While any givenMarvelhero’s character design, superpowers, and storylines are incredibly important to establishing that hero as a fan-favorite, there’s also another factor that comes into play: the hero’s name. There’s a reason heroes like Spider-Man and Captain America have stood the test of time, while the likes of Major Maple Leaf and the Whizzer have all but been forgotten. Names are very important, but what’s arguably even more important are the origins of those names, and almost nothing beats one iconic Marvel movie hero, who was named after a kickass ‘90s song (and she’s not alone).
The hero in question is Eloise Phimister aka Negasonic Teenage Warhead. This hero made her first appearance inNew X-Men#115 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely as one of the many mutants slaughtered byCassandra Nova during the “E Is for Extinction”story arc. Most recently,Negasonic Teenage Warhead is the star of her own Marvel Comics one-shot, where she quite literally saves the entire Marvel Universe.
Negasonic Teenage Warhead wouldn’t become a household name, however, until 2016’sDeadpool, where she partnered with Wade Wilson (alongside Colossus) to take down Ajax and save Vanessa. Negasonic Teenage Warhead would appear in the two subsequentDeadpoolfilms as well, forever cementing her as an iconic Marvel hero. However, before 2016’sDeadpool, or evenNew X-Men#115, people knew ‘Negasonic Teenage Warhead’ - not the mutant, the song.
“Negasonic Teenage Warhead” by Monster Magnet was released in 1994, more than two decades before the Marvel hero of the same name starred in one of the most beloved superhero movies to date (and nearly a decade before Ellie even made her Marvel Comics debut). The New Jersey hard-rock band made the song as an ode to the ‘nega-psychedelia’ rock scene of the ‘60s, while simultaneously flipping the proverbial bird at ‘90s grunge bands of their time.
Dave Wyndorf, who wrote “Negasonic Teenage Warhead”, speaks in greater detail about the inspiration behind the song in an article byThe Wall Street Journal.
Grant Morrison, the creator of the Marvel character Negasonic Teenage Warhead, is famously a fan of Monster Magnet, and evidently decided that a mutant like Eloise Phimister was the perfect living embodiment of this particular song. In fact, the name alone is reportedly why Negasonic Teenage Warhead was even included in 2016’sDeadpool, further proving how important a hero’s name is when it comes to their longevity.
Rocket Raccoon was Inspired by the Beatles Song, “Rocky Raccoon”
Negasonic Teenage Warhead may be one of the few Marvel movie heroes named after a song, but she’s certainly not the only one. The name‘Rocket Raccoon’ was actually inspired by The Beatles song “Rocky Raccoon”, which is something that even other Marvel Comics characters have called out before (like Spider-Man inSymbiote Spider-Man). But, just like with Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Rocket Raccoon didn’t reach peak popularity until his MCU debut, which forever links these otherwise unaffiliated heroes as two prominent Marvel movie characters named after songs.
Negasonic Teenage Warhead Debuts The Perfect New Superpower That Cements Her Emo Cred Forever
Negasonic Teenage Warhead (an X-Men member made famous by the Deadpool film franchise) debuts a perfect new power that cements her as an emo icon.
Comic book characters named after songs are just generally really cool to see, as it shows how interconnected every form of creative expression is across all mediums. That’s especially on-the-nose in Negasonic Teenage Warhead’s case, as her characterization matches the energy of the kickass ‘90s song perfectly, and that name proved badass enough to cement her status among the greatestMarvelmovie heroes of all time.
