From a young age, the concepts of Heaven and Hell have been imprinted on our thoughts. It could be from legendary stories, cartoons, or other sources. Heaven is a happy location for pure souls, whereas Hell is a place of punishment for sinners. Heaven is home to Gods and Angels, but Hell is a location overrun with wicked spirits and not exactly the place one would like to visit after death.
Even in the Mortal Kombat animated series: Scorpion’s Revenge, we see a fiery region filled with monsters torturing Scorpion, who died at Sub-hands. Zero’s Hell was the name given to this location. In today’s video, we will discuss Hell as depicted in the Marvel Universe.
It has the same principle as everywhere else, but what makes it unique is the cast of individuals who either governed or visited Hell. So, without further ado, let us begin our exploration of the Marvel Universe’s Hell region.
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SO WHAT EXACTLY IS HELL?
For Abrahamic religions, Hell is an extradimensional place that serves as an afterlife. It is home to Demons and Fallen Angels, among other creatures. Here, evil spirits are banished and punished to punitive misery, most commonly torture, as their eternal damnation.
Due to the deceiving nature of the realm’s numerous rulers, several Hell dimensions are independent of one another or are different parts of a much bigger dimensional plane. Marvel’s Hell was first shown in “Mystic Comics” issue 4. Written, penciled, and inked by Harry Douglas the issue was released on June 12, 1940, and it accounts for the first time where Marvel showcased its Hell realm.
FIRST COMIC BOOK APPEARANCE
Medium Claire Voyant is convicted for being a fraud during her séance for the Wagler family. Claire blurts forth a curse against the family, oblivious that they are being observed by Satan himself. On their way home that night, the Wagler’s are involved in a catastrophic vehicle accident, which kills everyone but their eldest son James.
James holds Claire responsible for his family’s death and returns to her home to murder her. This is all part of the devil’s plan, which involves recovering Claire’s body and transporting it to Hell. There, he resurrects her as the Black Widow, bestowing upon her supernatural abilities so that she might serve as his agent in the world of the living, slaying the wicked who would commit terrible acts. Her first mission is to get vengeance on James for murdering her.
She follows James to the New York docks, where he is mourning the death of his family. When James is accosted by the lady he just killed, he tries to leave, but the Black Widow eventually catches up to him and touches his brow.
As a police officer comes onto the scene, her touch kills James quickly, and the Widow vanishes. When the officer examines the dead man’s body, he is astounded to discover the Black Widow’s mark on his brow. Following the accomplishment of her first mission, the Black Widow swears to her lord Satan that she will destroy all evildoers and give their souls to him.
WHAT ARE THE CIRCLES IN HELL?
The realm is divided into sections, or “Circles,” as explained by the Italian Poet Dante Alighieri in his work “Inferno”. Dante had made his voyage to Hell to save his beloved Beatrice from damnation, and he detailed it to have nine Circles. The First Circle of Hell is Limbo, a nether world of nothingness that souls pass through before being evaluated for Heaven or Hell. This is where you’ll find the entrance to Hell.
The soul is conveyed through the Styx River by the ferryman Charon to the second circle to be judged. The lusty are housed in the Second Circle of Hell, where King Minos assesses the souls and determines where they will spend eternity. The gluttonous dwell in the Third Circle of Hell, which Cerberus, the hellhound, patrols. The souls of the greedy are housed in the fourth circle of Hell. The marsh of Wrath is located in the Fifth Circle of Hell. The Heretics live in the Sixth Circle of Hell, as does the flaming city of Dis, which is home to armies of Demons.
Murderers and those who have committed violence are housed in the Seventh Circle of Hell. The Eighth Circle of Hell differs from the others because it is made up of individuals who knowingly and deliberately committed fraud. The treacherous live in the Ninth Circle of Hell, which is also where Satan lives. In certain invocations and references, Hell is shown as having only seven circles.
The “ten horrible levels of Hell” are mentioned in another invocation. Invocations in Hyboria stated seven or nine Hells. The “Nine Seas of Hell” are mentioned in another supplication. White, there are at least nine circles on Earth-85133, with Belathauzer being the arch-lord of the Ninth Circle.
WHO ARE THE RULERS RULING HELL?
The list of rulers of Hell consists of extremely powerful entities who possess massive control over dark energy. These entities have all been referred to as Hell-Lords and have frequently collaborated or competed with one another, referring to themselves and/or posing as the Biblical Satan. They are Daimon Hellstrom, the half-human half-demon child born to Satan, and Victoria Wingate. Daimon always opposed his father’s evil and after slaying him he received the Black Halo and Lordship of Hell.
Johnny Blaze, aka the GhostRider during his confrontation with Mephisto in Las Vegas was killed and his Soul sent to Hell. Mephisto the then ruler was still in Las Vegas fighting Doctor Strange and Jonny used this opportunity to usurp the position of its ruler and become the king of Hell.
Lucifer is the fallen angel who opposed the Gods in heaven and tried to rule over them. As punishment for his actions, Lucifer and his other lieutenants were sent to Hell. In Hell, he rose and ruled the realm and announced his name as Devil.
Marduk Kurios was one of the many demons and Hell-Lords who came into existence from the earliest forms of energy left behind when Demogorge overthrew the Elder Gods and then was later shaped by the unconscious desires of the earliest of humans who worshiped him. With time Marduk ruled over a vast section of Hell and falsely adopted the titles of Devil, Lucifer, and Satan to further strengthen his domination over the realm.
Satannish is one of the most powerful demons Earth witnessed. Satannish was created by Dormammu and is known to be one of the Hell-Lords. Even the sorcerer Supreme avoids any interaction with the creature. and last but not the least Thog was also one of the demons created by the energy that was given out when Demogorge battled the Elder Gods and was known as one of the Hell-Lords.
Hell is a variety of things, including a reflection of the collective unconscious. The throne of the biblical Satan lies empty at the Devil’s Advocacy in Hell, with the many Hell-Lords afraid to take it for themselves lest it ignites a battle amongst them. A ceremony known as the Descent, on the other hand, can be performed to choose which of the Hell-Lords will ascend to Satan’s throne and become the ultimate ruler of all Hells.
Almost all of the Hell-Lords control their own Hell Dimensions, the most famous of which is Mephisto’s, and they frequently claim that their domains are the biblical Hell as a sort of propaganda. The Hell-Lords, on the other hand, are bound by a vow to maintain their kingdoms separate, while some, like Lilith, wish to unite the Hells into a single realm controlled by a single king and/or queen.
MARVEL CHARACTERS THAT HAVE GONE TO HELL
Among all the characters that we know from the MCU, there is quite a handful who have been to Hell. Starting with the Ghost rider in “Road to Damnation,” where he traveled from one gate of Hell to the other seeking salvation. Every night Hell would catch up and rip him apart, only to rebuild him the next day and make him try once more the next night. Then there was Venom as shown in “Circle of Four”.
Wolverine was sent to Hell as shown in “Wolverine Goes to Hell,” where he was tortured and tormented by the Devil. Nightcrawler from the X-men visited hell in the “Amazing X-men: The Quest for Nightcrawler”, where he gathered with his teammates to stop his evil father Azazel from converting souls of heaven into that of Hell. The Mighty Thor, as shown in issues 360-362 of the 1985 comic book of the same name, along with his company ventured into hell to free innocent souls trapped by Hela.
Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom, as shown in “Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment”, entered Hell to fight the Devil and rescue his mother, Cynthia Von Doom’s soul. FireStar aka Angelica Jones also visited Hell along with Black Cat and Spectrum in an attempt to rescue Hellcat from Hellstorm Marvel certainly has done exemplary work in incorporating concepts of hell, hell lords, and even angels in this vast comic multiverse!
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