10 Marvel Heroes Darker Than Their Villains

The heroes of the Marvel universe tend to wear bright colors with superpowers to match, and many of them are now owned by the ever-child-friendly Disney. However, that does not mean that their lives are perfect: most comic heroes have darker elements and flaws to make them more human.

In some cases, that is taken to the extreme, where Marvel’s superheroes make decisions or actions that make it debatable if they can even be called a hero or not. Whether it’s a tragic origin story driving them down a dark path or years of hero work making them descend into nihilism, these heroes are sometimes scarier than their villains.

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Hank Pym

In the comics, Hank Pym was the original Ant-Man and proved to be quite the hero. However, his life became a slippery slope which resulted in multiple deviations from heroism over the years. As Yellowjacket, he disobeyed Captain America’s orders, resulting in him being expelled.

Following that, Hank Pym created the AI Ultron and the rest is history. In some comics, he abused his own wife while in others, he nearly kills her from his beatings. In the Ultimate universe, he bit off a man’s head to get revenge for killing Janet Van Dyne. Hank has proven time and time again that he is a rather dangerous individual.

The Sentry

From one look at him, it would be easy to expect The Sentry to be Marvel’s equivalent to Superman: a shining beacon of hope and justice. That is not the case, as he only became the superhuman he is now by giving into his drug addiction, resulting in his drinking a formula that transformed him into a superpowered being.

Since becoming a superhero, he was a member of the Dark Avengers, nearly destroyed all of New York City, made his wife’s life a living hell, fled from important events, and even killed his own former sidekick. If anything, the Sentry is the total opposite of Superman to the point that even General Zod would shame him.

Venom

Considering Venom bites off the heads of his victims to stay alive, it’s easy to see why he’s featured here. However, there is more to the iconic symbiote: in the comics, he tends to bring out the worst in his hosts, driving them into rage and depression while empowering them.

There have been many hosts for Venom in the comics; Eddie Brock and Flash Thompson have both used the symbiote for good while others have not. One of the more underrated Sinister Six members named Mac Gargan used the symbiote for nothing but chaos and evil.

Hulk

It’s easy to forget that Hulk is actually one of the darker and tragic members of the Avengers. Bruce Banner and the Hulk share one brain while each takes control after transformations, hearkening back to Jekyll and Hyde mixed with Frankenstein. His rage will make him lash out, sometimes in the worst ways since he does not quite understand how the world works.

The Hulk is basically a child born from the radiation that hit Bruce Banner, so as a result, he starts as nothing more than a creature experiencing everything for the first time. The fact that he’s treated like a monster is just sad and it makes sense that when he’s banished from Earth, he comes back in the World War Hulk story as the monster that the world created.

Ghost Rider

Much like with the Hulk, there are two sides to this superhero. One side is the cursed Johnny Blaze who made a mistake by selling his soul to Mephisto and the other is the being known as Zarathos. When Johnny Blaze is forced to transform into the Ghost Rider, Zarathos takes control as the Rider.

Zarathos is a demon that was tricked and punished by Mephisto for his crime against the Spirits Of Vengeance. Mephisto turned him into Hell’s Spirit Of Vengeance as an extra salt to the wound, forcing him to hunt and devour the souls of the wicked and forever be bound to hosts. From his fiery chains to his iconic penance stair, Ghost Rider creates all kinds of brutal ways to vanquish evil.

Elsa Bloodstone

Everyone loves a good monster hunter, and Elsa inherited that job from her father Ulysses Bloodstone. Her father was a twisted man who was cruel to both Elsa and her mother Elise, forcing her to train in the most arduous ways imaginable. When Ulysses’s age caught up with him, he even told his own daughter to kill him and she refused.

Despite her hatred for her father, she did take on the role of a Monster Hunter and wielded a choker with a red stone that gave her supernatural powers. Much like Hellboy or Blade, Elsa is on the side of good but her past and the job she took fighting the likes of vampires, demons, and undead leaves her bitter and puts her on dark adventures.

The Punisher

Frank Castle’s origins are sad, having lost his entire family thus driving him over the edge. However, the Punisher is a morally grey character due to his lack of empathy. To him, all criminals deserve to be punished, even the small-time crook forced to commit crimes to provide for their family.

It makes it sometimes difficult to view him as a hero because his sense of justice can be considered wrong. However, The Punisher has taken on many powerful villains and some of the worst criminals imaginable and it can be argued that some deserved their fate of being brutally murdered by Frank.

Morbius

Dr. Michael Morbius was not born evil nor did he ever have evil intentions; all he desired was to cure himself of his rare blood disease. His attempt at a cure ended up transforming him into the world’s first genetically designed vampire. He has speed, agility, strength, the ability to fly, powerful claws, hypnotism, and many other abilities traditionally seen in a vampire.

Sadly, the cure became a new curse, giving Michael a nearly unquenchable thirst for blood that can result in him killing and sucking innocents dry. When the vampire lashes out, Michael has little control over his actions, which is why he tries to direct his hunger towards criminals and villains.

Blade

Unlike Morbius, Blade is more of a traditional vampire, or at least half-vampire. He has all of their strengths and none of their weaknesses, except for that nasty bloodlust that can drive Blade into a similar frenzy. This pushes Blade to remain isolated from both humans and vampires alike.

Blade was born Eric Brooks, and his mother was a prostitute that became the victim of the vampire Deacon Frost. Frost fed on her as she gave birth and this led to Eric’s half-vampiric biology as well as Blade’s hatred for vampires, vowing to slay them all, including the famous Dracula.

Moon Knight

Where to begin with Marc Spector AKA Moon Knight? Even from a young age, he was a disrespectful person who would insult his own father for being a pacifist. He became obsessed with fighting, to the point of joining the military just to kill people for the fun of it.

After rising from the dead thanks to the god Khonshu, he became the brutal vigilante known as Moon Knight. Spector already has a severe case of dissociative identity disorder, making him one of the most unpredictable superheroes. But then, he has a god talking to him and his other personalities. That’s not even getting into the twisted ways he will murder criminals that would make Punisher wince.

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