Will the last surviving son of Krypton, I mean of the Eternals, get a turn on the silver screen? The most popular iteration of Hyperion came to Earth as a baby, was adopted by a humble family, worked at a newspaper publisher, had a romantic relationship with reporter Lonni Lattimer, and saved the world with his abilities of super strength and flight. His weakness was even exposure to radioactive Argonite. The details changed here and there, including being raised by the government as a weapon, but he is essentially the Marvel equivalent of Superman. With the character power levels in the MCU being turned up and the upcoming introduction of the Eternals, it should just be a matter of time until Hyperion arrives.

 

 

MARVEL’S FIRST HYPERION

The first-ever iteration of a “Hyperion” in Marvel Comics was a villain who first appeared in Avengers #69 (1969); as part of the Grandmaster’s Squadron Sinister team in a fight against the Avengers on the side of Kang the Conqueror. Hyperion believed himself to be from a micro-verse that was destroyed when scientists on Earth split the first atom. In his first story arc, Hyperion ends up being defeated by Thor after being shrunk down and imprisoned in a glass orb. Later on, we find out that the Hyperion in Avengers #69 was technically a copy of the original Hyperion.

In terms of investment outlook, from a previous article about Avengers #69 that focused on the book’s other key aspect of the Grandmaster’s first appearance, the book was found to have low volume with high volatility. Unlike the Grandmaster, however, the brief Hyperion and Squadron Sinister appearance in this book might fall under the cameo category; with the full appearance in the next issue Avengers #70, which has the added bonus of Hyperion appearing on the cover. This all leads us to another Hyperion key comic book…

 

 

MARVEL’S HEROIC HYPERION

Only two short years after the villainous Hyperion first appeared, a heroic version of the character arrived in Avengers #85 (1971). In this issue, a mishap sends the Avengers to an alternate reality in which the villainous team Squadron Sinister is instead the heroic team Squadron Supreme. This leads to initial misunderstandings and the Avengers to fight them, but eventually, they realize their mistake and team up to fight the real villain, Brain-Child.

Technically, this Hyperion is the real Hyperion, whom the Grandmaster copied for this Squadron Sinister team in Avengers #69. Is this another Domino situation of X-Force #11 vs The New Mutants #98? Or perhaps, even though we’ve already seen a “Hyperion,” the book still has the first appearance of Mark Milton; so as a result, we get a situation more similar to Avengers #48, the first Dane Whitman as Black Knight. This significance of the real Mark Milton/Hyperion is unfortunately not indicated on CGC labels, but rather rolled up in the first appearance of the Squadron Supreme team. Either way, Avengers #85 could be a sleeper book that benefits should Hyperion, preferably the hero Hyperion rather than the villain Hyperion, gets introduced in the movies.

 

“Father taught me three precepts: Truth without compromise. Thought without error. All things for the betterment of the whole.” - Hyperion

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