Recently, Marvel pulled out the concept of body swapping in an intriguing way by having Doctor Doom and Rocket Raccoon switch bodies in Guardians of the Galaxy comics, which created some really fun moments in the story. However, there are other cases where switching bodies is traumatic and often destructive.
Body-swapping in movies and TV shows often shows how opposites might react to situations they are not used to, and comic books are no different. However, comics also use it often as a form of conflict, whether it is putting a villain in a hero’s body or a brutal hero in the body of a more innocent character.
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Doctor Octopus And Spider-Man
The most famous instance of body-swapping in Marvel Comics came when Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus fought, and Otto appeared to die. However, at the last minute, Octopus transferred their consciousness into each other’s bodies, so Octopus became the new Spider-Man, and it was Peter Parker who died.
This led to a critically acclaimed Superior Spider-Man series, where Doctor Octopus used his superior intellect to make Spider-Man into a more effective hero, albeit without the moral compass that Peter had. It all ended when a remnant of Peter’s consciousness remained in his body and he eventually fought for and regained control.
Cassandra Nova And Professor X
The Cassandra Nova storyline in Marvel was a strange one, even for comic books. Cassandra was Professor Charles Xavier’s twin, but she died. Xavier already had high intelligence before birth, and he killed her in an attack in the womb, sensing her evil. She somehow survived the miscarriage and developed a new body over the years.
Because of his actions in the womb, Cassandra grew to hate Xavier and planned her revenge. She switched minds with Xavier after he killed her again, and Cassandra became a persistent X-Men villain. She used this as a chance to reveal the X-Men as mutants to the world, and then she began destroying the Shi’ar Empire from within until Xavier resurfaced and regained control.
Doctor Doom And Rocket Raccoon
One of the most recent instances of two Marvel characters switching bodies came in Guardians of the Galaxy, where the Guardians were defending as much of the universe as they could from the oncoming threat of Knull. Doom attempted to steal Excelsior the Star-Sword from King Dorrek VII (Hulkling) and ended up in Rocket’s body.
It actually started with Doom trying to take over Dorrek’s body, but when the heroes mocked him for taking a body with stretching powers like Reed Richards, he tried to back out and Moondragon forced the switch into Rocket’s body. Doom had to help the Guardians rather than hinder their efforts.
Daredevil And Doctor Doom
Doctor Doom has tried to swap bodies with several heroes. There was even a moment in Ultimate Marvel Comics where he switched bodies with Reed Richards. However, another hero that Doom switched bodies with was Daredevil in Daredevil #35-36 by Stan Lee and Gene Colan.
Doom called this “body transferral” and he switched bodies with Daredevil so he could use the hero to sneak attack The Fantastic Four. Daredevil used his brains to get out of this by tricking Doom into believing he just used Doom’s body to declare war on Latveria’s surrounding countries.
Spider-Man And Ms. Marvel
In Marvel Team-Up #2, Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel switched bodies. As with comics, the explanation was goofy, as a brain-uploader experiment went wrong, and it caused Peter Parker to end up in Kamala Kahn’s body and her in his. This was less about the villain fight and more about the awkward results.
The entire fun of this story was showing how they dealt with the body swap, with most of the issue dealing with the two navigating their personal lives. Kamala interviewing as Peter for a job, and Peter facing Islamophobic bullying are two highlights.
X-23 And Spider-Gwen
In 2016, there was a story that had two characters swap bodies from different universes. This happened with X-23 (Wolverine) and Ghost-Spider (Gwen Stacy). It caused a lot of problems since the heroes had to figure out where they were, so they could figure out a way back home.
Things were not good for Ghost-Spider, who quickly maimed herself with X-23’s claws. However, thankfully, X-23 figured things out and got back to her world, where she teamed up with Ghost-Spider to fight Red Hornet and get back into their own bodies.
Loki And Sif
Loki ended body-swapping with Sif unexpectedly. This happened after a Ragnarök cycle, and when the gods came back, Loki ended up in Sif’s body. It was his way of returning without his past sins coming back to haunt him.
This all led Thor to investigate things, and he is who finally fixed it. Thor already brought back many Asgardians, starting with Heimdall, and when he found an old woman on her deathbed with Sif’s soul, he fixed things and sent them back to their proper bodies. This was one of the best Loki variants for the time it lasted.
Emma Frost And Storm
Emma Frost has switched bodies with different people before, but one of the worst moments came when she swapped bodies with Storm. In Uncanny X-Men #151-152, Kitty Pryde’s parents wanted her transferred to Emma Frost’s school, and when Storm took her there, Emma ambushed her and swapped bodies with Ororo.
Emma Frost did this because she wanted to sneak attack the X-Men, and it worked. This all culminated with Emma unable properly to control Storm’s powers, and after accidentally striking Sebastian Stan with lightning, Storm retook control of her body and beat Emma.
Emma Frost And Iceman
A more successful Emma Frost body swap was with Iceman. This happened after Trevor Fitzroy attacked Emma and put her in a coma. She escaped her comatose body and sent her consciousness into Iceman, and then she went on the attack.
This was massive because fans learned Iceman had always held back, whether because of his goodness or because he didn’t know the extent of his powers. While in Iceman, Emma proved Iceman was actually an Omega-level mutant. This was also when Emma turned good and joined the X-Men after she discovered the truth about her students dying.
Spider-Man And Wolverine
One of the most controversial body-swapping moments in Marvel history came in the Ultimate Marvel Universe. In this storyline, Wolverine and Spider-Man both annoyed Jean Grey, so she punished them by switching their minds into each other’s bodies.
It started off funny, with Peter Parker ending up in jail while in Wolverine’s body and Wolverine spending a day in high school. However, things went downhill. Peter Parker was a teenager and Wolverine, in his body, made the moves on a teenaged Mary Jane Watson, one of the worst things Wolverine has ever done.