Exploring the Marvel Universe: 35 Interesting Facts and Trivia – Part 3

Wolverine once fought a supervillain named Spore in South America who was composed entirely of cocaine.

2. In a deleted scene from the 2008 film ‘The Incredible Hulk’, in which Bruce Banner goes to the Arctic to commit suicide, Captain America’s body and shield can be spotted frozen beneath the ice.

3. While doing a press conference for The Avengers: Age of Ultron, director Joss Whedon admitted that while Agent Coulson is alive in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., he still considers the character dead in the movie’s continuity so as to not cheapen his death in the first film.

4. Stan Lee had originally planned for Professor X to be the brother of his arch-nemesis.

5. In the 1981 ‘Batman Vs. The Incredible Hulk’ crossover comic, despite his relative lack of brute strength, the Dark Knight successfully defeats the Hulk in combat.

After the very first ‘Fantastic Four’ comic was printed in 1961, many fans debated for decades if the Thing’s genitalia had remained the same after he mutated. In 2011, creator Stan Lee finally confirmed that the Thing had a penis made of orange rock.

7. After Robert Downey Jr. expressed interest in the role of Tony Stark, Marvel originally told Iron Man director Jon Favreau, “Under no circumstances are we prepared to hire him at any price.” He pestered the filmmakers until they eventually gave him a screen test.

8. In “New X-Men #118,” the word “sex” is hidden in the art on every page of the issue.

9. In “Avengers X-Sanction #4”, the time-traveling mutant Cable notes that Spider-Man is seen in the future as the greatest hero of all-time, even more so than Captain America or Iron Man.

10. Stan Lee was actually very nervous that blind people would find his ‘Daredevil’ comic series offensive or parodical. Upon its release, however, he received fan mail praising his handling of the subject and asked him to contribute to charities for the blind.

American actor Robert Downey Jr. has actually been banned from Japan because of his erratic behavior in the US in the 1990s and was only allowed to enter Japan for the premiere of ‘Iron Man’ if he promised never to return again.

12. In the comic event “Fear Itself”, Tony Stark built a suit of Iron Man armor out of the same magical Asgardian metal used to create Thor’s hammer. It is known as the Iron Destroyer Armor.

13. Mark Ruffalo actually discussed playing Bruce Banner with the director of the 2008 film ‘The Incredible Hulk’, but Marvel did not believe he would be right for the role.

14. While the ‘X-Men’ comic series was originally developed as a simple tale of “Good vs. Evil,” various writers saw potential in the comic’s cast and story to delve into themes regarding the horrors of racism, religious fundamentalism, anti-Semitism, the red scare, the AIDS epidemic, and the struggle of the LGBT community

15. A black Captain America was secretly fighting in WWII at the same time as Steve Rogers. He was one of the few successful results of the US Government’s numerous attempts to re-create the super soldier serum.

While undergoing surgery to regain her powers, Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman) was given breast implants. This was a way to explain the stereotypically robust figure Spider-Woman has been drawn within the comics.

17. In early issues of the ‘Ghost Rider’ comic series, Jesus Christ appeared as a supporting character. However, in order to prevent offending religious readers, the character’s storyline was changed by the editorial staff to reveal that he was actually a demon in disguise.

18. Though he still maintained his peak physical condition, in the early 1990s, Captain America had the Super Soldier Serum removed from his body as a statement against substance abuse. This only lasted six issues before it was retconned away.

19. After his secret identity as Daredevil was released to the public, Matt Murdock occasionally wore a shirt with the phrase “I’m not Daredevil” printed on it.

20. Almost anytime Mystique is depicted in clothes in X-men comics, she’s really just naked and generating outfits with her shape-shifting mutation.

The original ending for ‘Iron Man 3’ featured Trevor Slattery (the false Mandarin) injecting himself with Extremis and exploding doing it incorrectly.

22. The initial origin of Spider-Woman revealed her to be an actual spider that evolved into a super-powered human being.

23. The very first trailer of Sam Raimi’s 2002 ‘Spider-Man’ movie (used to promote the film at various entertainment expos) featured Peter Parker using mechanical web shooters.

24. In the early ‘Thor’ comics, if Thor ever lets go of his Warhammer Mjolnir for more than 60 seconds, he would lose all of his powers and revert to a human.

25. Doctor Strange in the Ultimate Universe was killed when the demon Dormammu wrapped his cape around his neck, cutting off his air and causing his head to explode.