My Favorite Marvel superHERoes

In this article I'm talking about all my favorite Marvel superHERoes from the comics, movies and television shows. 

Not only is today International Women's Day but it also happens to be the day Captain Marvel is being released in theaters. For those who don't know Captain Marvel is the first Marvel Movie about a female superhero (even though The Wasp is arguably the lead in Ant-Man and The Wasp and Black Widow is an original MCU Avenger). Either way that makes Captain Marvel a big deal for the MCU. So I decided to create a list of all my favorite female Marvel heroes from the comic books, movies and tv series'. You might be familiar with some of them but hopefully you learn about a few more of the marvel heroines or as I like to call them superHERoes, and decide to learn more about them. 

1. Black Widow: In the MCU Black Widow is played by Scarlett Johansson but the character exists in the Marvel Comics as well. Most recently Black Widow has been revived with her own comic book series. The history of the character who's actual name is Natasha Romanoff is that she was trained as a ballerina (which is super cool as a fellow ballerina), later becomes an assassin, eventually becomes an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and then an Avenger. Although her story varies a little bit from comic book to screen she is brave both on screen and on the comic book pages. 

2. Spider-Gwen: If you're not familiar with the comic books and haven't gotten around to seeing the Spiderverse movie yet, I should probably tell you that there is a multiverse which basically consists of different dimensions in each dimension there is a different Spider-Man type superhero. Spider-Gwen is one of these heroes and she is basically the version of Gwen Stacy that got bit by the radioactive spider instead of Peter Parker. Spider-Gwen like Black Widow is a ballerina in the Spiderverse movie, she isn't in the comics but I won't complain since I love a good powerful ballerina character. Most recently she's had to deal with the deaths of a lot of the other Spiderverse heroes in the Spider Geddon comics, and we're now seeing the aftermath in her own comic book series. 

3. America Chavez: Throughout the years various characters have taken on the title of Captain America. If you're a fan of the MCU you probably know Steve Rogers as Captain America, but Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson have also held the title of Captain America. Most recently America Chavez has taken on the title. America is a Latina character, which Is amazing since there isn't much Latina representation in comic books. She is currently part of the West Coast Avengers and has become a leader of sorts for the Avengers. 

4. Ms Marvel: Originally Carol Danvers who you probably know as Captain Marvel held the Ms Marvel name, but when she became Captain Marvel a new girl Kamala Khan adopted the name. Kamala is the first Muslim Marvel superhero. She is able to enlarge her limbs and to some extent shapeshifter. The cool thing about Kamala is much like Spider-Man or other similar characters she isn't a super genius or billionaire she's just a normal high school student. Just this year her catchphrase "embiggen" which basically means to enlarge was added to the dictionary thanks partly to the awesome superhero that is Ms Marvel. (I also did a pretty awesome cosplay of her at Comic Con last year if anyone was curious). 

5. Squirrel Girl: I don't think  it's even possible to mention Ms Marvel without mentioning Squirrel Girl considering they are total Bestie Goals. The unbeatable squirrel girl as she is known has squirrel like super powers and the cutest squirrel sidekick. Much like Kamala she is also a high school student. Squirrel Girl didn't receive the title of unbeatable for no reason in fact she is considered to be one of the most powerful Marvel heroes having defeated some of the most powerful villains including Thanos. 

6. Nico Minorou, Karolina Dean, Gert(rude) Yorkes and Molly Hayes Hernandez: I decided to mention these four powerful ladies at once since they all belong to the same team The Runaways. The Runaways exist both in the Marvel comics and in their own television show. Each of the four girls possesses a different power including super strength and the power to control a dinosaur. The diversity within the group is amazing Nico is an Asian American and Molly who's last name is Hayes in the comics is Molly Hernandez in the television show and is Latina. The girls are part of a group of heroes that formed after learning that their parents were super villains, running away from home and discovering they each had unique powers and abilities. 

7. Kate Bishop: Kate is one of the West Coast Avengers and goes by the name of Hawkeye. During a time in the comics when the original Hawkeye Clint Barton was in retirement the young Kate Bishop decided to take over as Hawkeye. Just like the original she was very skilled in archery. When Clint found out that she was using the name he helped train her. Eventually both Clint and Kate joined the West Coast Avengers and they even agreed to both go by Hawkeye so that neither one of them had to change their name. 

8. Silk: Remember when I said the multiverse consists of different dimensions each with their own Spider-Manesque well Silk is another one of these spider heroes. Silk unlike most of the other spider heroes is actually from the same dimension as Peter Parker Spider-Man (confusing... trust me I know!). She is Korean-American and has fought many times along Peter Parker himself. Not to mention she has what I would say is arguably on of the coolest spider hero costumes in the Marvel comics. 

9. Shuri: You may know her as the Black Panther T''Challa's sister from the Marvel Cinematic Universe but Shuri is also a superhero who has taken on the title of the Black Panther and is most recently starring in her own comic book series. Shuri is one of the of the smartest heroes in the MCU and is arguably more intelligent than Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. Not to mention the Shuri comics have some of the most beautiful artwork I've seen in any recent comic books. 

10. Captain Marvel: Finally the hero you'll soon be very familiar with Captain Marvel Carol Danvers. As you know her movie was released today so you'll know a lot more about her soon but here is the rundown. Carol is the second person to hold the title Captain Marvel, the original Captain Marvel was a male and Marvel was pronounced like Mar-vell. She is a Kree which is basically an "alien" (in quotations since she's technically an alien human hybrid) from another planet. In the movie she will be fighting against Skrulls another type of alien. Her movie will also be set in the 90's so we'll she a lot of MCU throwbacks including a young Agent Fury. 

Unfortunately I couldn't list every female Marvel superhero, because I would probably be here for ever. I even had to omit some of my favorites from the list. If you're interested in learning more about the Marvel superHERoes I highly recommend purchasing the book "Marvel Power of a Girl" by Lorrain Cink. I'll also list some honorable mentions below in case you want to research them yourself. 

Honorable Mentions: Agent Peggy Carter, Valkyrie, Gamora, Nebula, Mantis, Spider-Woman, Spider-Girls (May Parker, Annie Parker and Anya Corazon), The ladies of the Dora Milaje, Iron Heart, Scarlet Witch, Gwenpool, The Wasp, Sharon Carter, Maria Hill,She-Hulk,Vivian Vision, Mary Jane Watson and Jane Foster.