Marvel superheroes are famous for their strength, battles, quirky names, and mostly for defending America. However, even though defending America from disasters, Nazis, war, and other more local villains, not all of them are American. Actually, there are many superheroes that you already know and love who hail from a little further up north, Canada! The Canadian strain of superheroes often has roots connected to national stereotypes – wildlife, nature, indigenous culture, hockey, etc. But today they are part of the pop-culture history of the country and they live on the pages of comic books and movie screens and there are plenty of them. So, let’s see what Canada brought to the pages of Marvel comics.
Deadpool
The ‘Merc with the Mouth’ is probably one of the most popular and favorite Canadian superheroes. The character of Deadpool only recently hit the movie screens and ever since then people fell in love with his big mouth, martial arts skills and how he doesn’t have a problem killing as long as people are paying – since he is a mercenary. Deadpool first appeared in comic books in The New Mutants #98 in 1990 under alter ego Wade Wilson, an assassin created by writer and artist Rob Leifeld and Fabian Nicieza. He has superhuman powers and can regenerate any damaged, destroyed, or even ripped apart cellular tissue. However, even though Canadian, he never boasts about his origins, except for the movie, when he claims to be from “Regina, Saskatchewan”, the city “that rhymes with fun”. Whether it was destiny or otherwise, the character was immortalized on screen by Ryan Reynolds, himself being a native Canadian.
Wolverine
Every X-Men fan knows about Wolverine and how strong, important and big of a character he is. And everyone knows he is Canadian since he is not trying to hide it. However, his history is not that overt. We all know that this Marvel antihero was born in Cold Lake, Alberta as James Howlett, later known as Logan. Wolverine first appeared in comics in The Incredible Hulk in 1974 as the antagonist. Later on, we know him being part of the mutant X-Men squad, and he also joined forces with Alpha Flight and The Avengers. Logan is famous for his super strength, badass attitude, super-healing powers and retractable adamantium claws.
Another thing that this bub is famous for is gambling. Since his sense of smell is super strong due to his animal-like abilities, he uses his smell to also earn some profits. He can actually smell it when someone is bluffing in poker – the coolest super ability. In The Wolverine #26, he adopted a new identity “Patch” and went to Madripoor (a place known for various illegal activities) and gave his fantastic skills in gambling a try with plenty of success. It is no wonder that a Canadian superhero likes to gamble since Canada hosts plenty of great casinos. Even today, people and probably some fantasy superheroes love indulging in a few casino games, but people now do it mostly online. And if you’d like to show off your Wolverine-like skills in poker, you can always visit some of the best Canadian online casinos. Though according to Mike Lorente, author at Casinotopsonline.com, it is important to always compare the different options, in order to find the casino that is tailored to your specific needs.
Captain Canuck
Captain Canuck is the cult favorite of Canadian superheroes and he wears a red-and-white bodysuit embellished with the familiar maple leaf. Ron Leishman and Richard Comely created Captain Canuck in 1975 and he made his first appearance in Captain Canuck #1. His original alter ego was Tom Evans, a secret agent with superhuman powers living in the (then) futuristic year of 1993 when Canada was supposedly the most powerful country in the world. However, this comic never really took off or gained popularity even though there were a few attempts to resurrect it with new Captain Canucks. However, a few years ago a fan raised more than $50,000 Canadian dollars to bring him back and in 2013 there was a cartoon web series published by Chapterhouse Studios.
Northstar
Northstar is the first openly gay Marvel character, thank you Canada! His alter ego is the French-Canadian Jean-Paul Beaubier and he was created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. Northstar first appeared in the X-Men series as a member of Alpha Flight (a team of superheroes created as Canada’s answer to The Avengers). Northstar is also a mutant and was born with superhuman powers including speed, flight and the ability to harness and project photonic energy blasts. With these powers, he became a champion skier and after he got bored with that he joined a Quebec separatist terrorist organization and later the Alpha Flight team.
Sasquatch
Sasquatch is the closest thing to The Hulk, but from the Great White North. He was born Walter Langkowski, an ex-football pro, and admirer of Dr. Bruce Banner and his work. He attempted a similar gamma-ray exposure experiment as Banner and he wanted to give himself super-strength. Instead, gamma rays opened up some sort of mystic barrier and exposed him to “The Realm of the Great Beast”. This essentially transformed him into a big, old, hairy, Canadian Bigfoot. However, unlike Banner who loses control over his mind when he is The Hulk, Langkowski is able to maintain his personality and intelligence when he is Sasquatch.
As we just explored, Canada, too, has some superhero gems that have contributed to the hugely expansive Marvel tapestry of heroes and villains, often treading a fine line between both. Indeed, with characters like Wolverine or Deadpool, we are given some hugely entertaining antiheroes, that more often than not do good and protect the world from evil. And countless fans around the world continue to enjoy their antics, be it on the big screen or in the pages of the comics.
