Not sure what to give the friend who loves all things Marvel? Read our guide and match the superhero to their personality, and finally know the best gift for your Marvel geek.
Let’s be honest, a Marvel fan will be happy with pretty much any Marvel themed gift (and you can find them all here.) The real trick is to know which character they will appreciate the most. Asking them outright misses the point; make the present more special by showing them you’ve thought about why your gift suits them.
At Lost Universe, we each have our own favourite Marvel hero (and villain), and it’s because we relate to their philosophies, and dream of their powers. In this blog, we’ve made a sort of sorting hat matching personality and Marvel character, to help you in your quest to find the best gifts for Marvel fans.
What does your Marvel fan value most out of intelligence, brute strength, acrobatics, humour, rage and honour? Let’s see what character should be the theme of your gift.
Intelligence / Humour
Iron Man
The inimitable Tony Stark, who built himself into a superhero with a scientific brain and a lot of money. In another life, he and Batman would be good friends, minus Batman’s dark broodiness. Stark started the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe saga off with the first Iron Man movie.
The Iron Man fan is attracted by his wit, his mortality (he doesn’t have superhuman powers) and his genius.
Brute Strength / Honour
Captain America
The do-gooder in chief, Steve Rogers (and soon to be Sam Wilson), the Cap is the beacon of hope and strength for all the Avengers. He packs a powerful punch and he always does what he believes to be right, no matter what. To see his stamina and endurance, and stubborn virtuousness, go and watch the slugfest that is Captain America: Civil War.
The Captain America fan is a law-abiding citizen who adheres to Western values of hope and freedom through strength.
Thor
Unlike Captain America, Thor does what is right not because of a selfless duty, but because it is his right as king of Asgard. He’s a little less smart, but he’s the God of Thunder, and has the best Marvel film of all, Thor: Ragnarok.
People love Thor because he lives for the thrill of battle, Viking-style. He is an alien/god but still has the humanity to know to protect the weak. The Thor fan is enamoured with ideas of glory and righteous power.
Brute Strength / Acrobatics
Captain Marvel
In Marvel’s first female-led superhero movie, an airforce pilot Carol Danvers takes on the mantle of Captain Marvel. She is a superhero who battles the Kree Empire and can fly through space and shoot radiant energy from her fingers. There have been many different versions of Captain Marvel in the comics, withthe movies choosing the Carol Danvers storyline.
Captain Marvel has taken on the responsibility to help not just humans but all the oppressed across the galaxy, which sounds exhausting. But that is her appeal, and her fans love that a female superhero is doing more than all the male Avengers combined.
Acrobatics / Humour
Deadpool
Naughty-but-nice hero Deadpool doesn’t mind killing bad guys with his ninja swords and guns if it means he can say a zinger of a one-liner. In his eyes he’s no hero; he’s killed a lot of his enemies and isn’t sure if he wants to stop.
Deadpool fans are tired of the good vs. evil narrative of most superhero stories. They love a bit of darkness and black comedy thrown in to reflect the real world around them. They also have a dirty sense of humour.
Brute Strength / Rage
The Hulk
The Hulk is what would happen if every moment of humiliation and bullying turned you into a being of pure rage and destructive power. Something we often fantasise about when someone takes our parking space. The Hulk is the kind of green giant you don’t want serving you sweetcorn.
Hulk fans daydream about unleashing a storm of rage on everyone after a bad day, without consequences. They likely also scream into pillows and shout at kids online when playing Call of Duty.
Wolverine
This grizzled old Canadian mutant has super strength, a skeleton made of unbreakable metal and he can never die, so has a lot of baggage. He’s angry about many things, and he doesn’t like change. He thinks sideburns and Harley Davidsons are still cool – though he’s probably the only guy who can pull it off – but he’s fundamentally good.
The Wolverine fan loves a good bourbon and a cigarette, and grumbling about “kids these days.” In fact, a Wolverine gift is probably the only way to their stony heart.
Acrobatics / Intelligence
Spider-Man
This wall crawler is a teenage Peter Parker with spider-like super powers, navigating high school as well as managing a celebrity alter ego. He’s nerdy and he’s awkward around girls; he makes mistakes and he is fiercely loyal to his friends and family.
Almost everyone who was ever a teenager growing up in a crowded city can relate to Spider-Man. Fans love to dream about the freedom from city life, soaring past traffic and getting their own back on bullies.
Black Panther
Like Thor, T’Challa is leader of a people; he is the king and protector of Wakanda, a fictional African country. This means that he is allowed to become Black Panther and eat magic herbs that give him superpowers, like agility, speed and strength. His country also has a lot of natural resources so he’s pretty rich.
The movie showed Hollywood execs that there is a huge appetite for a black superhero, and that people have enough imagination to love characters that aren’t Anglo-American.
The Black Panther fan loves that an African superhero, with depth of character and a good story, has been accepted worldwide. They are also attracted by his sense of responsibility as a scholarly king.
Intelligence / Honour
Professor X
Charles Xavier is a headmaster and super-intelligent telepath. He created the X Men as a way to protect and nurture all mutant children around the world. Not only that, but he is played by Patrick Stewart, Captain Jean-Luc Picard himself.
Giving a piece of Professor X merchandise as a gift is quite the compliment.
Humour / Honour
Ant Man
The honorable thief, Scott Lang, just can’t get his life in order. With a criminal record, he can’t get a normal job but fate means he is given a superhero job instead. The entire idea of Ant Man is already funny – a superhero who can shrink and ride ants around, or grow so big he gets light headed.
And if you cast Paul Rudd in the movie, then you know this isn’t going to be dark. Give an Ant Man gift to the friend who’s a loveable rogue with a heart of gold.
Acrobatics / Honour
Black Widow
The Soviet hyper assassin turned good, Natasha Romanoff is a genetically improved secret agent who knows her way around any number of weapons and gadgets. She defected from Russia and joined The Avengers using her tactical brain and martial arts prowess to fight evil. She is a gymnast with super agility meaning she can infiltrate evil lairs and perform cinematically appealing stealthy takedowns.
Black Widow fans love that she is able to measure up to male superheroes like The Hulk and Thor, even though she doesn’t have obvious superpowers. They also love Scarlett Johansson, so anything with her is a great gift.
Hawkeye
The most normal of The Avengers, Clint Barton’s appeal lies in that he is peak human, with no super powers at all. He is an expert marksman and is the strongest, fastest that a human can ever be, which means he is more of a superhero than most.
Fans of Hawkeye will like the more realistic side of heroism. Like Iron Man and Batman, he uses his very human gifts, a fact which is more inspiring and achievable.
Find the perfect Marvel gift in our collection.
Fans always have a favourite they can relate to
Buying a gift for a Marvel fan is about finding the superhero they identify with most, whether it’s their powers or their personalities. If you find out what they dream of, what inspires them and what they value most, then you can use this handy guide to find the perfect present.
