Supervillains Gone Good 5 Times Villains Made Great Heroes (& 5 Times They Failed)

Supervillains Gone Good: 5 Times Villains Made Great Heroes (& 5 Times They Failed)

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Both DC and Marvel have been host to many stories where villains have turned to the side of the angels. Here are 5 times it worked & 5 when it failed.

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Supervillains Gone Good 5 Times Villains Made Great Heroes (& 5 Times They Failed)

The narrative tool of villains turning into heroes is actually a lot less common in comics than most would think, but it’s still a staple of the industry. Both DC and Marvel have been host to many stories where villains have turned to the side of the angels.

Not all of them are for good, but the point of a good heroic turn is that it’s effective, with quite a few good examples being on offer from the big two. That isn’t to say that they haven’t produced some stinkers, as some of these baddies’ heroic journeys just fall flat.

10 Great: Harley Quinn

Supervillains Gone Good 5 Times Villains Made Great Heroes (& 5 Times They Failed)

After years of being The Joker’s henchwoman/victim, Harley Quinn began her slow journey to the side of the angels in The New 52 when she was part of The Suicide Squad. As years went on and Harley became a pivotal part of The DC Universe, she began leaning towards heroism.

It wasn’t until the “Joker War” storyline that the trigger was finally pulled on making Harley Quinn a “good guy,” with the character coming to Batman’s aid when Joker gained control of Bruce Wayne’s fortune. Here’s hoping DC keeps Harley on the right path.

9 Failed: Baron Zemo

Supervillains Gone Good 5 Times Villains Made Great Heroes (& 5 Times They Failed)

The reveal that Citizen V, the leader of the first incarnation of The Thunderbolts, was Baron Zemo is one of the best twists in comic book history. As he and his team of disguised villains masqueraded as heroes, his cohorts slowly began to buy in before becoming true good guys.

Zemo has flirted with the idea of becoming a hero, but his status as Captain America’s second greatest villain next to The Red Skull keeps holding him back. There’s always time for him to make good on the initial promise, but since he didn’t really want to be a hero, at first, his initial turn can’t be seen as anything less than a failure.

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8 Great: Doc Ock

Supervillains Gone Good 5 Times Villains Made Great Heroes (& 5 Times They Failed)

Superior Spider-Man was despised by many people who probably don’t read comics when it kicked off, but Doc Ock swapping minds with Spider-Man only to go on a hero’s journey of his own was amazing. After Peter Parker seemingly dies in Octavius’ body, he shared his memories with his nemesis and Doc Ock realized he needed to live up to Peter’s legacy.

Octavius never really lost his sinister edge during his run as Spider-Man, but he did his best to be a superior Spider-Man. While Marvel would later ruin the ending of the story by bringing Otto back as Doc Ock, the story was ace and served to earn a load of new readers.

7 Failed: Lex Luthor

Supervillains Gone Good 5 Times Villains Made Great Heroes (& 5 Times They Failed)

A consistent theme with failed heroic turns for villains is that sometimes the story is pretty good, but it fails because no one believes that the villain will stay good. Lex Luthor is possibly the most iconic supervillain of all time, but he could have been one of the most iconic supervillains turned superheroes of all time.

After joining the Justice League, becoming friends with New 52 Superman, and even becoming Superman himself after New 52 Superman’s death, Lex proved his heroic potential. Sadly, it wasn’t to be, as Lex turned bad once more with no build-up and with diminishing returns.

6 Great: The Pied Piper

Supervillains Gone Good 5 Times Villains Made Great Heroes (& 5 Times They Failed)

One of Flash’s more obscure villains became one of his greatest allies. The Pied Piper had battled the Barry Allen incarnation of The Flash for decades, but when Wally West became The Flash, Pied Piper retired from crime to become a hero.

Pied Piper and Wally became friends, with Pied Piper coming out to the new Flash, with the character becoming one of the first openly gay characters in DC Comics history. Ever since he turned good, Piper has been either an anti-hero or a good guy for the people from then on.

5 Failed: Sabretooth

Supervillains Gone Good 5 Times Villains Made Great Heroes (& 5 Times They Failed)

The X-Men had tried and failed to recruit Sabretooth in the past, but it took the moralities of several villains being altered in order for him to truly join. When Axis came to an end, the only characters to keep their flipped morality were Iron Man, Havoc, and Sabretooth.

Now a good guy, Sabretooth fought alongside The X-Men and even The Avengers for a time, with the character proving a loyal ally to both. Sadly, it wasn’t to be as Sabretooth became a bad guy once more when the long-dead Wolverine came back to life.

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4 Great: Hawkeye

Supervillains Gone Good 5 Times Villains Made Great Heroes (& 5 Times They Failed)

A founding Avenger in the movies, Hawkeye’s career as an Avenger has proven to overshadow his extremely brief tenure as a bad guy. Debuting in the pages of Tales of Suspense as a villain battling Iron Man, he soon joined Captain America’s “kooky quartet” incarnation of The Avengers alongside Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.

The trio of new Avengers had all been supervillains prior to joining the team, but while Pietro and Wanda have had dalliances with evil afterward, Hawkeye has never strayed from the light. An Avenger to the end and now a box-office draw, good guy Hawkeye is here to stay.

3 Failed: Doctor Doom

Supervillains Gone Good 5 Times Villains Made Great Heroes (& 5 Times They Failed)

Out of all the failed face turns that everyone knew wouldn’t last, Doctor Doom’s has to be the saddest, as it had a lot of potential. After the ending of the gargantuan event Secret Wars saw Doom turned good by his nemesis Reed Richards, Doom became The Infamous Iron Man.

His run as an edgy superhero was cool, interesting, and the most unique thing that Marvel had done with the dictator of Latveria in years. Alas, it was not to be, Doctor Doom turned heel once more when The Fantastic Four made their return.

2 Great: The Falcon

Supervillains Gone Good 5 Times Villains Made Great Heroes (& 5 Times They Failed)

The Falcon’s career as a criminal is fairly underwhelming compared to his run as a hero, but it is made completely irrelevant by an upgrade that made Sam Wilson a megastar. Starting his career as a henchman for The Red Skull, Falcon soon became Captain America’s partner and a member of The Avengers.

Then when Steve Rogers was turned into an old man, Sam took up the shield as the new Captain America. Nowadays, Sam has returned to The Falcon moniker, but his run as Captain America has proven that he has truly moved past his brief villainous career.

1 Failed: Two-Face

Two-Face is one of Batman’s most underappreciated villains, but his brief period as a good guy is one of the weirdest periods in the character’s history. In the One More Year era of DC Comics, Harvey Dent’s face was cured and he was running around Gotham beating up criminals.

It seemed like Dent was a good guy from then on, but the “Face The Face” story saw a series of murders that lined up with Two Face’s Modus Operandi. Even though Batman revealed the murders were committed by the new Tally Man, the pressure broke Harvey, leading to him re-scarring himself.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/times-marvel-dc-villains-face-turn-became-heroes-didnt-work/

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