Marvel Comics has taken some of the best and often beloved heroes over the years and has had them turn bad for often ridiculous reasons. Sometimes, these heel turns from the once beloved heroes have almost ruined their reputations in the minds of fans. Even though sometimes the comics explained why the heroes break bad, once the heroes turn bad and betray their friends, teammates, and the readers who loved them, no explanation usually works, and fans just remember the betrayal and not the reasoning behind the storyline.
In other words, their heel turn ruins them for a long time. Here is a look at seven Marvel Comics characters who turned bad, and their heel turns almost destroyed them.
7) Beast in Krakoa
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Beast was the most recent Marvel Comics hero to turn evil, and he still hasn’t recovered from the heel turn. This actually started back after Avengers vs. X-Men ended, when Cyclops, possessed by the Phoenix Force, killed Professor Charles Xavier. Beast then used his scientific knowledge to do questionable things, which included bringing the young X-Men to the present day to seek revenge against Scott, accidentally stranding them here.
However, he got a lot worse when he gained leadership duties over X-Force, which he turned into a paramilitary unit against fellow mutants. He humiliated one of the mutant world’s most beloved citizens in Colossus and eventually sent his X-Force out to commit murder more than once. By the end, X-Force attempted to kill Beast because he had crossed a line from which he could never recover. Beast died, replaced with a resurrected variant from his days with the Avengers before he ever started his villainous turn.
6) Daredevil in Shadowland
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Daredevil has always been one of Marvel Comics’ heroes who believes in justice more than almost any other. He won’t kill and wants criminals to stand trial for their crimes rather than face vigilante justice. It is why he has battled the Punisher so many times, and he is a good reason Elektra has tried to become a better person. That made Daredevil’s turn to the side of darkness in Shadowland so hard to understand.
In this story, Daredevil takes control of the evil ninja clan The Hand and turns Hell’s Kitchen into a martial law zone. He killed Bullseye in cold blood and became a ruthless dark vigilante, causing his old friends like Spider-Man, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist to set out to stop him. It turned out in the end that the Beast of the Hand possessed him, and Matt sacrificed himself to end the reign of terror. Despite being possessed, this ruined Daredevil’s reputation for a very long time.
5) Cyclops in Avengers vs. X-Men
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Cyclops was not in control of his body when he killed Professor X, but he was more in control than Daredevil was in the Shadowland storyline. In Avengers vs. X-Men, the Phoenix Force arrived on Earth and split itself among five mutants: Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magik, Colossus, and Namor. At first, they started solving the world’s problems with their new powers, but the Avengers never believed it would remain good.
They were right, and when Namor almost destroyed Wakanda, it was time to stop the mutants. Each time a mutant fell in defeat, the Phoenix Force in the others grew stronger until there was only one left with Cyclops. When Scott killed Professor X, he finally gave up the power and went to prison. However, what made this so interesting was that he became a martyr for mutants who were tired of being persecuted. Cyclops has never recovered, and his ruthless actions still follow him to this day.
4) Hank Pym’s Court Martial
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Hank Pym turning bad caused the Avengers to turn on him, even though it was a mental breakdown that caused his mistakes. That said, what really destroyed his reputation was what happened during the storyline when he slapped his wife, Janet Van Dyne, in the face and gave her a black eye. This wasn’t supposed to happen, as Jim Shooter had written it as an accident, but artist Bob Hall wrote it as intentional.
Hank Pym has still never recovered from this storyline, and many readers still call him a wife-beater to this day. Readers rarely see Hank as a hero in any story since this event, although Marvel has tried to redeem him more than once. This was a heel turn that destroyed one of Marvel Comics’ original superheroes, from which he never recovered.
3) Iron Man in The Crossing
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The Crossing remains one of the most controversial Avengers storylines of all time. Before this, Iron Man was one of Marvel’s most respected heroes. Even when he did questionable things, such as in the Armor Wars storyline, he had a good reason for it, even if he undertook questionable actions. However, his revelation in The Crossing destroyed his character, and he has never recovered.
In this story, Iron Man turned out to be a double-agent for Kang the Conqueror, and he always was. He killed good people to hide his secret and betrayed the Avengers, revealing he was always a double agent. The Avengers eventually got a teenage Tony Stark from the past to come to the present day to help stop Iron Man. While Iron Man died after this storyline, he returned after the Onslaught event, but has never been trustworthy since.
2) Scarlet Witch in Avengers Disassembled
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Marvel has done more to hurt the Scarlet Witch’s reputation than they have done for almost any other character in comics. This started when she lost control in the early issues of The Avengers and turned evil, and it happened again in the West Coast Avengers run. Each of these stories had her possessed and controlled by others, but in Avengers Disassembled, she lost control completely.
When she remembered that she once had children and someone took them from her, she lost it. While she created the children, and they were never real, she sought revenge against the people whom she blamed for their loss, including murdering Agatha Harkness, Ant-Man, Hawkeye, and Jack of Hearts. By the end, she had her brain shut down by Doctor Strange. Add in the later House of M and the “No More Mutants” storyline, and Marvel has struggled to redeem her ever since.
1) Captain America in Secret Empire
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Secret Empire was similar to Shadowland, but it was set up from the start to be a swerve, although many fans who don’t understand how soon in advance comics are written still refuse to believe it. In this case, Captain America killed Nomad and then said the shocking words that ruined his reputation forever: “Hail Hydra.” Cap revealed here that he has always been a double agent, like Iron Man in The Crossing.
Captain America took over the country and turned it into a fascist society, stripping Americans of their freedom, while gaining the support of lazy, often racist Americans who preferred it that way. Of course, this was not the real Captain America, and it was a Steve Rogers from an alternate Earth who was controlled by Hydra Supreme. Many fans didn’t care and refused to understand the storyline, condemning Marvel outright and labeling it one of the worst Marvel Comics stories ever told.
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