10 Most Notorious Marvel Storylines, Ranked

Marvel Comics has had numerous iconic storylines, many of which have elevated its most popular heroes even higher. Some of these stories did the same for villains, with “Kraven’s Last Hunt,” “The Dark Phoenix Saga,” and “Mutant Massacre” making Kraven the Hunter, Dark Phoenix, and Sinister into mainstay antagonists. Unfortunately, some stories were disastrous for the characters involved, with many having done damage to this day.

These tales radically changed the status quo in the worst ways, with some completely derailing the popularity of entire universes. Some have largely been forgotten at this point, but fans were not happy with their developments at the time of their publication. While many Marvel heroes have recovered from these controversial tales, others are still reeling from their impact.

Creators: Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness

Currently, the Red Hulk is a fairly well-known Marvel villain, with the foe set to make his live-action debut in Captain America: Brave New World. Unfortunately, his debut in the comic books was not a proverbial box office smash. Many fans disliked the Red Hulk’s introductory storyline for how it mishandled almost every other character to prop up the auburn antagonist.

Not only was the monstrous green Hulk portrayed as incredibly dim-witted, despite years of development, but Red Hulk took out other characters with ease. This included Thor and the cosmic Watcher, who shouldn’t have fallen as easily to his might. By the end, the mystery behind the villain’s identity wasn’t enough to salvage what many saw as a lackluster and rather ridiculous story. Since then, subsequent appearances by the original Red Hulk have been seen as proverbial rebuttals against his introduction.

9 The Secret Origin of Tony Stark Was Completely Unnecessary

Creators: Kieron Gillen and Greg Land

“The Secret Origin of Tony Stark” was part of the Kieron Gillen run on Iron Man, perhaps the last run on the character to make major headway. Sadly, part of the attention came from an unneeded retcon about Tony’s origins. It was revealed that Tony Stark was adopted by Howard and Maria, with his true heritage being fleshed out in a convoluted addition to his overall story.

While the new origin wasn’t deemed a poorly-written tale, many fans disliked how it changed things unnecessarily for Tony. Subsequent stories somewhat built upon it to the point where it couldn’t be avoided. At the same time, it was such an inconsequential new element that it felt even more superfluous. At this point, the retcon might as well be retconned itself, namely, since so few liked it.

8 Shadowland Was a Letdown of a Daredevil Event

Creators: Andy Diggle and Billy Tan

Daredevil has long since been one of Marvel’s best street-level heroes, with the iconic Frank Miller run putting him on the map. Sadly, it took years for a Daredevil-centered event, and the result was fairly disappointing. “Shadowland” had Daredevil temporarily becoming a villain, and this was due to the control of a vicious demon.

The reveal didn’t truly align with Daredevil outside of pure irony. Likewise, it derailed the hero for a few years, and it wasn’t until the later Charles Soule run that the hero got back on track. It was also the worst kind of bad in that it wasn’t offensively terrible, though it failed to please the horn-headed hero’s fans.

7 The Original X-Factor Run Ruined Cyclops

Creators: Bob Layton and Jackson Guice

Before writer/editor Louise Simonson got on the book, Marvel’s initial run on X-Factor was mostly seen as a poor book. It mainly existed to launch another X-Men title due to how much Chris Claremont had expanded the brand, but X-Factor was an inorganic way of doing so. The book was initially aimless, but the worst part was what it did to one X-Men member. The first several issues of X-Factor made Cyclops into a deadbeat who abandoned his family upon hearing about Jean Grey’s return.

This completely ruined Cyclops’ characterization and made him far less than heroic. It’s continued to be an element of his life that manifests occasionally, contrasting the team’s theme. After all, X-Factor was formed because the original X-Men didn’t like the direction of the newer X-Men team (which was being led by the formerly villainous Magneto). Since Cyclops abandoned his family for nothing, the storyline left the team’s leader without his usual strict set of morals.

6 The Crossing Temporarily Ruined Iron Man

Creators: Terry Kavanagh, Bob Harras, Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Ben Raab and Mike Deodato Jr.

“The Crossing” was a sign of things to come for the Avengers in terms of their popularity. The story revealed that Iron Man was a villain who had secretly been working with the time-traveling Kang the Conqueror. To stop him, the Avengers went back in time and had a teenage Tony become the new Iron Man to defeat his older counterpart in the present day.

The fallout of “The Crossing” was barely seen, as it was almost immediately followed by “Heroes Reborn.” However, it replaced the now far more popular Iron Man with a teen incarnation after revealing that the adult Shellhead had been a villain. This did Iron Man no favors, as it took so long for the character to find mainstream success among comic book fans and other audiences.

5 Heroes Reborn Will Always Be Infamous

Creators: Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld

“Heroes Reborn” showcased just how unpopular certain Marvel heroes once were and how much they were allowed to be ripped from their moorings at the time. Due to the low popularity of the Avengers titles and a few other characters, Marvel Comics outsourced the books to former employees who now worked at Image Comics. The result was a line of largely disliked comics that failed to revive the heroes with the same level of success as Spider-Man or the X-Men and only made their comics less beloved.

Much of the art in the books was highly questionable, namely an infamous comic book cover of Captain America by Rob Liefeld. Likewise, the stories were largely ill-conceived and were nowhere as good as the classic comics that introduced these heroes. Marvel later ended the experiment and had the “Heroes Return” storyline, which was far more well-received by fans.

4 Inhumans vs. X-Men Helped Kill Off the Less Succesful Property

Creators: Charles Soule, Jeff Lemire, Leinil Francis Yu, Kenneth Rocafort and Javi Garron

Marvel Comics’ push for the Inhumans was controversial, as many saw it as being at the expense of the X-Men (a property that, at the time, was not owned by Marvel Studios and Disney for movies). The push also came out of nowhere and was clearly inorganic, with many readers resenting the use of the characters. Topping this off was a now infamous storyline that had the opposite of its intended effect.

Inhumans vs. X-Men pitted the two teams against each other, and even though the Inhumans “won,” they forever lost the support of Marvel Comics fans. The Inhumans released a Terrigen Mist that empowered their people but was toxic to mutants, making the royal family essentially imperialists who were causing genocide toward a persecuted minority. This didn’t endear anyone to the Inhumans’ cause, and since the “Death of the Inhumans” storyline, they’ve since returned to obscurity, their marketing potential completely eviscerated.

3 Sins Past Was a Controversial Retcon

Creators: J. Michael Straczynski and Mike Deodato

When it comes to notable retcons, Spider-Man has some of the worst in comic books. The 1990s storyline “The Clone Saga” was contentious enough, but a later story was an even worse problem for one of his former love interests. “Sins Past” revealed that, before he killed her, Gwen Stacy had an affair with Norman Osborn that resulted in twins. These kids were artificially aged and became villains that haunted Spider-Man years later.

“Sins Past” is largely seen as a disturbing story for how it used the dead Gwen Stacy. The book’s art was good, but it also had some of the most infamous images in Spider-Man comics ever. Meant to add another layer of tragedy to Gwen’s death, the story only made her a prop in a disgusting retcon. Thankfully, the later run by Nick Spencer eventually retconned it.

2 Ultimatum Killed the First Ultimate Universe

Created By: Jeph Loeb and David Finch

The original Ultimate Universe was known for being a much darker line of comics, and it also made overlooked (at the time) properties such as the Avengers “cool.” It was also notorious for later stories that were dark and edgy for the sake of it, and there was no better example than “Ultimatum.” Harsh, brutal and utterly bad, “Ultimatum” was almost a parody of what some disliked about the Ultimate Universe.

It had copious amounts of gratuitous deaths, including Ultimate Cyclops and Wolverine. From then on, the Ultimate Universe limped along, rarely regaining its former success. To this day, the universe is mostly disliked for narrative elements seen solely in “Ultimatum,” showcasing just how destructive the storyline was. The only thing good was the art, but this couldn’t save the otherwise damaging story.

1 One More Day Is Still Contentious

Creators: J. Michael Straczynski and Joe Quesada

Perhaps no Marvel Comics storyline is more disliked than “One More Day.” Showcasing the fallout of Peter Parker revealing his identity to the world, it ended with Spider-Man making a deal with the devilish Mephisto to end his marriage with Mary Jane to save Aunt May. It was a despised ending to a contrived storyline, and fans haven’t moved past its issues.

“One More Day” has yet to be retconned, despite fans’ dislike of it and its impact on Spider-Man comics. Besides getting rid of Peter and MJ’s marriage, it also threw all concepts of responsibility inherent in the character to the wind. Since then, Peter has been stuck in a perpetual state of arrested development, so the married, older and more mature Spider-Man in the new Ultimate Universe is already so much more popular.