extra that got hit by a bagel in ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'', becomes the Spot, the BigBad in ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAcrossTheSpiderVerse''.

* ''ComicBook/XMen'' has quite a few characters whose role is expanded in adaptations:
** Bolivar Trask, creator of the Sentinels. In the comicverse, he dies in the three-parter that introduces them, in a HeroicSacrifice once they get out of control. His son and his nephew also tried their hand at it, but also didn't stick around. Despite ''X-Men'''s love of BackFromTheDead, Bolivar stayed dead. [[spoiler: No longer true, but it took ''forty-three years'' to get there! He finally came back from the dead in the main MarvelUniverse in ''ComicBook/XForce'' v3 #6. In the intervening years however? Well...]] In the [[WesternAnimation/XMen 1990s animated series]], he's a {{Recurr|ingCharacter}}er you can expect to see in many a Sentinel story, on the run from his own creations. In ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution,'' he's arrested after the initial (unauthorized in this version) Sentinel incident, but kept around by SHIELD to design more once Apocalypse comes onto the scene. Had the series continued past the Apocalypse arc, we'd no doubt have seen a lot more of him and his wayward HumongousMecha children. He's got an expanded, recurring role in ComicBook/UltimateMarvel, as well as two movie appearances - one as the BigBad!
** Berzerker of the Morlocks (yeah, [[XtremeKoolLetterz with a Z]]). Comics: seen in one issue. A sympathetic but completely nutso BloodKnight, his friend Scaleface is killed by the cops because of Cyclops destroying their cover (he figured it'd make 'em stand down and hadn't counted on the cops shooting first and asking questions later) so he goes, well, berserk and dies when he's knocked into water during the ensuing battle (frying him with his own electrical powers). In ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'', though, he's an ex-Morlock and one of the newer students, with the show for three seasons. Temperamental but not AxCrazy.
*** Scaleface herself. In the 1990s series and Evo, her power to turn into a big nasty lizard really gets to shine. Though she doesn't see an increase in screentime, her role goes from "[[CynicismCatalyst dies so Berzerker can go even more nuts]]" to "Morlocks' resident bruiser." Berzerker wasn't even in the 1990s series.
** ComicBook/{{X 23}} began as a minor character in ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'' to prevent ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} from [[WolverinePublicity taking over the rest of the show]] and to avoid having to introduce a large number of additional characters. After becoming a CanonImmigrant with ''NYX'', she ''herself'' has gained a substantial amount of WolverinePublicity, having appeared in multiple team books and her own solo run, and is one of the few teen heroes in the franchise that can arguably be considered an A-Lister, given how she would use the Wolverine name as well.
** The Spirit Drinker. In the comics, when D'Ken wanted to dispose of Lilandra, he summoned a soul-destroying critter, it targeted her, Kurt teleported her out of the way, its tongue nailed one of D'Ken's own {{Mooks}} who'd been standing in its path, and since it can only take one soul per summon, it vanished. ''Two panels,'' the scene notable only 'cause it was the first time Kurt had ever teleported with anyone else (at the time, it was pure agony for him and he passed out.) If someone with a gun had simply tried to shoot Lilandra, absolutely nothing would have changed, and the whole thing comes off as a BigLippedAlligatorMoment. So, in ''WesternAnimation/XMen'', the animated series? Well, it was only in one episode, but we're talking one episode of sheer NightmareFuel as the Reavers, who'd kidnapped Wolverine to free an alien superweapon, figure out it's a containment unit for something very ''bad'' too late, and this only-partially-substantial soul-eating EldritchAbomination is unleashed to stalk the heroes through the New York subway tunnels (and villains; we get an EnemyMine out of it) as the faces of half-eaten souls continually form from its substance to cry out.
** ComicBook/{{Psylocke}} was originally supporting character in ''Captain Britain'' comics. A move to the US and the X-Men, and she's come to be far better known than him, and currently also known as Captain Britain!
** Kwannon, also known as Revanche, has historically been a minor character with less than 40 appearances across three decades, whose only claim to fame was being the one who Psylocke (seen above) had a FreakyFridayFlip with that turned her into an Asian ninja. She ended up getting killed off, ensuring Betsy would be LockedIntoStrangeness by being stuck in her body for decades, and actually came back several times... only to get killed again. Then, after coming back in 2017, she regained her old body just as Betsy regained hers. Betsy was briefly Psylocke after, but it [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks didn't take for many]]. In 2019 ''ComicBook/DawnOfX'', Kwannon would be promoted to [[LegacyCharacter Psylocke II]] while Betsy became the new ComicBook/CaptainBritain, and became the lead of ''ComicBook/{{Fallen Angels|2019}}'', marking the first time she was ever a lead character in anything.
** And then there's Blink. Originally, the Earth-616 version was a minor character who was killed off during an alien invasion that leads the creation of Generation X. However, she struck a chord with fans in that time and was eventually brought back in the famous "Age Of Apocalypse" story. That alternate version of "Blink" was one of few spared when the AOA reality was turned back into the normal timeline, going on to become the leader of the dimension-hopping hero team "Exiles" and one of very few characters of that book who was there from start to finish and even through a ReTool or two. And not long after Exiles ended, the main universe version was brought BackFromTheDead: Turns out she was only in a pocket dimension, and was eventually yanked out by villainess Selene. Not only that, she popped up in the animated series Wolverine and the X-Men, the film version of Days of Future Past, and is set to be an important character in the television series The Gifted. Not bad for a SacrificialLamb, huh?
** As such, it's appropriate that the ''next-''most prominent Exile is Morph. In the main timeline, a one-shot villain named Changeling turned out to have had a change of heart, worked for Professor X, and had been impersonating him while he needed to be away (this is how the Professor is revealed as alive after his first ComicBookDeath. "I'm back! What, you saw me die? Well, remember that "Changeling" guy from way back when?") Purely ''because'' he's someone from the comics no one had any feelings about, he was used in the 90s X-Men cartoon under the name Morph as its SacrificialLamb in the first episode. ... And everyone loved him, and demanded he return. He made more appearances in the cartoon in the second season (albeit entering a HeelFaceRevolvingDoor due to the actions of Mister Sinister), and was also brought to life in the Exiles comic, if a bit exaggerated (Cartoon Morph is a Mystique-type shapeshifter and a Spider-Man type wisecracker with a(n in)famous cackle; Exiles Morph is a RubberMan who does cartoonish sight gags. Still, when you've got a shapeshifter named Morph as the PluckyComicRelief, there's no doubt as to who's being homaged!)
** Jumbo Carnation was a one-off mutant who appeared for a few panels in 2003, and existed mostly to be murdered and mourned by mutants. Following his revival on Krakoa seventeen years later, he's since become a major part of Emma Frost's inner circle. Not only has he been the one designing costumes and outfits for much of the cast, he was given an ImpliedLoveInterest in a sea captain, been given his own [[InfoDump declassified pages]] written by, or about him, and is responsible for designing all the costumes in the Hellfire Gala arc.
** Negasonic Teenage Warhead is a civilian mutant girl with precognitive powers who is introduced just in time to die in Cassandra Nova's mega-sentinel attack on Genosha. However, Creator/JossWhedon would eventually write for the X-Men, and a MysteriousWaif like her is right up his alley! Cue a much bigger role as part of the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants under his pen [[spoiler: though the new Brotherhood is eventually revealed as illusions]]. After being prominently featured in the ''Film/{{Deadpool|2016}}'' movie, Marvel resurrected her in the comics and made her part of the ''Deadpool & the Mercs for Money'' series.
** Sage begins life as someone who takes Sebastian Shaw's coat in one panel during the original Phoenix arc. However, her one-panel appearance and much later return as a major character were both written by Chris Claremont, so it ''might'' have been planned from the start.

** Kwannon, also known as Revanche, has historically been a minor character with less than 40 appearances across three decades, whose only claim to fame was being the one who Psylocke (seen above) had a FreakyFridayFlip with that turned her into an Asian ninja. She ended up getting killed off, ensuring Betsy would be LockedIntoStrangeness by being stuck in her body for decades, and actually came back several times... only to get killed again. Then, after coming back in 2017, she regained her old body just as Betsy regained hers. Betsy was briefly Psylocke after, but it [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks didn't take for many]]. In 2019, Kwannon would be promoted to [[LegacyCharacter Psylocke II]] while Betsy became the new ComicBook/CaptainBritain, and became the lead of ''ComicBook/{{Fallen Angels|2019}}'', marking the first time she was ever a lead character in anything.

*** Scaleface herself. In the 1990s series and Evo, her power to turn into a big nasty lizard really gets to shine. Though she doesn't see an increase in screentime, her role goes from "[[StuffedIntoTheFridge dies so Berzerker can go even more nuts]]" to "Morlocks' resident bruiser." Berzerker wasn't even in the 1990s series.

* Likewise, James "Rhodey" Rhodes and ComicBook/CarolDanvers were originally just supporting characters in the respective books they appeared in (Rhodey was ComicBook/IronMan's TokenBlackFriend and Carol was [[ComicBook/CaptainMarVell Captain Marvel]]'s love interest). They eventually became popular enough that they were spun off as superheroes in their own rights, with Rhodey becoming ComicBook/WarMachine and Carol becoming ComicBook/MsMarvel (and later, the new Captain Marvel).

!!Franchise/MarvelUniverse

** Sage begins life as someone who takes Sebastian Shaw's coat in one panel during the original Phoenix arc. However, her one-panel appearance and much later return as major character were both written by Chris Claremont, so it ''might'' have been planned from the start.
* AIM Scientist Supreme Monica Rappaccini wasn't quite an extra, but she was originally created as an antagonist for her daughter, Carmilla Black/Scorpion, with no sign that she was expected to take on any role in the wider Marvel universe. However, as one of the few human members of evil organisation AIM to have any characterisation, she started cropping up in other comics -- and eventually the [[WesternAnimation/MODOK2021 MODOK TV show]] -- whenever they needed a face for the organisation, or just an evil biochemist, or even sometimes when they just needed a slightly morally ambiguous one, long after Carmilla had become a footnote in Marvel history.

* The ComicBook/BlackWidow was just a supporting character for many years, not a full Avenger (with good reason -- she started out as a Russian spy, and this was the UsefulNotes/ColdWar). She's now been an Avenger long enough that it's hard to think of her otherwise, and adaptations reflect this. [[Film/{{The Avengers|2012}} The movie]] bumped her all the way up to founding member status!

* AIM Scientist Supreme Monica Rappaccini wasn't quite an extra, but she was originally created as an antagonist for her daughter, Carmilla Black/Scorpion, with no sign that she was expected to take on any role in the wider Marvel universe. However, as one of the few human members of evil organisation AIM to have any characterisation, she started cropping up in other comics -- and eventually the [[WesternAnimation/MODOK2021 MODOK TV show]] -- whenever they needed a face for the organisation, or just an evil biochemist, or even sometimes when they just needed a slightly morally ambiguous one, long after Carmilla had become a footnote in Marvel history.

** ComicBook/{{X 23}} began as a minor character in ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'' to prevent Franchise/{{Wolverine}} from [[WolverinePublicity taking over the rest of the show]] and to avoid having to introduce a large number of additional characters. After becoming a CanonImmigrant with ''NYX'', she ''herself'' has gained a substantial amount of WolverinePublicity, having appeared in multiple team books and her own solo run, and is one of the few teen heroes in the franchise that can arguably be considered an A-Lister, given how she would use the Wolverine name as well.