Despite the fact that Batman is my favorite superhero, I’m definitely a Marvel girl. Marvel characters are my kind of people. Marvel stories are ones I can relate to. Marvel’s world is my world.
However, I get my Marvel where I can– various movies, comics and graphic novels I come across at used book sales or on deep discount at comic book stores, various cartoon TV show versions, various graphic novels I find at the library. Because of this, I don’t have a very good mental picture of the various Marvel universes or their timelines. Everything is all mixed up in my brain.
I know just enough to know that I don’t know very much. I have big gaps in my knowledge that sometimes cause me “oohhhh!” light bulb moments of realization when those gaps get filled in… and sometimes cause me massive amounts of confusion and guilt. I figured this might be a great source of laughter for those of you with more knowledge than me (which is practically everyone) and a way for me to come clean. Feel free to try to explain things to me. But, more helpful, would be a list of comics/episodes that would let me properly fill in the gaps. I’ve tried Wikis and they leave me with more questions than answers.
Top Ten Giant Holes in My Marvel Knowledge
- Deadpool likes tacos?– All I know is that the guy behind me in line at Free Comic Book Day cracked the heck up at the Deadpool tacos t-shirt hanging on the wall. His four-year-old son seemed as clueless as I felt about this mysterious thing, so I figure it was not a good thing to ask about
- Civil War– The only thing I know is that in some universe and for some reason, a civil war happened for some reason. So, yeah, I know nothing.
- Dr. Strange– This guy keeps popping up in things I watch/read and then going away. I don’t have a good sense of him, except that he’s awesome with magic and has a cool house. I’d like to know him better.
- Avengers are actually the Ultimates– I’m so confused by the Ultimates existing. Are they just another grouping of the Avengers but don’t want to call themselves the Avengers? Or is it a completely alternate universe/timeline?
- Kree-Skrull War – I know the Kree. I know the Skrull. I have no idea why they’re fighting or how any of my superheroes are involved.
- Jimmy Hudson– Wait, what? How does Wolverine have a son who has his mutant abilities and the same something unnatural done to Wolverine PLUS other features? Also, when does he even have a son? And with who? I know nothing!
- The Bad Things That Happen Before Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, Vol. 1: The World According to Peter Parker– Bad things happened. Tons of character I love apparently died? Teams broke up? Reed is… I have no idea where. Johnny’s in shock. Bobby’s out of the X-Men. I just accept this and moved through with this starting point but have no clue how to figure out what comics I need to read to figure out what the bad things were exactly and why they happened
- The Infinity Gauntlet– I know it’s a thing. I know there was a war (gee, I apparently miss all Marvel wars… battles/wars are clearly not my Marvel forte). I know it involves stones. That’s all I’ve got
- Characters named Marvel– The names bother me a little (sorry, Stan) so I never went exploring to find out much about them. I’ve met Capptain Marvel/Mar-Vell a few times in print/in various episodes. And then there’s Marvel Girl who is actually Jean Grey? I have a hard time keeping timelines and characters straight before they go renaming themselves all over the place and naming themselves after the brand
- Frog Thor– Seriously, I love that this is a thing and that he is part of something called the Pet Avengers, but the only exposure I’ve had to Frog Thor was in an episode of Ultimate Spider-Man when Loki turns his brother into a Frog. Which, I take it, is different from Throg. And I have run into ads for the Pet Avengers in comics I’ve read lately.
This isn’t exactly a knowledge gap, but I seriously don’t understand why no one suspected a guy named Dr. Doom was going to turn out to be evil. There are some darn smart Marvel superheros out there. How did no one see this coming? This hasn’t been addressed to my satisfaction in anything I’ve read/watched.
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