Who Are The Offenders? Marvel/Hulu's New Team Explained

Marvel Television and Hulu are working together on a range of new animated TV shows, building up to an event series called The Offenders. The unexpected announcement of four new Marvel shows on Hulu was made at the TCA Winter Press Tour, and reflects the fact that Marvel Television is moving on from their partnership with Netflix.

But this idea does seem to be following a very familiar, tried-and-tested approach. Marvel aims to release four animated series, each featuring different superhero stars, and build up to a major team-up event. They've chosen a very different range of characters, though, mostly ones who are unlikely to make their way to the live-action MCU anytime soon. Interestingly enough, one of the characters is actually traditionally associated with the X-Men.

Even the team-name - The Offenders - is a remarkably deep cut into Marvel Comics lore, and few fans will have heard of them. So let's take a look at who the original Offenders were in the comics, and just how Marvel has reimagined them.

This Page: The Offenders Explained & What We Know About Their Shows
Page 2: All Four New Marvel Hulu Shows Explained

The Offenders Explained

The-Offenders assemble for the first time in marvel cmics

In the comics, the Offenders were a band of unwilling champions brought together by the Collector, one of the Elders of the Universe, in order to participate in a cosmic brawl with the original Defenders. The Grandmaster had selected the Defenders as his champions, and it fell to the Collector to counter them. He chose the Red Hulk to battle the Hulk, Baron Mordo to duel Doctor Strange, Terrax to take on the Silver Surfer, and Tiger Shark to confront Namor the Sub-Mariner. Each Defender and Offender engaged in a battle to the death, with the life of a loved one on the line.

Ironically, it was the strongest of the Defenders who fell the first; the Red Hulk successfully killed the Hulk. Given the opportunity to intervene in the other battles, the Red Hulk proceeded to slaughter every one of the Defenders and the Offenders, absorbing the Silver Surfer's Power Cosmic to enhance his own power. Doing so earned the ire of Galactus, however, and the Grandmaster and the Collector realized their game had gone out of control. They rewrote history itself, erasing their latest match so it had never happened.

What We Know About Marvel/Hulu's Offenders

Tigra leaping into battle from Marvel Comics

Marvel Television's version of the Offenders is completely different to the comic book version. The members will be introduced in their own TV shows, ahead of a team-up event series. Here's how are things are expected to play out:

Marvel's M.O.D.O.K.
Marvel's Hit-Monkey
Marvel's Tigra & Dazzler Show
Marvel's Howard the Duck
Marvel's The Offenders

It's an interesting line-up, bringing together some of Marvel's craziest heroes and at least one villain, M.O.D.O.K. At this stage, it's unclear how each individual series is going to play out, let alone why this diverse group will gather together. That said, notice that the team includes two anthropomorphic characters and another two heroes who have previously been involved in interdimensional adventures; this surely isn't a coincidence. Jeph Loeb hinted that there may be a fifth member who acts as team leader, but he wouldn't say any more at this stage. Given this Offenders roster, it's clear there's no connection at all between the Offenders in the comics and the TV version; the name was presumably chosen simply as a pun on The Defenders.

This is actually exactly the same approach Marvel followed with The Defenders. The comic book version of that super-team is traditionally a cosmic group who have enough power to match even the strongest band of Avengers, led by Doctor Strange himself. Marvel Television took the name, and recreated the Defenders as a street-level group that had nothing to do with the comics. Plus, Marvel originally started with four Defenders shows on Netflix before bringing them all together for a team-up even.

Page 2 of 2: All Four New Marvel Hulu Shows Explained

Howard the Duck Explained

Let's start with the most well-known of these surprising characters, Howard the Duck. Marvel's premiere funny animal character, Howard the Duck was created by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerick back in 1972; he's best known for a Marvel movie back in the '80s, and was voiced by Seth Green in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Howard the Duck originates from Duckworld, a reality populated by anthropomorphic duck people, and was stranded in our dimension. Most Howard adventures are satirical commentary on modern social issues, while a few are fourth-wall-breaking stories loosely inspired by popular fiction. Marvel's summary of Howard the Duck definitely sounds one of his typical plots:

"Trapped in a world he never made, America’s favorite fighting fowl Howard the Duck hopes to return home with the help of his unstoppable gal pal Beverly before the evil Dr. Bong can turn him the crispiest dish on the menu."

Beverly Switzler is Howard's companion and sometimes even his girlfriend, a nude model who Howard rescued from a super-villain and who became his flatmate. Doctor Bong is Howard's greatest nemesis, a psychotic scientist who was one of Beverly's schoolfriends and has had a crush on her since college. Incredibly, the two eventually married, although things didn't work out.

M.O.D.O.K. Explained

M.O.D.O.K. is a classic Avengers villain, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1967. M.O.D.O.K. - Mobile Organism Designed Only for Killing - is a ruthless genius and a genetically modified killing machine created by a techno-supremacist organisation called A.I.M. Classic comics played M.O.D.O.K. straight as an enemy for heroes like Captain America and Carol Danvers' Ms. Marvel, but more modern comics have tended to use him for comedy. He's been shown as a deeply insecure character who just wants to be loved, and who's desperate to prove himself to A.I.M. by finally beating these pesky superheroes. Marvel's official summary certainly seems to suggest the show will be based on this portrayal:

"In 'Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K.,' M.O.D.O.K, an egomaniacal Super Villain with a really big head and a really little body, struggles to maintain control of his evil organization and his demanding family."

Hit-Monkey Explained

The story of Hit-Monkey is frankly one of the most bizarre in Marvel Comics history. A macaque who learned how to mimic the moves of a deadly assassin, Hit-Monkey is a gun-for-hire who has a particular reputation for killing assassins. He's best known as an enemy of Deadpool, whose name figures quite prominently on his list. Hit-Monkey is actually a quite new addition to the Marvel Comics universe, created by Daniel Way in 2010. Marvel's synopsis suggests his origin story has been rewritten a little:

"“Marvel’s Hit Monkey” tells the tale of a wronged Japanese snow monkey, mentored by the ghost of an American assassin, as he cuts a wide swath through the Tokyo underworld in this darkly cinematic and brutally funny revenge saga."

Tigra & Dazzler Explained

It had to happen sometime; Marvel's two top Divas are finally teaming up. Although Dazzler and Tigra have never worked together in the comics, the idea is inspired. A classic Marvel Comics character, Tigra was an athletic superhero who was inadvertently drawn into the affairs of the Cat People. Mortally wounded, she was offered one chance to save her life; to undergo a mystical ritual that would transform her into a feline warrior-woman. Needless to say, Tigra chose to live, and became a celebrated hero. She's a longstanding member of the Avengers, and has worked with the X-Men on occasion as well. Tigra still pursues her modeling career, and quite enjoys showing off her physique in a costume that's basically a bikini.

Meanwhile, Dazzler is a mutant pop sensation; she uses her ability to transform sound into light as a way of creating stunning light-shows during her concerts. When the X-Men discovered Dazzler was a mutant, they recruited her into the team, and she's been an on-again-off-again superhero ever since, even leading an interdimensional team at one point. According to Marvel, both Dazzler and Tigra are trying to become celebrities in a world already packed with superheroes:

"In “Marvel’s Tigra & Dazzler Show,” two woke Super Heroes and best friends, Tigra and Dazzler, fight for recognition among powered people who make up the eight million stories in Los Angeles."

It's actually quite surprising to see Dazzler's name on this list; as an X-Men character, she's technically a Fox property. In fact, Fox even prepared a teaser for her in X-Men: Apocalypse, although it wound up on the editing room floor. The Disney/Fox acquisition isn't yet complete, so it's reasonable to assume Marvel Television struck a deal with Fox TV to allow them to use her.