History BreakoutVillain / MarvelUniverse

* Bullseye for ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}. DD had a fairly extensive Rogues' Gallery, but it was considered a pretty poor one. Then Bullseye, the assassin who [[ImprobableAimingSkills never misses]] debuted in issue #131, 12 ''years'' after DD himself appeared, and the great rivalry was on.
* [[Characters/MarvelComicsDoctorDoom Doctor Doom]] is this to the ComicBook/FantasticFour; appearing in their fifth issue, he took over their second annual, getting a DeathByOriginStory background for him and his parents, and has since then had his own book, own team-up series, and antagonized most of the Marvel [[TheVerse verse]] by power-hoarding {{MacGuffin}}s and being TheChessmaster MagnificentBastard with PoweredArmor. Lampshaded in Doom's third appearance: Creator/StanLee and Creator/JackKirby spend some time discussing how good of a villain Doom wound up unexpectedly being and lament killing him off so fast. Doom promptly storms in, very much alive, and berates them for doing the same.
* You may find it hard to believe, but [[Characters/MarvelComicsGalactus Galactus]], created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby during the early run of the Fantastic Four, was never meant to be a major villain in the Marvel Verse and was intended to simply be another world-ending threat for the Four to defeat. However, not only did he become one of Marvel's most powerful figures (and in fact he's often depicted as ''the'' greatest threat to the Marvel Universe), but his popularity soared beyond anything Stan Lee or Jack Kirby ever imagined, so his history was heavily expanded upon and he grew to be on par with Thanos and Doctor Doom, ranking just behind the latter as Marvel's most iconic villain ''period.''
* [[ComicBook/JuggernautMarvelComics The Juggernaut]] while treated as a big deal within his debut, being Xavier’s evil stepbrother, still wasn’t supposed to have much staying power or be anything other than a brute villain of the X-Men. Yet his sheer unstoppable LoveToHate big red meathead bully character quickly won him over to Marvel readers to extent he appeared in Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Avengers, Hulk and Thor comics. Then there’s Juggernaut appearances in the cartoons ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' games and internet memes (mostly famously WebVideo/MyWayEntertainment’s videos) all of which cemented Juggernaut into the mainstream as one of the most iconic Marvel villains.
* Early in his professional career, comic book writer/artist Jim Starlin was offered to pencil and co-write an issue of ComicBook/IronMan. Starlin didn't think his career would last very long, so he took the chance to introduce a couple of new characters for his one-off issue. One of those characters was the issue's villain, ComicBook/{{Thanos}}. Starlin would go on to write many more comic books, and Thanos would become one of the [[BigBad Biggest Bads]] in the Marvel Universe.

** [[Characters/MarvelComicsNormanOsborn The Green Goblin]] was originally a fairly average villain, with possibly the only thing which made him stand out being the fact that his identity wasn't revealed and he kept escaping. Then he found out Spider-Man's identity... [[ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied then he killed Gwen Stacy]]. He's also an unusual case in that he was dead for quite a long time by comic book standards, but after he was brought back he tends to have some hand in almost every major plot against Spider-Man. Thanks to ''ComicBook/DarkAvengers'' he’s reached the level of Doctor Doom and Thanos when it comes to antagonising [[TheVerse the greater MU]], not just his ArchEnemy Spidey. His [[Film/SpiderMan1 film portrayal]] (see below) also greatly helped boost him well into cultural zeitgeist to the extent it’s not hard to find people who consider him the AlternateCompanyEquivalent to ComicBook/TheJoker.
** As a result of Venom's success ruining his original plans, Michelinie created [[Characters/MarvelComicsCarnage Carnage]] in order to serve as a fully evil symbiote villain in their place that he could kill off. Once again, his plans were foiled when his debut issues quickly sold out despite lack of marketing and the character went on to become extremely popular, rivaling even Venom's fame and prompting Marvel to follow the story up with a [[ComicBook/MaximumCarnage 14-issue crossover event centered on him]].
** Mysterio was just initially a minor gimmick villain [[VillainOfTheWeek introduced and defeated in the same issue]]. However, he quickly struck accord with readers, owing to his striking design and potent gimmick, and as a result started getting more and more appearances. Soon he started appearing in other comics such as ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} and then he made a particularly memorable and chillingly appearance in ''ComicBook/OldManLogan'' the latter of which increased his notoriety among Marvel’s villains even further. After appearing in numerous cartoons and games (being the BigBad of both ''VideoGame/SpiderManFriendOrFoe'' and ''VideoGame/SpiderManShatteredDimensions'') he finally got a [[Film/SpiderManFarFromHome cinematic debut]] in the MCU and proved to be one of the most well-liked villains.

** Spidey's ''Brand New Day'' era of comics introduced a large slew of forgettable C and D-list villains, but one of them - Martin Li, otherwise known as Mister Negative - had enough staying power to be a consistently recurring foe since, owing to his interesting design and concept. He even got to star as one of the main villains in the high-profile [[VideoGame/SpiderManPS4 PS4 Spider-Man game]], with the producers at Insomniac studios citing that Mr. Negative is a villain that really emphasizes what Spidey's life is about: His civilian and vigilante life colliding when he really doesn't want it to.
* ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} is known as the famous [[Characters/DeadpoolWadeWilson Merc with the Mouth]], one of Marvel's most popular characters, with his movie franchise being even more successful than the ''ComicBook/XMen'' themselves. With his massive following, merchandise, sales and surrounding culture, it might be hard to believe that when he was introduced, he was not the famous AntiHero we know him for, but rather a villain. Furthermore, Creator/RobLiefeld created him as nothing more than a CaptainErsatz of ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}}, being a run of the mill GunAndSword-wielding SuperSoldier mercenary who tangled with the ComicBook/NewMutants and had practically ''none'' of the personality we know him for now. It was when other writers like Joe Kelly began [[GrowingTheBeard diversifying his characterization]] that he became as popular as he is today. Back then, ''no one'' could've expected how popular Deadpool would've ended up being, considering he's now bigger than all the New Mutants put together. Even ComicBook/{{Cable}} himself, who was intended from the start to be a big deal to the ''X-Men'' franchise and ended up as an even bigger deal than Liefeld ever imagined, ultimately got eclipsed by Deadpool's popularity. The 2004 ''ComicBook/CableAndDeadpool'' series started out with Cable as the lead character and Deadpool as his sidekick, but by 2008 it was Deadpool who was the undisputed main character, and the book was cancelled in favor of a new Deadpool solo book.
* While the ComicBook/UltimateMarvel universe would never really fully recover from its SeasonalRot, and would for all intents and purposes end in 2015, there were a number of [[CanonImmigrant/UltimateMarvel Canon Immigrants]]. While ComicBook/MilesMorales was transplanted and remains popular, especially due to his presence in media outside of comics, within Marvel's comics themselves, a character who has had more and more appearances is [[ComicBook/UltimateFantasticFour The Maker]], the evil FallenHero version of [[ComicBook/MisterFantastic Reed Richards]]. ''Ultimate Fantastic Four'' is the least talked about comic from the Ultimate line, but its former protagonist has gained newfound popularity as not only a foil to Reed Richards but also as a MadScientist supervillain in his own right.
* [[Characters/MarvelComicsMagneto Magneto]], as created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, was just one of many villains facing the X-Men. He wasn't even their most frequent foe. Magneto actually spent a lot of time during his early years teaming up with Doctor Doom, The Submariner, and others as co-villains. It wasn't until Chris Claremont reimagined the X-Men that he became the former friend of Xavier who went separate ways due to philosophical differences. This is when Magneto became the antithesis of Xavier's dream of mutants existing in peace with humans.[[note]]Today many fans will liken Xavier and Magneto to Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, but this didn't happen until the 80s when mutants became an explicit stand-in for minorities[[/note]]
* Gorr the God Butcher of ''ComicBook/ThorGodOfThunder2012'' certainly qualifies. He was only meant to be a ArcVillain and gets killed off by the end of the run and even the concept of his RageAgainstTheHeavens character [[OlderThanTheyThink had been done before]] with Desak the God Slayer. Yet Gorr’s good writing, unique design, sympathetic backstory and VillainHasAPoint nature boosted his popularity immensely with him joining Loki, Absorbing Man and Hela as the most popular villains of the God of Thunder. Not only did he get resurrected for a time, but also managed to make the jump to live action being the BigBad of the [[Film/ThorLoveAndThunder fourth MCU Thor film]], which (aside from the Black Order) is largely unheard of for a villain created in the 2010s.
* Mephisto arguably counts as this. While there's a considerable roster of demonic characters (includng Dormammu, who may be more iconic than him), ask most Marvel fans who their favorite demon in the Marvel-verse is (or even just name a demon from the comics) chances are they'll say his name. It's not really surprising, as he's been depicted as an AncientEvil and has been woven into many big storylines, coming into conflict with [[ArchEnemy Ghost Rider, Silver Surfer, Doctor Doom, Black Panther, Doctor Strange and even Spider-Man.]] He's also been one of the only demonic entities in Marvel (besides Dormammu) to cross over into other media.

* ComicBook/DoctorDoom is this to the ComicBook/FantasticFour; appearing in their fifth issue, he took over their second annual, getting a DeathByOriginStory background for him and his parents, and has since then had his own book, own team-up series, and antagonized most of the Marvel [[TheVerse verse]] by power-hoarding {{MacGuffin}}s and being TheChessmaster MagnificentBastard with PoweredArmor. Lampshaded in Doom's third appearance: Creator/StanLee and Creator/JackKirby spend some time discussing how good of a villain Doom wound up unexpectedly being and lament killing him off so fast. Doom promptly storms in, very much alive, and berates them for doing the same.
* You may find it hard to believe, but ComicBook/{{Galactus}}, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby during the early run of the Fantastic Four, was never meant to be a major villain in the Marvel Verse and was intended to simply be another world-ending threat for the Four to defeat. However, not only did he become one of Marvel's most powerful figures (and in fact he's often depicted as ''the'' greatest threat to the Marvel Universe), but his popularity soared beyond anything Stan Lee or Jack Kirby ever imagined, so his history was heavily expanded upon and he grew to be on par with Thanos and Doctor Doom, ranking just behind the latter as Marvel's most iconic villain ''period.''

** The ComicBook/GreenGoblin was originally a fairly average villain, with possibly the only thing which made him stand out being the fact that his identity wasn't revealed and he kept escaping. Then he found out Spider-Man's identity... [[ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied then he killed Gwen Stacy]]. He's also an unusual case in that he was dead for quite a long time by comic book standards, but after he was brought back he tends to have some hand in almost every major plot against Spider-Man. Thanks to ''ComicBook/DarkAvengers'' he’s reached the level of Doctor Doom and Thanos when it comes to antagonising [[TheVerse the greater MU]], not just his ArchEnemy Spidey. His [[Film/SpiderMan1 film portrayal]] (see below) also greatly helped boost him well into cultural zeitgeist to the extent it’s not hard to find people who consider him the AlternateCompanyEquivalent to ComicBook/TheJoker.
** As a result of Venom's success ruining his original plans, Michelinie created ComicBook/{{Carnage}} in order to serve as a fully evil symbiote villain in their place that he could kill off. Once again, his plans were foiled when his debut issues quickly sold out despite lack of marketing and the character went on to become extremely popular, rivaling even Venom's fame and prompting Marvel to follow the story up with a [[ComicBook/MaximumCarnage 14-issue crossover event centered on him]].
** ComicBook/{{Mysterio}} was just initially a minor gimmick villain [[VillainOfTheWeek introduced and defeated in the same issue]]. However, he quickly struck accord with readers, owing to his striking design and potent gimmick, and as a result started getting more and more appearances. Soon he started appearing in other comics such as ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} and then he made a particularly memorable and chillingly appearance in ''ComicBook/OldManLogan'' the latter of which increased his notoriety among Marvel’s villains even further. After appearing in numerous cartoons and games (being the BigBad of both ''VideoGame/SpiderManFriendOrFoe'' and ''VideoGame/SpiderManShatteredDimensions'') he finally got a [[Film/SpiderManFarFromHome cinematic debut]] in the MCU and proved to be one of the most well-liked villains.

* From the Marvel-Netflix era, specifically ''Series/Daredevil2015'', the Kingpin. Vincent D’Onofrio’s terrifying performance was lauded as one of the best on the show, and his absence from most of season 2 was a point of contention for many, so he was brought back to act as the main antagonist for season 3, once again to widespread acclaim. He was so popular in the role that he was the first character to appear in the MCU proper, gaining a role as the surprise villain in ''Series/Hawkeye2021''. To date, only his enemy Daredevil (as played by Charlie Cox) has followed him into the main MCU.

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':
** The [[ComicBook/NormanOsborn Green Goblin]] was originally a fairly average villain, with possibly the only thing which made him stand out being the fact that his identity wasn't revealed and he kept escaping. Then he found out Spider-Man's identity... [[ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied then he killed Gwen Stacy]]. He's also an unusual case in that he was dead for quite a long time by comic book standards, but after he was brought back he tends to have some hand in almost every major plot against Spider-Man. Thanks to ''ComicBook/DarkAvengers'' he’s reached the level of Doctor Doom and Thanos when it comes to antagonising [[TheVerse the greater MU]], not just his ArchEnemy Spidey. His [[Film/SpiderMan1 film portrayal]] (see below) also greatly helped boost him well into cultural zeitgeist to the extent it’s not hard to find people who consider him the AlternateCompanyEquivalent to ComicBook/TheJoker.

** [[Characters/SpiderManCentralRoguesGallery Mysterio]] was just initially a minor gimmick villain introduced and defeated in the same issue. However he quickly struck accord with readers and as a result starting getting more and more appearances. Soon he started appearing in other comics such as ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} and then he made a particular memorable and chillingly appearance and role in ''ComicBook/OldManLogan'' the latter of which increased his notoriety among Marvel’s villains even further. After appearing in numerous cartoons and games (being the BigBad of both ''VideoGame/SpiderManFriendOrFoe'' and ''VideoGame/SpiderManShatteredDimensions'') he finally got a [[Film/SpiderManFarFromHome cinematic debut]] in the MCU and proved to be one of most well-liked villains.

** [[ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManJMichaelStraczynski Joe Straczynski's run]] has Morlun - he was an antagonist only in the first JMS story, but was the only one to be brought back, usually as a part of a big event, as [[KnightOfCerebus his mere presence shows things are getting serious]].

** The [[ComicBook/NormanOsborn Green Goblin]] was originally a fairly average villain, with possibly the only thing which made him stand out being the fact that his identity wasn't revealed and he kept escaping. Then he found out Spider-Man's identity... [[ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied then he killed Gwen Stacy]]. He's also an unusual case in that he was dead for quite a long time by comic book standards, but after he was brought back he tends to have some hand in almost every major plot against Spider-Man. Thanks to ''ComicBook/DarkAvengers'' he’s reached the level of Doctor Doom and Thanos when it comes to antagonising [[TheVerse the greater MU]], not just his ArchEnemy Spidey. His [[Film/SpiderMan film portrayal]] (see below) also greatly helped boost him well into cultural zeitgeist to the extent it’s not hard to find people who consider him the AlternateCompanyEquivalent to ComicBook/TheJoker.

** ComicBook/{{Venom}}. While he wasn't intended to be just another regular villain (he made his debut in a double-sized 300th issue), neither Marvel nor its creator foresaw him becoming the most popular Spider-Man villain and becoming one of the "big three" along with the Green Goblin and Doc Ock. At the beginning, its creator David Michelinie even had plans to eventually kill him off, but his popularity prevented this.
*** As a result, Michelinie created ComicBook/{{Carnage}} in order to kill him off in his place. Once again, his plans were foiled when his debut issues quickly sold out despite lack of marketing and the character went on to become extremely popular, rivaling even Venom's fame and prompting Marvel to follow the story up with a [[ComicBook/MaximumCarnage 14-issue crossover event centered on him]].

BreakoutVillain in in this series.

* ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} is known as the famous Merc with the Mouth, one of Marvel's most popular characters, with his movie franchise being even more successful than the ''ComicBook/XMen'' themselves. With his massive following, merchandise, sales and surrounding culture, it might be hard to believe that when he was introduced, he was not the famous AntiHero we know him for, but rather a villain. Furthermore, Creator/RobLiefeld created him as nothing more than a CaptainErsatz of ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}}, being a run of the mill GunAndSword-wielding SuperSoldier mercenary who tangled with the ComicBook/NewMutants and had practically ''none'' of the personality we know him for now. It was when other writers like Joe Kelly began [[GrowingTheBeard diversifying his characterization]] that he became as popular as he is today. Back then, ''no one'' could've expected how popular Deadpool would've ended up being, considering he's now bigger than all the New Mutants put together. Even ComicBook/{{Cable}} himself, who was intended from the start to be a big deal to the ''X-Men'' franchise and ended up as an even bigger deal than Liefeld ever imagined, ultimately got eclipsed by Deadpool's popularity. The 2004 ''ComicBook/CableAndDeadpool'' series started out with Cable as the lead character and Deadpool as his sidekick, but by 2008 it was Deadpool who was the undisputed main character, and the book was cancelled in favor of a new Deadpool solo book.

* ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'': [[Characters/SpiderManTrilogyGreenGoblin The Green Goblin]] as played by Creator/WillemDafoe is most assuredly this. Despite dying at the end of the film, his presence and performance was so iconic he made multiple appearances across the trilogy through hallucinations from his son Harry. There’s was plans to bring to him back for the cancelled ''Spider-Man 4'', but he still managed to return in all his glory in ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' (essentially immigrating into the MCU) and stole limelight away from the rest of the villains (something Doc Ock and Electro actors Creator/AlfredMolina and Creator/JamieFoxx touted and accepted themselves). There’s more than a few fans who outright consider him the best cinematic Marvel villain rivalled only by Thanos or Loki.

* ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'': [[ComicBook/NormanOsborn The Green Goblin]] as played by Creator/WillemDafoe is most assuredly this. Despite dying at the end of the film, his presence and performance was so iconic he made multiple appearances across the trilogy through hallucinations from his son Harry. There’s was plans to bring to him back for the cancelled ''Spider-Man 4'', but he still managed to return in all his glory in ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' (essentially immigrating into the MCU) and stole limelight away from the rest of the villains (something Doc Ock and Electro actors Creator/AlfredMolina and Creator/JamieFoxx touted and accepted themselves). There’s more than a few fans who outright consider him the best cinematic Marvel villain rivalled only by Thanos or Loki.

** The [[ComicBook/NormanOsborn Green Goblin]] was originally a fairly average villain, with possibly the only thing which made him stand out being the fact that his identity wasn't revealed and he kept escaping. Then he found out Spider-Man's identity... [[ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied then he killed Gwen Stacy]]. He's also an unusual case in that he was dead for quite a long time by comic book standards, but after he was brought back he tends to have some hand in almost every major plot against Spider-Man.

** Nebula, Gamora's antagonistic sister from ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'', started out mostly as an obstacle for the team to overcome who overall wasn't very important story wise. However, her complex circumstances and the performance by her actress lead her to have increasingly larger roles until she has one of the biggest primary arcs in ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' over characters who are full-on Avengers.

** Loki played by Creator/TomHiddleston has exploded in popularity as the villain in both ''Film/{{Thor}}'' and ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', becoming probably the most popular character in the universe after Tony Stark. [[https://ftw.usatoday.com/2018/03/loki-marvel-cinematic-universe-best-character-challenge-tom-hiddleston In a poll]] published by ''USA Today'' on March 28, 2018, Loki was voted as the most popular MCU character.
** Much later, ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' had Thanos come along and steal the show. It's pretty much [[VillainProtagonist his movie]] with the Avengers themselves reacting to his plans, and the story focusing on his journey to achieving his goal. He's now widely considered to be one of, if not the best MCU villain.

** Grant Ward is an unusual case in that he was on the show as a regular from the pilot, but ostensibly as one of the heroes. Then around two-thirds of the way through the first season, it's suddenly revealed that he was a member of HYDRA and TheMole on Coulson's team. By WordOfGod, the point of the character was to add weight to the reveal HYDRA had taken over S.H.I.E.L.D. by having a close and personal betrayal amongst the main cast, there were no long-term plans for the character and as originally scripted he would have died in the season 1 finale. However, after seeing the impact the twist had on the show, the character's [[DracoInLeatherPants newfound popularity]], and Brett Dalton's CreepyAwesome portrayal of Ward post-turn, they decided to keep him around as a recurring antagonist for season 2. Eventually he was killed off in season 3... Only for his body to come back possessed by the GreaterScopeVillain. And then in the S3 finale, his possessed body was blown up ''in orbit'', finally stopping him from ever reappearing in the show...[[spoiler: until in S4 the characters venture into a virtual alternate reality, and guess who's back '''again.''']]

* Bullseye for Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}. DD had a fairly extensive Rogues' Gallery, but it was considered a pretty poor one. Then Bullseye, the assassin who [[ImprobableAimingSkills never misses]] debuted in issue #131, 12 ''years'' after DD himself appeared, and the great rivalry was on.

** The [[Comicbook/NormanOsborn Green Goblin]] was originally a fairly average villain, with possibly the only thing which made him stand out being the fact that his identity wasn't revealed and he kept escaping. Then he found out Spider-Man's identity... [[ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied then he killed Gwen Stacy]]. He's also an unusual case in that he was dead for quite a long time by comic book standards, but after he was brought back he tends to have some hand in almost every major plot against Spider-Man.
** Comicbook/{{Venom}}. While he wasn't intended to be just another regular villain (he made his debut in a double-sized 300th issue), neither Marvel nor its creator foresaw him becoming the most popular Spider-Man villain and becoming one of the "big three" along with the Green Goblin and Doc Ock. At the beginning, its creator David Michelinie even had plans to eventually kill him off, but his popularity prevented this.
*** As a result, Michelinie created ComicBook/{{Carnage}} in order to kill him off in his place. Once again, his plans were foiled when his debut issues quickly sold out despite lack of marketing and the character went on to become extremely popular, rivaling even Venom's fame and prompting Marvel to follow the story up with a [[Comicbook/MaximumCarnage 14-issue crossover event centered on him]].
** [[ComicBook/JMSSpiderMan Joe Straczynski's run]] has Morlun - he was an antagonist only in the first JMS story, but was the only one to be brought back, usually as a part of a big event, as [[KnightOfCerebus his mere presence shows things are getting serious]].

* ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} is known as the famous Merc with the Mouth, one of Marvel's most popular characters, with his movie franchise being even more successful than the ''ComicBook/XMen'' themselves. With his massive following, merchandise, sales and surrounding culture, it might be hard to believe that when he was introduced, he was not the famous AntiHero we know him for, but rather a villain. Furthermore, Creator/RobLiefeld created him as nothing more than a CaptainErsatz of ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}}, being a run of the mill GunAndSword-wielding SuperSoldier mercenary who tangled with the ComicBook/NewMutants and had practically ''none'' of the personality we know him for now. It was when other writers like Joe Kelly began [[GrowingTheBeard diversifying his characterization]] that he became as popular as he is today. Back then, ''no one'' could've expected how popular Deadpool would've ended up being, considering he's now bigger than all the New Mutants put together. Even Comicbook/{{Cable}} himself, who was intended from the start to be a big deal to the ''X-Men'' franchise and ended up as an even bigger deal than Liefeld ever imagined, ultimately got eclipsed by Deadpool's popularity. The 2004 ''ComicBook/CableAndDeadpool'' series started out with Cable as the lead character and Deadpool as his sidekick, but by 2008 it was Deadpool who was the undisputed main character, and the book was cancelled in favor of a new Deadpool solo book.

** Nebula, Gamora's antagonistic sister from ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', started out mostly as an obstacle for the team to overcome who overall wasn't very important story wise. However, her complex circumstances and the performance by her actress lead her to have increasingly larger roles until she has one of the biggest primary arcs in ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' over characters who are full-on Avengers.

* While the ComicBook/UltimateMarvel universe would never really fully recover from its SeasonalRot, and would for all intents and purposes end in 2015, there were a number of [[CanonImmigrant/UltimateMarvel Canon Immigrants]]. While ComicBook/MilesMorales was transplanted and remains popular, especially due to his presence in media outside of comics, within Marvel's comics themselves, a character who has had more and more appearances is ComicBook/TheMaker, the evil FallenHero version of [[ComicBook/MisterFantastic Reed Richards]]. ''Ultimate Fantastic Four'' is the least talked about comic from the Ultimate line, but its former protagonist has gained newfound popularity as not only a foil to Reed Richards but also as a MadScientist supervillain in his own right.

* ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} is known as the famous Merc with the Mouth, one of Marvel's most popular characters, with his movie franchise being even more successful than the ''ComicBook/XMen'' themselves. With his massive following, merchandise, sales and surrounding culture, it might be hard to believe that when he was introduced, he was not the famous AntiHero we know him for, but rather a villain. Furthermore, Creator/RobLiefeld created him as nothing more than a CaptainErsatz of ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}}, being a run of the mill GunAndSword-wielding SuperSoldier mercenary who tangled with the ComicBook/NewMutants and had practically ''none'' of the personality we know him for now. It was when other writers like Joe Kelly began [[GrowingTheBeard diversifying his characterization]] did he become so popular like he is today. Back then, ''no one'' could've expected how popular Deadpool would've ended up being, considering he's now bigger than all the New Mutants put together. Even Comicbook/{{Cable}} himself, who was intended from the start to be a big deal to the ''X-Men'' franchise and ended up as an even bigger deal than Liefeld ever imagined, still ultimately got eclipsed by Deadpool's popularity. The 2004 ''ComicBook/CableAndDeadpool'' series started out with Cable as the lead character and Deadpool as his sidekick, but by 2008 it was Deadpool who was the undisputed main character, and the book was cancelled in favor of a new Deadpool solo book.

* [[Characters/MarvelComicsMagneto Magneto]], as created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby was just one of many villains facing the X-Men. He wasn't even their most frequent foe. Magneto actually spent a lot of time during his early years teaming up with Doctor Doom, The Sub Mariner, and others as co-villains. It wasn't until Chris Claremont reimagined the X-Men that he became the former friend of Xavier who went separate ways due to philosophical differences. This is when Magneto became the antithesis of Xavier's dream of mutants existing in peace with humans [[note]]Today many fans will liken Xavier and Magneto to Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, but this didn't happen until the 80s when mutants became an explicit stand-in for minorities[[/note]].

** Nebula, Gamora's antagonistic sister from ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', started out mostly as an obstacle for the team to overcome who overall wasn't very important story wise. However, her complex circumstances and the performance by her actress lead her to have increasingly larger roles until she has one of the biggest primary arcs in ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' over characters who are full on Avengers.

!!Franchise/MarvelUniverse

* [[Characters/MarvelComicsMagneto Magneto]], as created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby was just one of many villains facing the X-Men. He wasn't even their most frequent foe. Magneto actually spent a lot of time during his early years teaming up with Doctor Doom, The Sub Mariner, and others as co-villains. It wasn't until Chris Claremont reimagined the X-Men that he became the former friend of Xavier who went separate ways due to philosophical differences. This is when Magneto became the antithesis of Xavier's dream of mutants existing in peace with humans [[note]]Today many fans will liken Xavier and Magneto to Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, but this didn't happen until the 80s when mutants became an explicit stand-in for minorities[[/note]].

* [[Characters/MarvelComicsMagneto Magneto]], as created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby was just one of many villains facing the X-Men. He wasn't even their most frequent foe. Magneto actually spent a lot of time during his early years teaming up with Doctor Doom, The Sub Mariner, and others as co-villains. It wasn't until Chris Claremont reimagined the X-Men that he became the former friend of Xavier who went separate ways due to philosophical differences. This is when Magneto became the antithesis of Xavier's dream of mutants existing in peace with humans [[note]]Today many fans will liken Xavier and Magneto to Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, but this didn't happen until the 80s when mutants became an explicit stand-in for ethic minorities[[/note]].

* Magneto, as created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby was just one of many villains facing the X-Men. He wasn't even their most frequent foe. Magneto actually spent a lot of time during his early years teaming up with Doctor Doom, The Sub Mariner, and others as co-villains. It wasn't until Chris Claremont reimagined the X-Men that he became the former friend of Xavier who went separate ways due to philosophical differences. This is when Magneto became the antithesis of Xavier's dream of mutants existing in peace with humans [[note]]Today many fans will liken Xavier and Magneto to Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, but this didn't happen until the 80s when mutants became an explicit stand-in for ethic minorities[[/note]].