Features of the Marvel Universe
The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several noteworthy concepts besides its fictional characters, such as unique places and artifacts. There follows a list of those features.
For a list of features in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, see Features of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.: A newspaper building where Peter Parker (Spider-Man) works as a photographer for J. Jonah Jameson.[6]
Daily Bugle
Fisk Towers: A skyscraper owned by Wilson Fisk, and base of operations for his criminal activities.[7]
Kingpin
Nelson and Murdock Law Offices: The law firm founded by Matt Murdock (Daredevil) and Foggy Nelson.
[9]
: A ghetto-like neighborhood of New York primarily populated by mutants. Since the Decimation, its mutant population has largely disappeared.[12]
Mutant Town/District X
: In Fantastic Four #4 (1962), the Fantastic Four's Human Torch discovers the 1940s-era character Namor in this Manhattan neighborhood of "human derelicts", where Namor had taken up residence after the onset of retrograde amnesia about his identity.
The Bowery
Aladdin: In the setting, Aladdin was a U.S. government agency apparently founded sometime in the 1960s to deal with the growing number of Ultras (super-powered beings) in their world. In 1970, their scientific division, using a synthesis of organic brain tissue and computer systems called G.E.N.I.E. (Genetically Engineered Neural Intelligence Experiment), was examining alien technology and corpses discovered by U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War, when some unknown event caused the corpses to release a cloud of material which caused G.E.N.I.E. to develop sentience and grow into a true fusion of organic and mechanical technology.
Ultraverse
Aladdin Assault Squad: In the , the Aladdin Assault Squad/A.A.S. was a special department within the government agency known as Aladdin. The Aladdin Assault Squad was created in response to the growing number of Ultras (superhumans). The A.A.S. operated out of Aladdin's Groom Lake facility, and functioned as an independent internal security force. They also assisted ongoing Ultra research. Known members of the Aladdin Assault Squad are: Dirt Devil, Foxfire, the Grip, Hardwire, Headknocker, and War Eagle.[125]
Malibu Ultraverse
A.R.M.O.R.
Black Air
The Commission on Superhuman Activities (also known as the Commission on Superhuman Affairs or CSA for short): A government agency created by the that monitors superhumans. They have an office in Washington, D.C. A number of members of the Commission when created were involved with various government projects regarding superhumans: Project Wideawake, former and current Avengers liaisons, Freedom Force liaison and super soldier projects such as Head Commissioner Douglas Rockwell, Norman Osborn, Abner Jenkins, Valerie Cooper, and Henry Gyrich.[126]
President of the United States of America
Department H: A fictitious branch of Canada's that deals with super-powered persons. Department H was responsible for bringing together and managing the Marvel Comics team known as Alpha Flight and its related teams Beta Flight, Gamma Flight, and Omega Flight.[127] It was mentioned in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode "End of the Beginning" and alluded in the films X2: X-Men United and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Department of National Defense
Euromind: Another subdivision of S.H.I.E.L.D., was introduced in the Marvel Italia series Europa.[129]
European
F.I.6: A British Intelligence agency, and former employers of . Led by Brigadier Theodore 'Inky' Blott. Employed psychics. Disbanded after most agents, including Blott, were killed by Necrom. Introduced in Excalibur and created by Alan Davis.[130]
Micromax
G.R.A.M.P.A.: The covert organization known as G.R.A.M.P.A., the Global Reaction Agency for Mysterious Paranormal Activity, debuted in (vol. 2) #15. G.R.A.M.P.A.'s most prominent field operatives are Ace and One-Eyed Jacquie; the two agents refer to themselves collectively as "Blackjack". G.R.A.M.P.A. is tasked with protecting the world from paranormal threats.[131]
Amazing Fantasy
H.A.M.M.E.R.
H.A.T.E.: The Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort, better known by its acronym, is one of two organizations in Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. H.A.T.E. and its leader, Dirk Anger, are parodies of Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury. H.A.T.E. is a government agency that is funded by the Beyond Corporation, a company that was formerly a terrorist cell called S.I.L.E.N.T. (the acronym has not been explained yet).
antagonistic
The Lodge: Created by Basil Wentworth towards the end of World War II, the Lodge's purpose was to prepare for the Cold War that was destined to come about. The Lodge started covert operations in China, the Soviet Union, and East Germany, and has continued its "dirty tricks" into the present day.
MI-13
Mutant Response Division: A mutant-hunting group founded by known anti-mutant scientists and Bolivar Trask and funded by Bastion via the United Nations. It is also referred to by its abbreviated name MRD. The organization's first appearance outside comic books was in Wolverine and the X-Men and The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes under Dr. Sybil Zane, Warren Worthington Jr. and Colonel Moss. Similar groups are introduced in the X-Men films such as in Deadpool 2 under Department of Mutant Containment (DMC) and in Dark Phoenix as Mutant Containment Unit (MCU) as an unintentional easter egg for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.[132]
Steven Lang
Office of National Emergency: Commonly referred to as O*N*E or Sentinel Squad O*N*E, it is known as the originator of the squads that were assigned to protect/observe the X-Men and the remaining mutants after the event known as M-Day, which reduced the number of mutants on Earth to only a few hundred.[133] Its members included War Machine (Direct Command Officer), Lex Lexington/Megaton (Leader), Security Advisor Valerie Cooper and General Robert Callahan.[134] Later disbanded during Avengers & X-Men: AXIS.[135]
Sentinel
R.C.X.: The Resources Control Executive is a British intelligence agency, introduced in as a replacement to S.T.R.I.K.E. and created by Jamie Delano and Alan Davis. The British intelligence agency for the investigation of paranormal and superhuman activity known as S.T.R.I.K.E. was infiltrated by a criminal organization and nearly all of its members were killed. A weakened S.T.R.I.K.E., unable to deal with the consequences of the Jaspers' Warp, was subsequently disbanded, and the Resources Control Executive (R.C.X.) was created to take its place. The members of the R.C.X. use codenames based on biblical figures to hide their true identity.[138]
Captain Britain
S.A.F.E.: Introduced in Marvel's line of novels in the mid-1990s, S.A.F.E. (Strategic Action For Emergencies) is the United States' answer to S.H.I.E.L.D. They first appeared in & the Incredible Hulk: Rampage (Doom's Day Book 1), and may not be part of comics canon. Whereas S.H.I.E.L.D. is a UN-funded and run organization dealing with international incidents, S.A.F.E. is tasked with similar duties inside of America's borders. It is run by Colonel Sean Morgan and a prominently featured agent is Joshua Ballard, who, among other things, survived an encounter with Doctor Doom and later Baron Zemo.[139]
Spider-Man
: Strategtic Hazard Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division is the United States' top spy agency led by Nick Fury.
S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.T.A.R.S.: The , created a special division of the federal government's U.S. Marshals called S.T.A.R.S., the Superhuman Tactical Activities Response Squad. A federal organization authorized to monitor and manage all activities regarding the supervision, apprehension, and detention of superhuman criminals in the United States. The group's leader was John Walker, the U.S. Agent. S.T.A.R.S. uncovered a Ruul plot to use Earth as a penal colony for alien criminals. U.S. Agent and S.T.A.R.S. were ultimately responsible for exposing and defeating the Ruul.[140]
Commission on Superhuman Activities
S.T.A.K.E.: Special Threat Assessment for Known Extranormalities. was a S.H.I.E.L.D. project inspired by 's Howling Commandos, which focused on dealing with supernatural occurrences. At the time when Hydra took over S.H.I.E.L.D. during Secret Empire and most of the United States, the Howling Commandos alongside S.T.A.K.E. fell under Hydra's control[141]
Dum Dum Dugan
S.T.R.I.K.E.
Superhuman Restraint Unit
: Sentient World Observation And Response Department is an agency that deals with cosmic threats to Earth.
S.W.O.R.D.
W.A.N.D.: Wizardry Alchemy Necromancy Department, the magical division of S.H.I.E.L.D. aided by and Director Pandora Peters introduced in the Marvel NOW! relaunch of Thunderbolts.[142]
Wong
Weapon X
W.H.O.: The Weird Happenings Organization was mandated by the UK government with the investigation into and research of supernatural and paranormal phenomena until it was replaced by . It was featured in Excalibur.
Black Air
Atomic Steed: The sometimes employs one of the "Atomic Steeds" built by the Knights of Wundagore, engineered by the High Evolutionary.[192]
Black Knight
Battle Van: The Battle Van was used by the as his primary mode of transportation.[193] It is customized with a various array of weaponry and armor, and serves as a mobile armory.
Punisher
Fantastic Four's Pogo Plane: so called because of its tail-down landing/take-off attitude, was the first significant air-breathing engine design of . Employing new turbine blade configurations and a new titanium-alloy process, Richards increased overall engine performance to a very high thrust-to-weight ratio. It is loosely based on the never mass-produced Convair XFY Pogo.
Reed Richards
Fantasticar: Various flying hovercraft used by the , most versions are able to split into four smaller vehicles.[195]
Fantastic Four
: The original Guardians of the Galaxy operate from the Starship Freedom's Lady, a medium-weight, 700-foot (210 m) Annihilator-class battleship of 30th century Earth design. Trans-light power is furnished by inter-reacting tachyon and anti-tachyon beams. Fully equipped for deep-space and inter-galactic excursion, it carried a full complement of offensive weapons as well as an impenetrable energy barrier, divided into 14 overlapping segments.
Freedom's Lady
Goblin Glider: A metal bat-shaped glider that Green Goblin uses to travel around the skies.
Hellcycle: 's flaming motorcycle. The vehicle is created by the Ghost Rider's own mystical hellfire being imbued in an otherwise normal motorcycle, usually the property of the Ghost Rider's host at the time.
Ghost Rider
Kang's time-ship: 's time-ship is a 20-foot (6.1 m) long, non-aerodynamic, space-worthy vehicle and is mostly a housing for the large energy-generating devices that power the time machine. The time machine itself is a device whose major timestream-bridging components are the size of a two-drawer file cabinet. It utilizes energy to generate a chronal-displacement internal field, enabling a being or object to break through the "reality walls" of the timestream into the trans-temporal realm of Limbo, from which all time eras and alternate worlds are accessible.
Kang the Conqueror
The Leapfrog: The Leapfrog is the method of transportation for the .
Runaways
Mooncopter: 's copter is a VTOL vehicle capable of precision, computer-assisted maneuvering for air-land-and-sea rescues, tracking automobiles through traffic, and many other purposes. Moon Knight is in constant contact with the copter, piloted by Frenchie (but also with a sophisticated, computer-aided auto-pilot), at all times via a miniature transceiver with a microphone in his cowl. The on-board computer performs navigation functions, remote sensor image-enhancement, and radar interpretation. Moon Knight has had at least two different designs of copter. One resembled a conventional helicopter with a crescent moon tail. The second actually resembled an airship more than a helicopter, but was also crescent shaped.
Moon Knight
Quinjet: A technologically advanced S.H.I.E.L.D. used primarily by the Avengers, the Quinjet first appeared in The Avengers #61 (February 1969).
jet
S.H.I.E.L.D. flying car: The flying car is a S.H.I.E.L.D. personal vehicle that looks like a car but can fly. It made appearances in and Spider-Man. In Captain America: The First Avenger, Howard Stark unveils a flying car at 1943 Stark Expo. A flying car appears in the possession of Phil Coulson in the TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. called "Lola", a 1962 red Chevrolet Corvette (C1). Flying Car makes its final appearance in Agent Carter season 2, final episode "Hollywood Ending."
Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends
: The aircraft used by S.H.I.E.L.D. around the world.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier
Ship: gigantic, self-aware AI ship which was simply known as "Ship". It is hinted to have been built by the Celestials. It made several appearances in the comics as well as the 1990s X-Men cartoon series.
Apocalypse's
Shockwave Rider: The superhero team steals the Shockwave Rider, its base of operations, from H.A.T.E., a compromised anti-terrorist organization. The Shockwave Rider is powered by a Zero-Point Squirt Drive, giving it a nearly unlimited fuel supply. The Rider contains 5 tesseract zones, allowing it to be spacious on the inside while keeping it compact on the outside. To deploy in the field, the team dives through a pool of an orange membrane to exit via the underside of the ship. It was destroyed in Nextwave's final battle with the Beyond Corporation.
Nextwave
Skuttlebutt: A -designed sentient starship, vehicle of Beta Ray Bill where its A.I. serves as his companion.[196]
Korbinite
Sky Bike: sometimes travels about in a custom-built sky bike (also called a sky-cycle or skymobile), designed and built at Cross Technological Enterprises. It is voice-operated and requires no hands to steer. The sky bike first appeared in Hawkeye #1 (September 1983). It was also featured in Iron Man. Hawkeye also uses the bike in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
Hawkeye
Enigma Force
Uni-Power
Goblyn Force
Nova Force
Odin Force
Omega Force