10 Strangest Offshoots of Humanity in the Marvel Universe

Marvel Comic’s universe is full of strange and even uncanny people, places, powers and cosmic beings. Over seventy years of history and innovation have made the world that started in the late 1930s a complicated place. Humanity, as the comics’ prime focus, is perhaps one of the stranger elements, ironically. According to the Marvel database, humans could evolve into super-powered gods and for that reason, alone aliens are wary of Planet Earth. Despite the idea that this will occur in the far future, there are already a large number of divergent superhuman groups that have evolved away from Homo Sapiens to become something else. I’d like to take you on a whistle-stop tour of these many and varied evolutionary offshoots and some of their inspirations. Join me now as I take you on a journey through Ten Strange Offshoots of Humanity in the Marvel Universe!

1) Deviants (Homo Descendus)

The Deviants were created around five million years ago by the Celestials, a race of gigantic robot-like immortals who travel the Marvel Universe undertaking their own mysterious missions. When they came to Earth for the first time they created two races from proto-humanity. One was the Deviants, a genetically unstable race that grew up to create a large empire based around what is now the Pacific Ocean despite the inability of the species to feel anything but hostility even to their own kind. This Lemurian empire would go on to war with the Atlanteans, as well as other races, before being driven deep under the Earth in the wake of their war with Atlantis. Rising in a theocracy, their religion venerated the Celestials as both their creators and potential destroyers, only changing their rituals after the fall of the empire to worship the being they believed had been punished for their creation, the Dreaming Celestial. At the same time, they ceased their practice of Deviant 'human' sacrifices, instead placing their victims in suspended animation in case of a need for an army in the event of a Celestial attack. In the modern Marvel Universe, they are an antagonistic race, seeking to reclaim the lost world of 21,000 years ago.

They were actually created by Jack Kirby (whose name will appear a lot on this list), when he returned to work for Marvel in 1976 after a six-year period at DC Comics. His creation there, the New Gods, explored many of the same themes as the work featuring the Eternals and Deviants did. There’s little doubt that Kirby had been inspired by Erich van Daniken Ancient Astronauts hypothesis in the creation of this work.

2) Eternals (Homo Immortalis)

The other group to be featured in the Eternals title that launched in 1976, the Eternals were in every way the Deviants’ opposites, and natural enemies. While the Deviants were created with unstable genomes to ensure mutations, the Eternals were perfect. Blessed with various gifts, including longevity, if not immortality, super strength, flight and a large number of other gifts. Many of the race chose to focus on one particular area of power, so, for instance, Sersi, who served with the Avengers in the 1990s, was a specialist at transformations, while Makkari (or Mercury) specialized in speed and running. While the Deviants conquered most of the planet, the Eternals contented themselves with a few cities, their chief one being in what would become Mount Olympus in Greek myth. The race was programmed in many respects for the functions they performed and were the overt servants of the Celestials, being the peak of what the giant space travelers could create. In addition, it has been shown that they are unable to attack their creators, no matter how powerful they are, and that a genetic mutation can occur, leading them to more Deviant like appearance and behavior. Indeed, Marvel’s main villain for the interconnected film series, Thanos, is an Eternal with this rare genetic condition.

The comics series that Kirby created was canceled well before most of the plots were resolved, something that had afflicted his New Gods work too, and other creators picked up his creation to try and cement it into the Marvel Universe proper, but without success. The last attempt was made by world famous author, Neil Gaiman in 2006 but still didn’t attract the number of sales to make this property a success.

3) Children of the Vault

A recent addition to the Marvel Universe, the Children of the Vault are a group of super beings who dwell inside a spaceship where time runs differently, allowing them to evolve into a very different kind of superhuman—in fact they are neither human nor mutant as a result of genetic drift. Their timeline had run 6,000 years into the future, changing them into something very different. They believe that only one group can inherit the Earth, and are determined that will be them. Highly secretive, the Children appeared to eliminate the mutant, Sabretooth, simply for learning of their existence. Later they appeared when one of their own fled an extra-dimensional city they’d created and intended to power with members of their race who had energy based powers.

Created by Mike Carey and Chris Bachalo for their run on X-Men, the Children of the Vault have a distinctly Spanish feel and all their code names were Spanish terms. As a group, they are dedicated to inheriting the Earth, preferably without either humans or mutants upon it. Sadly, since Carey and Bachalo left the book nothing has been done with their creations, but hopefully, soon we’ll see them back in action.

4) Knights of Wundergore/New Men

A group of Dr Moreau like creations, the New Men and the Knights of Wundergore were created by the High Evolutionary, a scientist obsessed with genetics. Created in 1966, and appearing of Thor, they were situated in a fictional eastern European country, Transia in Mount Wundergore, which was apparently the resting place of an evil god, Chthon. The New Men were created as a mixture of humans and animals, initially as servants, but then as knights to protect the High Evolutionary’s castle from Chthon’s evil influence, on the advice of the ghost of a Sixth Century wizard, Magnus the Sorcerer. As if this wasn’t enough, the New Men were more than simple servants and warriors. One of their number, the Man-Beast became a major villain in the Marvel Universe, when he took over the High Evolutionary’s artificial Earth on the far side of the sun.

Like many of Marvel’s other creations, the New Men wear their inspirations on their sleeves, ranging from Dr Moreau by H.G. Wells, to the 1950s Science Fiction writer, John Wyndham. Never having their own book, the New Men have been integrated into the background of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, initially being set to watch over them when they were infants after the death of their mother, Magda, and then with the retcon of the twins status as mutants to be victims of the High Evolutionary’s experiments who had been misled as to their parentage.

5) Inhumans (Inhomo Supremis/Homo Sapiens Inhumanis)

Created by the alien Kree, the Inhumans were a genetics experiment designed to make a labor force for them to use during their construction of a citadel. Exposed to a strange element called the Terrigen, the Inhumans developed, unique, superpowers and when the Kree left for home, they took over the citadel, calling it Attilan, or the Hidden Land. As a group, they have been shrouded in mystery for most of human history and it was only with their discovery by the Fantastic Four that they became known to the world, albeit in a very standoffish fashion. A hereditary monarchy, they have been ruled by Black Bolt and his queen, Medusa, ever since their first appearance in 1965 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (they were mentioned, along with Attilan, in a 1941 comic by Kirby however, so they predate most of the Marvel Universe). Only recently, having been elevated from a very small part of Marvel’s universe to a much larger role, have they started to toy with democracy.

The Inhumans’ exposure to Terrigen, which traditionally has been through the medium of Terrigen Mists, leaves them trapped inside a cocoon as they metamorphose into a their new form. This is always completely random, producing unexpected results, be they a voice that can shatter stone at a mere whisper, changing the Inhuman’s feet into hooves and giving them great strength, or changing their bodies so completely they become of another species at first glance (as is the case with the teleporting dog, Lockjaw). As part of the larger role Marvel pushed them towards, the Terrigen Mists were released across the globe, forcing latent Inhumans to undergo the transformation.

It’s believed this promotion and focus was as a result of the movie rights for the X-Men being held by Fox, leading Marvel to want to replace the mutants with Inhumans so they had sole control over a key part of the universe. Given the subtext that mutants have often had within Marvel’s comics, this shift proved problematic, especially in the area of LGBT issues. Part of this was owing to the different nature of the two groups; mutants occur naturally, while the Inhumans were created, mutant powers are a matter of genetics, Inhumans choose to enter the Terrigen Mists. As a consequence, the metaphor for LGBT issues changed drastically from one of acceptance to one where it seems implied that homosexuality is a choice.

6) Mutants (Homo Superior)

The most famous of Marvel’s many human offshoots, Mutants have, since the 1970s, been a major focus of the company’s publishing efforts, despite the fact that the 1960s X-Men book proved to be unpopular. As a team, it was only the international incarnation of the X-Men, debuting in 1976, that made the concept popular. The first mutant is believed to be the villain Selene, who was born 17,000 years ago in what would later be called Central Europe.

Marvel has always used their mutants as a way to offer social commentary, first on race relations, but subsequently on issues facing teenagers, LGBT concerns and on the panic created by the spread of AIDS. It was only during Grant Morrison’s period writing the X-Men comicbook that they began to resemble a genuine minority, and readers saw the creation of a Mutant Town in New York City, mutant fashion designers, and designer drugs. Since then they’ve been threatened with extinction, fighting their most deadly foe, Marvel’s own editorial section that until Disney’s acquisition of Fox’s movie arm seemed intent on destroying the very thing that had made Marvel a success in the 1980s and 1990s.

Within the ranks of mutants, it was revealed during the 1990s that there was another group, the Externals, immortal mutants who had dedicated themselves to pulling the strings of human evolution and society for many centuries. In addition, another run, this time by Chris Claremont, revealed the existence of the Neo, who were very powerful mutants that had formed their own society, separate from the rest of the world. Despite this, both groups have counted as mutants rather than anything else and have been developed into their own societies. However, neither of these two smaller groups have been for some time and there’s no indication that Marvel plans to revisit them.

7) Savage Land Mutates

A creation of the 1960s, the Mutates began as one of Magneto’s projects to create a race of soldiers to fight humanity. Living in the Savage Land, an area of the Antarctic that, thanks to a ring of volcanos, is dominated by a balmy, prehistoric, tropical jungle, they developed strange powers under Magneto’s tutelage. Ordinarily, they are led by Sauron, a strange villain who absorbs mutant energies to transform into a Pterodactyl man. Owing to the lack of technological development among the Mutates they seldom travel beyond the Savage Land’s borders. The area itself was created in the 1940s and appeared in Marvel Mystery Comics #22. It has been the home of many heroes and villains in addition to the Mutates.

With the obvious connection to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novel The Lost World, it’s clear where Marvel was going with this creation. Despite this, the Savage Land has never been the most popular area to set stories and only appears intermittently in the pages of their comics. Consequently, the Mutates remain a fringe group rather than a major world building phenomena.

8) Aerians

Dwelling in a floating city, far above the ground, the Aerians, or Bird People, are a mutated form of the Inhumans, who broke away from the rest of the race because they believed themselves to be superior. Marked out by the large white wings that jut out from their backs and give them their flying ability, and measure 16 feet from wing tip to wing tip. Genetically, they have mutated so that all of them have these, avoiding the random factor brought on by exposure to Terrigen. They have had a fractious and difficult past, warring not only with their fellow Inhumans but also the Atlanteans and humans, where they were often mistaken for Harpies and other mythological flying monsters.

Largely unconnected to the Marvel Universe, the group has only appeared as a foil for heroes, often planning to wipe out Humanity and claim the planet for themselves. Their last appearance threatened to wipe them out, as exposure to Terrigen, after 2013’s Infinity event left them mutating into more and more monstrous forms.

9) Warpies

Created by Mad Jim Jaspers, as a result of his mutant ability to change reality, which drove him mad. Introduced in Captain Britain in 1985, created by Dale Thorpe and Alan Davis then picked up by Alan Moore, when he came onto the book for his only work for Marvel. The Warpies were children mutated by the energies Jasper’s Warp released. They became the focus of several of Captain Britain, and the British mutant team, Excalibur’s, adventures, as various of superhuman spy agencies tried to use them for their own ends. There were at least four hundred Warpies, all of them children, and most of them distinctive in appearance. Like the Mutants and Inhumans they possessed various superhuman powers, but as they were children they possessed no control over their abilities. Most died, as a result of this, before reaching adulthood.

A later outbreak in Africa ended with similar results, shown in the pages of Warren Ellis’ run on Astonishing X-Men in 2009.

10) Atlanteans (Homo Mermanus)

The people of Namor the Sub Mariner, the Atlanteans, in their current form as water breathing undersea dwellers, may have been retconned into a Deviant experiment. Referred to as Homo Mermanus, they live in the ancient city of Atlantis, which sank during the war with the Deviants when the ruler of the city, Kamuu, opened the geothermal pits that powered Atlantis to destroy their enemies, and in doing so, forced the city beneath the waves. The inhabitants of the submerged city have adapted to their environment and have superhuman strength and speed, as well as senses. The downside of their specialization is that they are so tied to their watery environment that most cannot survive outside water for longer than ten minutes.

The history of Atlantis and the surface world has been complicated and largely antagonistic, to the extent when Namor was first introduced in 1939, he was attacking shipping and New York prior to joining up with Captain America and the Invaders to fight Nazi Germany. Atlantis appeared in the very first issue of Marvel Comics but was never identified. The next time the city and its inhabitants appeared, aside from a brief appearance in the 1950s (in Young Men #24), was in the early 1960s, when the Fantastic Four journeyed there and the bizarre love triangle between Reed and Sue Richards, and Namor was created. This was the first time Marvel identified the city as Atlantis and addressed the issues of nuclear weapons testing in the Atlantic Ocean. Since then the city and its people have been destroyed and scattered many times over, most recently by the extreme superhero team Squadron Supreme who was determined to end the threat Atlantis, and its ruler posed.