Summary

• Marvel characters often shift from villain to hero, showcasing redemption arcs that enrich their complexity.
• Villains like Venom, Loki, and even Doctor Octopus have embraced heroism, proving that redemption is possible.
• Characters like Scarlet Witch and Magneto blur the line between hero and villain, highlighting the complexity of morality in Marvel.

Marvel’s line between heroism and villainy can be a thin one, bent to fit the needs of their story. Sometimes a character who's spent their entire comic book tenure as a murderous supervillain experiences a sudden change of heart, taking a path of good. Other times, a troubled soul endures a slow and grueling journey toward heroism as they repent for their sins.

Regardless, watching a villain reject their evil past for the pursuit of good can be a thrilling experience. During the era of the Comics Code Authority, villains were subject to never being released from their criminal actions. Fortunately, both Marvel writers and heroes believe redemption should be possible for almost everyone, leading to these standout Marvel villains who stepped up to become heroes.

1 Venom (Eddie Brock)

The Amazing Spider-Man #362 (by David Michelinie and Mark Bagley)

Venom has been one of Spider-Man’s longest-lasting villains ever since his first appearance as the symbiotic menace in Amazing Spider-Man #300. While Venom was born of Eddie Brock and the symbiote’s mutual hate for Spider-Man, they have toed the line of anti-heroism almost from the beginning. Known as the “Lethal Protector,” Venom exacts a harsher form of justice than Spider-Man, but made the first step into heroism soon after the birth of his symbiotic offspring, Carnage.

When Carnage launches a violent massacre against New York City, Venom and Spider-Man forces to take down the greater threat. The pair quickly shed their alliance after the day was saved, but it set Venom on a course of heroism long term. To this day, Eddie Brock and Venom continue their heroic endeavors as the King in Black and bonded to the pair’s son, Dylan, respectively.

2 Loki

Siege #4 (by Brian Michael Bendis and Joe Quesada)

It's arguable that Loki’s most 'heroic' act was the hand he had played in creating Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, manipulating Hulk into fighting Thor in Avengers #1, inadvertently sparking the catalyst needed to form the first Avengers. Loki goes on to become a frequent antagonist for just about every Marvel character. But underneath his frozen Jotun heart, Loki remains a proud Asgardian and consistently proves his love for his brother in the end.

Loki eventually experienced his shift into heroism after he unintentionally destroyed Asgard. Instigating a plot to release the Void (a cosmic force of destruction) against Asgard, Loki loses control, and is sucked into it along with his home. But not before telling Thor, “I’m sorry.” Loki has since returned to Marvel's universe, with his shame and regret keeping him on the 'mischievious hero' side of the line, more often than not.

3 Songbird (Melissa Gold)

Thunderbolts #10 (by Kurt Busiek, Jim Zub, Mark Bagley, and Jon Malin)

Melissa Gold, AKA Songbird, was once a low-level thug and amateur wrestler, who gained notoriety when recruited into Baron Zemo’s terrorist organization, the Masters of Evil. After the death of the Avengers, Songbird, Zemo, and the Masters of Evil would reform as “The Thunderbolts.” Originally masquerading as heroes to disguise their ties to the criminal underground, Songbird and the rest of the Thunderbolts enjoy their heroic life in Zemo’s absence.

After staging a coup against Zemo, the Thunderbolts, now led by Hawkeye, reassert themselves as an honest company of do-gooders. Introduced as a low-level goon, Melissa Gold has more than earned her recognition as a force of good.

4 Satana Hellstrom

Spirits of Vengeance #5 (by Victor Gischler and David Baldeón)

Part human, part demon, and the daughter of Lucifer, Satana Hellstrom has had a complicated history with morality. Satana was raised in Hell and bred to become a useful tool in her father’s constant demonic schemes, used to reap mortal souls in his name (often bending rules by targeting wicked men specifically). Despite her best efforts, she would remain a figure synonymous with Heaven’s greatest betrayal.

While she had attempted to rebel against her father on numerous occasions, Satana, alongside her brother Daimon, finally had the chance to stop Lucifer’s millennia-old plot to seal off Heaven in the 2017 series Spirits of Vengeance. Satana ultimately sides with the forces of Heaven to stop her father, and is promised by the reassuring Archangel Michael that the Heavenly Kingdom will owe her a favor in the future.

5 Norman Osborn

The Amazing Spider-Man #56 (by Nick Spender and Mark Bagley)

Norman Osborn has long been Spider-Man’s most iconic villain. Egotistical, power-hungry, and mad with a penchant for pumpkins, Norman has left a green, goblin-ridden stain across the Web-Crawler’s history. In nearly every capacity possible, the Green Goblin has gone out of his way to destroy Peter Parker’s life. However, after Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman's Absolute Carnage event, Norman Osborn has undergone a major character shift toward heroism.

In The Amazing Spider-Man #56, Norman becomes the target of a vigilante called Sin-Eater who, armed with a sin-consuming shotgun, is soon known to the public as the hero Gold Goblin.

6 Emma Frost

Uncanny X-Men #314 (by Scott Lobdell and Lee Weeks)

The White Queen of the Hellfire Club and an Omega-level telepath, Emma Frost has proven herself a constant ally to mutant kind. Frost has always had noble ambitions and has, in her own way, fought for mutant rights since her first appearance in Uncanny X-Men #129 by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. The Ice Queen even led her own school for young mutants, the Massachusetts Academy. But Emma Frost’s first major pivot toward heroism came after a horrific event that saw the deaths of many of Frost’s young students.

itting they would have been safer with Charles Xavier (and had therefore hurt mutants more than helped them, Emma Frost begins her slow but organic development into a notable hero and member of the X-Men.

7 Doctor Octopus (Otto Octavius)

The Amazing Spider-Man #700 (by Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos)

It had long seemed that Doctor Octopus was beyond saving until his final crime against Spider-Man, swapping his dying body with that of Spider-Man, before killing his former self and Peter Parker along with it. In Peter’s final moments, he uses the psychic link between him and Octavius to force the villain to experience every moment of suffering Spider-Man has had to endure, and every celebration once he has saved the day.

Otto is overwhelmed by Peter Parker’s grievous life, and begs to be free of the visions before Peter finally succumbs to his injuries. Facing this responsibility, Otto promises to honor the legacy of Spider-Man and Peter Parker by becoming a “Superior Spider-Man.”

8 Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff)

The Avengers #16 (by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby)

Wanda Maximoff originally began her career in Marvel Comics as a villain and the henchman of Magneto, an orphan subject of the High Evolutionary’s experimentation. Wanda and her twin brother Pietro were saved by Magneto when an angry mob sought the twins’ death, and believed to be mutants at the time, ed the infamous Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. But Wanda's tenure with the master of magnetism would quickly cease when Magneto apathetically threatened the life of her brother.

When Quicksilver was captured by Jean Grey in Avengers #16, Magneto accepted Pietro was an acceptable loss, prompting Wanda to thwart his evil scheme. Devoid of most of their founding member, The Avengers recruit Wanda and her brother, thus cementing her status as a superhero ever since.

9 8-Ball (Jeff Hagees)

Moon Knight #25 (by Jed MacKay, Partha Pratim, Alessandro Cappuccio, and Alessandro Vitti)

Jeff Hagees was a brilliant propulsion engineer contracted with the Department of Defense, before a gambling addiction cost him his career. With a mountain of debt owed to criminal loan sharks, Jeff adopts the moniker of 8-Ball and turns to petty thievery. For the most part, 8-Ball has been considered a D-List villain throughout his history in the comics, but nevertheless got his chance of redemption after meeting Marc Spector in Devil’s Reign: Moon Knight #1 by Jed Mackay and Federico Sabbatini.

Hagees quickly finds a kinship with Moon Knight, as he felt that Marc was the first person who wanted to get to know him without wanting something in return. Marc Spector doesn’t look at 8-Ball as a small-time crook, but rather a decent man lost on the wrong path. After Moon Knight nearly lost his life at the hands of Black Spectre, 8-Ball steps up to save his new ally, following in Moon Knight’s footsteps and ing the Midnight Mission.

10 Magneto (Max Eisenhardt)

Uncanny X-Men #150 (by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum) and Uncanny X-Men #200 (by Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr.)

Arguably, Magneto has never been a true villain. While different writers tend to move him back and forth between hero and villain, he remains set on the moral road to mutant acceptance. Despite his unfortunate leadership of the Masters of Evil, Max is a holocaust survivor who knows the terror of subjugation . His first major deviation from villainy occurred after he nearly killed fellow mutant and Jewish person Kitty Pryde in Uncanny X-Men #150, experiencing a moral crisis and abandoning his plans of human domination soon after.

He would eventually surrender in Uncanny X-Men #200, leading to an attack which put Charles Xavier's life in jeopardy. Before losing consciousness, Xavier makes Magneto promise to look over the X-Men and mentor the next generation of mutants, assuming the role as leader of the New Mutants. While writers still can’t decide whether the magnetic mutant should be a hero or a villain, Magneto will always possess a heart of gold.