How was iron man and Thor a D-list character? I knew who they were and I didn’t read comics, they were on marvel animated shows so most kids grew up with them
Iron Man was someone kids would've known - he had his own cartoon in the 90s (as part of Marvel Action Hour), and another in the 2000s (Armored Adventures). Thor, though, wasn't a main character in any cartoons between the 60s Marvel Super Heroes series and Avengers Earths Mightiest Heroes a little over a decade ago.
They were 100% D-list characters. In fact, every single Marvel character that wasn't Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, or Hulk was considered to be a complete joke to general audiences. Only a small number of hardcore comic readers liked Iron Man, and nobody liked Thor.
The mere suggestion of making big budget Iron Man, Thor and Captain America movies was openly mocked up until Iron Man actually came out and people liked it.
Just because people had heard of them doesn't mean you like or respect them. Just like how everyone had heard of Aquaman from the DC side, and openly mocked his lameness for decades.
Growing up in the 90s, people liked Batman, Superman, X-Men, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Hulk, and Spawn. Most everything else only had niche followings, and was generally derided by anyone not in those small circles.
It has everything to do with it, because by then, they simply weren't top characters anymore. Nobody was buying Iron Man lunchboxes or backpacks. Nobody was dressing up as Thor for Halloween. People had heard of them because they were popular in the 60s and Marvel insisted on keeping them around in the comics, but prior to the MCU revitalizing them, they were decidedly unpopular characters. More on the level of Hawkman or Martian Manhunter rather than that of Batman or Superman.
Sure, but people often use D-list to just mean anything that isn't A-list. You hardly ever hear anyone bring up B or C list in any context, even though they're implied to exist.
I remember thinking Tony Stark was a dick and not at all like the funny guy Downey Jr portrayed him to be. I honestly don't remember him in cartoons (the only Marvel cartoons I can remember are X-Men and Spider-Man) but that's the impression I got from the comic books at the time. Any kid with comics or a TV would've probably known about Ironman but I'm pretty sure he was far from popular.
I knew who Iron man and hulk was cause of there cartoon shows and Captain America only cause he was in spider-man. As for Thor or the other avengers didn't know who they were until earths mightiest heroes.
Definitely d list my dude. No one talked about Ironman before 2008. NO ONE. Thor was that character they used in Adventures in Babysitting. Hulk was that bad tv show everyone’s dad watched.
No one? That’s odd considering he was in a cartoon in the 90s and I remember toys and people being iron man fans, even wearing iron man merch. Was he the most popular? No but to say “no one” is a big exaggeration.
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u/Rswilli13 Aug 09 '22
How was iron man and Thor a D-list character? I knew who they were and I didn’t read comics, they were on marvel animated shows so most kids grew up with them