I think Venom has kinda comfortably slid into A-list. I felt there was a stretch not long ago where his comics were more interesting and liked than Spider-man himself and were surefire hits for Legends. Flash Venom is a unique look compared to the usual symbiotes and is a character that's probably more relatable than your average alien slime creature
Yeah - I was going to agree Venom is at least A-list adjacent considering he got his own movie trilogy...
but then I remembered that Blade had his own movie trilogy, his own TV show, a role in one of this year's biggest movie hits and is supposed to have an MCU project upcoming and I'm not sure how many people consider Blade "A-list". The Guardians of the Galaxy got their own movie trilogy, appeared in two of the highest grossing movies of all time in the Avengers, have their own ride at Disneyland and had a (hilarious) holiday special on Disney+, and are the Guardians really considered A-list? I feel like the A-list is pretty hard to crack...
Anyway - Venom is certainly popular enough - and this iteration of him is visually interesting and distinct from other recent versions and so it's not surprising he might be the most popular figure in this wave's line up.
I'd put Venom in the A-list as well. Regular people know/love Venom.
The key difference between him and Blade/the Guardians is that he's always had a following. Even in the '90s you'd see people wearing Venom t-shirts.
His proximity to Spider-Man helps, too.
@ditko dont get me wrong - I love the character and the design. Read every issue of the comic when it was coming out. But it wasn’t popular enough with everyone else to not get revamped into Space Knight, and then the symbiote was taken away from Flash. It’s a cool design too, but this is the second figure in all that time. I just figured I’d get a chance to preorder one from one of my three shops at least.
I don't know if Agent Venom is A-List, but Venom definitely is. He was, to me, one of the biggest characters of the 90s. Most of the people in my orbit back then liked Venom and liked him more than Spider-Man. My friends and I were all excited for the Maximum Carnage game to play as Venom, he was the last villain shown at the very end of the 94 intro because he was THE Spider-Man foe at the time, he was the reason to get excited for Marvel vs Capcom 2. Blade could have been A-List, but Marvel/Fox dropped the ball by letting him fade away after a successful run at the movies.
I don't know what constitutes A-List, but Venom is in that rare group where the comic version can sell t-shirts at Target.
I'd say Venom's A list, and I'm not even a Spiderman guy. He's arguably the most "popular" Spiderman villain known to the general non-comic-reading public and now he's got his own movies (of varying quality, like Spiderman), and of course there are those occasional folks who actually like him more than Spiderman. I still prefer him as a villain though, as I think Spiderman is now outpacing Batman in terms of affiliated allies riding his coat tails.
Guardians films I've increasingly grown to dislike because of it's formulaic "team of misfits bicker during fights" / "hey, remember this song from the 70s? Isn't it ironic that we're playing this during a fight scene?" But a lot of people enjoy the films for those reasons apparently. I place their popularity overall largely with what James Gunn did with them, which is mostly the same thing he did with Suicide Squad and every other team of misfits he drags out of obscurity and uses the same formula on. Don't get me wrong, it clearly works for most people, I just find it tiresome at this point. The comic itself was a non-entity at any comic shop I frequented during the 20+ years I was buying single issues. I only found out about them about when Marvel started their publishing push before the movie.
I like Blade as a character. I enjoyed the first film, the second film was mediocre, the third film was awful, and I've never gone out of my way to buy a Blade comic. Like Punisher, he's a singular unending goal character, and like Pinky & the Brain, I think most people expect one recurring storyline with slight variations out of him. Cool character and concept, but aside from an action figure and a dvd I've never bought anything Blade-related.
I see your point there - I don't think the Tom Hardy Venom series is going to hold up like Christopher Reeves Superman, and I love Tom Hardy. (And Reeves too). But the notion of A-List, or maybe "A minus" is a better term is not limited to movies. We're used to equating it, but Venom has been a comics juggernaut for years and as someone mentioned sells shirts at Target.
Not that it matters - they're all fun. I think all of us underestimated the popularity of Venom at one point or another in our comic loving lives. He is hardly just a "Spidey villain" Wish The Fantastic Four had a little of that if it meant more figures.
Guardians films I've increasingly grown to dislike because of it's formulaic "team of misfits bicker during fights" / "hey, remember this song from the 70s? Isn't it ironic that we're playing this during a fight scene?" But a lot of people enjoy the films for those reasons apparently. I place their popularity overall largely with what James Gunn did with them, which is mostly the same thing he did with Suicide Squad and every other team of misfits he drags out of obscurity and uses the same formula on. Don't get me wrong, it clearly works for most people, I just find it tiresome at this point. The comic itself was a non-entity at any comic shop I frequented during the 20+ years I was buying single issues. I only found out about them about when Marvel started their publishing push before the movie.
The Guardians got a pretty big push in the comics way before the movies. The Annihilation comics came out at least 6 years before there was a Guardians movie.
Also, as someone who isn’t a fan of the GotG or cosmic Marvel stuff in general, the movies are still pretty great, especially the third one.
There's a certain negative connotation to calling a character a B-lister. It makes them seem pretty unimportant. So I've always felt there is a level to the A-list. Which would be A-plus, A, and A-minus then you go down to the B-list.
For example. Marvel Comics A-plus characters, pretty much consist of Spider-Man and Wolverine. That's it. Then on the regular A-list you have Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor and Deadpool. Then the A-minus list would be Black Panther, all members of The Fantastic Four, and maybe The GOTG (but only because of the MCU) otherwise they'd hit C-list status. Then you have the B-list with characters like Hawkeye, Black Widow, Dr. Strange, Vision, and Scarlet Witch. Then everyone else is pretty much C-list and below.
As for DC, your A-plus list consists of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. That's it. Then the A-list is Green Lantern, and Flash. Then A-minus you have Aquaman, Robin and Nightwing. Then the B-list is characters like Batgirl, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Plastic Man, and Cyborg. Then pretty much everyone else is C-list and below. (Yes, even Martian Manhunter).
That's just off the top of my head, so I might have missed someone on one list or another but that's pretty much how rank most characters from the Big Two.
Guardians films I've increasingly grown to dislike because of it's formulaic "team of misfits bicker during fights" / "hey, remember this song from the 70s? Isn't it ironic that we're playing this during a fight scene?" But a lot of people enjoy the films for those reasons apparently. I place their popularity overall largely with what James Gunn did with them, which is mostly the same thing he did with Suicide Squad and every other team of misfits he drags out of obscurity and uses the same formula on. Don't get me wrong, it clearly works for most people, I just find it tiresome at this point. The comic itself was a non-entity at any comic shop I frequented during the 20+ years I was buying single issues. I only found out about them about when Marvel started their publishing push before the movie.The Guardians got a pretty big push in the comics way before the movies. The Annihilation comics came out at least 6 years before there was a Guardians movie.
Also, as someone who isn’t a fan of the GotG or cosmic Marvel stuff in general, the movies are still pretty great, especially the third one.
I love Marvel cosmic stuff, and it bums me out the way the MCU has squandered concepts like Ego, the High Evolutionary, Eternity, and to a lesser extent the Celestials. 🙁
Absolutely also is you were asking random people to name superheroes SuperGirl BatGirl and possibly SuperBoy would also have a levels of recognitionRobin is as A-list as it gets. Everyone knows Batman and Robin.
Green Arrow is/was decently high, cause of the show.There's a certain negative connotation to calling a character a B-lister. It makes them seem pretty unimportant. So I've always felt there is a level to the A-list. Which would be A-plus, A, and A-minus then you go down to the B-list.
For example. Marvel Comics A-plus characters, pretty much consist of Spider-Man and Wolverine. That's it. Then on the regular A-list you have Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor and Deadpool. Then the A-minus list would be Black Panther, all members of The Fantastic Four, and maybe The GOTG (but only because of the MCU) otherwise they'd hit C-list status. Then you have the B-list with characters like Hawkeye, Black Widow, Dr. Strange, Vision, and Scarlet Witch. Then everyone else is pretty much C-list and below.
As for DC, your A-plus list consists of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. That's it. Then the A-list is Green Lantern, and Flash. Then A-minus you have Aquaman, Robin and Nightwing. Then the B-list is characters like Batgirl, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Plastic Man, and Cyborg. Then pretty much everyone else is C-list and below. (Yes, even Martian Manhunter).
That's just off the top of my head, so I might have missed someone on one list or another but that's pretty much how rank most characters from the Big Two.
If we’re just editing the list, I’m pretty sure Harley Quinn is more popular than any other female DC besides Wonder Woman.
Robin is as A-list as it gets. Everyone knows Batman and Robin.
I still wouldn't put any of the Robins on the same level as Green Lantern or Flash, for the simple reason that Robin is not very likely to get his own multi-million dollar solo movie or TV show. Because as well-known as he is, he's still just a sidekick. Which lands him squarely on the A-minus list.
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