There are some comic book couples that everybody knows: Superman and Lois Lane. Peter Parker and Mary Jane. Jean Grey and Cyclops, Reed Richards and Sue Storm, Green Arrow and Black Canary, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. These big names are the first on any fan’s lips when talking about superheroes and romance, and they’ve been such a big part of the characters’ stories that have already found their way on-screen.
However, not every comic book marriage is quite so famous – there are plenty of heroes (and villains) who have tied the knot a little more quietly. Whether it is because the characters themselves aren’t as well known, because the marriages were short (and not always sweet), or because of some other reason, these fifteen comic characters aren’t often remembered for being husbands and wives. However, each of these couples has walked down the aisle at least once in comics, even if it’s doubtful that we’ll see that on-screen any time soon.
Here are 10 Superheroes And Villains You Didn’t Know Were Married.
10. ANT-MAN AND WASP
Although there has been more than one Ant-Man over the years, the original hero to hold that title (Hank Pym) was married twice in his history, once to another bug-style super: The Wasp (Janet Van Dyne). Hank’s first wife, Maria Troyova, appears only in Hank’s backstory. Her tragic death led to Hank’s breakdown and a refocusing of his research, which resulted in the discovery of the Pym Particles that allowed him to shrink and grow at will.
Hank met his second wife, Janet, when her father came to Hank for help with his experiments. Although Hank turned him down, it was Hank that Janet called for help when her father was killed. The two became a crime fighting duo when the first Ant-Man made Janet a super-suit with wings and antennae and she became known as The Wasp. The two eventually married, but their relationship was not a happy one. Before they got together, Janet would flirt with the other Avengers to make Hank jealous, and she actually took advantage of his delicate mental state to convince him to marry her. Hank, meanwhile, had breakdown after breakdown, becoming increasingly unstable, paranoid and abusive. The two finally divorced after Hank’s abuse became physical, and he was kicked out of the Avengers.
9. WALLY WEST AND LINDA PARK
Although we’ve seen a lot of the Flash on the small screen (including both of these characters), it’s unlikely that we’ll actually see Wally West and Linda Park get together in the TV series, as Linda dated Barry before leaving Central City. In the comics, Linda Park is a reporter in Keystone City, whose relationship with Wally gets off to a rocky start but slowly blossoms into love. The two have a relationship that truly knows no bounds – it was his love for Linda that brought Wally back from the Speed Force, after which Wally was able to save Linda when she was “killed” by the Black Flash (but was really inside the Speed Force).
When the two eventually married, it was Bart Allen (Impulse/Kid Flash) who acted as ring bearer – and who saved the day when their ceremony was interrupted by Abra Kadabra. The pair did manage to get married, and have two children, Iris and Jai, both of whom are also speedsters.
8. APOLLO AND MIDNIGHTER
Originally part of the Wildstorm universe, Apollo and Midnighter are both super-soldiers who were given superpowers by Henry Bendix as he created the Stormwatch team. The two fell in love while in hiding after their first mission went bad and Bendix refused to pull them out. The two are inseparable, earning themselves the nicknames “Bert and Ernie”.
Pre-Flashpoint, the two were happily married, with an adoptive daughter (Jenny Quantum). Post-Flashpoint, however, the long history between the two was erased when the Wildstorm universe was folded into the mainstream DC continuity. Apollo and Midnighter returned, but did not know each other. However, the two partnered up again quite quickly, and began a new romantic relationship. The two have spent some time apart in recent years, developing as individuals (and without their daughter, as the post-Flashpoint Jenny was already an adult). However, they are still a couple, and their time apart does not negate their time together – or their pre-Flashpoint time as husbands.
7. HOURMAN AND LIBERTY BELLE
The original Hourman, Rex Tyler, may be making his way into pop culture consciousness with his upcoming appearances on the CW series Legends of Tomorrow (played by Suits‘ Patrick J. Adams). However, it’s his son, Rick Tyler, who married another superhero – Jesse Chambers, aka Liberty Belle. (Rex Tyler also married, a non-super named Wendy Harris.)
The first happy couple met through the Justice Society of America, when Rick was a member using his Hourman alias and Jesse acting as the team’s manager after she gave up her speed in a battle with Zoom. The two fell in love, and it was Rick who convinced Jesse to return to the JSA as a hero. He was able to convince her that she didn’t need to be perfect, using her mother’s Liberty Belle costume as an example that something doesn’t have to be perfect to be useful. After that, Jesse married Rick and took up the Liberty Belle mantle.
6. BIG BARDA AND MISTER MIRACLE
The greatest warrior of Apokolips and leader of Darkseid’s personal guard, the Female Furies, Big Barda is a warrior woman in the greatest sense – which makes her marriage and desire to live a ‘normal’ life all the more interesting. Initially enemies, Barda and Scott Free worked together to help Scott escape Apokolips, and when Barda also decided to leave Darkseid, the two began to fall in love. Scott became the famous escape-artist Mister Miracle, but both he and Barda attempted to give up their heroics and settle down for a time, simply being a normal married couple.
This never ended up working out, unfortunately, as the two would have their suburban idyll interrupted by various superheroes, villains, and magical scenarios that brought them out of retirement. Throughout it all, however, the two remained deeply and obviously in love, and have one of the best relationships in comic book history (even if it isn’t the best-known). The end of the marriage was heartbreaking, as Barda was murdered, with her body being discovered by Scott in their own kitchen.
5. HAWKEYE AND MOCKINGBIRD
Both Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Mockingbird (Adrianne Palicki) are well-established members of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but we don’t expect to see their comic book marriage on screen any time soon. Hawkeye revealed that he is already happily married in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Bobbi Morse has her own relationship with ex-husband Lance Hunter on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
However, in the comics, Bobbi and Clint have some serious romantic history (even if they are no longer together). Hawkeye and Mockingbird met when they worked together to thwart Crossfire, and the pair eloped after a whirlwind romance. When Hawkeye became the leader of the West Coast Avengers, his wife came along for the ride, joining the team. Like many other comic couples, the two had some real ups and downs – separating after Bobbi killed someone, reconciling after Ultron abducted her, losing each other when Bobbi “died”, re-uniting when she returned after the Skrull’s Secret Invasion, etc. Although the two remain separated (and divorced), they have still helped each other out since Bobbi’s return, and show some affection for each other.
4. VISION AND SCARLET WITCH
To say that Vision and Wanda have had a tumultuous romantic history would be putting it mildly, as these two have separated and re-united multiple times over the years. Vision and Scarlet Witch first got together when they were both members of the Avengers, which was relatively early on in Vision’s comic book history. Despite the fact that Wanda’s brother, Pietro, didn’t approve of the relationship (and why would he, Vision isn’t even human), she and the synthesized android fell in love and eventually got married.
At first, all seemed well, and the couple moved to New Jersey and even managed to have children with the help of Wanda’s reality-bending powers. It was when the happy couple became members of the West Coast Avengers that things went wrong for this little super-family.
Vision was kidnapped and dismantled, and their children were revealed to be fragments of the demon Mephisto and lost back to the demon during this time. After a brief period of insanity, Wanda started dating Wonder Man, and when Vision returned, he decided that she was better off without him. Their story wasn’t quite over there – while the two are not together now, it has been suggested that Vision still cares deeply for Wanda (and cried when he cast her out of the Avengers), and that their children have returned (in an unconventional sense) as Speed and Wiccan of the Young Avengers. It’s a complex comic relationship, and one that we could possibly see in the MCU, although it seems that they may be ignoring this particular connection…for now.
3. BLACK PANTHER AND STORM
Two of the most famous African superheroes in the Marvel Universe, Black Panther (T’Challa) and Storm (Ororo Monroe) each have a long history of their own and are usually seen fighting apart. But for a time, the two were actually husband and wife. Ororo and T’Challa met when the X-Men teamed up with Black Panther, and after fighting side by side on more than one occasion, the two developed a romantic attraction. After the events of M-Day, when most mutants were de-powered, Ororo returned to Africa where her romance with T’Challa blossomed, and the two were married in Wakanda. This made Ororo Queen of Wakanda, and she has even taking political control of the secret nation in the past.
Storm and Black Panther ruled together for some time, travelling on a wedding tour and fighting on the same side in Civil War. However, their marriage didn’t last. The two began to drift apart, and their issues came to a head when the Avengers and the X-Men battled over what to do with Hope Summers. With Storm and Black Panther on opposing sides of the conflict, the two fought, and split dramatically with Storm flinging her wedding ring on the ground and walking away.
2. QUICKSILVER AND CRYSTAL
One of the most on-again-off-again relationships in comics, the mutant speedster Quicksilver and Inhuman Crystal have a long and tumultuous history. When Crystal first came to New York from the Inhuman city of Attilan, she set her sights on a different superhero – Johnny Storm. The two had a relationship, and Crystal even joined the Fantastic Four for a time. However, when she met a wounded Quicksilver and nursed him back to health, Crystal fell for the speedster and ended her relationship with Johnny.
Quicksilver and Crystal quickly fell for each other, got married, and had a child (Luna), but their marriage rapidly fell apart. Crystal had an affair with a human neighbor of Quicksilver’s sister, Scarlet Witch, before leaving her husband and daughter to attempt to rekindle her romance with Johnny Storm. She and Quicksilver reconciled after their daughter was kidnapped, but again, it didn’t last long. After a few more separations and reconciliations, the two finally split for good when Quicksilver kidnapped their daughter and used the Terrigen Mists to grant her superpowers. Now, Crystal has remarried – to Ronan the Accusor, part of an agreement to bring peace to the Kree and the Inhumans.
1. BATMAN AND TALIA AL GHUL
Bruce Wayne may be better known for his complicated romantic history with Catwoman, but he’s been married to someone else – the daughter of his great enemy, Ra’s Al Ghul. Talia first met Bruce Wayne when he rescued her from Doctor Darrk, and she quickly started to fall in love with the enigmatic Dark Knight. Ra’s, seeing this, sets a test to see if Batman could be worthy of his daughter (and to become the head of the League in his place). Bruce passes (obviously, he’s Batman!), but rejects the offer.
However, he later teams up with Ra’s to take down the rogue assassin Qayin. During this story, he and Talia fall in love and marry, even conceiving a child. However, Talia breaks off their marriage, and fakes a miscarriage. Although she continues to care for Bruce and support him, the two do not reconcile again. Their relationship does, however, have a long-lasting impact on Bruce’s life, as Talia introduces him to his son several years later, and Damien becomes part of the Bat Family as the newest Robin, the Boy Wonder.
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Who’s your favorite obscure comic couple who tied the knot? Let us know in the comments.
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