10 Fastest Marvel Characters Who Aren’t Mutants

In terms of Marvel’s superhero teams, the X-Men have a seeming monopoly on superspeed, with heroes like Northstar, Aurora, Transonic, Quick, Meanstreak and Speed. However, there are other heroic speedsters in the Marvel Universe who don’t have the benefit of the X-gene – here are the 10 fastest do-gooders on Marvel’s books.

We’re only considering outright heroes on this list, so godly speedsters like Hermes and the Runner don’t make the cut, while official supervillains weren’t even considered. As ever, we’ll include a few honorable mentions, as well as a couple of controversial entries that we already know we’ll be hearing about in the comments…

10

Calamity, aka James Wa

Civil War Introduced Some Little-Known Heroes

Iron Man’s plans in the epic Civil War event didn’t stop at bringing down Captain America. Tony wanted the new Superhero Registration Act to facilitate the 50 States Initiative – an ambitious attempt to base a registered superhero team in every US state. Fans see Iron Man, Reed Richards and Yellowjacket auditioning (and even developing) some of these heroes in Civil War #6, by Mark Millar & Steve McNiven, including the speedster Hermes.

Hermes was renamed Calamity for his service in California’s The Order – a short-lived hero team who got their own self-titled series in 2007, from Matt Fraction and Barry Kitson. Thanks to cybernetic augmentation, Calamity is capable of reaching a maximum speed of Mach 3, using his powers to battle villains including Obadiah Stane and the Skrull invasion of Earth.

9

Makkari

The Eternals’ Speedster Is Essentially a God

A member of the Eternals, Makkari eschewed many of the species’ other potential powers to focus on her speed. Makkari was a major influence over ancient Greek and Roman culture, and was one of the Eternals often mistaken for a god by mortals. Makkari was at one time the one link between the Eternals and their creators, the Celestials, but ultimately lost this power. Pushing her body to the limit to regain this connection, Makkari lost her senses of hearing and speech, and is now one of Marvel’s few hard-of-hearing heroes, alongside Hawkeye and Echo. Makkari’s speed has never been officially measured, but Marvel‘s official character profile states that, “Makkari’s optimum speed is not known, but is likely Mach 3.”

8

Le Vent

The Fastest Man in Europe Is Cursed with Speed

During the events of Civil War, the Thing took a unique position – unwilling to submit to an unjust law, but also unwilling to fight his government. Ben Grimm resolved to ride out the tumultuous period in Paris, ending up working with Les Heroes de Paris – a group composed of the Superman-esque Adamantine, cat-like Anaïs, Americana-loving Cowboy, truth-compelling Lumière Bleue, ghost-like Detective Fantôme, French Batman Comte de Nuit, and armored enforcer Docteur Q, as well as the super-speedster Le Vent, aka the Wind.

La Vent’s speed powers are mystical in nature, as the hero (for unknown reasons) was cursed by a sorcerer to never be able to slow down. Despite this unfortunate origin, La Vent is known as “the fastest man in Europe” and can run at Mach 4, as well as being strong enough to throw the Thing like a wrecking ball. Le Heroes De Paris were created by J. Michael Straczynski & Mike McKone.

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7

Whiz Kid

Not Every Speedster Fights Crime

Not every speedster wants to be a vigilante, especially when their powers mean they bleed at super-fast speeds. Whiz Kid was originally introduced in 2004’s She-Hulk #4 (by Dan Slott & Paul Pelletier) as part of a trio of superfast individuals working for the legal firm of Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway. Whiz Kid was content using her powers to deliver various legal papers at impossible speeds, but was sadly forced to register with the government during the events of Civil War.

Despite the high risk of death from injury, Whiz Kid worked with the Liberteens – a 50 State Initiative team assigned to Pennsylvania. Whiz Kid moves at an outrageous 30,000 MPH and was essential to connecting up the 50 State Initiative when it was discovered the Skrulls had placed an impostor on every team. Sadly, she died fighting the Invasion, after using her speed to create a tornado that saved other heroes from a toxic gas. Of course, in comics, no death lasts forever…

6

Blur, aka Jeffrey Walters

The Squadron Supreme’s Speedster Antihero

There have been many heroes known as the Blur in Marvel Comics, but Jeffrey Walters made the name his own as a member of the Squadron Supreme – a group of antihero superhumans who went further than the Avengers in attempting to keep the world safe, including executing Namor for his crimes leading up to the Secret Wars event. Blur is one of the most dangerous speedsters in Marvel lore – as a trained soldier, his combat skills are far in excess of most superheroes.

While Blur’s maximum speed hasn’t been reliably quantified, Squadron Supreme Volume 4 #3 from James Robinson and Leonard Kirk saw him equal Quicksilver’s speed (by Pietro’s own admission) and claim he could surpass it. He certainly proved himself smarter, using a hidden tripwire to decisively take down the Avengers’ speedster.

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5

Quicksilver, aka Pietro Maximoff

Pietro Hasn’t Been Considered a Mutant Since 2014

While he’s often seen as a mutant, Quicksilver was only wrongly believed to be a member of homo superior due to the mistaken belief that Magneto was his father. Marvel’s AXIS event dispelled this myth, with later confirmation that Pietro’s speed actually comes from the experiments of the High Evolutionary. Quicksilver isn’t just fast – his body has been transformed to perfectly complement high-speed movement, making his reaction speeds and dexterity ultra-sharp, even for a speedster.

Over the years, Quicksilver has consistently increased his speed, training and removing mental blocks that kept him in a ‘safe’ speed range. Avengers vs X-Men #2 (Jason Aaron, John Romita Jr.) confirmed that he can move at Mach 5, however this is a baseline not a limit, and during the events of Avengers: No Surrender, he ran so fast that he became detached from the linear flow of time (though this was possible partly due to his sister’s magic.)

4

Photon, aka Monica Rambeau

The Former Avenger Can Reach Lightspeed

The former Captain Marvel, Photon is one of Marvel’s most respected heroes, and is one of few to have led the Avengers. Monica has control over the electromagnetic spectrum, and can transform her entire body into light. This allows her to move at lightspeed, with Captain America and the Mighty Avengers #9 (from Al Ewing and Luke Ross) confirming that she can move fast enough to destroy the planet by impacting it in a hard-light form.

3

FastForward

Is This Marvel Hero Actually DC’s Flash?

In 1990’s Quasar #17, Mark Gruenwald & Mike Manley made the gutsy decision to effectively steal the Flash from DC Comics. During the events of DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths, Barry Allen’s Flash pushed his speed further than ever before, disintegrating and seemingly dying. Five years later, a superfast hero in a torn red and yellow costume crashlanded on Marvel’s Earth, remembering nothing of his life except that his true name sounded something like “Buried Alien.”

The hero later took the name FastForward, and famously engaged in a race set up by the Runner – an Elder of the Universe who is obsessed with racing and speed. FastForward beat out other speedsters including Makkari and Quicksilver, with the Runner crowning him “The Fastest Man Alive” – Flash’s iconic nickname over at DC. The character hasn’t been seen much since, especially after Barry Allen returned to DC lore.

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2

Sentry, aka Robert ‘Bob’ Reynolds

At His Fastest, Sentry Broke Lightspeed

The Sentry is Bob Reynolds – a normal kid who ingested a new version of the Super Soldier Serum and received the power of “a million exploding suns.” Sentry has similar powers to DC’s Superman, but those powers are a lie. Bob Reynolds’ true superhuman ability is to control reality on a molecular level. The Sentry has Superman-esque powers because that’s how Bob sees his idealized self, while also creating the demonic Void – the equally powerful embodiment of Bob’s doubt and self-hatred.

Sentry’s various feats prove that there’s really no limit on his powers, with some accomplishments suggesting he even moves faster than the speed of light. This was shown in Rick Remender and Daniel Acuña’s Uncanny Avengers #10, when the narration notes that after tackling Thor, “The Sentry’s velocity bends space and time. Their atoms are hurled forward at many times the speed of light.” However, this was while he was empowered by the Celestial Death Seed, and it’s possible he’s not quite this fast with his default abilities.

Sentry’s biggest drawback is that his powers are unreliable. While Sentry is immensely strong and fast, he’s limited by Bob Reynolds’ imagination and mental state, which is fragile at the best of times.

1

Silver Surfer, aka Norrin Radd

Galactus’ Former Herald Redefines Speed

Like the Sentry, Silver Surfer can move at speeds “surpassing the speed of light,” thanks to the reality-warping Power Cosmic granted to him by Galactus. While the Surfer can open holes in reality to travel impossible distances through hyperspace, he can do the same with pure speed thanks to his board, which is a physical part of him with its own secondary sentience (implied to be an aspect of his own subconscious mind.)

Reconfigured on the biological level to be the ideal being for space travel over vast distances, Silver Surfer’s Power Cosmic also allows him to warp time and reality, meaning he can technically arrive at his destination before he set off. He’s also able to call in favors from allies like Eternity, who – in 2017’s Silver Surfer #10, from Dan Slott and Michael Allred – empowered Silver Surfer to instantly travel from one side of existence to the other. Is Silver Surfer Marvel’s fastest hero? Since the Sentry died in King in Black, it’s a pretty sure bet.

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Honorable Mentions

• Captain Marvel – As a cosmic hero, Carol Danvers can cover immense distances in a short amount of time, but Marvel has been cagey about putting a number on this. Captain Marvel’s Binary form is certainly at least as fast as light, but isn’t always available to her and draws on an outside power source, landing on shaky ground similar to Death Seed Sentry.
• Solarus – The recent inheritor of the Sentry’s power, Mallory Gibbs should be capable of the same speeds as Bob Reynolds, but she hasn’t proved it yet.
• Nova – A cosmic hero, Richard Rider is incredibly fast. However, for galaxy-spanning trips, he uses the Nova Force to open wormholes, bending space to arrive almost immediately – a feat which we’re not counting as pure ‘speed’ for the purposes of this list.
• Spitfire, aka Jacqueline Falsworth – A vampiric hero who fought in WWII, Spitfire gained superspeed after a blood transfusion from the original Human Torch.
• The Blur, aka Stanley Stewart – Another iteration of the Squadron Supreme hero, the recent Heroes Reborn confirmed Stewart is on the same level as DC’s Flash – so fast that he can use his speed to travel through time. However, while Stewart may see himself as a hero, Marvel has definitely positioned him as more of a misguided villain.
• Prisa-38 – A member of the villainous Children of the Vault, Prisa-38 is probably the fastest runner on Earth. Running at “just under lightspeed,” she pretended to be a hero during the period when the Children were attempting to fool humanity into embracing them.

Those are the 10 fastest Marvel heroes who aren’t mutants, and so sadly will probably never be invited to join the X-Men – let us know who else you think should be on this list, and who should be higher or lower in our ranking, in the comments below.

Source: Marvel

X-Men

Movie(s)

X-Men (2000), X2, X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), X-Men: First Class (2011), The Wolverine (2013), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), Deadpool (2016), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Logan (2017), Deadpool 2 (2018), Dark Phoenix (2019), The New Mutants, Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

First Film

X-Men (2000)

TV Show(s)

X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men, X-Men (1992), X-Men: Evolution (2000), Wolverine and the X-Men (2008), Marvel Anime: Wolverine, Marvel Anime: X-Men, Legion (2017), The Gifted (2017), X-Men ’97 (2024)

Character(s)

Professor X, Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Angel, Phoenix, Wolverine, Gambit, Rogue, Storm, Jubilee, Morph, Nightcrawler, Havok, Banshee, Colossus, Magneto, Psylocke, Juggernaut, Cable, X-23

Video Game(s)

X-Men: Children of the Atom (1994), Marvel Super Heroes (1995), X-Men vs. Street Fighter (1996), Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (1997), Marvel vs. Capcom (1998), X-Men: Mutant Academy (2000), Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000), X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 (2001), X-Men: Next Dimension (2002), Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (2011), Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (2011), X-Men Legends (2005), X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse (2005), X2: Wolverine’s Revenge (2003), X-Men (1993), X-Men 2: Clone Wars (1995), X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse (1994)

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