From meh to why-are-you-here: Ranking 9 Marvel’s most useless heroes (aka the benchwarmers)

Not all Marvel heroes achieve the same level of popularity. Some of them, through an action or lack thereof, end up as a useless hero.

Marvel heroes who have set a precedent with their might and bravery and are pre-eminent include Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, and Captain America, to name a few. On the contrary, there also exists a range of characters who have developed a reputation for being unimpressive, spineless, confusing, or just useless. In some cases, the heroes adopt extraordinary abilities that offer minimal assistance during fights.

Several MCU heroes make choices that end up harming their teammates. These characters are slotted in the category of benchwarmers, as they remain inactive and in the background of their storylines.

This ranking system offers Marvel's 9 useless heroes, ranging from basic to completely unimpressive. Marvel fans have no enthusiasm for these characters and struggle to understand why they exist.

Please note: This article is based on the writer's opinion. Reader discretion is advised.

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The list of Marvel’s nine most useless heroes is given below (ranked):

9. Swordsman

In Avengers #19 (1965), the newly emerged character, Swordsman (played by Jacques DuQuesne in Hawkeye), lost his chance to establish himself. He began his story as a villain before he attempted to become an Avenger. His high-tech sword enabled him to unleash energy blasts. Swordsman was manipulated as a Mandarin pawn after he suffered a horrific betrayal by the evil forces while he was a member of the Avengers.

Swordsman's reputation was tarnished by his nice deeds, such as self-sacrifice, which never made up for the absence of genuine heroism in his Avengers career. Marvel fans argue that his inconsistent backing and limited contributions make him an outlier and a useless hero in the Marvel Comics Universe.

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8. Battling Bantam

Bantam, who boxed under the moniker Battling Bantam, gained superhuman strength and durability through experimental enhancement. His attempt at crimefighting while donning a rooster suit failed to produce remarkable achievements during his tenure in the Marvel Universe.

His infrequent appearances in Marvel Comics resulted in his death with no panel images during the Civil War storyline. Battling Bantam persists as a marginal figure in Marvel because he remains unnotable and useless in his narratives and feats of heroism.

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7. Mr. Immortal

In the MCU TV series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, David Pasquesi played Mr. Immortal for the first time in a live-action role. Mr. Immortal (Great Lakes Avengers Leader) has an extraordinary ability to survive death. However, the character remains restricted by this power, as death is the only way to recover from fatal injuries. This ability enables him to restore himself from fatal injuries but does not prevent lethal harm, leaving him defenseless until he regenerates after death. His resurrection processes usually cause intense outbursts of anger, making him dangerous to his allies while working together on missions.

Mr. Immortal shows high resilience, but his powers do not extend to mastery in fighting, strategic talent, or additional superhuman capabilities, making him ineffective in battles. The unauthorized status of his team and unpredictable actions diminished his reputation among heroes.

Instead of seeing him as the formidable superhero he could be, fans primarily view him as a humorous character. He frequently avoids the limelight in Marvel's expansive universe.

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6. Cypher

Cypher is a member of the X-Men. He has an extraordinary capacity to decipher written and spoken languages from any origin. His skills extend beyond human communication to include processing machine code. Although his skill considerably aids in intelligence gathering and communication, his fighting effectiveness is still quite low. The lack of combat skills and physical abilities makes Cypher unfit for duty since he creates distractions during field missions.

Modern developments in his character have added the features of reading body signals and pre-empting opponents' movements, yet his combat abilities fail against combatants who possess superpowers. His role restricts him to secondary responsibilities due to his support capacity, and his contentious comic book start caused readers to despise him until his untimely end in the comics.

Since fans view Cypher as one of the X-Men who does not significantly affect major conflicts, several revivals and enhancements have not altered their perception of him, making him a useless hero.

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5. Jubilee

Jubilee is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first appearance of the character was in Uncanny X-Men #244. Jubilee's mutant power enables her to create vibrant energy that bursts into blazing explosions akin to festive fireworks. The destructive force of her blasts maintains a wide spectrum, ranging from basic sparkling tricks to execute significant explosive attacks. Fans evaluate her energetic abilities as visually powerful yet weaker than those of other X-Men.

During the 1990s, viewers watched her shine in the X-Men: The Animated Series, yet her abilities appeared diminutive within the show. Jubilee holds destructive explosion abilities when out of control, but these powerful demonstrations rarely surface in stories, making her a useless hero.

Fans tend to consider Jubilee primarily as a supporting role because she does not appear to play a central hero role in most stories, earning the unflattering nickname of "benchwarmer" among readers of Marvel Comics.

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4. Beak

Beak is a mutant with bird-like features, including a beak and feathers. While he cannot fly, Beak can glide for short distances with minimal skill. His unusual physical look and limited abilities isolated him from other mutants in their group.

Beak's distinctive appearance did not prevent him from becoming an inspirational leader in the face of formidable opponents. Despite this, several fans consider Beak one of the lesser X-Men because his ability to glide fails to boost offensive combat capabilities. His characteristics prohibit him from becoming involved in Marvel matters. Thus, the Marvel fans regard him as a benchwarmer, therefore a useless hero.

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3. Hindsight Lad

Marvel fans dislike the Hindsight Lad because he lacks extraordinary abilities despite his existence. All he knows how to do is evaluate past sequences while showing how they could have succeeded better, since his entire ability amounts to criticizing past decisions. He criticizes his failure by saying:

“I told you so.”

He does not help other heroes in combat zones who need support to save their lives. He exploited the threat of revealing their hidden identities to obtain acceptance into the New Warriors team. Following this choice, he kept his pledge by exposing the team members' identities online, which caused enormous issues.

His interference with the team resulted in both danger and public humiliation for the members. His lack of bravery, ordinary strength, and failure to bring benefit led fans to show him disrespect. People mainly recall him as a frustrating troublemaker instead of a superhero figure. People view him as one of the largest inactive and useless heroes in the Marvel universe because of his minimal contribution rate.

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2. Mister Fantastic

Mister Fantastic (played by Reed Richards) is known for his incredible intelligence and leadership of the Fantastic Four. However, his real superpower of stretching his body is not particularly thrilling or helpful in major conflicts. Each member of his team possesses a more dazzling and powerful ability than his.

Most superhero fans believe that Reed functions better as a scientist compared to a true superhero. Reed has made countless mistakes by designing harmful technology and has also ignored his family's emotional needs. His position as the team's leader does not prevent him from prioritizing science above romantic interactions, thus damaging the group dynamics.

Some fans believe that his stretching skill is more of a visual uniqueness than a genuine asset in combat. Moreover, his acts have occasionally put his squad in danger, such as by creating powerful opponents like Doctor Doom. Fans sometimes consider him a Marvel reserve player for this reason.

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1. Doctor Druid

Doctor Druid is a magical hero who appeared before Doctor Strange but never became popular. He uses mind powers, basic magic, and hypnosis, but fans think his skills are boring compared to other magical heroes.

The villain forced Doctor Druid to take the leadership role with the Avengers only to enforce their control over him. His wrong decisions led to team betrayal, although he was unaware of it. Therefore, the trust between his fans and heroic associates completely faded away.

While Doctor Druid narrates slow-moving, boring stories, on he contrary, Doctor Strange offers thrilling magical journeys to other realms. The audience looks at Doctor Druid as an inferior copy of a superior character. His death occurred in comic narratives, although he remains unused in modern comic books. Fans often claim that Doctor Druid lacks substance because his powers are poor and his leadership is insufficient.

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Marvel fans have mainly chosen to forget these useless heroes since their storylines and character arcs revolve around mysterious abilities, disastrous choices, and unimpressive narratives. Their actions have generated more damage than benefit, and their powers have been insufficient to establish strong teamwork.

The audience perceived these characters as ancillary, who were not able to share the same status as genuine heroes. Be it lousy writing, inadequate talents, and stupid behavior, Marvel left these supporting characters to play fill-in roles throughout their expansive universe.

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