They may be the dream of every comic book fan, but superpowers aren’t always a gift. While many heroes can enjoy the powers of flight, super strength, and invincibility, almost as many come to learn there’s a steep cost to their abilities — making them more of a curse than a gift.
For some heroes in the Marvel Comics universe, that cost requires them to place themselves in quarantine and isolate themselves from friends and loved ones – all to keep them safe from something dangerous about themselves.
Yet somehow, these heroes find the strength to endure that isolation – no matter the mental or physical cost to themselves. Here are four Marvel superheroes who show that beating the bad guy is actually the easiest part of their job.
Rogue
One of the more tragic members of the X-Men, Rogue (Anna Marie) has had to practice social distance since her mutant powers emerged in her teens. In one sense, Rogue’s abilities are insanely powerful – she can absorb a person’s memories, talents, and even super powers just by touching that person with her bare skin. This can potentially let her enjoy any super power or ability she wants, from the Hulk’s strength to Captain America’s combat abilities.
Unfortunately, Rogue’s touch also drains people of their life force, making them pass out or even fall into comas. Worse, if Rogue holds onto a person for too long, she can absorb their abilities permanently and potentially kill that person – which is what happened to Carol Danvers when Rogue completely absorbed her memories, super strength, and ability to fly, leaving Carol powerless and completely amnesiac. While Carol eventually recovered and became Captain Marvel, she was never quite the same.
Fortunately, Rogue realized how dangerous she was and spent years protecting others from herself. She wore a body stocking that kept her from making skin-to-skin contact with others and refrained from virtually all physical displays of affection. Having to be so completely celibate was often torture for Rogue, but she held on – and fortunately in recent years, she’s gained greater control of her powers to the point where she doesn’t have to worry about killing others with her touch. It was a long time coming, but if anyone deserves a happy ending, it’s Rogue.
Hazmat
At least Rogue’s costume allowed her to keep her face exposed and enjoy the open air – Hazmat (Jennifer Takeda) learned in Avengers Academy #1 that her body naturally generates radiation, causing her boyfriend to go into a seizure. Forced to wear a full containment suit all the time, Hazmat’s days of being a normal teen were effectively over. Even so, Hazmat found support by joining Hank Pym’s Avengers Academy where she met other young superhumans. Together, they trained in the use of their powers and Hazmat found she could use her suit to focus her energy into energy bolts. She even discovered that one of her teammates, Mettle, was able to touch her – giving her the ability to engage in a relationship.
Much like Rogue, Hazmat has gained enough control of her powers at times to abandon her containment suit. However, she’s seen futures where her older self still needs to self-isolate. Seeing such a grim tomorrow hurts, but she still chooses to retain her abilities and fight for others.
Wither
Another mutant, Wither (Kevin Ford) had the ability to disintegrate any organic matter with his touch. Unable to control this power, Kevin isolated himself but was later recruited into the New Mutants by Emma Frost. He also developed friendships with other young mutants like David Alleyne (Prodigy) and Sofia Mantega (Wind Dancer), as well as deep feelings for Laurie Collins (Wallflower).
While Kevin takes steps to keep himself from hurting innocent people, the strains of watching others have relationships he cannot takes its toll on him. When most of the world’s mutants lose their powers on “M-Day” thanks to the Scarlet Witch, Kevin is overjoyed – until he discovers that he still has his powers when he touches Laurie and nearly kills her. Horrified, Kevin runs away and is later corrupted by Selene, the Black Queen, who turns him into a vampire. Now abandoning all his earlier morals, he kills with his powers – until his former teammate Elixir uses his own “death touch” to kill Kevin.
Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell)
This final entry might be a surprise for those who only know Captain Marvel as Carol Danvers from the MCU movie. In Marvel Comics, however, “Captain Marvel” was originally the name of the Kree soldier Mar-Vell (who was male in the comics but female in the film). Captain Marvel was one of the Marvel Universe’s greatest champions – but in his most famous and tragic story, he succumbed to cancer and died.
In an alternate universe presented in What If–? #14, however, fans got to see a horrific parallel world where Captain Marvel survived. In this alternate reality, Mar-Vell discovers his cancer much earlier and is able to get Reed Richards, Doctor Strange, and Dr. Donald Blake (the alter ego of Thor) to cure his sickness with a complex cure.
Unfortunately, the cure turns out to be much worse than the disease when Captain Marvel learns his “cured” body now infects others with a contagious form of cancer. Even worse, he discovers this after he travels to multiple planets, creating pandemics on numerous worlds. As his friends, enemies, and loved ones grow sick and begin dying, Captain Marvel actually contemplates suicide to keep himself from hurting other people.
Fortunately, Reed Richards is able to discover a cure for the humans Mar-Vell infected. Knowing he’s still a danger to others, Captain Marvel volunteers to self-isolate himself in another dimension. Unwilling to let him face this fate alone, his lover goes with him, knowing that they may have to spend an eternity alone. It’s a sad ending – but one that shows a hero’s true strength lies in his or her ability to perform great personal sacrifices.
