A new hero has joined the ranks of MCU-only characters to officially debut in the world of Marvel Comics. While Marvel Studios' on-screen efforts have been known for faithfully adapting the beloved comic universe it is based on, the super-powered franchise has also taken its fair share of liberties, introducing its own original characters outside the comic book canon. And some of these original creations have been so beloved that they have transcended the MCU itself, putting their stamp on the comics as well.
A new MCU-original character will make its comic book debut later this year. Tom Holland's Night Monkey has been revealed to be part of the new Marvel Comics Battleworld story, which will be on store shelves starting in September.
According to an official Marvel Comics blog, the new Multiversal story will focus on the iconic reality-bending planet from the Secret Wars comic event as "Heroes from across the Multiverse are thrown together on a patchwork world to engage in their own Secret Wars for the survival:"
"The Battleworld from SECRET WARS returns! Heroes from across the Multiverse are thrown together on a patchwork world to engage in their own Secret Wars for the survival of their timelines! Who or what has created this Battleworld, and for what nefarious purpose? Enter Maestro. Is he friend, or foe?"
Spider-Man will be one of the Multiverse-faring heroes duking it out on Battleworld alongside several of his Variants from across the Marvel canon. One of these alternate versions of the wall-crawling here was revealed (via a cover for one of its five issues) was the stealth suit-wearing Night Monkey as seen in Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Night Monkey was an MCU-original creation that debuted in Tom Holland's second Spider-Man movie. The character was named as such for his all-black costume that differed from the typical red and blue of Spidey's traditional look.
Marvel Comics' Battleworld will debut on store shelves on September 24. It will be a five-issue limited series by Superior Spider-Man writer Christos Gage and X-Force artist Marcus To.
The new comic book project will follow in the footsteps of the classic Secret Wars event story (which will be adapted in the upcoming Avengers movies duology), as fragments from across the Multiverse are forged together to create a terrifying, Multiversal wartorn planet. These various realities are then pitted against one another in a fight for survival.
Every MCU-Original Character To Appear in Marvel Comics
Agent Coulson
The first MCU-only character to jump into the comics was Clark Gregg's Agent Phil Coulson.
Coulson debuted in Iron Man, serving as one of the narrative backbones of the early years of Marvel Studios' storytelling. Coulson was Nick Fury's right-hand man at SHIELD, even going on to lead his own MCU TV show, Agents of SHIELD.
Coulson would then appear in Marvel Comics, debuting in 2011's Battle Scars series. In that run, he was stationed alongside Nick Fury's secret son Marcus Johnson, serving SHIELD's interest during the epic War of the Serpent, which saw the Asgardian entity attempt to shroud Earth in a shadow of fear.
Darcy Lewis
Darcy Lewis was another early MCU fan-favorite to appear in the Marvel Comics. Darcy (played by Kat Dennings) was an original creation for the 2011 Thor movie.
She is a smart-mouthed astrophysicist intern working for Stellan Skarsgård's Erik Selvig. She has had a fruitful MCU career, appearing most recently in What If...? Season 3.
Darcy came to the world of Marvel Comics in January 2023, playing a role in
Steve Orlando's Scarlet Witch runs as an undercover journalist who came looking for help from the titular sorceress after getting in with the wrong crowd.
Miss Minutes
Since 2021, Miss Minutes has been terrifying MCU fans as the voice of the reality-hopping Time Variance Authority. Voiced by Tara Strong, the spunky animated clock debuted in Loki Season 1 as the slightly off-kilter AI keeping things in check in the TVA.
She has since become the pseudo-voice of the MCU Multiverse, which is used all over Marvel Entertainment materials to explain the franchise's alternate realities.
In June 2023, Miss Minutes got her big Marvel Comics break, though, appearing on several variant covers for some Multiverse-focused stories released around the time. She also has been used in things like Marvel's ongoing Today in Marvel History YouTube series.
Kahhori
It was a big deal when Kahhori debuted in What If...? Season 2 in the MCU. The young Mohawk hero was the franchise's first original superhero.
She is a young Mohawk woman who, through contact with a Tesseract-imbued lake, becomes cosmically enhanced, able to wreak havoc on the Spanish conquistadores colonizing her homeland.
She would get a comic of her own, known as Kahhori: Reshaper Of Worlds. The single-issue comic book story was released in stores in November 2024, retelling her origins as seen in What If...? and hopping through reality to put her stamp on Earth-616.
Layla El-Faouly
While her super-powered alter-ego has a long history in Marvel Comics, Layla herself does not. Layla El-Faouly, played by May Calamawy in Moon Knight Season 1, was the primary love interest of Oscar Isaac's Marc Spector.
She suited up as the iconic comic character Scarlet Scarab after she agreed to become the avatar of the Egyptian Goddess of Women and Children, Taweret.
Layla has since adopted the Scarlet Scarab moniker in the comics as well, taking it from classic characters Abdul Faoul and Mehemet Faoul. She made her comic debut in Moon Knight (Vol. 9) #25 in July 2023, appearing as Marc Spector's one-time flame.
Luis (Ant-Man)
Michael Peña's Luis has been a key part of the MCU's Ant-Man franchise, starring in two of the three Ant-Man films released so far.
The character is the best friend and former cellmate of Paul Rudd's Scott Lang. He is known for his wise-craking nature and proclivity for elaborate heists, which has been put on display several times during his MCU tenure.
Luis has become a favorite among longtime MCU fans, making his comics debut inevitable. That finally came in the Astonishing Ant-Man comic series in 2015, where he occupied a role similar to that of his Marvel Studios counterpart as a Scott Lang crew member.
Erik Selvig
By joining the likes of Darcy Lewis, Erik Selvig is another character from the Thor movie who eventually got the comic book treatment. Stellan Skarsgård played the character in the MCU films, being a renowned astrophysicist who Natalie Portman's Jane Foster was working alongside.
Erik was a key part of the early Thor movies. He served as a connection between humanity and the otherworldly beings of Asgard.
A version of the MCU-only character debuted in Marvel Comics in 2016's Avengers Standoff: Welcome to Pleasant Hill. On the page, he was about the same as on the big screen, except this time, he was depicted as Danish rather than Norweigian like in the movies.
Harley Keener
At first glance, fans may not recognize Harley Keener by name, but looking at him, they will almost surely remember who he is.
Harley debuted as an MCU-original creation in Iron Man 3 as the young boy who housed an on-the-run Tony Stark in his family's garage. Years later, the character would return, showing up for a brief cameo during Tony Stark's Avengers: Endgame funeral.
Ty Simpkins' Iron Man 3 character came over to the comics in WEB of Spider-Man #1 in June 2011. In that story, he was essentially an alternate reality Tony Stark, building his own Iron Man armor and becoming the teenage hero, Iron Lad (a role Simpkin wants to take on in the MCU movies).
N'Jobu
Sterling K. Brown's N'Jobu was first introduced to MCU audiences in Black Panther's opening moments. He was the younger brother of Wakandan King T'Chaka, who was killed by his own brother after aiding the villainous Klaue in exporting vibranium out of the African nation.
This, of course, led to the creation of Killmonger (played by Michael B. Jordan), N'Jobu's young son who would embark on a life-long quest to avenge his father and take the Wakandan throne.
In the comics, Killmonger's father was never outright named until N'Jobu came around. That changed after the release of Black Panther, as the father of the iconic Marvel villain was retroactively given the name of N'Jobu.
Hunter B-15
Hunter B-15 is another character that has seen the benefit of the TVA coming into the mainstream, thanks to the MCU. Played by Wunmi Mosaku, B-15 is the head of the Time Variance Authority and a skilled hunter known for pruning timelines if they step out of line.
She was first introduced in Loki Season 1 but has since played parts in other projects, such as 2024's Deadpool and Wolverine.
Hunter B-15 has not technically appeared as herself in Marvel Comics; however, Loki seemingly revealed the character was once known as Verity Willis. Verity is a long-running Marvel Comics character who has been a valuable ally to Loki since 2014.
Sylvie
In Loki Season 1, Sophia Di Martino burst onto the scene as the charismatic Loki Variant Sylvie. She was an original creation for the show, an example of how the Multiverse can work as an alternate reality take on Tom Hiddleston's God of Mischief.
While introduced as an adversary for Loki, Sylvie eventually became a good friend (potentially more) of the longtime character, joining forces with Hiddleston's character in attempting to save The Sacred Timeline (read about Syvlie's MCU future here).
Like Hunter B-15, Sylvie is based on a character in Marvel Comics, only by name. However, since her on-screen debut, the comic character has come to much more closely resemble the MCU's take rather than what they were previously.
OB
Academy Award winner Ke Huy Quan played OB (aka Ouroboros) in Loki Season 2. The character debuted in the series as the handyman of the TVA, offering Loki and his team his handiwork in their quest across the Multiverse.
OB provided Tom Hiddleston's titular Asgardian with some vital assistance in the Disney+ series' sophomore effort, including stopping Loki's time-slipping problem and helping to fix the TVA's Temporal Loom.
Since his Disney+ debut, Quand's OB has gone on to pop up in Marvel Comics as well, showing up in WEB of Spider-Man #1 in a brief glimpse at the TVA.
Madisynn
Patty Guggenheim's Madisynn is widely considered as one of the best parts of Disney+'s She-Hulk: Attorney At Law series.
The lovable MCU creation appeared about midway through She-Hulk's first season, showing up as the victim of the terrifying dark magician Donny Blaze. She would then appear in court alongside Benedict Wong's Wong (with whom she would become good friends) and Tatian Maslany's Jennifer Walters.
Her character was then adapted for Marvel Comics in 2024, appearing in What If...? Venom (Vol 13).
