Thread by @scburdet

OK, so I made a Periodic Table of Marvel Heroes.

So I saw this one a couple days days ago, which looks like a fun mnemonic exercise, but as a periodic table pedant, it doesn't have the classic Mendeleev organization of the characters

https://twitter.com/SoutoManel/status/1280531977016410114

Don't get me started on the monstrosities you can get on a Google image search or buy on a T-shirt

I sought to mimic @ChemistryKit's Periodic Table of Disney Characters

https://twitter.com/ChemistryKit/status/1272471513665601537

My overly detailed explanation for the design is an incoming salvo & should in now way be interpreted as evidence of a misspent life.

1. I did not try like @ChemistryKit to correlate with real chemical elements b/c that makes grouping characters into actual families really hard
2. There are a 💩 ton of Marvel characters, so I limited the selections to those generally recognized as heroes (no villains)

3. b/c there are so many characters, some really great ones aren't included (Warlock, Nova, Deadpool, etc) & some personal biases may have gotten some more obscure characters on the table

4a. Generally speaking, the tradition leader(s) are toward the top (periodic trends!) & where possible the subsequent characters are either chronologically ordered, or ordered by perceived familiarity

4b. b/c of this, the bottom row (group 7) are disproportionately recent creations (also younger, another periodic trend) & show how @Marvel has focused on diversifying it's portfolio of characters

5. Many (many) Marvel characters have been on multiple teams (just about everyone's been an Avenger at some point FFS) so some judgement calls had to be made

Needless to say someone else could come up with an entirely new organization with all or some of the characters that would be completely valid too

Group 1: the Spider-verse. You could probably make a whole spider-man themed periodic table & although Peter Parker was not the first modern Marvel hero, I don't know how he's not #1. Certainly been featured in the most books & movies

G1 cont: chronological order of the 7 most popular spider-characters. You could argue Venom could be swapped out for some other spider-man iteration, but people like Venom

Group 2: the Fantastic Four. The First Family of Marvel. I considered making them group 1, but Spider-man & bad movies. Plus, you'd have to add H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot or something to get to 7 members. Husband/wife(sister)/brother/friend/oldest child/youngest child order

I wanted to make the 3d block the Avengers in order of appearance, but this didn't work very well, so I used a different "strategy"
Group 3: Thor/Hercules, both mythological gods. Thor an original Avenger (Thor could be in group 17).

Underneath Hercules, Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver. Brother & sister with ties to both the X-Men & Avengers. Just the question of whether lanthanum & actinium are lanthanides & actinides respectively, they defy classification

The rest of the Avengers
G4: heroes who use Pym particles
G5: the shield carrying crew
G6: feline themed heroes

G7: Wonder Man's brain patterns were put into the Vision & all the android characters are related to Hank Pym's original Vision
G8: the armored heroes, with Iron Man in the appropriate slot for element 26
G9: bird-themed heroes, even the lame ones like Clint Barton

G10: the Doctors, in the magical sense. Even the Theodore Sallis had a PhD in biochemistry before his experiments with super soldier serum turned him into a swamp monster

G11: cosmic level heroes with "Marvel" in their names. Where did Marvel comics come up with that idea?

G12: Just like Zn/Cd/Hg aren't really transition metals, the Hulk was a checkered history with the Avengers. His first stint with the team lasted 2 issues. Some of his Avengers friends later dumped him on an alien planet, which isn't very nice

G13: DYK Canada has a super hero team? They have maple leaves on their uniforms b/c Canada 🇨🇦
G14: the original Defenders (minus Hulk who's sulking in the Avengers series) & the Netflix team
G15: the Midnight Sons. Get ready for more of these guys in Phase whatever the MCU is on

G16: Inhumans, but not the crappy ones from the ABC TV show. Had to get Kamala Khan in somewhere & the Champions were a bit of a lost cause b/c their members are on like lots of better teams

G17: Asgardians without Thor who ditched them again to play with his cooler friends
G18: your Guardians of the Galaxy. Star Lord born on earth, but travels the stars. Helium found in stars before being discovered on the earth. Work with me here

Lastly, where better to put the heroes who protect a world that hates & fears them than in the f-block that's not even allowed to touch the rest of the table. Chronologically ordered from the original team to the bronze age reboot, ending with a dash of New Mutants

that's pretty much all I have unless you want more comic book trivia dumped into your TL.

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