Summary
This article contains examples of crude and inappropriate humor the likes of which made Beavis and Butt-Head the iconic characters they are today, all at the expense of Marvel Comics' greatest street-level heroes. Reader discretion is advised.
Beavis and Butt-Headhave famously been criticizing, praising, or totally trashing music videos on MTV for years with their hilarious commentary, but little do many fans know, they actually did the exact same thing withMarvel Comics. If a Marvel character was even semi-popular in the ‘90s, theyweren’t safe from Beavis and Butt-Head’s wrath, as they became subject to the opinions and comments of the two biggest idiots in pop culture history.
While the Marvel Comics characters and series Beavis and Butt-Head spotlighted ranged from the Avengers to the X-Men, there were more than a few who existed in the middle ground of the Marvel Universe - not quite saving the entire world, but also not allowing it to go up in flames: the street-level heroes. Marvel’s street-level side is arguably its coolest, as this corner of Marvel continuity is chalk-full of antiheroes, lawless vigilantes, and badasses of all sorts.
However, in this case, fans’ opinions on these street-level heroes don’t matter, it’s all aboutwhat Beavis and Butt-Head have to sayabout them. Here are10 street-level Marvel Comics heroes Beavis and Butt-Head either love or hate.
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Charlie Brown is an official member of the X-Men as well as being widely influential throughout the entire comic book industry - but what’s his power?
When Beavis and Butt-Head are reading an issue ofThe Punisher, they give the Marvel Comics antihero the greatest compliment they can give: they start air-guitaring in excitement. Beavis and Butt-Head only break-out their metal vocal riffs when something is too cool for words, and that’s how they feel about the Punisher. But more than that,the two fantasize about teaming up with the Punisher, wishing that he’d beat up their ‘sucky’ principal. Of course, that’s not how the Frank Castle operates, but their fantasy only reinforces how much Beavis and Butt-Head love the Punisher.
Spider-Man is easily one of the coolest street-level superheroes in the history of Marvel Comics, but Beavis and Butt-Head couldn’t care less about him. Even in a storyline that shows Spider-Man fighting both Venom and Carnage at once,the dimwitted duo would rather look at pictures of Mary Jane than read about the action-packed adventures of Spider-Man. While Mary Jane was depicted in an especially provocative manner in the issue they’re reading, it’s still insane that Beavis and Butt-Head would say that Spider-Man ‘sucks’ in comparison.
While it’s true that Beavis and Butt-Head could make anything seem dirty (that’s their go-to bit, in fact), they’re admittedly given ample ammo to work with in this instance. The two are reading aSilver Sablecomic that features her fighting Black Cat, and while these two characters aren’t engaging in anything sexual, the artwork and innuendo make it feel decidedly adult.Beavis and Butt-Head’s reactions are actually a well-delivered message about the over-sexualization of female comic book charactersthat only recently stopped being commonplace in the medium - which is shockingly deep forBeavis and Butt-Head.
Beavis and Butt-Head both agree that Daredevil’s powers are cool, not just because he has heightened senses, but because he’s physically unable to ‘see anything that sucks’. However, the two idiots do manage to come up with one downside to Daredevil’s powers - and it’s downright disgusting. Beavis says, “if I like, cut the cheese he could smell it from far away!!”, and there’s nothing about that statement that isn’t completely true. Daredevil regularly uses his heightened senses to patrol Hell’s Kitchen without moving a muscle, and that would include picking up a whiff of Beavis' cut cheese.
Beavis and Butt-Head are reading an issue of Nightwatch, where the titular vigilante teams up with the Prowler to investigate a string of break-ins. The two don’t have much to say about Nightwatch as a character (other than inexplicably wishing death upon him), but one thing they do say is incredibly revealing about another, much more iconic superhero: DC’s Batman.
Beavis and Butt-Head agree that Nightwatch and the Prowler are lame because they both wear capes, and capes ‘suck’ as far as Beavis and Butt-Head are concerned. Given how nearly-identical Nightwatch’s aesthetic is to Batman’s,it stands to reason that Beavis and Butt-Head would also think Batman sucks- and it’s all thanks to the Caped Crusader’s, well, cape.
While Beavis initially thinks Two-Gun Kid is lame, since he’s a hero who operates exclusively in the Wild West (which is about as ‘street-level’ as a hero could get), Butt-Head quickly sets him straight. Butt-Head thinks Two-Gun Kid is cool because he shoots bad guys and always ‘gets the girl’. Beavis immediately sees where Butt-Head is coming from, and agrees that the Two-Gun Kid is cool, despite both his initial reservations and the fact that Two-Gun Kid is basically a Z-list Marvel Comics hero. Thisanalysis of Two-Gun Kid ends with both Beavis and Butt-Head idolizing the cowboy crime-fighter.
Beavis and Butt-Head unleash a seemingly endless slew of dirty jokes while reading an issue ofNew Warriors, but even with the steady ridicule, the two nincompoops decide that every member of the New Warriors is cool - except one: Night Thrasher. Night Thrasher is a vigilante who rides a skateboard, which would seem like the kind of weird, counter-culture type of character Beavis and Butt-Head would think ‘kicked ass’. But, the opposite is true, asNight Thrasher’s the only member of the New Warriors Beavis and Butt-Head hate.
Like practically anyone who’s ever enjoyed an especially action-packedWolverinecomic, Beavis and Butt-Head are totally amped-up seeing this street-level mutant hero in action - a bit too much, in fact. After watching Wolverine brutally kill a ninja in combat, Butt-Head decides he wants to do something similar to Beavis.Holding three utensils between his fingers in a closed fist to mimic Wolverine’s claws, Butt-Head stabs Beavis in the eye, saying he did it because, “I’m th' best there is at what I do”.
Spider-Man 2099 is swinging through the city of Nueva York in the issue Beavis and Butt-Head are reading, when he’s attacked by the Vulture of Marvel Comics' 2099 reality. While Beavis and Butt-Head spend most of their time arguing over what Spider-Man 2099’s name is (Spider-Man 90210, Spider-Man 20/20…),they immediately start paying attention to the comic when Spider-Man uses a faux curse word: ‘shock’.
The novelty of it quickly wears off, but it gets their minds turning to the possibility of a superhero who actually did curse, and they even come up with a name for him: @#*%!-Man. Only time will tell if Beavis and Butt-Head develop their new R-rated hero any further, but if they do, then fans will know that he was inspired by a decidedly ‘cool’ street-level hero, Spider-Man 2099.
At the start, Beavis and Butt-Head don’t seem to be fans ofGhost Rider, as they immediately think Danny Ketch is a loser because he’s openly miserable about the fact that he’s a host for the Spirit of Vengeance. But then, when innocent blood is spilled, Danny Ketch’s face melts off, as fire encompasses his now-exposed skull, completing his transformation into Ghost Rider.The literal face-melting gruesomeness of the Ghost Rider transformation causes Beavis to quiver with excitement, especially after he sees Ghost Rider’s iconic “fire” - which Beavis is famously obsessed with.
Every one of these examples ofMarvel Comicscommentary fromBeavis and Butt-Headperfectly captures who they are as characters, and allows fans to see them criticizing or otherwise commenting on something other than MTV music videos - which is nothing more or less than a ton of fun for fans of these iconic idiots.
Beavis and Butt-Head
Beavis and Butt-Head originally appeared in an MTV short film called Frog Baseball before the characters got their own series on the network in 1993. The original series ran for seven seasons until 1997 and got an eighth season in 2011. Paramount+ would later revive the series for their streaming service in 2022. Mike Judge’s characters have also gotten two movies; Beavis and Butt-Head Do America in 1996, and Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe in 2022.
