Recently we discussed the return of the Marvel UK characters to the Marvel Universe, so it now seems appropriate to give you a list of who you may be seeing when Revolutionary War comes out. This list covers pretty much every major character that appeared in the Marvel UK comics. Some characters had to be left aside (like The Transformers, who had a huge run of comics through the ’80s in the UK that were separate from the other Transformer titles that were published in the States) just because it is highly unlikely that they will be part of this story due to the copyright issues involved.

A lot of Marvel UK titles focused on time travel and alternative Earths (Like Earth 811) which sometimes had their own set of heroes and villains, so continuity could get confusing and that is why for the most part I have left year dates out of the characters histories unless it is essentially to know. They also work heavily with magic and a lot of the characters here are in some way magically enhanced or created by magical means. So here they are in all their glory, the heroes and villains of Marvel UK.

Black Axe (First Appearance 1993)

Born over 10,000 years ago, Black Axe (real name unknown) looks human but is actually from another (unconfirmed) race. He has adventured in ancient Egypt and Japan, but retired when he felt the challenge was no longer there. The sinister company Mys-Tech contacted him to find a Hydra scientist who had discovered the immortality gene. This leads to a series of encounters with Death’s Head and Mephisto himself. After recovering from these events he used his secret identity as Robert Hyde to visit Wakanda and come into contact with the Black Panther. It is here were his story ends as the title was cancelled after 7 issues.

Dark Angel (First Appearance 1992)

Mys-Tech board member Ranaulph Haldane incurred Mephisto’s wraith when he turned against him and was murdered for his trouble. His 21 year old daughter Shevaun witnessed the Angel of Death coming for her father and she was given a fragment of the universe by the Angel (and some body armor) to help her control her new amazing powers. She met quite a few Marvel characters while fighting Mys-Tech (including the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and The Avengers) and she was involved in the Mys-Tech War which had her turning back time to save all the super heroes that had died in the confrontation. She now works for MI: 13.

Death’s Head (First Appearance 1987)

Death’s Head originally appeared in the Transformers comic, but soon had his own comic book series. He is a robotic bounty hunter who was famous for saying “Yes” at the end of every sentence and essentially being a mix between Humphrey Bogart and Dirty Harry. He has teamed up with The Fantastic Four, Iron Man and even Doctor Who during his adventures and will no doubt be a big part of Revolutionary War.

He was given a make over in the Death’s Head 2 comic book and was given a side kick Tuck (a replicant who was originally hunting Death’s Head 2 but teamed up with him instead). Though Death’s Head was killed by Death’s Head 2, his personality transferred into this new body. Death’s Head new body had multiple personalities which he could access at any time. One of them even got his own body and became the cyborg killer Die Cut. He also had dealings with main stream Marvel Characters (mainly The X-Men). A.I.M scientist Evelyn Necker was a big part of Death’s Head 2 problems (as well as being the creator of his new body) and she created numerous other cyborgs to try and replicate her success with Death’s Head 2 (or minion as the project was called). She created Death Wreck (a huge metal beast with a tiny brain) and Death Metal (a killing machine made from a fusion of magic and metal) who all ended up joining Death’s Head 2 for adventures.

There was also a Death’s Head 3.0 but this seems to have no direct link to the Death’s Head mentioned above. In the latest Iron Man story arc set in space, Death’s Head is now back to a modified version of his original look, though when this change occurred is unknown.

Digitek (First Appearance 1992)

Scientist Jonathan Byrant was working for the Msy-Tech Corporation studying an artifact brought to the group by their team of Warheads (see entry below). Jonathan had a vision that his supervisor was going to sabotage the artifact, and arrived at the building to stop it, only to be caught in the explosion. The artifact bonded to Jonathan, turning him into a computer styled hero called Digitek. Digitek apparently killed himself rather than become part of the super hero registration in Civil War, but as he is part computer he survived and turned up in MI: 13.

Dragon’s Claws (First Appearance 1988)

In 8162 The Claws are a team that engage in an unknown sport that involves teams trying to take territory from each other. The team members are all now living peaceful after the games have ended, but are brought back into action by N.U.R.S.E. (National Union of Retired Sports Experts) to stop other former teams of the sport that are now causing trouble in society. N.U.R.S.E. turns out to be corrupt and a confrontation is soon on the cards between the group and their former employees. They eventually do succeed and defeat N.U.R.S.E. after an epic battle, where a few Claw members die.

Killpower and Motormouth (First Appearance 1992)

Killpower is a huge mercenary created by Msy-Tech Corporation with no morals and the brain of a child. In a mission to retrieve some stolen hardware he meets the young girl who had stolen said hardware, who is unfortunately shot in the throat. Killpower uses his advanced skills to repair her throat, using the hardware he was sent to retrieve. Motormouth (a street punk style teenager) takes Killpower under her wing and teaches him right and wrong, all the while avoiding Msy-Tech troops. Killpower turned up in MI: 13 and acted as an under cover spy for them when he was turned into a vampire (his magic based origins meant he was immune to Dracula’s powers).

Knights of Pendragon (First Appearance 1990)

Captain Britain is sent to the Amazon rain forest to rescue a friend of his that has become insane with a new acquired power. When he arrives, following the obligatory fight scene they discover that the ghosts of Lancelot and Gawain have possessed both parties. Gawain is resurrected and they head off to find the Green Knight, who they believe might be behind the problems. Gawain sacrificed his power to heal the Green Knight, who in turn used his power to bring a new team into the world. The team was last seen in Secret Invasion when the Skrulls took over all magic in the UK.

Mys-Tech (First Appearance 1992)

The main baddies of the Marvel UK universe, these members had complete power over all the characters in this universe. In 987 seven mages sold their souls to Mephisto (who pops up regularly in this universe) for immortally. All they have to do in return is constantly send him souls. Though operating as a legitimate business, the real work was conducted below in an underground lair where the group mixed magic and science to create new ways to keep the souls coming to Mephisto, as well as trying to stab each other in the back and trying to find a way out of Mephisto’s grasp . They were in part responsible for the creation of Death’s Head 2 as well as other heroes in the Marvel UK comics. Their work culminated in the Mys-Tech Wars, when they fought Marvels greatest heroes.

Super Soldiers (First Published 1993)

This was Marvel’s attempt to expand the super soldier program first seen with Captain America, and told the British side of the story. Using bio-chips, the government created these soldiers who eventually disbanded after a mission went sour. They are reunited to work for S.H.I.E.L.D., and some of the characters popped up in a Civil War story arc. The main thing most people remembered about this series was that it was pretty much a carbon copy of the Universal Soldier movie for the first few episodes.

Warheads (First Published 1992)

The Warheads were an expendable force employed by Msy-Tech to collect rare and powerful artifacts from the future and alternative timelines using a wormhole style technology. Tigon Liger was the leader of the group and one of the only constant members, as a lot of the Warhead’s crew would get killed on missions. This was one of the best parts of the comic, pretty much anyone was expendable. When they wanted to quit it turned out that their bodies had become addicted to the wormhole travel, and so off they went off on another adventure. Their current whereabouts are unknown.

Wild Thing (First Appearance 1993)

Nikki Doyle lives on Earth 8410, a world where the superhero boom ended in the ’80s and where technology now governs everything. Virtual Reality has taken over and hardcore users have turned to illegal programs to get their fix leading to a new underground crime ring. Nikki is obsessed with playing new games so much so she lands herself in jail. A sinister company called Arcade discovers that Nikki has an amazing ability; she can jump into and manipulate VR games. She is given leave of prison if she works for Arcade and does missions for them inside VR programs. She agrees and takes the name Wild Thing. It is unknown what has happened to Nikki as the title was cancelled within a few issues and the story was never finished.

So when Revolutionary War comes out remember to have this check list handy, as you will never know who may turn up! Thanks to Wikipedia and  Marvunapp for their help in compiling this list of the Marvel UK‘s greatest comic heroes and villains. Both of these sites have information on these characters if you want to read up further.