From Captain America to Doctor Strange, Marvel has debuted some of the most iconic superheroes of all time - characters who have become household names around the world. However, in amongst the Wolverines and Spider-Men, Marvel has also introduced a number of heroes whose names have stirred up controversy, from the deliberately inappropriate to the accidentally risque to the legally actionable.
Here are 8 Marvel superhero names that proved totally inappropriate, and what happened as a result of Marvel printing them, from names that got the publisher sued to vulgar (but ultimately harmless) gags that just made Marvel fans love comics more.
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8 Captain ****
The Name So Inappropriate, Marvel Has Never Printed It
2006's Nextwave (from Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen) was a razor-sharp satire of superhero stories, as a group of irreverent heroes faced off against increasingly bizarre and absurd villains. The series gathered together disparate characters including former Avengers leader Photon, mutant shoplifter (and superhero) Boom-Boom, and cynical monster hunter Elsa Bloodstone. However, it also introduced a brand-new Marvel hero known as the Captain.
The whole point of the Captain was to parody generic superhero lore, granting a superhero a totally bland name and powers (flight, strength and super-senses) while making the actual individual as un-superheroic as possible. Nextwave's Captain has a foul mouth, loves violence for its own sake, and would rather hide out in the nearest bar than save innocents. Specifically because he lacks any distinguishing characteristics, the Captain tried out a bunch of codenames, including Captain Marvel, Captain Universe and Captain Avenger, only to find them all taken.
In desperation, the hero branded himself "Captain ****", arguing that as a badass Brooklyn superhero, he couldn't exactly take the name "Mr. Friendly." Sadly, the name only lasted until the hero met Captain America, who was so offended by the moniker that he beat "seven shades of it" out of Captain ****, finally inspiring him to give up on being unique and just go by 'the Captain.'
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7 Leather Boy
Of Course the Great Lakes Avengers Had an Inappropriate Hero
With heroes like Big Bertha, Doorman and Squirrel Girl, the Great Lakes Avengers were never meant to be taken seriously. However, Dan Slott and Paul Pelletier pushed the joke even further by adding Gene Lorrene's Leather Boy to the hapless team of Midwest heroes. As many fans have pointed out over the years, there's more than a casual relationship between costumed superheroes and leather culture, and GLA #1 closed the circle. Leather Boy has no actual superpowers and isn't actually a crime-fighter - he simply misread the GLA's personal ad and thought he'd found a like-minded group.
Tragically, Leather Boy didn't stay a member of the Great Lakes Avengers or even a superhero. Feeling jilted after the team reformed without him, he returned in a villainous persona inspired by Doctor Doom and killed off team leader Mister Immortal and Squirrel Girl's sidekick, Monkey Joe. Leather Boy has returned since as a spiteful but relatively harmless enemy of the GLA and squirrels everywhere.
6 The Whizzer
This Classic Speedster Was Originally Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver's Father
The Marvel Universe has been around for 64 years, and not every superhero name can be a winner. Robert Frank's Whizzer debuted in 1941's U.S.A. Comics #1, created by Al Avison, and is a WWII contemporary of Captain America and Namor the Sub-Mariner. He's mostly known for his bizarre origin, where he gained superspeed thanks to a transfusion of mongoose blood, and was at one time believed to be the father of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver (one of several candidates over the years.)
The character has appeared sporadically since his debut, but sadly doesn't have the same legacy of other classic characters, mostly because it would be awkward for him to down his urinary codename to anyone in the modern day.
Bizarrely, the slang use of 'whiz' meaning 'to water' actually predates the character, beginning in the late 1920s, raising the question of why this codename was ever used. Even the Whizzer costume adds to the unfortunate nature of his name - as Deadpool observed in 1998's Deadpool #0, "I thought you were just a legend to make mercs laugh at night. I mean, come on, you're named the Whizzer and you sport a YELLOW COSTUME?"
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5 Sheriff Gia Whitechapel
X-Men Accidentally Named a Hero After an Adult Movie Star
Debuting in X of Swords: Stasis #1 (by Tini Howard, Jonathan Hickman, Gerry Duggan and Pepe Larraz), Gia Whitechapel is the sheriff of Blightspoke - a chaotic territory within the mystical realm of Otherworld. In a kingdom riven by magical energies, Whitechapel keeps the peace with her unparalleled marksmanship and a custom rifle that can see everywhere in the realm. A cool character, it was only after her debut that co-creator Tini Howard was informed the hero shares her name with an adult performer. Speaking to AIPT, Howard revealed:
[My funniest editorial note] was the phone call where Jordan had to explain to me that the very cool name I’d given to a recent character was also the name of an adult performer, for sure. I had no idea! Just two cool names put together! Zeitgeist, I guess.
While there's obviously no inherent issue with a superhero sharing their name with an adult performer, commentators pointed out that fans Googling the hero might get more than they bargained for. In subsequent appearances, Sheriff Whitechapel revealed her 'full' name is actually Giada, addressing the issue with a subtle retcon.
4 Surrender Monkey
Marvel Subverted a National Stereotype
One of Marvel's most underrated series of all time, X-Statix was a satire of celebrity culture from Peter Milligan and Mike Allred - one in which it was never quite clear how many of the titular heroes' adventures were real, and how many were staged to help their public profile. X-Statix #13 introduced the rival team Euro-Trash - a group of European superhumans who were each broad caricatures of their respective nations. Oxford Blue, the Wall and Miz Tree were led by the insultingly-named French stereotype Surrender Monkey, complete with Breton shirt and beret.
In 2003, was one of the countries that voted against authorizing the US invasion of Iraq, leading to cultural aggression towards the nation in a lot of American media. Surrender Monkey was clearly intended as commentary on that fact, with the superhuman only possessing one unnatural ability - the power to discern the exact right moment to run away.
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The series later flipped this insulting caricature on its head, revealing that Surrender Monkey wasn't actually French. In fact, Surrender Monkey was Brad Bentley - a CIA agent tasked with influencing public attitudes to the Iraq War by stirring up hatred for opponents of invasion. The entire Euro-Trash team were a psy-op deliberately designed to manipulate the American public.
3 Man-Thing
Some Superheroes Won't Even Say This Hero's Name
Originating in 1971's Savage Tales #1 - created by Gerry Conway, Roy Thomas, Gray Morrow and Stan Lee - the Man-Thing is arguably the king of Marvel's monsters. The guardian of a nexus that connects all realities, the Man-Thing exudes a mystic acid that combusts in the presence of fear, leading to the iconic quote that "whatever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing's touch." Man-Thing is a genuinely cool character, with the small drawback that its name sounds like an anatomical euphemism - an observation never plainer than in the 1974 publication of Giant-Size Man-Thing.
Marvel hasn't been shy about mocking the character's codename, with various gags over the years referencing the risqué reading. In a story from Marvel #4 by Doug Rice and Hilary Barta, two characters ask, "How did this get past the Comics Code?", referencing the famously harsh censorship of comics which resulted from a 1950s moral panic. In Avengers #41 (Jason Aaron and Javier Garron), Luke Cage gives up on addressing the monster, muttering, "Ain't saying that name."
2 Hell's Angel
Marvel Just Couldn't Win with This Codename
Shevaun Haldane was introduced in 1992's Hell's Angel #1 by Bernie Jaye and Geoff Senior, and touted as one of the most powerful mutants in Marvel lore. Hell's Angel boasts immense control over exotic energy, allowing her to manipulate gravity, turn intangible, and unleash powerful energy blasts. While her name doesn't have risqué or scatological implications, Hell's Angel was controversial for only one reason - the name was already in use by the infamous motorcycle gang.
After debuting Hell's Angel, Marvel was sued for trademark violation by the Hells Angels, whose 1948 club far precedes the hero. Marvel ended up paying $35,000 to charity and changing the character's name to Dark Angel... only to be sued again. This time, the complaint came from Boneyard Press, who already had a character of the same name. Ultimately, Marvel canceled Shevaun's series, and she's barely been seen since, though she did get a cameo in 2014's Revolutionary War event.
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1 Spider-B****
Marvel Chickened Out of This Codename Eventually
Leave it to the boundary-pushing Mark Millar to co-create Marvel's most inappropriate superhero name of all time (along with Steve McNiven, in the blockbuster Wolverine: Old Man Logan.) Ashley Barton is the daughter of Hawkeye and granddaughter of Peter Parker's Spider-Man - a rebel fighter who sought to seize power over the post-apocalyptic city of Hammer Falls. Spider-B**** was a hero in only the most nebulous sense, opposing the Kingpin mostly so she could replace him.
While the codename 'Spider-B****' was part of the shock value Old Man Logan embraced (this is the series where cousins Hulk and She-Hulk produce an army of inbred gamma monsters), it also had a Punk appeal that made Ashley intriguing, especially alongside the concept of Spider-B**** rejecting Peter Parker's 'power and responsibility' mantra. There was genuine promise to Spider-B**** as an antihero, but sadly Marvel didn't stick with the name.
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When Ashley reappeared in Marvel's Edge of Spider-Verse event, she now went by the codename Spider-Woman, inspired by the universe's Spider-Heroes to become far more of a do-gooder. While turning Spider-B**** into another Spider-Woman was definitely a more appropriate choice, the badass post-apocalyptic anti-hero version of the character was definitely more interesting.
Those are the 8 most inappropriate superhero names in Marvel Comics, from those that offended sensibilities to those that prompted legal action - let us know in the comments which other Marvel heroes should be on this list, and which of the entries above deserves to return in future comics.
Source: Chris Hassan, AIPT; Comics Journal
