A Marvellous Apocalypse Trivia Quiz

Answer: Hank Pym

Dr Henry "Hank" Pym is in Hungary with his wife Maria when they are confronted by corrupt secret police officers and Maria is murdered. Pym decides to battle injustice, discovers a substance he calls "Pym Particles" and arms himself with a helmet that can control ants. This enables him to shrink and swell at will. He becomes the first Ant-Man.

Scott Lang is a thief who steals the suit in a bid to save his daughter's life. He becomes the second Ant-Man until he is killed by the Scarlet Witch in "Avengers Disassembled" (2004). The third incarnation is Eric O'Grady, a low-level agent at S.H.I.E.L.D. who stumbles upon the suit. Mick Taylor is a guitarist for the Rolling Stones.

Answer: Hawkeye

Laura first appears in "The Ultimates 2" (2005). She marries Clint Barton, the man who is so deadly with the bow and arrow, and has three children with him - Callum, Lewis and Nicole. Fearing that every mission will be Clint's last, she always makes sure she gathers them to say goodbye before Clint leaves.

She would later be betrayed by the Black Widow and she and the children are killed.

Answer: Luke Cage

Cage is an ex-con who had been jailed for a crime he did not commit. Whilst in prison he volunteers to be a part of Noah Burstein's experiments into the super serum that created Captain America. An attempt by his prison guard, the bigoted Billy Bob Rackham, to sabotage the experiment doesn't go as planned and Cage is endowed with super strength and unbreakable skin.

He marries Jessica Jones and the pair will have a daughter between them named Danielle.

Answer: DJ

DJ, real name Mark Sheppard, is taken into the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning at an early age. His mother, reportedly, died when he was very young, and his father could not care for him due to his alcoholism. At the institute he is inducted into a training group called the Paragons and is instructed by Wolfsbane.

Unfortunately, his powers are never truly explored as he is killed in an attack by Stryker in "New X-Men" Vol. 2, #23 (2006).

Answer: Elektra

When her father is appointed Greek ambassador to the United States, nineteen year old Elektra attends Columbia University and it is here that she initially dates Matt Murdock (Daredevil). When she and her father are kidnapped by terrorists, Murdock attempts a rescue, which goes awry, and Elektra's father is gunned down.

She flees to China and comes in contact with a mystical ninja sect who train her as an assassin. In her mission to kill the criminal Alarich Wallenquist, she meets up with Murdock again.

They form a crime fighting team and become lovers, however, their methods and ethics often collided and they ended up parting.

Answer: Frankenstein's Monster

The Shelley in question is Mary Shelley and it is her Gothic novel "Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus" (1818) that provided inspiration for writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Joe Maneely. Frankenstein's first appearance under the Marvel banner came in 1953 in a horror story titled "Your Name is Frankenstein" ("Menace #7").

It could be argued that, technically, this was not Marvel at the time, but Marvel's forerunner, Atlas Comics, however, it is still the same "universe" so to speak. Under the actual Marvel name his true first appearance was in "The Silver Surfer #7", which was released in August of 1969. Frankenstein is endowed with incredible strength and is able to resist extremely cold temperatures.

He would become affiliated with "Legions of the Unliving" and the "Howling Commandos" at various times.

Answer: Galactus

If a creation can be said to be a villain without necessarily being the definition of pure evil then Galactus fits the bill. His need to drain and destroy worlds is driven purely by his voracious appetite. Galactus was originally a mortal named Galan who lived in a previous universe, one that pre-dated the Big Bang that has created our current one.

He divined cosmic abilities when he ventured too close to a star but it was when he merged with the "Sentience of the Universe" that he became a being of such enormous power that he had to feed on planets simply to sustain himself.

Answer: Iron Man

Hogan is a former boxer, but not a very good one, as he kept on losing. Tony Stark employs him as his chauffer. In his storyline, Hogan learns that Tony Stark is Iron Man, is exposed to a cobalt ray, turns in the Freak, a super-strong humanoid and marries Pepper Potts (though not as the Freak).

He eventually becomes victim to a plot by the Spymaster and winds up in a vegetative coma when he falls trying to save the life of Pepper.

Answer: Ice Man

Robert "Bobby" Drake is a mutant and he can manipulate water vapour to freeze objects and turn his body into ice. He first appeared in "The X-Men #1" (1963) and has been a regular member in that series, as well as appearing frequently in the Spider Man storylines.

In issue 40 of "All-New X-Men" Jean Grey uses her telepathic ability to discern that, as a displaced teenager, Ice Man is gay. This seems to run at odds with other storylines in which he shown dating women. Eventually the adult version Ice Man meets and confronts the teenaged version to uncover that he is gay but had repressed this as he did not wish to appear as both gay and a mutant.

Answer: J. Jonah Jameson

Jameson has been shown as stubborn and pompous and his dislike for Spider Man is drawn from jealousy, but then, other writers, have changed tack and turned him into some one who actually cares. However, all of the writers have shown him with his strong side, portrayed him as one who doesn't give in easily to villains.

Whilst he runs a great smear campaign against Spider Man he gives Peter Parker a job as a photographer without knowing who he really is. In a touch of irony, in another storyline, he marries May Parker and, inadvertently, becomes related to the Spider Man.

Answer: Spider Man

Kingpin is portrayed as a massive man. He is extremely heavyset, but don't be fooled, there's very little there in the way of fat, it is predominantly muscle. In most presentations he is seen wearing a white suit and he carries a cane, which also substitutes as a serious weapon.

His first appearance was in "The Amazing Spider-Man #50" (1967). Later, he would cross paths with Daredevil and become his arch enemy as well.

Answer: Lorna

Lorna and her father travel to the jungles in the heart of Africa after her mother dies. Her father is savaged and killed by a lion and Lorna is then taken in and raised by Chief M'tuba who teaches her the skills of spear and knife and survival in the jungle. Aided by her chimpanzee friend, Mikki, she grows to be the protector of the jungle. Lorna first appeared in "Lorna, The Jungle Queen" in July of 1953.

In March the following year she was re-titled as "Lorna, the Jungle Girl".

Answer: Max Eisenhardt

Max was born sometime in the 1920s to Jewish parents in Germany. They could foresee the rise of the Nazi Party there and fled to Poland. When Germany invaded Poland in 1939 they were imprisoned, escaped, betrayed, recaptured and executed. Max survived, most likely through a manifestation of his powers and, after the war, moved to Vinnytsic in the Ukraine.

He changed his name to Magnus, married Magda, a former love and together they raised a daughter named Anya. When his powers started to surface the locals became frightened and they attacked him.

In the process they burned his house down with Anya still inside. Enraged, he uses his powers to kill the mob and destroy parts of Vinnytsic. Now fearful of his powers Magda runs away. Magnus flees to Israel where he changes his name to Eric Lensherr and eventually meets Charles Xavier and they become friends.

Answer: True

Nighthawk joined a team known as the Squadron Sinister in the publication "The Avengers #69" (1969). After the initial storyline he branches out on his own. In 1974 he renounces his former life and becomes one of the good guys, joining the superhero team The Defenders. You will note that in the question we used the term "original". That's because there have been at least five other permutations of Nighthawk, all appearing from alternate universes.

Answer: Rocket Raccoon

Blackjack first showed up in "The Incredible Hulk #271" (1982). He was hired to kidnap Lylla, the CEO of Mayhem Mekaniks, but does the dirty on his employers and marries her instead. His hope here is to bump Lylla off and inherit the organisation. When he is found out he is in deep doo-doo but is rescued by the Raccoon. Soon after, Blackjack turns on Rocket, disguises himself as the Raccoon and frames him for several murders.

In their final confrontation Blackjack is "presumably" killed.

Answer: Punisher

The mob kills Castle's family after they'd witnessed a "hit" in Central Park. Thing is, they picked on the wrong guy. Castle turns out to be a veteran and a former US Marines Corp's sniper and he is all set to wage war on the mob and any other injustice he finds along the way.

He is a brutal man who doesn't hesitate to kill and his knowledge of guerrilla warfare and hand-to-hand combat make him a formidable enemy. Based on Don Pendleton's book series, "The Executioner", the Punisher made his first appearance in "The Amazing Spider-Man #129" in February of 1974.

Answer: Magneto

Fearful of his powers, Magneto's wife, Magda, flees from him, unaware that she is bearing two of his children. She dies after giving birth to the twins Pietro (Quicksilver), who possesses super-human speed, and Wanda (Scarlet Witch), who has the power to change probability.

Initially the pair are recruited by Magneto into the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and are in combat with the X-Men. However, they split from the group, renounce their criminal ways and are recruited into the Avengers by Iron Man.

Answer: Red Sonja

Sonja and her family's home in the Western Hyrkanian steppes are attacked by marauders when she is seventeen. She is so weak that she is unable to lift a sword to defend herself and sees her family murdered and her home destroyed. She cries out to the red goddess Scathach as she is being raped and is suddenly endowed with superior fighting skills when her prayers are answered. The gift does come at a cost and she is instructed that to keep her powers she is never to sleep with another man unless he bests her in fair combat.

Clad in little more than boots and an armoured bikini, Red Sonja has been voted number one on Comic Buyer's Guide list of the "100 Sexiest Women in Comics. Robert E. Howard's short story, which was published in 1934, is "The Shadow of the Vulture".

Answer: Thor

Selvig's first appearance in the Marvel universe is in the 2011 film "Thor". He is an astrophysicist who is assisting Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) in her research into wormholes. Skarsgard next reprises his role in "The Avengers" (2012) where he comes under Loki's spell and is forced to work on the Tesseract.

He is introduced into the Marvel Comics' storylines in 2016 during the arc "Avengers: Standoff!", which highlights him as a Hydra agent working undercover within S.H.I.E.L.D.

Answer: True

Tarene Olson aka Thor-Girl first appeared in "Thor: Tears of the Gods Vol2 #22" in April of 2000. Tarene is transformed into an Asgardian goddess and becomes a valuable ally to the Thunder God. Her golden hammer allows her channel her powers into a sort of cosmic beam that she can hold constant.

The beam has the power to knock, even, Thor off his feet. It also allows Thor-Girl to fly and manipulate the weather in a small way. In her human persona she is Jake Olson's cousin. Jake Olson was, at one time, bound to Thor by a being known as Marot during the Avengers' battle with the Destroyer.

Answer: Ultron

Ultron appears in "Avengers #54" (1968) and utilised the cowl as a disguise. His face was not seen until the final frame and, even at this point, we were yet to know his true name. Later, he would hypnotise Edwin Jarvis (Tony Stark's butler) into working for him and would lead the Masters of Evil into a war against the Avengers. In "Avengers 57-58" (1968) it is revealed that Ultron creates Vision with a view that he could use him to destroy the Avengers. Vision is, ultimately, the being that destroys Ultron.

As a footnote, Ultron was the first in the Marvel universe to employ adamantium.

Answer: Venom

The Symbiote must find a host or it will perish. Usually that host is human and, once it bonds with that host, it imbues it with its own enhanced powers. It first revealed itself in 1984 in "The Amazing Spider-Man #252", as a living costume, which prompted comic historian Mike Conroy to comment "What started out as a replacement costume for Spider-Man turned into one of the Marvel web-slinger's greatest nightmares". Venom does become one of Spider Man's arch enemies but he is so dangerous that S.H.I.E.L.D. have ranked him as equal a threat to mankind as the likes of Red Skull, Dr. Doom and Magneto.

Answer: Wolverine

You're probably thinking his name's Logan, where did this James Howlett character come from. Wolverine was born during the 1880s in Alberta, Canada. He knew his parents as John and Elizabeth Howlett but, in truth, he was the illegitimate son of the Howlett's groundskeeper Thomas Logan. When Thomas kills John, James' temper rises to the surface and, for the first time, his claws emerge and he, in turn, kills Thomas. He flees with his childhood friend, Rose, to a Yukon mining town where he changes his name to Logan.

As a footnote, Wild Thing, one of the answer options above, is the daughter born from a union between Wolverine and Elektra.

Answer: True

Laura Kinney is a clone that was created as the perfect killing machine. With the same heightened senses as Wolverine, regenerative powers and speed, as well as adamantium claws in her hands and feet she proved to be a highly capable assassin. She runs into some serious strife before meeting Logan, the Wolverine, who adopts her and introduces her to the school at the X-Mansion. First appearing in comics in 2004 she eventually succeeds her adopted father as Wolverine in 2015.

This runs for only a short time and she returns to her former name as X-23.

Answer: Yellowjacket

There have been a number of different incarnations of Yellowjacket over the years. Some have been good guys and some not so good. Hank Pym was the first to take on the Yellowjacket personna and his version was one of the good guys. He would link up with both the Avengers and the Defenders from time to time. Now to confuse you, in the Ultimate Marvel comics Yellowjacket is Ultron, a super soldier robot. Hank Pym kills this Ultron and becomes Yellowjacket as a means to make up for the evil committed by Ultron.