Marvel’s characters have a wonderful complexity, which is the main reason readers love them so much. Heroes and villains alike have often switched sides, with villains becoming heroic and heroes becoming villainous. This has always made for interesting stories because their past actions are always there behind them and everyone knows about them.
They’ve done things in their pasts that are pretty villainous and those follow them everywhere. Thanks to their former actions, characters like Professor Xavier, Scarlet Witch or Iron Man often have difficulty establishing trust and easily fall back to their old, less heroic ways.
10/10 Professor X’s Lies Have Made It Hard To Trust Him
Professor X is the X-Men’s founder. For years, the dream of humans living in peace with mutants was his passion and he did everything in his power to see it happen. As the most telepath on the planet, he could do a lot to change people’s mind, literally, and he often did. Professor X broke many of the rules he taught the team’s other telepaths not to, controlling minds and erasing memories.
On top of that, Professor X had very little problem with lying to his students to “protect them.” Professor X’s lies have been found out numerous times, causing his students to distrust a man they once loved with all of their hearts. Xavier’s proclivity to lie and keep secrets struck again on Krakoa with Moira MacTaggert, causing him to lose even more of the trust of the people he helped govern.
9/10 Old Man Logan’s Murder Of The X-Men Haunted Him
Old Man Logan’s life changed on the night the villains won. Instead of fighting the same old heroes, they attacked heroes that weren’t ready for them. Mysterio used his powers on Wolverine, convincing the X-Man that the X-Mansion was under attack by villains. Wolverine ripped into the attackers, cutting them to ribbons.
And then Mysterio stopped his illusion. Wolverine had slaughtered his friends in the X-Men. Covered in the blood of the people he loved, he put his head on a train track and was run over by a train, the only penance he could think of. After that night, he swore a vow of pacifism and the guilt of slaughtering his friends stayed with him the rest of his life.
8/10 Jean Grey Found It Hard To Escape The Dark Phoenix’s Actions
Jean Grey was never the Dark Phoenix. However, the cosmic force wore a facsimile of her body when it committed its most terrible acts, placing her in stasis in a cocoon at the bottom of Jamaica Bay. Upon her return to the world, Jean Grey had to deal with everyone believing that the Phoenix’s act of genocide was all her fault.
Her friends were always a little afraid of Jean breaking, especially later when the Phoenix came back and joined with her. Jean Grey was always able to control the Phoenix Force perfectly, yet she was tarred by the worst actions of the entity itself every time it was involved with her.
7/10 Apocalypse Had To Earn The Trust Of Krakoa
Many Marvel villains are misunderstood, including Apocalypse. His Darwinist belief system was forged millennia in the past. Apocalypse and his wife Genesis led the mutant continent of Okkara when it was attacked by the demonic hordes of Amenth. The war was costly, and the continent had to be sundered, so that Genesis, her and Apocalypse’s children, and many of Okkara’s mutants could fight the demons in Amenth.
Genesis bade him create an army of the strongest, which was what Apocalypse tried to do for years. His actions were frequently villainous, so when he wholeheartedly embraced the mutant land of Krakoa, few trusted him. However, Apocalypse proved he could be trusted, fighting stalwartly for his people.
6/10 Mystique’s Years Of Manipulation Make It Hard For Her Children To Trust Her
Mystique is Marvel’s greatest shapeshifter. The mutant spent years with her wife Destiny working in the shadows, amassing power and wealth while doing their part of the mutant race. Mystique’s had multiple dealings with the X-Men, often involving her children Rogue and Nightcrawler, fighting the group, joining the group, and sometimes betraying them.
Like other mutant villains, she took the Krakoan offer of clemency, joining the Quiet Council and becoming a leader of the nation. Mystique’s years as a villain have made many not trust her, which is mostly fine with her. Mystique and Destiny have each other, but when they need help, it’s hard to find because of what Mystique has done.
5/10 The Green Goblin Always Takes Control Of Norman Osborn
Spider-Man fights some violent villains, chief among them Green Goblin. Norman Osborn seems to have dissociative identity disorder, as the Green Goblin side of his persona has been portrayed as something he has to keep at bay. While Osborn has mostly been a villain, there have been times when he tried to do the right thing and the Green Goblin wouldn’t let him.
During Dark Reign, Osborn was definitely out for himself, but he still worked hard to save the world. However, the Green Goblin was always lurking there, ready to take control and smash everything around him. His time as the Golden Goblin has people wondering when he’s going to become evil again, as the monster inside him always returns.
4/10 No One Trusted Doctor Doom During His Time As Iron Man
Doctor Doom is the rare Marvel villain who fulfilled his destiny, becoming God and saving the Multiverse. He relinquished his powers to Reed Richards, who repaired Victor’s face, giving him a new outlook on life. When Tony Stark was beat into a coma by Captain Marvel, Doom decided to pay homage to his old enemy by acting as Iron Man.
Even though Doom only attacked bad guys, helping keep the FF’s rogues down while the team was out of action, no one trusted him. Doom actually did a lot of good as Iron Man, but S.H.I.E.L.D. hunted him and the Thing, Human Torch, and others all treated him like he was still a monster.
3/10 The Void’s Existence Made Everyone Question The Sentry
The Sentry was the man with the power of a million exploding suns, a hero who fought alongside the best of the early years of the Marvel Age. However, he had a dark secret. His arch nemesis the Void was him. This caused the heroes to mind-wipe him and the rest of the world of his existence to keep everyone safe.
When the Sentry’s memory returned, so did the threat of the Void. The Sentry could never escape the Void, because the Void was a part of him. He had to constantly live with everyone waiting for him to become a monster, a self-fulfilling prophecy that completely marred his life.
2/10 Scarlet Witch Is Constantly Judged For Her Worst Mistakes
Scarlet Witch has done some terrible things over the years. She’s attacked the Avengers multiple times, even killing some of them. She created children with pieces of Mephisto’s soul, was used by the Apocalypse Twins to destroy Earth, and committed genocide on a terrible scale the day she depowered the mutant race.
Scarlet Witch is a woman who has suffered multiple traumatic events. Her powers have made things worse for her, as she can pretty much do anything. Many can never stop judging her for those actions, no matter how hard she tried to live them down.
1/10 Iron Man Has Done Some Unforgivable Things
Iron Man isn’t always the best hero. Tony Stark is a problem solver by nature; that’s what engineers do. They create things to solve problems. This has created a pragmatic streak within Stark. This pragmatism drove him to create the Illuminati, a group that did as much harm as good.
Iron Man has attacked his friends multiple times over the years, during the “Armor Wars” and as the government’s biggest backer in the superhero civil war, creating a secret Negative Zone prison for his friends. He spearheaded the commission of genocide on a massive scale during the Incursions. So many heroes find it impossible to really trust him anymore.
