Top 10 Superheroes You Forgot Were Awesome

Daredevil’s doing a lot better than many of the characters on this list. At least he had that Netflix show, right? But things have slowed down for the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen ever since then and that’s kind of a shame. Daredevil is one of the more grounded heroes in the Marvel Universe, with no superhuman powers outside of his 360 degree radar sense and a tricked out cane. As a result, we seldom get to see him take on any real supervillains in adaptations. In the comics, however, it’s a whole different story. Being a perennial underdog in a world full of superhumans means he has to get creative against vastly more powerful enemies, which creates a special type of tension.

Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1961, the Fantastic Four changed superhero comics forever, introducing fallible heroes with realistic faults. But Marvel’s first family hasn't had much time in the spotlight lately. That includes their hotheaded youngest member. Johnny Storm can ignite himself into a being of living fire. In the old days he hung out with Spider-Man and Iceman, played pranks on the Thing and helped his teammates wipe out the biggest villains in Marvel history. Does the name Galactus ring a bell? But after some lame movie adaptations and Marvel’s feud with Fox, the FF have been out of the spotlight for a while. Now Disney has the rights, though, so maybe it’s time for a comeback.

Here’s your chance to get on the Moon Night bandwagon before it becomes fashionable. This little known superhero is scheduled to have his own MCU movie. In a lot of ways, Moon Knight is Marvel’s answer to Batman. He stalks the night in a cape and cowl, throws themed boomerangs at his enemies and has a whole arsenal of crazy gadgets. He also has a whole other arsenal of just plain crazy. Because unlike Batman, Moon Knight isn’t a billionaire. He’s a debatably unstable ex-mercenary with multiple personalities serving an Egyptian god who may or may not be a figment of his imagination. Also unlike Batman, he dresses in all white because in the dead of night he wants his enemies to see him coming.

You didn’t forget about Storm, did you? With her mastery over the weather, she’s got control over heat, cold, wind, rain and lightning, which makes her easily a match for any two of the other X-Men all by herself. What are eye lasers or wings compared to the ability to brew your own home-made hurricane? Kind of makes you wonder why she’s treated like such a minor character in most of the X-Men movies, when the comics have her growing up as a goddess, going on to lead the X-Men, and then marrying and divorcing the Black Panther. Maybe a character with all that going on plus enough power to literally rival Thor deserves some more screen time.

From Hal Jordan’s hot-shot stubbornness to John Stewart’s stalwart leadership, the Green Lanterns are more than a single superhero. They’re a whole interplanetary army tasked with keeping order and protecting citizens across the universe. Their solo stories switch back and forth from superpowered space cop procedurals to cosmic warfare on a grand scale. Their power rings give them the power to literally create anything they can imagine and their membership includes species from talking squirrels to living planets. All of which makes it hugely disappointing that their one mainstream live action adaptation was… this. [B-Roll of Ryan Reynolds in the live action movie.] Ryan Reynolds may have since moved on to better things, but we’re still waiting on redemption for the Green Lantern name.

A lot of people don’t even realize that Wesley Snipes’ kick-boxing, vampire-slaying daywalker is based on a comic book character, but Blade is a hidden gem out of Marvel’s schlocky 70s era. The original version of Blade sported an afro, some yellow shades and all the cool parts of being a vampire without any of that troublesome daylight allergy. And while the powers made it through to the movie adaptation, his original outfit… didn’t. Nor did his trademark English accent. But who knows - now that Marvel has announced a reboot of the Blade Franchise, there’s no telling what aspects of the character might make a comeback.

For a while back there in the 90s, everyone was talking about Spawn. We’re not sure whether it was the billowy cape, the mask that made him look like Venom’s badass older brother or the backstory so edgy you could cut your finger on it. But something about this ex-CIA assassin who comes back from Hell and kills criminals to feed their souls to his living suit seems to have made him the exact anti-hero that the gritty dark age of comics deserved. He’s still showing up in Image comics today, although you don’t see nearly as many dorm room posters of him anymore. Is the age of the grimdark antihero over? Or is Spawn due for a comeback?

Galactus is a villain so massive that he literally eats entire planets, killing billions in the process. His herald may be a lot smaller, but he’s still an impressive character. The metallic skinned Norrin Radd (awesome name) lived out one of comics’ greatest redemption arcs when he went from finding tasty planets for Galactus’ brunch stops to helping the Marvel heroes kick his boss’s cosmic purple kiester. And once he was done with that, he went on to become one of Marvel’s top tier powerhouse heroes. Turns out even a tiny fraction of Galactus’ power is enough to let the Surfer take on the Hulk without breaking a sweat.

So here’s a terrifying fact. Do you know how Nightcrawler’s teleportation power works? Well, when he disappears in a puff of blue smoke and then reappears somewhere else, he’s actually travelling through Hell. Or at least, the hellish Brimstone Dimension. After doing that for years, he went on to become a Catholic priest. Yep, he’s a lot more complex than you might expect. Like a lot of X-Men, Nightcrawler has taken an unfortunate back-seat in the comics as long as Fox owned the movie rights. But now that Disney has them, we can’t wait to see him show up again on the big screen.

Johnny Blaze was just an ordinary motorcycle stunt man when he struck a deal with the devil to save his foster father’s life and ended up punishing sinners as the spirit of vengeance. The only way to ruin a set-up that metal would be by turning it into a cheesy movie starring Nicolas Cage. Which is exactly what happened. Twice. It’s a huge shame, because there have to be any number of awesome stories you can tell with a character who can reduce enemies to a blubbering pile of remorse just with eye contact.