10 Marvel Characters You Never Knew Were Awesome Fathers

Most superpowered families tend to have overly complicated lives, and their frequently convoluted relationships with one another rarely, if ever, make matters any better. Some truly astonishing figures have carved out a special place in their lives for those they love most, despite how seemingly impossible that can be.

On the other end of that spectrum are those who have become unlikely heroes yet never let that overshadow their commitment to their families. No matter which side of the spectrum they fall on, the following father figures are undoubtedly among the greatest the Marvel universe has ever known, even if they aren’t all exactly father-of-the-year material at first glance.

10 Magneto’s Complicated Family Relationships Haven’t Stopped Him from Caring for His Kids

Max Eisenhardt, better known as Magneto, has changed in demonstrable ways in the six decades since his debut back in 1963’s X-Men #1 (by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Paul Reinman). Apart from Magneto’s shift from pure supervillain to abject hero and freedom fighter, his family tree has undergone many upsets. Chief among these was the revelation that Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, were never the children of Magneto as had long been believed.

Not long after the discovery that Wanda and Pietro’s powers came from being experimented on as infants by the High Evolutionary, the two learned that they had spent decades being misled as to who they were and where they came from. While this drove a deep wedge between them, Wanda and Magneto’s reconciliation has been enough to keep the House of Magneto together, even when Pietro refuses. Magneto has also spared no effort to maintain a healthy relationship with Lorna Dane, aka Polaris. That may not make up for every tense or traumatizing bout of family drama, but it has ensured that every one of Magneto’s children knows how much he cares for them.

For as long as Blade has been a part of the Marvel Universe, fans have never been given any reason to suspect that the world’s foremost vampire hunter was a parent. As fans have learned recently, the Daywalker and his former wife, Safron Caulder, had a daughter together years ago. The only reason Blade hasn’t been more involved in her life up until now was the thought that he could spare her from following in his footsteps.

Introduced in “Bloodline” (by Danny Lore and Karen S. Darboe, from the pages of Free Comic Book Day 2022: Avengers/X-Men #1), Brielle Brooks’ earliest days seemed idyllic and likely would have been if not for her father’s particular line of work. This subsequently drove Safron to move herself and Brielle far from the action. It wasn’t until Brielle’s powers began manifesting years later that she was informed of the truth of her lineage. Thankfully, Blade has been open and upfront with Brielle about almost every aspect of their nature as Dhampir and his efforts as one of the Marvel Universe’s premier monster hunters. In doing so, Blade has helped Brielle to come into her own as both a person and a hero, and she couldn’t be doing better in either regard.

8 Cyclops Gave Up Being a Father for the Sake of His Son

Considering Scott Summers’ historically convoluted romantic relationships with Jean Grey, Madelyne Pryor, and Emma Frost, it is no surprise that he has similarly complex relationships with his children. The most complicated of these is Cyclops’s relationship with his son Nathan, better known as Cable. It makes perfect sense that things would be at least a little awkward between them, especially after Nathan effectively lived an entire life before getting a chance to properly introduce himself to his own father.

Born to Scott and Madelyne, Nathan was still an infant when his father left to reunite with a recently returned Jean Grey. Mister Sinister then manipulated Madelyne and stole away with the child. Thankfully, Scott and Jean rescued Nathan, but they couldn’t protect Nathan from the touch of Apocalypse who infected the child with a Techno-Organic Virus. Knowing that there was no hope for his son in their relative present at the time, Cyclops made the gut-wrenching decision to send Nathan into a faraway future in the arms of someone who could save him. Since then, Scott and Cable have reunited on multiple occasions, and while that hasn’t given them back the years they lost, it has given them a chance to make up for them as best they can.

7 Reed Richards Saved the Entire Marvel Universe for His Family

While Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four has ostensibly been the Marvel Universe’s preeminent ‘Wife Guy’ from the beginning, he has also been among the best dads in pop culture for nearly as long. Only seven years after the rest of the eponymous team made their unforgettable debut, 1968’s Fantastic Four Annual #6 (by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Joe Sinnott) introduced the then newest member of Marvel’s First Family in the form of a then-unnamed newborn who would eventually be christened Franklin Richards. As one of the most powerful Omega-Level mutants in history, Franklin has been at the center of numerous harrowing storylines, yet his family, specifically his father, has been there at almost every step.

Of all these unsettling chapters in Franklin’s life, few, if any, have hit quite as hard as the apparent death and subsequent return of his younger sister, Valeria. When Valeria was originally born, she was presumed to have passed away in the process by her parents. Instead, Franklin displaced his sister to an alternate reality, where she lived an entire life of her own as this other world’s Marvel Girl. Eventually, Valeria was returned to an unborn state within Sue Storm, kicking off a fraught and frantic pregnancy that culminated in yet another happy, bouncing baby coming into the world. Whereas anyone else would have been easily unnerved by these circumstances, Reed took them and everything after in stride. He hasn’t wasted any opportunities to fight for his family’s future, even in the face of universe-annihilating threats such as the Reckoning.

6 Luke Cage and Jessica Jones Might Be Marvel Comics’ Best Parents

Luke Cage and Jessica Jones have long been considered one of, if not the most endearing couple in the Marvel Universe. While their individual moral centers and fierce dedication to doing the right thing certainly help in that regard, their unwavering faith in the family they have made together cements that reputation. They are such stellar parents to their daughter, Danielle. Born to Luke and Jessica in the pages of 2006’s The Pulse #13 (by Michael Gaydos and Matt Hollingsworth), Dani Cage’s birth itself was the subject of no small amount of press coverage, or would have been if not for the likes of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes stepping in to put the paparazzi on their heels.

While Luke and Jessica have raised Dani to be as kind, thoughtful, and considerate as they are, the myriad of other heroes who call themselves part of Dani’s extended family have kept her from falling into any of the wrong hands. In the face of threats such as Skrull impostors during the events of Secret Invasion, even Norman Osborn was willing to stand up for Dani, proving that quite literally everyone knows exactly what lengths Luke Cage would go if anything happened to his little girl. To his credit, Luke has made it clear that his family is off limits when it comes to the world of superheroics he inhabits, and it appears that all of NYC’s villains have heeded that warning without question.

5 Captain America Went to Arnim Zola’s Personal Hell and Back for His Son – Twice

Steve Rogers is many things to many people, but he is only a father to one—Ian Rogers. Born Leopold Zola, Ian’s life began as the creation of infamous villain Arnim Zola from within his interdimensional stronghold, Dimension Z. Though Zola created Ian, Captain America found, rescued, and subsequently raised him. For over a decade, Steve treated Ian as his own while helping the boy navigate the treacherous landscape he had been born into.

When Steve returned to his native dimension and the two were separated, Ian continued living up to his adoptive father’s legacy, and so far nothing has gotten him to stop. Under the code name of Nomad, Ian has fought valiantly against all manner of nefarious forces, primarily those of Hydra. These endeavors have seen Ian put his life on the line at nearly every turn and seemingly lose it on more than one occasion. Fortunately, he has proven to be as resilient as the man who raised him. Better yet, the two were allowed to reunite and hit the battlefield together once more not all that long ago, securing one of the greatest victories either has achieved and ensuring that the future of Dimension Z is now well within the right hands.

4 Deadpool is Underrated as One of Marvel’s Best Dads

Wade Wilson, better known as Deadpool, has never presented himself as what anyone would describe as a family man. If anything, his fourth-wall-breaking antics and penchant for brutal violence make him one of the last antiheroes any fan would suspect of secretly being a loving and devoted father. Of course, like so many other surprises that Deadpool has offered, that is precisely what he is when it comes to his daughter Eleanor, even if she rarely gets to see him in action.

2013’s Deadpool #19 (by Gerry Duggan, Brian Posehn, and Declan Shalvey) introduced Ellie as the daughter of Wade Wilson and Carmelita Camacho, who had shared a fleeting but fiery romance years prior. Not long after the two parted ways, Carmelita was killed and Ellie disappeared, with Deadpool eventually being forced to track his daughter down. Although the two would get the opportunity to get to know each other during their adventures, the vast majority of Ellie’s time was spent hiding in and out of witness protection. As much as it pains Deadpool to know that he cannot see his daughter whenever he wants, her safety is infinitely more important to him than his desires, no matter how painful it is to be away from her.

3 Drax the Destroyer has Done Everything for His Children

There has never been any doubt that Drax the Destroyer is one of the most destructive members of the Guardians of the Galaxy, yet he wasn’t always one to fall back on violence as the answer to his problems. In his former life as Arthur Douglas, he was one of the most soft-spoken and easy-going Marvel characters imaginable. At least, that was the case until his near-death at the hands of Thanos led him to be remade by the Eternals Kronos and Mentor as a warrior capable of striking the Mad Titan down. Of course, it wasn’t just Arthur who lost his life that day, as his wife Yvette and daughter Heather were both caught in the same attack.

Tragically, Yvette’s life was lost entirely, whereas Heather managed to survive Thanos’ assault. With Mentor’s blessing, Heather was moved to Titan and raised into the cosmic hero Moondragon. With so much time and space between them, not to mention Arthur’s spirit and mind becoming an entirely new being, it would have been easy enough for the two to drift apart from each other entirely. Instead, they have come to understand one another as people, heroes, and survivors of the same trauma, even if Heather did kill her father at one point along the way. Moondragon isn’t the only one to know Drax as a father figure, either, as he took it upon himself to rescue the young Camille Benally from her abusive mother years ago, serving as the loving adoptive father she never had on Earth up until the two went their separate ways following the events of 2006’s Annihilation.

2018’s Venom #7 (by Donny Cates, Iban Coello, and Andres Mossa) changed Eddie Brock’s life forever, not through the introduction of another alien symbiote but through that of the son he never knew he had – Dylan Brock. Born to Anne Weying, Dylan wasn’t just an unexpected addition to Eddie’s life; he changed the entire Marvel Universe with his debut. As the son of Eddie and Anne, Dylan is the last tie to the love of his life the former has left. As the son of Venom, however, Dylan is a being unlike any other that ever has been or will likely ever be.

Dylan’s physiology is because he is effectively Anne’s old Codex, the latent psyche and DNA of a person stored within the symbiote Hive, given a life of its own. This hasn’t made their relationship any easier. However, it has given Dylan a much-needed edge over enemies ranging from the serial killer symbiote Carnage to the progenitor of all their kind, Knull. Currently hosting his father’s old symbiote, Dylan has more than made a name for himself as Venom. He has also struggled to come to terms with the frequent bouts of abandonment he has been forced to live through thanks to Eddie’s antihero lifestyle and status as the current King in Black, so much so that Dylan settled on killing his father as the best way to settle things. Luckily, Eddie is stuck by Dylan’s side every step along the way, and it is hard to imagine anything that will make him give up on his son once they are reunited.

1 Wolverine has Always Been a Good Role Model – And a Great Dad

For how long James Howlett, aka Logan, best known as Wolverine has lived, it isn’t any real surprise that he has a larger family than most Marvel superheroes. That being said, it is still astonishing for many fans when they realize just how big that family is, not to mention how many children Wolverine has sired. Of those known today, Logan’s family tree includes eight direct descendants, though that number only gets bigger when his various clones and their respective offshoots are brought into the picture.

Even though Wolverine has had difficult, frequently violent relationships with his children and descended clones, he has still welcomed every one of them with open arms when given the chance to do so. This has been exemplified by his relationship with his son Akihiro, formerly Daken, who went so far as to form the organization known as the Red Right Hand to hunt down and torture Wolverine, subjecting his soul to Hell. At the same time, a demon piloted his body on Earth to grotesque effect. That was only the worst of their confrontations, of which there have been many and almost none ended without serious bloodshed. Still, whatever bad blood may have existed between them has been washed away by the progress they have made both as individuals and as a family, and that is just as true for the likes of Laura and Gabbey Kinney as it is for any other child of Wolverine who lived long enough to get to know him truly.