After last year's Marvel's Spider-Man appetizer, Marvel Super Heroes has arrived with the main course of superhero fun! Like with Spider-Man, many fans may know the core characters, but the new set goes deep into annals of superhero history.

Today, I'm here to fill you in on the details you might have missed, and the characters and events from Marvel history that you might not be familiar with.

Potentially significant MCU spoilers lie ahead.

Before the Four

The Howling Commandos by Ivan Shavrin

There's a lot of early history in Marvel Comics, dating back to older comics like Timely that were retconned into the Marvel world of superheroes.

The biggest and most obvious of those characters was Captain America, Liberator.

The Origin of Captain America involved the wimpy but resolute Steve Rogers being injected with a Super-Soldier Serum that caused him to transform. Captain America's Shield became an iconic part of his design. At Cap's side was the teenager Bucky Barnes, Eager Ally and love interest Peggy Carter, Secret Agent.

Although there were a bunch of minor characters of the time, like The Whizzer, Classic Speedster, a lot of what we know from the era comes from later comics. Namor the Sub-Mariner and the original Human Torch (an artificial person called a synthezoid, named Jim Hammond) came together to fight against the Nazis in a team called the Invaders.

The original Nick Fury would parley his time as sergeant of The Howling Commandos into a spy career, with a life artificially extended by the Infinity Formula.

Fantastic Four

The Fantastic Four by Yasmine Putri

The Fantastic Four stars a team of astronauts (Farseek) struck by cosmic radiation (Cosmic Crucible). The four members of the crew each developed a superpower and became Marvel's First Family.

Reed designs Unstable Molecule Suits to ensure their clothes will work with their powers, a detail that will be reused a lot over the decades to explain why super suits aren't left in tatters.

The main four members are:

• Mister Fantastic, Reed Richards is a genius inventor and explorer who sometimes pushes the boundaries of what he can do before he considers the consequences.
• Invisible Woman, Sue Storm, Reed's wife and while she's the 'heart' of the Fantastic Four, she's also the most terrifying member of the team.
• Human Torch, Johnny Storm, Sue's younger brother, often characterized as a playboy hotshot but with a deep well of empathy underneath.
• The Thing, Ben Grimm, the original spaceship's pilot who struggled with his new monstrous appearance for years. His catchphrase is "It's Clobberin' Time!"

The Fantastic Four's extended cast includes Alicia Masters, Skilled Sculptor, a blind sculptor, and Ben's long-time love interest and wife. Alicia's stepfather is Phillip Masters, aka Puppet Master, String Puller, who has the power to control others by making a puppet from special clay.

Sue and Reed have two children together:

• Franklin Richards, Ascendant, a mutant with reality-warping powers who may grow into the most powerful being in the universe.
• Valeria Richards, Precocious, a genius on par with her father who views Doctor Doom like a beloved uncle after he saved her life as a baby (Cut a Deal).

Arcane Signet is also a nod to the 1979 The Thing animated series. The concept was adapted into the comics decades later for Darla Deering aka Ms. Thing (and one of Johnny's love interests). It would summon a "Thing Suit" for her to wear.

Ben is also known for his antagonism with the miscreant Yancy Street Gang, which Taunt from the Rampart is a nod to. Hinterland Harbor is a nod to one of the Fantastic Four's early adventures, where they use Doom's Time Platform and the Thing ends up becoming the infamous pirate Blackbeard.

The lives at the Baxter Building (with their mail delivered by Stan Lee stand-in Willie Lumpkin, Postman). H.E.R.B.I.E. Scout Unit is their iconic robot, who was originally created to be the fourth member of the team in the 1978 animated series because of rights issues to the Human Torch. They often travel around in The Fantasticar, a four-part flying vehicle that can split into individual cars.

Galvanic Iteration depicts Reed's father, Nathaniel Richards, a time traveler. The Council of Reeds were a less morally restricted multiversal version of Reed, wiped out by space gods called Celestials.

The first FF villain was Mole Man, Moloid Master. After a giant monster attack (Collective Effort, Scorched Geyser) , they track down the source to Monster Island (Sodden Verdure) fight through some monsters (Three Visits) and venture into a Subterranean Cavern to discover the Mole Man. Return of the Mole Man is a nod to the second story featuring the character.

The Watcher's Warning by Rafater

Thirst for Knowledge depicts Uatu, the Watcher, who is best known for The Coming of Galactus storyline. In that story, Uatu forsakes his vow to not interfere and warns the Fantastic Four of Galactus, Devourer of Worlds and his herald Silver Surfer, Galactus's Herald.

Reed threatens Galactus with Ultimate Nullification (a device that would wipe out most of the universe) as a last-ditch effort to save the world. Cleansing Nova depicts Nova, another herald of Galactus (and yet another love interest of Johnny's).

The Fantastic Four have a long history with the shapeshifting aliens known as the Skrulls. Their first interaction ended with them hypnotizing some into becoming cows (Bovine Intervention). The Skrulls then take a special interest in the Four, creating the first Super-Skrull (named Kl'rt), armed with their combined powers.

Terramorphic Expanse references the Negative Zone, an alternate dimension that's the destination of a lot of Fantastic Four adventures. Reed invented the Negative Zone Portal, which depicts one of the big threats of the zone: Annihilus.

Dragon Man, Reformed Robot was an early Fantastic Four antagonist, an android henchman that eventually became a guardian of the Future Foundation. The Future Foundation consisted of a group of gifted students being raised to be the next generation of visionaries. The Future Foundation also included members of the Power Pack, a family who received alien powers at a young age. Containment Construct is a character named Awesome Android, another android minion.

The Five Arrive is a nod to Earth-982, also known as Marvel Comics 2, which featured a Marvel Comics where time had run normally until the 90s, placing most heroes in middle age and letting their children (like The Amazing Spider-Girl) take center stage. The Fantastic Five depicted here are Ben, Johnny, Franklin, a robot named Big Brain, and Johnny's Skrull wife Lyja.

Atlanteans

Namor the Sub-Mariner by Chris Rallis

Namor, Atlantean King's return from the golden age came about in Fantastic Four (1961) #4, where he's discovered by Johnny Storm while in a befuddled state. He has since often attacked the surface world for its transgressions, although he's as often an ally as an enemy. He is known for his crush of Sue Storm, and although he's a mutant he considers himself an atlantean first.

The other Atlantis cards of note are Attuma, Atlantean Warlord, one of Namor's rivals for the throne of Atlantis, and Daughter of the Deep which depicts Namor's mother, Princess Fen.

Doomsday

Doom Reigns Supreme by Alexander Gering

The Fantastic Four's most iconic Archnemesis is Doctor Doom. They first meet him in Fantastic Four (1961) #5, where they go to Castle Doom, only to be tricked by his Decoy Ploy (the very first Doombot, a robot in his likeness). He's become one of the most iconic villains in Marvel, a scene-chewing narcissist who could do truly great things if he could get past his jealousy of Reed.

In the original Secret Wars (1984), a group of heroes is transported to a place called 'Battleworld' by the Beyonder, a god-like being who wanted to see heroes and villains fight. Doctor Doom steals the Beyonders' power, but the Beyonder gets it back, and Mister Fantastic finds a way home for everyone. This event is a major milestone in Marvel history, their first big crossover event.

Years later, as the threat of Multiversal Incursions looms in Jonathan Hickman's Secret Wars (2015), Doom once again creates his own Battleworld with the help of Molecule Man to save what's left of reality. It's this later version of the story that is being adapted by the upcoming Avengers films (Doomsday and Secret Wars).

Inhumans

A long storyline starting with Fantastic Four (1961) #36 introduced us to the Inhumans, and ancient people genetically engineered by the alien Kree to develop superpowers after exposure to Terrigen Mist.

After being attacked by The Frightful Four, a team consisting of the Wizard, Paste-Pot Pete, Sandman, Shifting Scoundrel, and Medusa, Inhuman Queen, the FF learn that Medusa (who has hair powers) had amnesia and was under the Wizard's control.

Finding her origins, they go on a Path of Discovery, where they discover the Inhuman's hidden city. They meet other Inhumans, Crystal, Inhuman Princess has command over the elements, and her brother Black Bolt, Inhuman King who can level a mountain with a whisper. There's a whole cast of Inhumans, but the most popular is Lockjaw, Slobbering Teleporter, for obvious reasons.

Wakanda Forever

Black Panther, Hope Enduring by Eric Wilkerson

Spinning out of Fantastic Four (1961) #52, we first meet King T'Challa after he invites the Fantastic Four into Wakanda to get a sense of the global superhero community. That story introduced both Birnin Zana Plaza, the capital of Wakanda, and the concept of the Heart-Shaped Herb being the source of the Black Panther's powers. And Vibranium, of course. Their first meeting was interrupted by Klaw, Sonic Subjugator, a plunderer there for Wakanda's wealth.

A lot of what appears of Wakanda here is heavily influenced by the MCU films, which themselves are largely influenced by Christopher Priest's iconic run on Black Panther. The comics have been slowly aligning with the MCU, including Shuri, Wakandan Inventor as a tech genius herself. Her artwork here features her look as Aja-Adana, the Keeper of Wakandan lore, a role she took after her time as Shuri, the Black Panther ended.

The original Killmonger, Scourge of Wakanda bore little resemblance to his MCU counterpart, although in their fight (in the embarrassingly named comic Jungle Action) Black Panther is indeed defeated (Hour of Defeat). However, most of his history was retconned following the first Black Panther film to better align with the MCU.

Storm, Queen of Wakanda is one of only a few mutants in this set. While she has been an Avenger, this version depicts her as the wife of T'Challa. Their love story was cut short when her loyalties to Wakanda or Mutantkind were tested. There's a number of legends in the Commander deck that won't be covered here, but if you've seen the films you'll be fine.

The Incredible Hulk

Hulk, Strongest There Is by Julie Bell

Bruce Banner was a physicist specializing in gamma radiation developing a new bomb for the U.S. Government. In the Origin of the Hulk, while testing the bomb at Los Diablos Missile Base, Bruce notices a teenager (Rick Jones, Destined Sidekick) in the blast zone.

He rushes out and pushes Rick to safety but is hit by a lethal dose of radiation. Instead of killing him, he's instead transformed into The Incredible Hulk and transforms back and forth between himself and the Hulk. There are many alternate personalities to the Hulk, but the only one called out by this set other than Savage Hulk is Professor Hulk, who has Banner's intellect.

The Hulk's biggest enemies are:

• General Thunderbolt Ross, the officer overseeing his weapon experiments and who later hunts the Hulk relentless. Ross eventually becomes the Red Hulk.
• Leader, Super-Genius, a man named Samuel Sterns who was irradiated by Gamma with Super Intelligence (and a super ego alongside it).
• Abomination, Terrifying Titan, Emil Blonsky, a soviet spy in Ross's command who gives himself a dose of gamma radiation to become like the Hulk.

Among Hulk's extended cast are Jennifer Walters, Bruce's cousin who became The Sensational She-Hulk after a blood transfusion. Jen is better able to control her transformations, and her books often take an irreverent, Fourth Wall Breaking tone (She-Hulk, Wallbreaker).

Depower is a nod to the Cathexis Ray Generator, which was invented by Doc Samson, Super Psychiatrist. Doc Samson uses the energy syphoned from Bruce to empower himself. More recently, Brawn, Amadeus Cho entered the picture. Amadeus was a brilliant young boy obsessed with the Hulk, who eventually gives himself Hulk powers, too.

There are a few iconic moments sprinkled throughout the set. Tony Stark's Hulkbuster Armor, a recurring Hulk countermeasure appears. Epic Fight is a nod to Wolverine's first appearance in Incredible Hulk (1962) #181. World War Hulk references Greg Pak's epic story of a Hulk exiled from Earth who returns with a gladiator army to seek revenge.

Invincible Iron Man

Iron Man, Tony Stark by David Szabo

Tony Stark was a weapons manufacturer for Stark Industries who, in the Origin of Iron Man is captured and creates the first Iron Man suit to escape. Marvel has a sliding time scale keeping backstories 'up to date', so at one point this capture was in Vietnam, but more recently it was in the middle east. In any case, The Invincible Iron Man is born. The idea for the iconic Arc Reactor came from the Iron Man films but was later implemented into the comics as well.

Iron Man's extended cast includes Pepper Potts, a Stark Industries Executive, who with armor built by Tony becomes Rescue, Pepper Potts.

In the comics, Pepper was married to Happy Hogan, Bodyguard, but Happy has since passed away. Tony's closest friend is Colonel James Rhodes, who takes his place as Iron Man for a time before breaking out into his own identity as War Machine, Legacy of Iron.

Tony's villains include:

• Madame Masque, a seductive criminal mastermind (and daughter of the nefarious Count Nefaria)
• Ghost, Spectral Saboteur, an anti-corporate vigilante
• Titanium Man, Tony's soviet rival mech suit designer
• Iron Monger, Sadistic Tycoon is Obidiah Stane, a business tycoon who wants to take over Star Industries.
• Whiplash, Vengeful Engineer is Anton Vanko, the original Crimson Operative) who was mixed with a more flamboyant version of Whiplash for the MCU, and later the comics.

The two Iron Man stories referenced in the set are Armor Wars, where Stolen Stark Tech leads to Star tracking down and destroying his tech in the wrong hands. The other is Extremis, where a body modification nanotech creates a crisis, featuring a super-powered terrorist (Extremis Elite).

More recently, the young genius Riri Williams entered the picture as Ironheart, Clever Champion. Riri took what little funding she had, what materials she could 'borrow', and reverse engineered herself an Iron Man suit. This impressed Tony to the point where he took an interest in mentoring her.

Journey Into Mystery

Thor, Asgard's Avenger by Wayne Reynolds

In the Origin of Thor, the arrogant Thor, God of Thunder is punished by his father to Fall To Earth. If you've followed the films, you have an idea of what's happening there. What's different is that Thor is cursed to live as a human, Donald Blake, Guise of Thor. Donald discovers that when he strikes a stick he found, it transforms into Mjolnir, Hammer of Thor, and Donald himself will transform into Thor.

Thor comes from Journey Into Mystery #83, which was an anthology series until he came along, and has been the main title for Thor comics since. Doctor Jane Foster appears in the very next issue and becomes a long-time love interest for Thor. Eventually, during a fight with cancer, she becomes The Mighty Thor, Jane Foster.

Chaos Warp marks the time Loki transformed Thor into a frog. This is, notably, a different character than Throg, who was a person cursed to be a frog and given some of Thor's powers. Throg appears in the Pet Avengers.

Choked Estuary by Shahab Alizadeh

Thor's main antagonist is Loki, God of Mischief. Their sibling relationship often leads to compelling stories, and while Loki is never quite 'good' he varies between mischievous and nefarious. There are a few different versions of Loki in the set.

Lady Loki, Agent of Chaos was how he appeared after Ragnarok, when the Asgardians began reincarnating on Earth. It turned out he had hijacked the body intended for Lady Sif's resurrection. This Loki is eventually reborn as Kid Loki, who decides to reinvent himself as the Asgardian God of Stories. That Loki has since grown up but still skews more mischievous than his evil predecessor.

Loki's Scepter is a nod to the films, it's never really relevant in the comics. Similarly, Glorious Purpose is a nod to the TV show Loki. Propaganda is a nod to the comic "Vote Loki," about Loki running for U.S. President in 2016.

The Ruinous Wrecking Crew are led by the Wrecker, who was accidentally given Asgardian magical power, which enchanted his crowbar. When he later broke out of prison, that power was shared between his three fellow escapees, creating the Wrecking Crew (Hire a Crew).

Tales to Astonish

Giant Growth by Andreia Ugrai

The Astonishing Ant-Man spun out of Tales to Astonish #27. In it, Hank Pym discovers the Pym Particles, a serum that could adjust the space between subatomic particles, shrinking him down.

After a near-disaster with ants, Hank created a helmet and Super Suit to communicate with them and took the name Ant-Man. He was later joined by his eventual ex-wife, Janet Van Dyne, The Wondrous Wasp, who gained wings when she shrunk.

Not long after, Hank would crack Giant Growth and become Giant-Man, Gargantuan Genius. He's since gone by a number of different identities, including Goliath and Yellowjacket.

Scott Lang's Ant-Man, Colony Commander came later, although the reformed thief is the more famous Ant-Man now because of the MCU. A big part of the reason for featuring Scott over Hank is that comics Hank infamously insecure, and has even slapped Janet. That moment has come to define the character.

In the original script for that issue, he was meant to hit her by accident while turning around in a seemingly manic episode, but in the final artwork it appeared to be intentional. Marvel hasn't really known how to handle the character ever since.

Other Noteworthy Ant-Man cards include:

• Bill Foster's Goliath, Mass Manipulator, a former lab assistant for Dr. Pym who also mastered Pym Particle science.
• Darren Cross' Yellowjacket, Heartless Marauder, a minor Ant-Man antagonist who was made Yellowjacket in the comics to align with the films.
• Worlds Within Worlds, the discovery that by shrinking far enough one can enter the Microverse.

Captain America

Captain America, Super Soldier by Anna Podedworna

Captain America, Living Legend made his return to Marvel Comics with Avengers #4. After being Frozen in Ice for decades, the Avengers find him. In the modern day his love interest is the super spy Agent 13, Sharon Carter.

Captain America's closest ally in the modern day is Sam Wilson, Falcon, Winged Wonder, a social worker and activist who he met on an island controlled by the Red Skull's thugs.

Although Rick Jones, Destined Sidekick served as 'Bucky' for a while, it was eventually revealed that real Bucky had survived and become Winter Soldier, Icy Assassin. Steve is eventually able to deprogram his old friend, but Bucky's brief stint as Captain America ends with the revelations of his history as a brainwashed assassin.

More recently, Steve convinced Sam to Take Up the Shield and become Captain America, Wings of Freedom. Sam shares a psychic bond with his bird, Redwing, after being exposed to a reality-warping cosmic cube.

In the films Sam uses a Flying Drone also named Redwing. As Captain America, Sam has his own sidekick in Falcon, Joaquin Torres, a young man who was kidnapped and hybridized with Redwing's DNA.

U.S. Agent, John Walker is a more conservative version of Captain America who got his powers from Power Broker (Powerful Broker) and briefly served as Captain America in the 80s.

Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel, Shooting Star by PINDURSKI

Captain Marvel is a name with a long and storied history in Marvel. Captain Mar-Vell, Space-Born was a Kree soldier sent to Earth as a spy but came to love humankind, decided to be a protector instead of conqueror.

Armed with the extremely powerful nega-bands, a Quantum Entanglement forced him to swap places with Rick Jones, Destined Sidekick when they were used. Mar-Vell would eventually die of cancer.

Monica Rambeau's powers are unrelated, but she was inspired by Mar-Vell and took up the name after his death. Monica even led the Avengers for a time before Marvel forgot what to do with her for a few decades. She currently goes by Photon, Living Light.

During his time posing as "Dr. Walter Lawson", Mar-Vell met the Intrepid Ace Carol Danvers, who would gain powers similar to his own. Carol went by Ms. Marvel for many years and has a history tangled with the X-Men, but more recently she took on the mantle of Captain Marvel, Earth's Protector herself. Carol's version is by far the most famous due to her appearances in the MCU.

Ms Marvel, Kamala Khan by Smirtouille

The current Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan is an inhuman-mutant girl whose powers awakened when accidentally exposed to the Terrigen Mist. She took the name Ms. Marvel because she's a massive fangirl of Carol (Kindred Discovery). Her card in the main set is a cute nod to her "embiggen" ability, where she often makes a giant fist (or hand) to punch people.

Kamala's dual nature as both mutant and inhuman comes from editorial decisions to keep her rights out of the X-Men 'pool', which at the time of her creation were not owned by Marvel Studios. She was later made a mutant after the X-Men rights defaulted back to Disney in the Fox acquisition.

Kamala, Dr. Doom, and Hulk are my favorite Marvel characters. Kamala's comics often feature the high school superhero charm of early Spider-Man comics.

The Avengers

Heroes United Scene Cards by Thanh Tuan

As Marvel's premier superhero team, the Avengers, Earth's Mightiest Heroes, loom large over Marvel Super Heroes.

In the 60 years since their inception, it's hard to name a Marvel character who hasn't fought with the Avengers at one point or another. If you're only familiar with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you might have an idea of the broad strokes of Avengers history.

The comic brought together several of Marvel's big heroes of the time, including Thor, Hulk, Ant-Man and the Wasp, and Iron Man. The Origin of the Avengers featured a scheme by Loki to escape his latest imprisonment (Choked Estuary).

He manipulates the Hulk and other heroes into conflict, but they eventually team up when they realize Loki is behind everything. A few issues later, they add Captain America to the roster when his frozen body is discovered.

The original Gathering Place was Avengers Mansion, and Plaza of Heroes is the statue outside of the original Avengers. The Mansion is run by Edwin Jarvis, Earth's Mightiest Butler who became an iconic part of the franchise. The Avenger's chief mode of transportation is the Dependable Quinjet, and their battle cry is "Avengers Assemble."

During Avengers (1963) #16, Iron Man, Giant-Man, and the Wasp leave the Avengers, and they bring on three new members. The first was Hawkeye, Master Marksman, who was trained by a traveling circus (and by on-again-off-again Avengers ally Swordsman, Sharp Scoundrel). The other two were The Scarlet Witch and her brother Quicksilver, Brash Blur, who were both members of Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants who wanted to reform.

Black Widow, Super Spy was a soviet spy trained by the nefarious Red Room (Origin of Black Widow) as an assassin. She eventually defects and joins the Avengers. Fellow Black Widow Yelena Belova eventually follows a similar path as White Widow, Free Agent. They both have wrist gauntlets that fire an eclectic shock called a Widow's Bite.

The Avengers features a number of iconic villains, many of which you've seen in the films already. The biggest you might not have heard of yet is The Masters of Evil, a group put together by Captain America's nemesis Baron Helmut Zemo. Future Avenger Wonder Man, Hollywood Hero (Simon Williams) is drafted into the Masters of Evil by Zemo. Simon blames Stark for his professional downfall but has a change of heart before dying after the Avengers try to save his life.

Ultron, Artificial Malevolence is one of the Avengers' greatest enemies. Unlike the films, this version was built by Hank Pym, and self-upgraded and propagated in secret (Hidden Lair). Originally posing as Crimson Cowl, Master of Evil, Ultron has evaded the Avengers repeatedly, causing greater and greater tragedies with each iteration of himself.

There are thousands of versions of Ultron (including some heroic ones). The film Avengers: Age of Ultron is actually an adaptation of the "Ultron Unlimited" story, where Ultron slaughters a country called Slorenia. Age of Ultron is actually barely about Ultron, but about the time travel mess caused by trying to undo a future where he wins.

Crumbling Necropolis by Shahab Alizadeh

Shortly after that first appearance of Ultron, the Avengers are attacked by The Vision, a synthezoid created using the body of the original Human Torch, and whose brain patterns were taken from Wonder Man (Syphon Mind). The Vision turns on Ultron and becomes another key Avenger. It wasn't long before Wanda and Vision began developing romantic feelings (Vision of Love). And yes, the Avengers are made up of a lot of reformed bad guys.

Jocasta, Automaton Avenger is created as "the Bride of Ultron!" using Janet Van Dyne's brain waves, but she, you guessed it, also rebelled. Grim Reaper, Lethal Legionnaire (Eric Williams) steals his brother, Wonder Man's body, leading to a chain of events resulting in a Wondrous Revival. Grim Reaper leads another villain group called the Lethal Legion (Bedevil) against the Avengers on many occasions.

In the wake of the original Secret Wars (1984) event, the Avengers have a West Coast Expansion and form a second team featuring Hawkeye, his wife Mockingbird, Bobbi Morse, Tigra, Wonder Man, and War Machine (as Iron Man).

While on the West Coast Team, Vision is dismantled and rebuilt, taking on a white appearance and losing all affect (Vision Quest). Wanda announces she's pregnant (Wanda's Vision) and gives birth to twin boys. The boys turn out to not be real, a partial manifestation of Mephisto's power, and he sends a henchman to re-absorb them. In the wake of the tragedy, Agatha Harkness casts a spell to make Wanda forget the whole incident.

Avengers Disassembled by David Szabo

The end of the Avengers finally came in Avengers Disassembled. Wanda regained the memories of her lost children and created manifestations of the Avenger's greatest villains to attack Avengers Mansion and destroy it.

Many of them died, including the Vision, Scott Lang's Ant-Man, and Jonathan Hart, known as Jack of Hearts, Volatile Hero. Afterwards, Wanda would be taken away by Magneto and lead into the incredibly famous House of M event.

Some Miscellaneous Avengers include:

• Beast, Erudite Aerialist is the first of the X-Men to join the team.
• The heroic himbo Hercules, Prince of Power often subs in for Thor as a powerhouse.
• Herc's brother Ares, God of War is often a villain but has fought with the Avengers too.
• Greer Nelson Tigra, Feline Fury, a woman magically mutated into a cat form.
• Miguel Santos, Living Lightning, Charged Up, a lightning-themed hero who was a West Coast Avenger.
• Bonita Juarez, Firebird, Blazing Ranger, a Texas hero who took her name from the American Indian legend.

Young Avengers

Hulkling, Burgeoning Bruiser by Wero Gallo

In the wake of the end of the Avengers, a group of young heroes took up the mantle: Patriot, Shield Wielder, Iron Lad, Diverging Destiny, Wiccan, Rising Magician (as the Asgardian), and Hulkling, Burgeoning Bruiser. While each had connections to Avengers history, those connections weren't what anyone expected.

Patriot, aka Eli Bradley, turned out to be the grandson of Isaiah Bradley, a member of a black World War II unit that survived a series of racist experiments. Bradley briefly became Captain America before being unjustly arrested. Eli didn't inherit any powers, however. In secret he was taking Mutant Growth Hormone to be able to fight alongside his teammates (although he did eventually get powers in a blood transfusion from Isaiah).

Iron Lad, Diverging Destiny was, in truth, a young Nathaniel Richards (not Reed's father, but his descendant Kang the Conqueror) who was secretly trying to prevent himself from becoming Kang.

Billy Kaplan's magic powers inspired him to take on the role of the 'young Thor' of the group, but he quickly learns that he is, in fact, the reincarnation of one of Wanda and Vision's children, and takes on the name Wiccan. He sets out to find his twin brother, Thomas Shepherd, aka Speed, Young Avenger.

Billy's boyfriend and future husband Teddy Altman turns out to be the son of Mar-Vell and a skrull princess, and the heir apparent to both space empires.

Cassie Lang, the daughter of the deceased Ant-Man, becomes Stature, Size Shifter. Kate Bishop, a master marksman at a young age, takes the mantle of Hawkeye, Young Avenger. Most of these characters exist or will soon exist in the MCU as they continue to adapt the story of the Vision and Scarlet Witch's children.

The last member of the group in the set is Marvel Boy, Noh-Varr, a multiversal kree stranded in the Earth-616 reality.

New Avengers

Spider-Man, To The Rescue by Anna Podedworna

The next big events references are a sequence of stories from Brian Michael Bendis's run on various Avengers books from the mid-2000s. Around the same time as the Young Avengers coming onto the scene, a breakout happens at the Raft, Marvel's premiere Super Villain Lockup.

A group of nearby heroes responds to the breakout, including Captain America, Spider-Man, To the Rescue, Wolverine, Fierce Fighter, Luke Cage, Power Man, Spider-Woman, Secret Agent, and The Sentry, Golden Guardian (Bob Reynolds). Many of these heroes had never been Avengers before but joined up to deal with the aftermath of escaped convicts and solve the mystery of the Sentry.

The Sentry was a massively powerful hero who had been wiped out of everyone's memory at some point in the past. His power is countered by his mental instability and destructive alter ego the Void (which acted as a counterforce to Bob's power), making him a dangerous addition to the team.

We also learn that in secret, after an alien invasion, Tony Stark brings together Reed Richards, Black Bolt, Namor, Professor X, and Doctor Strange in a covert group to protect Earth behind the scenes that would become known as the Illuminati. The Illuminati is responsible for launching Hulk into space, and they get their comeuppance when he returns in World War Hulk.

Later members of the team including a revived Clint Barton as Ronin, Shadow Stalker, Maya Lopez's Echo, Perceptive Prodigy, a deaf fighter who could mimic any fighting style, and even Doctor Strange, Surgeon.

Their home base was Tony's Avengers Tower, since the Mansion had been destroyed. Once the Sentry joined the team, it was revealed to also be his old headquarters, the Clocktower (Radiant Summit), which manifests from seemingly nowhere.

During all this, a tragedy happens during a superhero battle in Stamford, Connecticut that leaves hundreds dead. The government drafts the Superhero Registration act, and two sides form behind Iron Man, who is for it, and Captain America, who is against it, resulting in The Super Hero Civil War.

Cap's side loses and the New Avengers go underground, while Iron Man puts together the Avengers Initiative, which creates teams in all 50 states.

Unfortunately, the Skrulls exploit this moment of weakness to infiltrate all levels of the government and S.H.I.E.L.D. in Secret Invasion. Worse: they've replaced many heroes with enhanced Super Skrulls. When the final blow is struck and the Skrull Queen killed, it wasn't the Avengers who won, but Norman Osborn and his Thunderbolts.

This led to a power shift with Osborn in charge of the security apparatus of the Avengers Initiative that Iron Man had built. This era is called the Dark Reign, as a cabal of villains (Lethal Scheme) get together in their own version of the Illuminati to run things behind the scenes.

When Jonathan Hickman takes over the titles, he begins building toward a grand multiversal arc called Secret Wars, where the Illuminati gets together to address the building thread of Multiversal Incursions. The group is struggles with the idea of killing another universe to save their own, so Namor does it for them, scoffing at their lack of resolve. These events lead into 2015's Secret Wars.

New Warriors

The New Warriors are another teen team mostly remembered for their involvement in the Stamford tragedy that kicked off The Super Hero Civil War. The team, which at the time were the stars of a reality TV show, attempted to apprehend explosive villain Nitro, resulting in an explosion that killed hundreds of people.

Justice, Vance Astrovik is a powerful psychokinetic mutant held back by his own self-doubt. Speedball, New Warrior a kinetic energy absorber who 'bounces' around using his power. Once a happy go-lucky guy, his involvement in Stamford weighed him down with huge guilt and he became Penance, the edgiest hero of the 2000s.

The last member of the team is mutant microwave Firestar of Iceman and Firestar. Angelica Jones was adapted from 1981's Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends animated series. The series had the same Human Torch rights issues as the 1978 Fantastic Four cartoon, so they created Firestar to take his place. This card is a nod to that series.

The Runaways

Nico Minoru, Runaway by Carissa Susilo

The Runaways are a west coast 'team' formed when they realized their parents were secretly a group of super villains known as the Pride. The Pride worshipped the Gibborim, elder gods that would bring about an end of the world, saving only six people. The twelve members of the Pride decided to save their children. Each couple in the Pride came from a different walk of life in the Marvel universe:

• Alex Wilder, Runaway's parents were genius street level criminals, on par with the Kingpin, and quite good parents to him.
• Chase Stein, Runaway's parents were genius inventors, who hated that their jock son only possessed an average intellect and let him know it.
• Karolina Dean, Runaway's parents were exiled space aliens with light powers.
• Molly Hayes, Runaway's parents were mutants, and she gained super strength as her mutant power.
• Nico Minoru, Runaway's parents were wizards, and she stole the magical Staff of One from them.
• Gert and Old Lace, Runaways's parents were time travelers, who brought the telepathic dinosaur from the future for her.

In the end, it turned out the children discovering their parents' secrets had been planned by Alex all along, as a means of saving his and Nico's families to live together forever. He's had a tumultuous relationship with his old friends ever since.

Victor Mancha, Runaway was a later addition to the team, a child of an unknown villain that turned out to be Ultron. Victor was designed to become a sleeper agent in the Avengers before activating one day and wiping them out from within. Victor rejected Ultron and became a rival to Chase for Gert's heart.

Avengers Academy

After Norman Osborn was overthrown, Hank Pym launched Avengers Academy to train young people with powers into heroes but secretly was trying to keep them from becoming villains. Hero in Training is a reference to Hazmat (a radioactive girl). Hazmat would later go on to be part of Carol Danver's expanded allies.

Humberto Lopez, Reptil, Dinomorpher, was another founding member of the group, a boy whose archeologist parents disappeared after finding an amulet that gave him dinosaur-shapeshifting powers.

White Tiger, Ava Ayala, was a later addition, a young woman who inherited an amulet with the power of a tiger god from her uncle, Hector Ayala (White Tiger, Amulet Keeper). Both characters appear in the Disney+ show Daredevil: Born Again. In the comics, Ava inherited it from her niece, the second White Tiger who had gone bad and become a Daredevil villain.

The Champions

The last of the teen super groups I'm going to talk about is my favorite.

The Champions were made up of the most popular teen heroes of the mid-2010s, who came together not to be a crime fighting team but as teen activists solving combating social problems (while still getting into superhero fights). Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan, Sam Alexander's Nova, and Miles Morales' Spider-Man, New Champion became disillusioned with the Avengers and left to do their own thing.

They joined with a time-displaced Cyclops (Scott Summers), Brawn, Amadeus Cho, and newcomer Viv Vision, Teen Synthezoid to create the Champions. Viv came from a Vision mini-series where he created a whole synthezoid family to try and experience emotion again, and it goes terribly, with Viv being the only survivor.

Vision placed her with the Champions in an attempt to socialize her in a way he could not. Ironheart, Clever Champion joined later.

The alternate art of Epic Fight features this team fighting the Super-Adaptoid together.

Masters of Evil

Helmut Zemo, Mastermind by Bartek Fedyczak

Baron Helmut Zemo is actually the second Baron Zemo. Helmut was raised by his Nazi father, and blamed Captain America for his father's death, plotting from his family estate (Dark Fortress). One of Zemo's recurring schemes is forming various incarnations of The Masters of Evil, a team of villains all with axes to grind against the Avengers.

Avengers: Under Siege was his most successful ploy, where the Masters of Evil successfully took over Avengers Mansion over the course of an 11-issue crossover. This is the most-adapted storyline for the Masters of Evil in other media.

Crimson Cowl, Master of Evil (the Justine Hammer version, daughter of Justin Hammer, an Iron Man villain) later took the Masters of Evil in another, profit-driven direction (Villainous Syndication). Other Crimson Cowls have included Jarvis and Ultron.

Some recurring members of the Master of Evil are:

• Chen Lu, the Radioactive Man.
• Dave Cannon, Whirlwind, Killer Cyclone a mutant who can spin his body to create the whirlwinds and uses saw blades.
• Todd Arliss, Tiger Shark, Abyssal Hunter, a man whose DNA was crossed with a shark's.

Thunderbolts

The original Thunderbolts were in secret yet another iteration of Zemo's Masters of Evil. The Thunderbolts Conspiracy was to disguise themselves as heroes in order to gain the public's trust. Citizen V, Helmut Zemo became his secret identity, and he recruited several villains, including former Masters of Evil, for his ploy.

The Thunderbolts were:

• Sinister psychiatrist Moonstone, Harsh Mistress posting as Meteorite.
• The techie Fixer, Techno Terror as Techno.
• The original Beetle, Legacy Criminal as Mach-1, Swooping Scoundrel.
• Screaming Mimi from the Glamorous Grapplers as Songbird, Sonic Screamer.
• The villain Goliath as Atlas, Sizable Stooge.

But Zemo's plan went awry when many of his team found they liked their heroics and wanted to reform for real. The name of the team has been used since then for a variety of teams, mostly revolving around reforming super villains, and have been led by everyone from Norman Osborn to Luke Cage.

Squadron Supreme

The Squadron Supreme is Marvel's thinly veiled Justice League analogy. There are several versions coming from different dimensions (making the continuity of these characters very messy), including villainous versions called The Squadron Sinister.

The Squadron consists of:

• Hyperion, Supreme Hero, an Eternal, who are ancient beings who seem to have inspired most god myths in Marvel lore, charged with defending the planet against the demonic deviants.
• Blur of Heroism shows Stanley Stewart, the hero known as the Blur.
• Doctor Spectrum is an astronaut that saved an alien and gained the light powers from the Power Prism.
• Zarda, the Power Princess from an island of people called Utopians.
• Nighthawk, Dark Defender is Kyle Richmond, a hero that was part of the Defenders (a super team often involving Doctor Strange).

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Director Nick Fury by Javier Charro

The acronym for what S.H.I.E.L.D. means has changed over time, but the organization has a long history in Marvel comics and has always featued the iconic spy tech of S.H.I.E.L.D. Flying Cars and S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarriers, as well as Life-Model Decoys (Metallic Mimic). Modern S.H.I.E.L.D. has taken a lot of elements from the MCU, which in turn adapted elements of the Ultimate Universe, where Miles Morales is from.

Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. is actually the son of the original Nick Fury, replacing him to adapt the incredibly popular Samuel L. Jackson version of the character as Director Nick Fury. Agent Phil Coulson, an MCU-original character, was adapted into the comics alongside this new Fury.

Outside of Fury, Agent Maria Hill has been a long-time agent who has also served as the Director for many years. Quake, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. was popularized by the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show, an Inhuman with seismic powers, whose father was the villainous Calvin Zabo, aka Mister Hyde, Monster Within.

Several Avengers-level heroes have also been agents, including Mockingbird, Ace Agent and Spider-Woman, Secret Agent.

Agents of Atlas

The Atlas Foundation was a secret society bent on world domination but was taken over by Jimmy Woo (Agent of Atlas), who is an FBI agent played by Randall Park in the MCU.

Jimmy turns Atlas into a force for good, recruiting old allies from his old clandestine team the G-Men including Kenneth Hale (Guerrilla Gorilla), a mercenary cursed into being the Gorilla-Man, and Namora, the Sea Queen, Namor's similarly half-human mutant cousin.

More recent line-ups for the team have included Jimmy recruiting Asian American and East Asian superheroes, like Brawn, Amadeus Cho.

A.I.M.

Advanced Ideas Mechanics are amoral A.I.M. Scientists who seek to profit and push the boundaries of science without being bound by morals or ethics.

They're typically led by the Scientist Supreme of A.I.M., a revolving door of leadership as these amoral CEO-types jockey for position. The Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing (M.O.D.O.K.) was once a man named George Tarleton who was mutated into a living computer to study the power reality-warping object, the Cosmic Cube.

The Super Adaptoid is one of A.I.M.'s greatest robotics successes, a robot that copies the powers of anyone it encounters.

HYDRA

The modern incarnation of HYDRA (it's got a messy comic book history) is that it was founded by Baron Strucker, HYDRA Overlord during World War II.

In the modern day, HYDRA operates as a fascist secret society pursuing authoritarian rule of the world. Control has changed hands many times over the years between Strucker, various Madame Hydras (including Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, the complicated double-agent played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the MCU), the Red Skull, and Arnim Zola, Bio-Fanatic.

A few other HYDRA Notables are:

• Crossbones, Malicious Mercenary is Brock Rumlow, a vicious killer who has no interest in leadership of the organization but just enjoys violence and cruelty.
• Unliving Legionnaire is Baron Blood, a British aristocrat who made the mistake of thinking he could control Dracula (yes, Dracula is real in Marvel) and worked with the Germans in WWI and WWII, and was later recruited into HYDRA, while looking for means to removing vampire weaknesses.
• Bob, Reluctant HYDRA Agent is a comic relief Deadpool sidekick who is just a cowardly man that joined HYDRA to have a steady job.

Roxxon

Roxxon is the evil energy company that is definitely not meant to poke fun at any real companies, or anything.

Dario Agger is Minotaur, Roxxon CEO, a Thor villain who wants to expand the company into alternative energy sources, mainly by plundering magical realms. Roxxon is the default company Marvel creatives use as a stand-in for 'big, immoral, faceless corporation.'

The Kang Dynasty

Kang, Temporal Tyrant by David Szabo

Kang is Nathaniel Richards, a nearly unkillable time-travelling villain from a possible far future/ He's a distant descendant of Reed Richards, from a future created by Reed's father Nathaniel (for whom Kang is named).

Kang has gone through many different phases in his life:

• Iron Lad, Diverging Destiny, when the young Kang tried to Rewrite History and change his fate for the first time.
• Pharaoh Rama-Tut, when Kang travelled back to ancient Egypt to rule and was eventually removed by the Fantastic Four.
• Kang the Conqueror, when Kang returned to the future to conquer it.
• Immortus, Master of Eternity, Kang's future self and chief rival (Think Twice).
• Victor Timely, Wily Tycoon, Kang's attempt to infiltrate the recent past and create much of the advanced technology used by the 20th century Marvel universe.

The Kang Dynasty was a 15-part event where Kang finally devoted his full might to conquering the 20th century, bringing Damocles Base, Sword of Kang and forcing Earth to surrender.

The Time Variance Authority was made famous by the Loki Disney+ show, and the TVA Bureaucrat is a bureaucracy of time travel just like in the show (Timeline Inquiry).

They exist as Kang's main rivals of temporal dominion, but because they're more concerned with the mundane aspects of keeping the multiverse running, they do little to stand in his way outside of the most egregious cases

The Serpent Society

The Serpent Society are an often-parodied group of minor villains who came together for a great reason: health insurance.

The original society was conceived of as a union formed by the villain Sidewinder, to provide benefits for relatively low-level snake-themed villains like himself. In addition to regular benefits and pay scale for jobs, they'd also break each other out of prison when captured.

Later leaders take the organization in a more cult-like direction under King Cobra (Kindred Dominance), but the original concept is still my favorite. Most snake themed villains in Marvel have been members at one time or another, including Bushmaster, Coiled Henchman, Anaconda (Deadly Dispute), and Princess Python (Serpent Specialist).

High Evolutionary

Although not present in the set, the shadow of the High Evolutionary, a man who has perfected Accelerated Evolution, can be found throughout. The High Evolutionary worked early on from Wundagore Mountain (Thriving Bluff) to create his New Men (Knight of Wundagore), one of the first of many attempts at creating a more perfect species, bringing him into conflict with many heroes, especially the X-Men.

The High Evolutionary's experiments were responsible for Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, a recent revelation that has nothing to do with the X-Men rights, of course.

Space: The Final Frontier

Marvel has suffered through many Alien Invasions, but there's only a handful here to talk about.

The Kree and Skrull Empires have been at war for millennia, and one side or another keeps involving Earth in their nonsense. The Kree are an Empire at an evolutionary dead end and often conduct experiments (like creating the Inhumans) intended to surpass their genetic limitations.

The Skrulls, by contrast, lost their world to Galactus and have been searching for a new one ever since, and Earth is often what they set their sights on, sending Undercover Skrulls to infiltrate using their shapeshifting powers.

The Shi-ar are the last of the big three empires (Shi'ar Soldier), and are more often associated with the X-Men than the Avengers.

Thanos, the Mad Titan is part Eternal, part Deviant, born on Saturn's moon Titan. Thanos is a sociopath who fell in love with the avatar of death and has spent most of his life trying to win her favor through killing.

The Thanos-Copter is from a silly tale in Spidey Super Stories #39 where Thanos is tracking down Hellcat, Undying Vigilante. Thanos is occasionally known for incredibly petty bits of evil, like ruining a guy's life in a way no one will believe, just because he can.

Other notable aliens in this set include:

• Ultimo, Civilization's End is a big alien robot that wipes planets clean off life, sort of a low-stakes Galactus.
• Flora Colossus is part of Groot's species, the Flora colossi.
• Voracious Brood are both an X-Men and Captain Marvel, Apex Avenger enemy, an alien species that are Marvel's version of the Xenomorph from Alien.

Daredevil

Matt Murdock, Justice Seeker is Daredevil, Man Without Fear, a crusader for justice in Hell's Kitchen, both in and out of the courtroom. He was splashed by chemicals as a child, which blinded him but also granted him superhuman senses. He was trained by Stick, Fearless Mentor, who worked against the villainous Ninja of the Hand.

These elements of his story are what were parodied by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Matt's law partner and best friend is Foggy Nelson, On Retainer, and his love interest is Elektra, Femme Fatale. Elektra was killed by Daredevil's nemesis, Bullseye, Death Dealer, in a Dark Deed that ended with her being resurrected as Elektra, Daughter of the Hand.

Matt most often goes up against Kingpin, Wilson Fisk, for whom Bullseye is an enforcer. Fisk is notable for his Political Triumph resulting in him being elected mayor of New York, despite his Criminal Enterprise. This story is adapted in the Daredevil: Born Again on Disney+. Typhoid Mary, Fractured is a powerful mutant and Kingpin enforcer (and wife!) with multiple personalities.

Heroes for Hire

Heroes for Hire by Irvin Rodriguez

The Heroes for Hire is the term for a group of street level vigilantes who work together as a mix of private detectives, community activists, and neighborhood vigilantes. The two core members are Luke Cage, Power Man and Danny Rand, Iron Fist, Living Weapon.

On paper, they don't work as a pair. Luke is a streetwise, unjustly imprisoned ex-con who was experimented on, giving him unbreakable skin. Danny Rand is the filthy rich heir to the Rand Corporation who was stranded in the Chinese mountains and found a gateway to K'un-Lun, where he was trained in Kung Fu to become one of The Immortal Weapons. Both are products of appealing to film trends of their era, the Kung Fu and Blaxploitation crazes of the 1970s. They've since become best friends despite their differences.

Luke and Danny are often paired with other heroes with similar inspirations, Misty Knight, Hero for Hire, a former police detective with a bionic arm, and Colleen Wing, Street Samurai, who was trained as a samurai by her grandfather. Together they're usually known as the Daughters of the Dragon.

Jessica Jones, Private Eye was a young, naive hero who was victimized by the mind controlling Purple Man for years. She's since become disillusioned with the superhero life and is now a private detective and rarely uses her powers for super heroics. She married Luke Cage after realizing she was pregnant with their daughter, Danielle (named for Danny). All these characters appear in Netflix's Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and Jessica Jones.

Hellcat, Undying Vigilante aka Patsy Walker is another notable street-level hero, a sometimes-Avenger who went from being a slice-of-life Archie-style character to a vigilante that has been to hell and back (literally). Paladin is a Contract Hero that has also worked with the Heroes for Hire.

Also worth mentioning is Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. The son of Fu Manchu, Shang-Chi went blow for blow with superpowered heroes despite only having a mastery of the martial arts. He has since inherited his father's Five Weapons Society and The Ten Rings. The Rings themselves are a new invention in the comics, based on the film.

There's some complicated history here with the Mandarin and Fu Manchu, who were merged for the MCU but both have roots in racism.

Wherefore X Thou?

Mutants don't make a big appearance this time around, with only the Avengers-associated mutants making it into the main set. Black Tom Cassidy is an Irish mutant (cousin to the X-Man Banshee) with power over plants.

He often partners up with the Juggernaut. Wolfsbane, Highland Hero is Rahne Sinclair, a Scottish mutant with werewolf-y powers who was part of the New Mutants, an attempt by Marvel in the 80s to recapture the teen X-Men vibe, as the main team had all grown up.

X-23, Deadly Weapon is Laura Kinney, a female clone of Wolverine who has since taken on his mantle. Colossus, Steel Stalwart is a Russian mutant who has been a core X-Men character for decades.

Darwin, Adaptive Mutant is Armando Muņoz, a mutant with the ability to adapt to anything who infamously still got killed somehow in the X-Men: First Class film.

Even More Spider-Man?

There's a number of new Spider-Man adjacent characters to add to my Spider-Man Flavor Gems from last year.

Virtuous Variant is the Spider-Man of the slightly farther future than 2099, 2211. Lady Spider, Maybelle Reilly is the steampunk Spider-Man, a young "Aunt May" with powers. Tri-Sentinel, Act of Vengeance is the enemy which Cosmic Spider-Man faced and was given the Captain Universe powers to fight.

Armed Assailant is the Melter, a Spidey villain with a ray that could melt anything. Boomerang, Blade Flinger is Fred Meyers, who appears in the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Fred is a disgraced baseball pro who turned his pitching powers to crime, and also the leader of the original Superior Foes of Spider-Man. He's mostly become a lovable jerk.

Hammerhead, Maggia Boss is another crime lord with which many street level heroes contend. Big Wheel is Jackson Weele (yes, really) who is exactly what you see here, a guy driving a big wheel loaded with weapons.

The Savage Land

The Savage Lands is a region of Antarctica that's home to a "Lost World" of prehistoric climate, full of otherwise extinct dinosaurs. Ka-Zar of the Savage Land is a Tarzan-like figure who is the de facto ruler of the Savage Land.

Panel from Spider-Man and the X-Men, art by Marco Failla

Sauron, Dino Devotee is a man with dino-vampiric powers who lives in the Savage Land. In what fans assume was a way to get a vampire around the comics code of the time, he was bitten by Pteranodons that gave him the power (and need) to drain life energy.

When he drains the life force of a mutant, however, he transforms into his pteranodon form. His card in the set is a reference to the infamous panel from 2014's Spider-Man and the X-Men crossover.

Great Lakes Avengers & Other Silliness

The Great Lakes Avengers is a team of mutants with not-incredibly-useful powers who are fundamentally not very good at their jobs. The Avengers, X-Men, and a variety of other hero teams have asked them not to use their name.

Mister Immortal can't die, but that's of limited use when you have no other abilities (including healing!). Big Bertha is a supermodel who can change her mass.

Flatman can flatten and stretch his body, but despite mimicking Mister Fantastic aesthetics, he's not very smart. He uses what he calls "Origami-Fu" in combat. And finally, Doorman is a teleporter who can move other people through walls, becoming essentially a human door. Doorman's character was featured in the Wonder Man Disney+ series, while Mister Immortal appeared in She-Hulk.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is her own character with a similar comedic vibe as the GLA and has worked with them on occasion. She can speak to squirrels and has canonically beaten some of the biggest villains alongside Tippy-Toe, Terrific Partner.

Legends, Like Lightning

Night Nurse, Healer of Heroes originally spun out of a non-superhero comic from 1961 called Linda Carter, Student Nurse. It was more of an Archie-style slice of life comic and was brought back as Night Nurse a decade later. Since then, the title 'Night Nurse' has passed between several characters providing under-the-table medical care for heroes with secret identities.

Blue Marvel, Adam Brashear is from Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel. A Korean War veteran and scientist, a science experiment gave him superman-level powers.

He was a masked superhero for years, but in the early 60's when his mask tore, America was too racist to accept a black man with that much power. He faded into obscurity until the modern day, where he's a genius with Superman-level power, although often reluctant to get involved.

There's simply too much to talk about in this set to cover it all, so let's do a quick lightning round of the remaining Legends and otherwise notable cards:

• Lucky the Pizza Dog is Hawkeye's dog, from the Hawkeye series by Matt Fraction, which was adapted into the Hawkeye Disney+ show.
• Taskmaster, Mercenary Mimic is a mercenary who can mimic any fighting style.
• Red Guardian, Super-Soldier and Crimson Operative (aka Crimson Dynamo) are members of the Winter Guard, Russia's government-sanctioned superhero team.
• Brave Brawler is Dennis Dunphy, Demolition Man.
• Project Deathlok Soldier is a time travelling Terminator-inspired undead cyborg.
• Fin Fang Foom is an alien dragon who functions as Marvel's canon Godzilla.
• Machinesmith Automaton is Machinesmith, a robot-obsessed villain who built the hero Machine Man, Model X-51.
• Absorbing Man is Carl Creel, a man with the powers to go toe-to-toe with a god but has the aspirations and mentality of a common crook.
• Titania, Proud Pummeler is She-Hulk's rival, a Hulk-level foe and the wife of Absorbing Man. They're pretty great together, honestly.
• Volcanic Villain is Volcana, who alongside Titania were both characters from the original Secret Wars who got their powers from Doctor Doom.
• Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur features a brilliant young girl with latent inhuman powers and her extradimensional T-Rex friend. They star in a recent cartoon of the same name.
• Moon-Boy, Dino Rider was Devil Dinosaur's first friend.
• Graviton, Fundamental Force was a brilliant scientist who was hit by an accident and got gravity powers.
• Living Laser is a recurring villain who appears on whatever villain team writers want.
• Vault Guardsman is a character wearing the Guardsman armor designed by Tony Stark, this version a guard at the supermax facility the Vault.
• The Fabulous Frog-Man is just a guy wearing a frog-themed super suit.
• Hit-Monkey is a Deadpool character.
• Stilt-Man, Towering Terror is a deceptively strong villain with a silly premise, a battle suit with telescoping legs.
• Batroc the Leaper is a French mercenary with almost super-human acrobatic skills. He was a minor villain early in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
• Monologue Tax depicts Psycho-Man, a villain who can control emotions and ratchet up negative ones (Fear, Doubt, and Hate).
• Impossible Man is a very minor and silly alien villain who is capable of shapeshifting into anything.
• Red Ghost, Intangible Genius is a soviet era villain with super powered apes.

Disassembling

I think who isn't in the Marvel Super Heroes set is telling for the future. Mark Rosewater has commented there are future sets, and if your favorite isn't here, it's probably in one of them.

People have pointed out the lack of mutants, cosmic, and magic themed characters. There's probably others, but we'll have to wait and see!