Marvel Studios Confirms 15th MCU Only Character To Make Their Comics Debut

Another reinvented character from the MCU made their Marvel Comics debut in Superior Avengers #4, written by Steve Foxe and illustrated by Luca Maresca, a tie-in series to the still ongoing "One World Under Doom" event. The story's premise is Doom's disappointment of an heir, Kristoff Vernard, forming a team of Avengers using acolytes of his father plucked from the distant future, where he still rules the world.

While the team appeared loyal to Kristoff and his father's regime, these Avengers quickly revealed themselves to be no acolytes to Doom by the end of the first issue. They had already killed the Latverian ruler in their time and planned on doing it again if he stood in the way of their true mission. The team is comprised of a woman named Killmonger, their revenge-driven leader; Doctor Octopus, a royal heiress gifted the original villain's robotic arms; Malekith, a living amalgamation of All-Black the Necrosword (which originally belonged to Knull) and Asgard's Undrjarn the All-Weapon; Onslaught, mutant death personified; and Abomination, a super-soldier and paradoxical zealot of Doom.

But their last member, Ghost, showed her true colors as a traitor in this latest issue, revealing herself to Kristoff as Ava Starr, an impostor infiltrating the group.

However, beyond her name, taking the place (and powers) of Ghost, and resembling Ant-Man and the Wasp and Thunderbolts star Hannah John-Kamen, this Ava Starr has zero relation to her MCU counterpart. Instead of being the child of Marvel Comics villain Egghead, Elihas Starr, or the adopted daughter of Bill Foster, this Ava was a mother and one of thousands of Doctor Doom's prisoners in the Negative Zone.

After Killmonger and the rest of Doom's inner circle betrayed and killed him, interdimensional conqueror Annihilus came with his army, destroying the prison and indirectly causing a jailbreak. This allowed Ava to kill her jailer, the former Ghost of her time, and take her place.

Of course, she also reveals the team's true mission to Doom's son: collecting enough magical energy from the present to create a weapon strong enough to stop Annihilus from destroying everything in their future.

Is the MCU's Ava Starr Here To Stay?

Despite continued insistence from Marvel Comics to mimic the MCU, not many of its inclusions manage to stick around for long. For example, despite Layla El-Faouly's flashy debut in Moon Knight: City of the Dead, she hasn't appeared in another issue since November 22, 2023, having only six comic appearances to her name.

Although there are expectations, like Darcy Lewis, who has remained a reliable supporting character since her debut in Steve Orlando's Scarlet Witch ongoing comic run in early 2023. Darcy's latest appearance was even just this May in Orlando's continuation, Vision and the Scarlet Witch.

Regardless, Ava Starr's debut makes her the 15th MCU character carried over into the comics:

• Agent Coulson - Battle Scars #1 (November 9, 2011)
• Luis - Astonishing Ant-Man #1 (October 21, 2015)
• Erik Selvig - Welcome to Pleasant Hill #1 (February 17, 2016)
• N'Jobu - Killmonger #1 (December 5, 2018)
• Harley Keener - W.E.B. of Spider-Man (June 9, 2021)
• Darcy Lewis - Scarlet Witch #1 (January 4, 2023)
• Layla El-Faouly - Moon Knight #25 (July 12, 2023)
• Madisynn - What If…? Venom (2024) #3 (April 17, 2024)
• OB - Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider #1 (May 22, 2024)
• Kahhori - Kahhori: Reshaper of Worlds #1 (November 6, 2024)
• Miss Minutes - TVA #1 (December 18, 2024)
• Hunter B-15 - TVA #1 (December 18, 2024)
• Sylvie - TVA #2 (January 22, 2025)
• Night Monkey - Battleworld #1 (September 24, 2025)

It's possible Ava could stick around to replace the current, original Ghost on Earth-616 to match the MCU. However, he's still alive, albeit his last chronological appearance in the comics was five years ago in Strikeforce #6, so Ava could hold his spot until Marvel no longer sees any benefit in keeping her around.