Hulk

Jack Kirby
Marvel Comics Universe
Stan Lee

The name of a character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for the Marvel Comics Universe, it has since entered the everyday English lexicon. The name itself is most likely derived from the word hulk (“large person or thing”), which predates the character. See the Wikipedia link at the bottom.

Fry: How can you say Lars is more mature than me?
Leela: Well, for one thing, his checkbook doesn't have the Hulk on it.

2007 November 27, Ken Keeler and David X. Cohen, “Bender’s Big Score”, Futurama, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

A fictional Marvel Comics character who gains superhuman strength when he becomes angry.


Hulk

Hulk (fictional Marvel Comics character)


Incredible Hulk

en-noun

Incredible Hulk (plural Incredible Hulks)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Incredible Hulk.wav

Named after the Incredible Hulk, a Marvel Comics Universe character with green skin.

A green-colored cocktail made with equal parts of the fruit liqueur Hpnotiq and Hennessy brand cognac poured over ice.


snikt

[Wolverine:] It seems you didn't get my meaning, friend.
[Wolverine:] This is still a free country, isn't it?
[sound effect:] SNIKT!

1975 May, Len Wein (writer), Dave Cockrum (illustrator), John Costanza (letterer), “Second Genesis!”, in Giant-Size X-Men, number 1, page 8:

Hasbro kicks off the convention with a snikt!

2009 February 15, Scott Collura, “Toy Fair 09: Wolverine, Iron Man, and Spectacular Spidey”, in IGN:

However, there’s a lot more to this grisly Canuck’s story than just the “snikt” sound effect.

2018 July 25, Peyton Hinckle, “Snikt To The Man: All Of Wolverine’s Abilities, Officially Ranked”, in CBR.com:

(onomatopoeia, fandom slang) The sound of Wolverine's claws emerging.


Spidey-sense

From the superpower of the fictional character Spider-Man (introduced by Marvel Comics in August 1962), nicknamed Spidey, who is able to preternaturally sense danger before it can be perceived by other senses.

Having known the man for most of his life he had a certain Spidey-sense when it came to Tim’s problems.

2003, Matthew F. Winn, chapter 1, in The Sandman, College Station, Tex.: Virtualbookworm.com Publishing, →ISBN, page 5:

Abby, let me ask you this: Is your spidey sense sure Alison was killed by a man? Your other clues were that 'he' was short, wore oversized clothing, and had dark hair. What if Alison was killed by a butch-looking female?

2004 December, Victoria Laurie, Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye (A Psychic Eye Mystery), New York, N.Y.: Signet, New American Library, →ISBN:

But the sports media elite, eating free press box sushi while the rest of us are paying $9.00 for a hot dog, could never understand what set our collective spidey senses tingling.

2005, Dave Zirin, “Stir of Echoes: A New Sporting Resistance?”, in What’s My Name, Fool?: Sports and Resistance in the United States, Chicago, Ill.: Haymarket Books, →ISBN, page 259:

Don't settle for taking the world at face value. Too many people see a logo or a uniform and make bad assumptions. If your Spidey-sense tells you something's wrong, it probably is. If you don't have Spidey-sense, walk loudly and carry a big stick.

2009, “Top Ten Ways to Shut Down Hackers”, in Securing Intellectual Property: Protecting Trade Secrets and Other Information Assets, Burlington, Mass., Oxford, Oxfordshire: Butterworth-Heinemann; Syngress, →ISBN, page 153:

A sense of foreboding, almost like a Spidey-sense, tingled at the back of my neck.

2010, Tate Hallaway [pseudonym; Lyda Morehouse], Honeymoon of the Dead, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, →ISBN:

As I turn to the right to get to the Registration Desk, my spidey senses are starting to warn me. There's nothing I can see that is cause for immediate concern, but I know I've got to keep paying attention to those spidey senses. I know they've saved me in the past.

2018 March 10, Brad Bagwell, chapter 1, in The Hunter: Southeast Asia, Ishpeming, Mich.: BookVenture Publishing, →ISBN, page 3:

While we are all enticed by the roller-coaster ride that will come with owning a 21-year-old Ronald Acuna, most of our spidey-senses tell us that a safe player in the first round allows us to survive six months of injuries and ineffectiveness from some of our subsequent picks.

2019 February 27, Fred Zinkie, “Ranking the Safest First-round Picks in Fantasy Baseball Drafts”, in Yahoo! Sports, archived from the original on 2019-03-18:

(humorous) An intuitive feeling, usually of something being dangerous or risky; (more generally) instinct, intuition.


X-Verse

2009, Rebecca Housel, Jeremy Wisnewski, editors, X-Men and Philosophy: Astonishing Insight and Uncanny Argument in the Mutant X-Verse, John Wiley & Sons.:

First and most common is the charge that numerous characters in Heroes have powers of preexisting comic book characters, especially from the X-Men.[…]Even Isaac Mendez's power to paint the future predates him in a character from the X-verse—Nemesio from District X.

2009, David Kyle Johnson, Heroes and Philosophy: Buy the Book, Save the World, page 50:

And if Parfit is right, it should make you think twice about how quickly you judge all of the characters in the X-Verse (and the real world).[…] In the X-Verse we should be less dubious of Emma Frost working with the X-Men; […].

2010, William Irwin, David Kyle Johnson, Introducing Philosophy Through Pop Culture: From Socrates to South Park, page 88:

(fandom slang) The fictional world, or universe, which serves as the setting for the Marvel Comics and film series featuring the characters the X-Men.


Spidey

Seven months later he reappeared in his own comic book, The Amazing Spider-Man. In the 16 years since, Spidey (as his fans call him) has become the country's most popular superhero, appearing in 300 daily newspapers.

1978, Princeton Alumni Weekly, volume 79, page 8:

In the closet Marvin found his sea shell collection, baseball cards, a stack of Spidey comic books, a jar of dead flies he had forgotten about, a paper bag filled with pine cones, and five cans of mud from Lake Washington.

1981 Oct, Ebony Jr., volume 9, number 4, page 25:

Only Spider-Man's spidey powers can get us out of this!

1983 Jan, Boys' Life, volume 73, number 1, page 21:

[H]e's also written a Spidey short story (“Arms and the Man” in 1997's Untold Tales of Spider-Man) and a Spidey novel (Down These Mean Streets in 2005).

2013, Gerry Conway, Leah Wilson, Webslinger: Unauthorized Essays On Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, page 32:

(slang) The fictional superhero Spider-Man.


MCU

It [Ant-Man] will, of course, be firmly planted in the MCU but a different corner than we've seen before.

2013, Kevin Feige, quoted in Laura Ciarolla, "Marvel announces third 'Avengers' film", The Daily Athenaueum (West Virginia University), Volume 125, Issue 86, 30 January 2013, page 3

[…] Hydra is a sprawling global organization with highly advanced technology that has opposed S.H.I.E.L.D, the Avengers, and nearly every major superhero group in the MCU.1

2015, Dan Casey, 100 Things Avengers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die, Triumph Books, published 2015, →ISBN, page 128:

It is interesting to note that, while Coulson is used to suture the various MCU films together and latterly to tie the Agents of SHIELD television show into the MCU, this has not occurred at other points in the franchise.

2015, Colin Harvey, Fantastic Transmedia: Narrative, Play and Memory Across Science Fiction and Fantasy Storyworlds, Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, pages 84–85:

Being Letterboxd-pilled is essentially shorthand for saying that you’re into movies more than your typical MCU buff, kind of like what MUBI is to Amazon Prime.

2024 February 29, Jack King, “Why everyone you know is suddenly a Letterboxd head”, in GQ:

Marvel Cinematic Universe
w:Marvel Cinematic Universe

Initialism of Marvel Cinematic Universe (“a shared universe and franchise of films and other media based on Marvel Comics, introduced in 2008”).

M-She-U

Marvel Cinematic Universe seen as too focused on feminism over well-written storylines

DCU

DC Universe; fictional universe for DC Comics comic books

DCEU

DC Extended Universe; shared universe for the DC Comics-based Warner Bros. theatrical films extended from 2013's Man of Steel

DCAU

DC Animated Universe; shared universe for the 1990s and early 2000s DC Comics-based Warner Bros. animated television films and series


Marvelverse

From Marvel + -verse. From Marvel Comics, from marvel.

In the Marvelverse, mutants are potential victims of hate crimes and of state-sponsored pogroms, and of the sort of bureaucratic prying that is often a prelude to the latter.

2008, Roz Kaveney, Superheroes!: Capes and Crusaders in Comics and Films, I. B. Tauris Co. Ltd, →ISBN, page 7:

Marvelverse characters Araña Corazon and Elektra Natchios were raised by single fathers after the deaths of their mothers.

2010, Jennifer K. Stuller, Ink-stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen in Modern Mythology, I. B. Tauris & Co. Ltd, →ISBN:

Licensed crossovers often appear between characters in the Marvelverse or the Buffyverse.

2015, “Glossary”, in Valerie Estelle Frankel, editor, The Comics of Joss Whedon: Critical Essays, McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 224:

(fandom slang) The fictional universe depicted in the Marvel comics, films, and television series.


my spider sense is tingling

From Marvel Comics' "Spider-Man" comic books, in which the main character (Spider-Man) has a superpower called "spider sense" (sometimes called spidey sense) that would forewarn him about dangerous events. He would often say his spider sense was "tingling" when it was warning him of something.

(colloquial) My intuition (spider sense) tells me that something wrong or dangerous is happening or about to happen.


Wakanda

Most likely borrowed from Omaha-Ponca Wakanda, Chiwere Wakanda, Kansa Wakanda, Osage Wakanda.

The supreme being or Great Spirit of the Osage, but also Omaha, Caddo and Ponca peoples of North America.


Marvel

(fiction, literature, comics) Ellipsis of Marvel Comics.

(fiction, film, television) Ellipsis of Marvel Studios.


Stucky

A lot of people ship Stucky, and they ship it hard.

2016, Brittani Howell, “#LeaveCapAlone”, in Connect Statesboro, 1 June - 14 June 2016, page 4:

In her 'Domestic Stucky (feat. IKEA)' art project, Kurozawa Shiro decided to draw the characters Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes into a spare IKEA catalogue she had lying around (Stucky is the portmanteau name for the Steve/Bucky pairing).

2017, Francesca Coppa, “Hollywood of Our Own: Media Fandom as Female Artworld”, in Mary Harrod, Katarzyna Paszkiewicz, editors, Women Do Genre in Film and Television, unnumbered page:

The Stucky fandom encompasses all kinds of fans, and acts as a vast space for fans to find their preferred content.

2018 December, Alen Ríos, Diego Rivera, “Vulnerability and Trash: Divisions within the Stucky fandom”, in Otherness: Essays and Studies, volume 6, number 1, page 35:

(fandom slang) The ship of characters Steve Rogers (Captain America) and Bucky Barnes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.


Amalgamverse

From amalgam + -verse, after Amalgam Comics.

Understandably, as both Cyborg and Deathlok were by and large good guys for most of their appearances. But, I guess the answer could be much like the Age of Apocalypse (where some formerly very good X-men were awfully mean) -- some events in the Amalgamverse were so different from regular continuity that a few of the good guys were warped (and some of the bad guys were un-warped, too, I think, though no examples come to mind).

1997 April 16, shawn h, “Re: Magnetic Men amalgams, part 2”, in rec.arts.comics.dc.universe (Usenet), message-ID <5j1aks$mo0$1@news.fas.harvard.edu>:

Not to mention the fact that bringing Access into continuity emphasizes the existence of at least two alternate Universes, the Marvelverse and the Amalgamverse.

1997 November 23, Bala Menon, “Re: return to glory”, in rec.arts.comics.dc.universe (Usenet), message-ID <658hj5$krl@bgtnsc03.worldnet.att.net>:

(fandom slang) The fictional universe of the Amalgam Comics, which is populated by alternate versions of characters merged from Marvel Comics and DC Comics.


Ultimateverse

From ultimate + -verse, after Ultimate Marvel, an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Since Ultimate Power now takes place before Ultimates 3, instead of after it, I guess the secret character switch between Squadron Supreme and Ultimateverse is not happening now (since there are now a LOT of stories taking place in the Ultimateverse after the switch was supposed to have happen).

2007 July 15, Wayne S Garmil, “Squadron Supreme and Ultimate Power question”, in rec.arts.comics.marvel.universe (Usenet), message-ID <f7bq57$9b1$1@pcls6.std.com>:

There's nothing to stop any of the comic companies producing realistic comic. Even the big two have gioven^([sic]) it a go. Ultimateverse nods in the general direction but doesn't really do anything more. Supreme Power was better but has since become more superheroey and is about to join the Ultimateverse officially.

2006 April 6, Fallen, “Re: Chucking Conventions (was Re: So Has The Hulk Finally Killed Someone?)”, in rec.arts.comics.dc.universe (Usenet), message-ID <5HbZf.1556$QP1.794@newsfe6-gui.ntli.net>:

My only minor complaint is I'm not terribly fond of Ultimate Pyro. I have a bit of a conservative streak in me - I'm fine with radical reinterpretations of 616 characters in the Ultimateverse, but when the original character is dead (or depowered or otherwise unrecognizeable from their original state), my feelings change.

2007 March 28, Peter Dimitriadis, “Unreachable Star Reviews March 28th, 2007 (SPOILERS)”, in rec.arts.comics.marvel.xbooks (Usenet), message-ID <1175113872.697206.68560@p15g2000hsd.googlegroups.com>:

Totleben is handling the art on an upcoming issue of Marvel's "Ultimate Marvel Team-Up" book written by Brian Bendis and featuring the continuity-streamlined Ultimate Spider-Man teaming up with other characters from Marvel's Ultimateverse ...

2001 February 1, Beau Yarbrough, “The Comic Wire for February 1, 2001”, in alt.comics.batman (Usenet), message-ID <95b636$2u0$1@nnrp1.deja.com>:

(fandom slang) The fictional universe of Ultimate Marvel.


Sniktbub

From snikt (sound of Wolverine's claws) + bub (term of address used by Wolverine).

compound

If you're one of the many thousands of comic book fans who skipped over Keanu Reeves' "The Day The Earth Stood Still" and got your Sniktbub trailer fix from a blurry, shaky-cam video on YouTube, I've got some good news for you.

2008 December 16, Jared Rea, “New "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" Trailer”, in The Escapist, archived from the original on 2018-11-22:

(fandom slang) A nickname for Wolverine.


Clintasha

There’s a lot of hate from the Clintasha crowd. It was never my intention that they were an item.

2015, Joss Whedon, quoted in Noelene Clark, "‘Avengers’ director plunges into Black Widow controversy", Pocono Record, 9 May 2015

Another example would be "Clintasha," the fan-coupling of Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff, who make a complete turnaround from their relationship in the first Avengers.

2015, Addie Bass & Gina Appleby, "Avengers Age of Ultron: Is It Worthy?", The Little Hawk (Iowa City High School), 2 June 2015, page A15

YaelLouder: All of your Clintasha fic is kind of fluffy.

2019, Katherine Locke, “Some Days You're The Sidekick; Some Days You're The Superhero”, in Katherine Locke, Laura Silverman, editors, It's a Whole Spiel: Love, Latkes, and Other Jewish Stories, unnumbered page:

(fandom slang) The ship of characters Clint Barton (Hawkeye) and Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow) from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.


Thorki

This book is not a work of fan fiction, nor a book of spells. There are no runes for casting nor Thorki weddings to attend.

2015, Pepi Valderrama, Geek Anthropology of Loki's Army, page 7:

The images of Thorki […] represent a range of implied possibilities between the characters--from romantic longings to more explicit imagery.

2015, Matthew Alan Cicci, "Turning The Page: Fandoms, Multimodality, And The Transformation Of The 'Comic Book' Superhero", dissertation submitted to Wayne State University, page 91

Some fans of the couple of Thorki are from a Marvel fan circle, which also belongs to the Western culture fan circles; however, some Asian culture fans will also be interested due to the fact that Thorki reflected a seme-uke couple pattern of a muscular and straightforward seme and a tsundere cunning uke.

2019, Nishang Li, "'Rotten Culture': From Japan to China", thesis submitted to the University of Victoria, pages 51-52

(fandom slang) The incestuous ship of adoptive brothers Thor and Loki from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.


Stony

The "Stony" fandom takes the comic remediation ship or genderswap and removes it from its aesthetic relationship by placing it within a new remediated work.

2013 July, Poe Johnson, “Cultural Memory as Fandom Ideology in the Remediated World”, in The Phoenix Papers, volume 1, number 2, page 51:

It tugged at my heartstrings with Steve's memories, as well as giving me so many Stony feels.

2013 July, “Fandoms Assemble 2013 Fanfic Awards”, in Fandoms Assemble, page 21:

The largest ships in the MCU are “Stucky” (Steve Rogers AKA Captain America and Bucky Barnes AKA the Winter Soldier) and “Stony” (Steve Rogers and Tony Stark AKA Iron Man).

2016, Olivia Riley, "Queerness and Emotion in Fanfiction", thesis submitted to the University of Minnesota, page 10

(fandom slang) The ship of characters Steve Rogers (Captain America) and Tony Stark (Iron Man) from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.


Marveldom

1965, Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #11 (letters section), Marvel Comics
As for Kirby-Stone, you've come up with what is by far the finest team in Marveldom in the past year or two.

The domain of Marvel Comics, including the set of all works and people related with the company.


Marvelophile

A true Marvelophile can recall even the most obscure Marvel superhero, tell what issue that superhero made its debut in, and deliver a kind of thumbnail biography, including some observation on the character's peculiarities and frailties.

1978 October 10, Bill Marvel, “His web of fantasy has captured the public”, in The Tampa Times, volume 86, number 211, page 4-A:


Phony Stark

Blend of phony (“fraudulent or fake”) + Tony Stark, referencing the fictional business magnate, inventor, and playboy from the Marvel franchise.

blend

so, yeah, five years on and people on Twitter just kinda endured the Nazis, but now Phony Stark might just tank the whole thing anyway.

2022 November 10, Muhammad (@muhammad@mastodon.social), Mastodon:

Phony Stark seems to want to drive Twitter off a cliff for whatever reason.

2023 February 6, Simon Zerafa (@simonzerafa@infosec.exchange), Mastodon:

I'm not mad at anything Phony Stark does to Twitter. I am mad (or at least dumbfounded) at respectable professionals still using that service, though.

2023 April 5, Leon Cowle (@leoncowle@hachyderm.io), Mastodon:

“As always,” Elon patronised, “please try to stay as close to the truth as possible, even for stuff you don’t like.” Likewise, Phony Stark. Likewise.

2023 October 10, Marina Hyde, “Look at the horror of the Israel-Hamas war, then at Elon Musk’s X site. It’s clear he’s not fit to run it”, in The Guardian:

(derogatory) A nickname for South African-born tech entrepreneur Elon Musk.


Time Variance Authority

(comics) A fictional organization appearing in American comic books, depicted as a group of timeline monitors.


Thỏ

From thỏ, and from the Telex input of English Thor, where the r adds a hook above Tho by default, and the r key must be double-tapped otherwise.

(fandom slang) either the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Thor or his actor Chris Hemsworth


M-She-U

(fandom slang, derogatory, Internet slang) The Marvel Cinematic Universe, perceived by fans to be too feminist or left-wing.

Hollywoke

Hollywood films being perceived as overtly left-wing