10 Marvel Sidekicks And Legacy Heroes Who Should Join the New Champions

Though the Young Avengers name and team might be more marketable, Marvel’s Champions team has become the company’s premiere group of young heroes in the past decade. The group is now being reborn as “New Champions,” with the team featuring new characters based on older adult heroes. While these characters will likely be the series’ highlight, there’s a chance to finally bring back some overlooked sidekicks and partners from the past.

Marvel Comics has largely eschewed sidekicks, but a few have existed for major heroes. These include largely forgotten partners with similar themes and former partners who replaced the main heroes. With Marvel seemingly focusing on legacy more and more, the New Champions book is a great way to bring back these older and overlooked additions.

10 Araña Is an Overlooked Member of the Spider-Man Family

First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy #1 by Joe Quesada, Fiona Avery and Mark Brooks

Anya Corazon is one of the women who have used the Spider-Girl moniker and the second to temporarily have her own title after the Mayday Parker Spider-Girl. She’s also gone by Araña, which reflects her heritage and gives her a somewhat more unique identity. This identity might be the best way to use her in other books, including New Champions.

Araña can showcase the potential of a Spider-Man character who’s not simply a retread of Peter Parker in some way. Using gadgets and her slightly enhanced physical powers, she represents a similar type of hero while still being unique. Given that she hasn’t had a lot of focus in recent years, putting her with the New Champions in some way would make sense.

9 Black Goliath Has Never Made It Big

First Appearance: The Avengers #32 by Stan Lee and Don Heck

The first Black Goliath was Dr. William Foster, who used Hank Pym’s Pym Particles to gain similar size-changing powers. This made him just as powerful as he was intelligent, but it did little to make him mainstream. The original Black Goliath was controversially killed in Marvel’s Civil War storyline, but his nephew, Tom Foster, has since succeeded him as Goliath. Likewise, Bill’s personality was retained digitally before his death, uniquely reviving him.

Having Tom Foster acting as Goliath as part of the New Champions would continue that legacy in a major way, especially if he communes with the digital essence of his uncle, the original Black Goliath. It helps that the Ant-Man/Giant Man mythos have never been particularly popular or controversial. This would allow the Foster family to surpass the heroes they were spinoffs from while representing both a retro hero and stepping forward as part of the New Champions.

8 Alpha Was an Underrated – and Overhated – Marvel Hero

First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #692 by Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos

Named “Andrew Maguire” after two of the live-action Spider-Man actors, Alpha was a largely failed hero who was likely meant for so much more. His origins emulated Spider-Man’s, with the young man attending the same high school as Peter Parker. After being exposed to Parker Particles, he gained the power to manipulate cosmic energy, either blasting it out of his hands or using it to empower his physical stats.

Sadly, rookie mistakes made Alpha a less-than-popular hero in the Marvel Universe, even though he had Spider-Man’s blessing. He was last seen trying to protect Pittsburgh, though not much has come of him. New Champions can finally show what he’s been up to and perhaps use him as a mentor to the younger heroes. Using his own life (which he’ll have hopefully turned around by now) as an example, he can be a beacon to the New Champions as a sign to not give up.

7 Steel Spider Has Gone from Zero to Dark Hero

First Appearance: The Spectacular Spider-Man #72 by Bill Mantlo and Ed Hannigan

When he was introduced, Oliver Osnick was merely an overweight Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus fan. His costume emulated them both, but he became more of a Spidey fan when he saw how emulating a supervillain would go for his career. Years later, he took the identity of Steel Spider, where he ran afoul of Norman Osborn’s Thunderbolts team and had a grievous encounter with Venom.

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Since then, Steel Spider hasn’t been seen much, but he’s far from the joke he once was as a kid. The now adult Osnick can showcase the dark side of hero worship, and his grimmer persona as Steel Spider might reprimand the young heroes of the New Champions. At the same time, he might also become a begrudging mentor, if only to keep them out of trouble. In doing so, he’d finally become the hero he always saw in Spider-Man.

6 Jack Flag Deserves a Heroic Return

First Appearance: Captain America #434 by Mark Gruenwald and Dave Hoover

Jack Flag was one of several new sidekicks that Captain America took on board in the 1990s. Having idolized Captain America since childhood, he grew up to become a hero to impress his idol. Most recently, he died in the Captain America: Steve Rogers series after working with the Guardians of the Galaxy, which made his life more tragic than ever. Since Bucky Barnes’ Winter Soldier has been confirmed alive for years, Jack Flag is now essentially Cap’s equivalent to the fallen Bucky.

A new Jack Flag or someone related to the original could appear in the New Champions team. There might even be some resentment, with this individual feeling that Captain America abandoned their relative. Given their similar costumes, this would make Jack Flag into Cap’s version of Red Hood, showing a darker shade of red, white, and blue.

5 Blindspot Was a Unique Sidekick for Daredevil

First Appearance: All-New, All-Different Marvel Point One #1 by Charles Soule and Ron Garney

Due to his somewhat impoverished background, Sam Chung lived on the wrong side of the tracks and later became a sidekick to Daredevil. Operating under the name Blindspot, Chung trained under Daredevil and developed martial arts skills almost as great as those of the Man Without Fear. He also used an invisibility suit, using these skills and gadgets to fight street-level threats like The Hand.

Blindspot hasn’t been seen in a lot of recent Daredevil comic books, but he’s a great character who’s also a unique “legacy” hero. While Daredevil trained him, he’s not merely a retread of the Man Without Fear. Likewise, his own background could see him become somewhat protective of Marvel’s younger heroes, namely those who also had it rough growing up.

4 Kasper Cole Was A Great Black Panther

First Appearance: Black Panther #50 by Christopher Priest and Dan Fraga

A New York police officer who took up the mantle with a costume he had stolen from a police contact of T’Challa, Kasper Cole was a very different identity for Black Panther. Using guns and being even more street-level in tone, the character was used as a creative reset for the well-received but struggling Black Panther title by Christopher Priest. He had no connection to Wakanda’s legacy, which made him a refreshing part of a mythos that’s since become bogged down in royal politics and other themes.

Currently operating as White Tiger, Kasper Cole could showcase a different side of the Black Panther legacy with the New Champions. This is important, as the main Black Panther book is the Ultimate Black Panther comic. Expanding the mythos’ lore once again and peeling things back beyond Wakanda, the fairly forgotten Kasper Cole is potentially one of the most important legacy heroes at the time.

3 Toro Represents the History of a Lost Hero

First Appearance: Human Torch Comics #2 by Carl Burgos

The Human Torch is a title associated with the Fantastic Four, but this wasn’t the hero’s only incarnation. The original Golden Age Human Torch was a robotic android, with his sidekick being Toro. Having fire powers similar to his mentor, Toro was later revealed decades later as an inhuman.

Currently, the Inhumans brand is tarnished due to Marvel Comics’ attempt to have the characters essentially replace the popular X-Men characters. Still, Toro could be a vital mentor to the New Champions due to his unique status as an Inhuman and one of the first Marvel Universe sidekicks. Besides the original, there’s also the Benito Serrano incarnation, who was once a member of the Young Allies and a good potential hero for the New Champions.

2 Free Spirit Was Captain America’s Most Underrated Sidekick

First Appearance: Captain America #431 by Mark Gruenwald and Dave Hoover

Free Spirit was another young hero who aided Captain America, even if she was initially a dark mirror for him. She was exposed to mutagenic radiation that made her similar to the Super Soldier, but this came with the caveat that she was mentally manipulated to hate men. Discovering this fact, she later assisted Jack Flag and Captain America in their adventures until right before “Heroes Reborn.”

Free Spirit could be another mentor to the younger heroes of the New Champions, namely by commenting upon how forgotten she is herself. Likewise, she was initially just a shy student, and the new book could see her focusing more on her civilian identity and showcasing how heroes can rejoin the civilian world when they’re no longer openly operating. It would be a nice commentary on how many partners and sidekicks have been forgotten over time, which is a fate that many fans hope will not befall the New Champions.

1 Thunderstrike Was a Down to Earth God of Thunder

First Appearance: Thor #391 by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz

At one point, the spirit of Thor Odinson was seemingly lost, with the powers of Thor being used by a mortal man named Eric Masterson. After restoring the true Thor, Masterson gained his enchanted hammer and protected the innocent as Thunderstrike. Eric’s son Kevin is currently Thunderstrike, even if he’s somewhat disillusioned. However, he’s received training from one of the Norse Valkyries, making him truly worthy of his mallet.

The newer Thunderstrike can help represent the Thor legacy among the New Champions, especially alongside Hellrune. The new series is supposedly set to feature a lot of Norse and Asgardian magic, so having Thunderstrike around in some capacity makes sense. Likewise, Kevin Masterson can portray the more relatable aspects of being a god of thunder, peeling things away from being entirely based on the cosmic odyssey of the gods.