Marvel Comics took superheroes to the next level. While you can argue that DC did more for the maturation of the medium in the ’80s, that wouldn’t have been possible without Marvel changing the way superheroes worked in the ’60s. Marvel heroes weren’t the all-powerful gods and perfect examples of goodness like those of their distinguished competition, they were more human. This led the concept in new directions and it allowed creators to add complexity to the books that wasn’t always there in the years before. In the ’70s, the House of Ideas brought the anti-hero to comics, which has completely changed the comic industry, and led superheroes to darker, more violent places.
Marvel heroes as a whole have gotten harder-edged. The villains have gotten more and more dangerous and the heroes have had to change their tactics. Over the years, numerous Marvel heroes have been introduced that often use the same kind of methods as their foes. While they fight for good, they do things that blur the line between heroism and villainy. These five Marvel heroes can be rather villainous, muddying the waters with their actions.
Wolverine has survived the most brutal battles, adding his own brand of animalistic violence to the proceedings. Logan is an interesting case when it comes to morality; to begin with, this is a person who has done terrible things in his life. He has killed innocent people and it wasn’t just when he was in his berserker rages. He’s worked for some of the worst people in the government and the world. While he’s left that behind, this is the kind of person he can be. As far as the present goes, he can be a big softy with the people he cares about but he’s still one of the most dangerous men on the planet. He will kill his enemies; woe betide you if you’re a henchman, because you’re going to get cut up. Wolvie’s interrogation methods are also terribly bloody. He’s the kind of guy who cuts pieces off you to get you to talk. He basically uses villainous methods to fight evil; it definitely works, but it’s also made a lot of heroes dislike him immensely.
Emma Frost was raised in a wealthy family of the most terrible people you can imagine and decided that she wanted to be as far away from them as possible. Her telepathic powers gave her a leg up on the competition and she used them to build a fortune that allowed her to ascend to the White Queen of the Hellfire Club. She’d eventually join the X-Men, following her love of teaching the youth, but the only thing that has changed for her is the people she fights. She’s still arrogant and superior to everyone else, and she still uses her telepathic powers in the same way she did when she was a villain. Emma has morals, but she also knows that sometimes, morals will hold you back. The perfect example of this came in the recent X-Men: The Hellfire Murder and that’s all I’m going to say. One of the ironies of the X-Men is that Emma hates Wolverine, but the two of them basically use the exact same methods. The only difference between them is what was implanted in them and their powers.
Deadpool has become one of Marvel’s most popular heroes, a road that was begun back in the ’90s. There’s an idea now that Deadpool was always the funny, fourth-wall breaking character he is now, even when he was a villain, but that wasn’t actually the case. Pre-solo series Deadpool was basically just a sadist. He enjoyed hurting people and most of his jokes were more in that direction than in him being insane. Over the years, his targets would change but his methods stayed exactly the same. Deadpool is a mass murderer; in fact, because of his mental issues, you can probably even say that he’s a serial killer. While Wade definitely uses these methods against people who deserve it, there’s really very difference between him and a mad dog villain like Sabretooth. He may be “doing the right thing”, but he’s doing it by wading through rivers of blood. He’s a good guy, but he isn’t a good guy.
Silver Sable is a character that most modern Marvel fans have barely had any experience with, but she’s honestly one of the coolest mercenaries in the Marvel Universe. Silver Sable’s father was a Nazi-hunter, creating the Wild Pack to hunt down the war criminals. She was eventually trained after an attack on her home killed her mother and soon became her father’s second in command. She became an even bigger merc boss than her dad and was able to take control of her home country of Symkaria thanks to Silver Sable International, making the Wild Pack into a powerful army. Silver Sable is ostensibly a good person; the most recent time we’ve seen her, she was hired to protect the new Morlocks. However, that’s the thing about her – she’ll do anything for money. She’s even been hired to work against the heroes in the past. Her methods are extremely brutal, which fits someone who runs a merc army. She has no problem killing or torturing people to get her way. Mercenaries like her definitely blur the line; while she’s almost certainly not going to work for someone like Red Skull, she’s still going to use villainous methods to win.
The Punisher is Marvel’s most blood-stained hero, which is saying something in a universe where both Wolverine and Deadpool exist. Frank Castle was a Marine broken by war and lost his family on a terrible day in Central Park to mob violence. This shattered his already cracked world completely and he fell back on what he was good at – killing people. The Punisher’s entire life is all about finding crooks, watching them, and then attacking. He shoots to kill constantly; if he merely injures you, that’s because he’s going to interrogate you to find out more. Frank believes that anyone who isn’t willing to kill criminals is basically a baby and in his way. He fights other heroes constantly and commits terrible acts of murder every chance he gets. He’s even spent time in prison for his actions as the Punisher. Much like other people on this list, he at least targets the right people but that doesn’t change just how bad he really is.
