A Brief History of Supervillains Going Good - VENOM, BLACK WIDOW, DEADPOOL & MORE 

Who's your favorite villain turned hero? Read the full essay on Comic Book Herald: www.comicbookherald.com/when-supervillains-go-good-20-heroic-character-transformations/

"The clone fought a clone" ok we get it, it's a Spider-Man book

Agent Venom has got to be my favorite villains turned hero storylines

The one that bugs me the most was Sandman. The character had a genuine and natural change of heart. Was a hero for over a decade. Then Jo Q took over and boom, mind whip

Favorite villain turned hero is Matt Draper himself

"No not you, Professor X, you'll always suck" Harsh but not entirely wrong 😂

It feels so surreal returning to a time before all the Morbius memes

Riddler's run as a private detective was really fun. I really think Eddie would've been a fun addition to a JLI style book.

16:47 Sabretooth is a villain that should stay irredeemable IMO. Villains like Two Face, Mr Freeze, Magneto, some versions of Penguin and so on I could buy as heroes. But a heroic Sabretooth doesn't fit him to me. Just like I couldn't imagine a heroic Joker, Green Goblin, Reverse Flash, Bullseye, Victor Zsasz, Ra's Al Ghul, General Zod, Darkseid, Brainiac and the like.

My favorite was Dent, just too bad it was too brief. Incidentally, another one I was just as disappointed was The Riddler. During that same period with Dent, Riddler lost his memory (he knew Batman's secret Identity) and became a private investigator. It was nice change of pace for the character and gave him an out from being a rather predictable villain. He even joined Batman's secret detective forum to help pool their brainpower to solve difficult crimes. He could have been a great ally that skirts the line and always be tempted to prove his villainous superiority but finds happiness from the acceptance of his peers. Alas, it was not meant to be.

19:00 9 Clayfaces? Talk about muddying the waters.

What about The Rogues from The Flash comics, they mostly flip flop between helping the Flash or trying to rob banks and the Trickster (the first one) reformed and joined the FBI

I'd go with Black Adam. When Jerry Ordway remade him as an honorable fallen hero who was merely manipulated by an evil host, that changed the character forever. Even though reboots have wiped away the Ordway version, his remaking of Black Adam into an anti-hero has lasted (thanks in large part to Geoff Johns further remaking him as basically DC's Doctor Doom - a foreign leader who is honorable but with an ethos that isn't compatible with modern heroes).

If I had a nickel for every time Venom turned sides, I would be able to buy a Snickers bar. In all seriousness, this was a great follow up to your Heroes turn evil video.

“Did hawkeyes heroism stick? I would say yes” (Covers face in both hands) You haven’t seen Hawkeye freefall yet have you Matt?

Rogue: sacrifices herself for Wolverine. Me: BuT hE cAn ReGeNeRaTe doE 🤔

I think Joker should be a irredeemable villain but Mr Freeze, penguin, killer croc and Riddler could be interesting as Batman’s allies

Agent Venom is my favorite Venom but yeah nailed it on the head how I felt who took over after Flash Thompson.

I MEAN, WE CAN ALSO ADD TO THE LIST(EVEN IF THEY'RE NOT ENTIRELY COMICBOOK CHARACTERS) -STARSCREAM(ARMADA & IDW) -SETSUNA HIGASHI -ELLEN KUROKAWA -TOWA AKAGI -JENNIKA (IDW) -RURU AMOUR -AMANE KASAI

I'd say Zuko, but since Avatar does have comics, I think he counts ^^

I know I'm 9 months late but this is a fantastic video! You're right: whenever a villain becomes a hero they are often immediately switched back. Doctor Doom always should've stayed a hero. Also, you forgot about Loki.

This video is a lot of fun, Matt! I had no idea Hawkeye started as a villain.Redemption is always an interesting theme when done right.

Surprised no mention of Harley Quinn, probably the most obvious example. Some others: Sandman (didn't stick but might be coming back), Rhino (didn't stick but hints of it coming back), Lizard (off and on constantly), Juggernaut (is that real?), Black Cat, Galactus (off and on, it's complicated), Vision, and probably my favorite Kaine Parker. Hm... Is this trope more common in Marvel than DC?

Comic writers seem to prefer to opt to make heroes into villains for really stupid reasons rather than taking the time and effort to show a character becoming a better person. It's pretty sad all in all.

I needed this video after rehab thank you

Ah basil Karol wasn’t always the typical clay face we think of. That was the second clay face. During the story Mud Pack, Basil takes the blood of the other 2 clay faces at the time to become more like the second. Love that story.

I like this slightly more casual tone! I think you should do more like this, where you think it's appropriate. :)

The biggest missed opportunity in Marvel history is Red Hulk's lack of bitching facial hair! Imagine if Thunderbolt Ross hulked out and his moustache hulked out to a handle bar or mutton chops.

5:40 oh yeah it's MORBIN TIME

I love the interjections "- who sucks -" "no one cares"

“The underwater asshole” that threw me off and I cracked up for a couple of minutes.

"The Underwater Asshole."😂😂😂😂 Love it, Bro! Great Content as always, Man!👍

Agent Venom flash Thompson and in his own legacy character an becoming mentor in the form of andi Benton the current host of the scream symbiote in her own just cancelled scream series one of marvels best in years #screamforscream although eddies redemption is also important as well I would like to see agent venom and indeed flash get his own video and by proxy as a result a video on andi and scream

Now I wonder if there is a good guy that turned villainous and stayed that way.

I'm used to you seeming like serious or like an omniscient storyteller, so when you make little jokes at the expense of comics like what you said about "bat and cat" have me dying 😂

“Absolute nothing of a character: Lee Price” 😂

1:00 can’t describe namor any better 😂

I prefer villains turning good more so than heroes turning bad. When heroes become evil it feels kinda forced. Meanwhile it feels like there is more care put in villains becoming good. Thats just my opinion however.

I loved the Thunderbolts.

I will always think of venom as a villan

I love your content dude! Amazing and fun vid. Clearly you need to read The Superior Octopus comic, because that miniseries firmly planted Otto as a hero forever in my heart

8:21 Draper: the thunderbolts Me: The who? Draper: thunderbolts. Me: Sunderwhats? Draper: thunderbolts! Me: HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

My favorite was Deadpool as Wade said" I'm good for money sometimes I'm bad for money as long as I'm having fun with said money"

This is the first time I didn’t get a notification for a channel I have notifications on for. Either way great episode. Interesting topic. “Underwater asshole” cracked me up for some reason.

This was a great video! Well researched and lots of good info

You missed at least two other important turns: Wonder Man (sticked) and Juggernaut (didn't stick).

I think one of my personal favorites will always be Emma frost especially since while she may not agree with Xavier she teaches alongside him solely because she doesn't want to see young mutants grow up like she had to

Favorite villains turned hero’s has to be well magento and zuko from the avatar last air bender series and that’s about it

7:37 That one page is a cosmic horror in of itself.

I feel like the next video in this series should be heroes given the edge lord treatment (or Grim and Gritty reinventions)

I hate what Marvel did with Superior Spider-Man... They practically "One More Day'd" Otto's entire character and flushes it down the drain... He's now back as the OG Otto Octavius... The original Otto Octavius' heroic death in the Superior Spider-Man run was amazing... his clone's run was also interesting, even if not as tightly written. Then Marvel just Mephisto'd the entire thing... it sucks...

“The underwater a******, joined the Invaders as a force for good!” bah, love your videos!!!

"Ocean Drive" eh? You truly are a man of culture, Mr.Draper.

I LOVED this video, thank you!!!

I just love hawkeye, his backstory is my favorite

I think this topic was tackled woth the most nuance in superior spider man.

Actually Matt, Hawkeye wasn't a bad guy because of money. He was jealous of Iron Man's sucess as super hero, and wanted to prove that he could be a crime fighter as well. However in his first adventure as hero, the cops thought he was thief and chased after him, resulting in his meeting with Black Widow, who seduce Clint to join her in the battle against Iron Man

Missed opportunity to say Xavier will always be a jerk at the end there.

This is such a fun video

Great stuff man! Always waiting for a new vid to appear in my feed.

With the Thunderbolts you could say it’s half and half. The original team members Mach(Beetle), Atlas(Power Man), and Songbird(Screaming Mimi) have left their villain life behind but Baron Zemo, Fixer, and and Techno went back with their original identities and are more villains than heroes. My favorite run of team Thunderbolts is when the ones who chose to be heroes help B List villains. Mach, Atlas, Songbird, Blizzard, Joy Stick, Radioactive Man, and Speed Demon.

Wow just wow, I knew some of the most well known Marvel heroes/anti-heroes were villains at first but seeing them back to back just... Damn, Marvel knows what sells don't they? It makes for more interesting stories I think.

Me, finding out Morbius only has the hand suckers in the cartoon even though I really should have put that together: "My disappointment is..... immeasurable. And my day is ruined."

Thank you, Matt!

I'm sorry, did I mishear that? Did I hear the suggestion that Cyclops sucks?

Damn, you hear that? It's this video. It HONKS. And yes, to quote Kitty Pryde, Professor X is a jerk, but #CyclopsWasRight.

Pretty ironic how a hero named Rogue stayed a hero loyal to the X-Men. In my mind, Superior Spider-Man was Otto’s real ending. What’s wrong with the new Secret Wars?

IMO villains should only be turned good if they have redeeming qualities, if they know and care that what they've done is wrong, feel remorse for their evil actions and are willing to do whatever they have to to make up for them. And also if they can keep them interesting when they make them heroes. That's why I don't like DC's attempts at an anti heroic or completely heroic Harley Quinn. She was better as a villain.

Love your work man, keep it up💙✨

I miss Agent Venom. It was nice to see him show up in the 2018 Venom annual.

u make great videos my man

“The underwater asshole” got me

Matt draper doing a Cyclops and it prof x video would be GREAT

I personally prefer the Maximoff twins as X-men characters and having them be characters who switch sides depending on what is happening. I really liked them in the animated series of Evolution and WTXM. I’m not super deep in their origins and comic history but I don’t care much for them as avengers characters.

Thumbs up solely for the shade thrown at the Morbius movie. (The video was good, too)

Let’s not forget about Spidey Foes the Black Cat & Sandman

I knew you’d make one. Also why wasn’t Megatron here?

Magneto and Black Adam are my favourites.

Very nice video. I would like to have seen The Juggernaut on this list. Keep up the good work.

You forgot about Harley Quinn

what software is used to edit comic book panels like this? I need to do this for a project anyones help would be appreciated

[Spoilers] Shame Megatron from the 2005 IDW Comics isn't in this vid. Would love to see you cover his arc.

Great video, never gonna call Namor anything other than Underwater Asshole from now on. Also, Tom King Batman run video when? You clearly have... Opinions on that. Also, would love a video on the best Batgirl, Stephanie Brown!

WHAT IS YOUR DEAL WITH CYCLOPS!???? Still love your channel

I love how a lot of these are just "well he wasn't really evil to begin with, and he's not really good now. He's just a huge asshole".

Did you ignore Christos Gage's Superior Spider-Man series...? I would say Otto was redeemed. Especially after War of the Realms. Seems like you just stopped at Clone Conspiracy

TV Tropes call it a Heel-Face Turn.

"Why doesn't Batman just kill his villians?" See Black Widow's internal issues

:( You forgot the Flint Marko Sandman

Hey Matt, you should check out Peter David's run of Captain Marvel. Genis-Vell is easily my favorite Captain Marvel.

I was hoping and guessing you'll do a video like this! As I mentioned in that video about heroes gone bad the redemption arc is my favorite trope in comics! And if you're already asking,why not do a video about Flash Thompson Agent Venom, i e my favorite run ever (at least the Remender part). Also, Doom should've absolutely remained a good guy and that might've been Marvels biggest missed opportunity in decades, if not all of their history.

I liked it when Clayface became good for a bit in the 2004 show "The Batman" because there were two clayfaces, Ethan and Karlo

The symbiote was given to "nobody" Lee Price so that Eddie could rescue them and they would work on their relationship, that is the entire framework of their story, it was to show the symbiote as an exploited person. :/

Folks are still raw about that Lex return to villainy. Now you know how Sinestro and Black Adam fans feel!!

1:00 "the underwater asshole" If that doesn't encapsulate who the f*** name or is then I don't know what will

18:53 Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah. Hold the goddamned phone. NINE CLAYFACES!!!!! In the same cannon? What the hell is going on?

What about Captain Cold? He was always a lot more moral than other villains, refusing to hurt civilians and not using violence except absolutely necessary. When Inertia killed a Flash, the Rogues got so mad they murdered his ass. And in Forever Evil, where Lex Luthor fought the Crime Syndicate (Not Injustice League), Cold was the only other villain besides Luthor of the event that stayed on the side of good. And there is also Azrael, Bane, Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Catman, Atomic Skull, Killer Frost, Mr. Freeze, Star Sapphire and the rest of the rainbow Lantern Villains, the Suicide Squad in general (Which is weird that it wasn't mentioned as it was name dropped during the Thunderbolts segment). The video was 70% X-Men and 30% everything else.

I’m surprised you didn’t mention Harley Quinn

I liked Scarlet Spider's turn in season 4 of Ultimate Spider-Man

Namor is the original Vegeta