Marvel has captured the imaginations of fans in profound ways over the years. All of this has been made possible by the characters, with Marvel's creators birthing some of the greatest heroes and villains for decades. For some of these, it's easy to see why fans love the characters, but for others, it's a bit trickier. Consequently, these characters have a complex relationship with their fans.
Fans of these characters hate yet love them at the same time. These heroes and villains do things that both repulse and entice their fans simultaneously, which is a strangely winning strategy that has paid off.
10 Sabretooth Is An Unrepentant Monster With A Massive Fanbase
Sabretooth is one of the X-Men's most popular villains, which is very strange. He's a savage killer, an abuser of women, and generally a reprehensible person. He's also quite entertaining and a perfect foil to play off many types of heroes, as his remorseless way of living and black sense of humor make him a great contrast.
Sabretooth is, to borrow a wrestling term, a "cool heel." He's completely and totally evil but he's also entertaining. Fans have every reason to hate him, and they definitely do, but they love him at the same time.
9 Cyclops Is Exciting And Dynamic Yet Also Unlikable
Cyclops has long been a focus of the X-Men books; however, fans have complex feelings about him. As what amounts to the Captain America of the X-Men, he's a stereotypical hero type. He can be a stick in the mud, especially compared to X-Men like Wolverine, Gambit, Iceman, and others. He's also a lot of fun in action sequences and plays off multiple characters very well.
He has an interesting back story on top of all of that as well. He can be mind-numbingly boring and on the next page do something jaw-droppingly awesome. Fans love and hate him in equal measure, vacillating wildly between these two poles.
8 Green Goblin Is Integral To The Spider-Man Mythos Despite Being Horrible
While Spider-Man isn't exactly defined by his villains, it's impossible to imagine him without Green Goblin. Norman Osborn is almost the dark mirror of Spider-Man – a man to whom responsibility is meaningless and power is the only important thing. There is no monstrous deed he won't do to torment Spider-Man.
Fans love Spider-Man, so it's easy to hate Norman Osborn and his horrible acts. However, he's such a defining part of Spider-Man and the two play off each other so well that it's impossible not to like Green Goblin. He's an entertaining antagonist, worthy of scorn and love.
7 Thanos Is A Captivating Monster
Thanos is considered Marvel's greatest villain and the proof is in the pudding. He's made a name for himself committing atrocious acts, battling the most powerful heroes to a standstill, and enmeshing the entire Marvel Universe in his genocidal schemes. He could be a villainous cliche, yet there's a captivating character underneath all of that.
The roots of Thanos's nihilism are plain to see within the tragedies of his origin: hated by his mother, scorned by his father, and vilified by the Eternals around him because of how he looked. Thanos is so interesting that while it's normal to hate what he does, who he is draws readers in.
6 Baron Zemo Combines Villainous Cliches With Pure Entertainment
Baron Helmut Zemo is one of Marvel's best villains. Stepping into his father's boots after Heinrich's death, the new Baron Zemo made a huge splash. His Masters of Evil brutalized the Avengers, establishing him as a force to be reckoned with and an entertaining villain with great schemes. This would continue into the Thunderbolts years, where he reached his highest levels of popularity.
A lot of things about Zemo are extremely cliche, as he's a histrionic Silver Age type of villain. He resists all attempts at modernization, and his legacy as a Nazi's son and association with Hydra and Red Skull make him morally reprehensible. That said, he's just so much fun to read about that fans look past all of that.
5 Beast's Loss Of Morality Has Changed The Way He's Entertaining
For years, Beast was one of the X-Men's most entertaining characters. He was funny and kinetic with a genuine heart lurking under his bouncy exterior. Recent years have seen an erosion of his idealism, as Beast has adopted a more grey morality when it comes to his actions. Now, only results matter to Beast, and he'll do anything (no matter how terrible) to reach his goals.
Reading a comic with Beast in it these days is to completely hate the joyless monster he's become but also to enjoy reading about his failures. Beast used to be a joy to read about because he was a fun character. Now he's the most punchable mutant hero but still fun to read about because he gets his comeuppance.
4 Fans' View Of Professor X Has Changed, But He's Actually Gotten More Compelling
For years, Professor X was the often stodgy authority figure of the X-Men. He was an important part of things but there wasn't much to him other than his mission. That would begin to subtly change, as his actions would show him as someone who'd go to any lengths to accomplish his goals, including acts that were somewhat villainous.
Fans no longer saw him as a benevolent father figure but as a manipulative control freak devoted to his dream at the expense of everything else. He became one of Marvel's shadiest characters, yet this new complexity made him much more fun to read about. It was easy to hate him yet want to read more stories with him in them, as his added dimensions made him that much better.
3 Hank Pym's Trial And Tribulations Make Him Fun To Read About
Hank Pym is easily the least beloved of the founding Avengers. His powers aren't exactly the greatest, but what really cemented that status are his years of terrible actions – from the creation of Ultron to his attack on his wife the Wasp. On the surface, Pym is a very easy character to hate, and yet creators have found a way to flesh him out in interesting ways.
Pym's struggles with his mental problems give him a dimension that allows readers to hate his terrible actions of the past while also finding him intriguing. Many fans still hate Pym but want to read about him because of the way he overcomes his own struggles.
2 Reed Richards Personifies Some Of The Best And Worst Aspects Of Heroism
Reed Richards is a complicated character. He's basically the perfect scientist and someone to whom the thrill of discovery means everything. This aspect of his character has caused his family to suffer, and although he loves his wife and children, his relationships with them are often far from ideal. What makes it all palatable is the fact that he's fundamentally a good person who's striving to help everyone.
Reed Richards often does the worst things imaginable in the pursuit of the greater good. One can look at his actions over the years and see both a wonderful hero and a completely reprehensible man. This dichotomy makes him great to read about, as the peaks and valleys of his lives are full of entertainment.
1 Iron Man Remains At The Pinnacle Even Though He's Done Unforgivable Things
Iron Man is one of Marvel's most important heroes, but he's also one of the least heroic. To begin with, he's the living representation of the military-industrial complex, which is never a good look. He's betrayed his friends many times over the years, even before his terrible acts in Civil War. He's kept secrets from his fellow heroes and committed genocide at an unimaginable scale.
Iron Man has committed acts that make even the worst villains look like a beginner, yet he's still one of Marvel's top characters, constantly starring in Avengers books and his own solo titles. He's extremely hateable yet also just as easy to love.
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