In honor of July being Disability Pride Month, we are taking a look at some of our favorite superheroes who have physical disabilities, such as Daredevil and Professor X. However, there are plenty more character from the Marvel and DC universes who managed to overcome their disabilities and be known as legends in the world of fighting evil. The following are just 11 of those iconic characters, some of which you may recognize from some of the best superhero movies already.
Daredevil
When he was a child, Matt Murdock suffered a chemical accident that took away his sight, but would also enhance his remaining senses to superhuman levels, giving him the chance to deliver his own brutal form of justice in Hell’s Kitchen by night, while serving the law in a more traditional sense as an attorney by day. Created by Stan Lee with artist Bill Everett, the blind Daredevil is one of the most unique characters in the entire Marvel Universe, and will be reprised by Charlie Cox in his own highly anticipated upcoming Marvel TV show, Daredevil: Born Again, on Disney+.
Professor Charles Xavier
While the X-Men movies would reinterpret the origin of his disability as gunshot to the back, according to the comics, Professor Charles Xavier originally lost the use of his legs during a fight with an alien named Lucifer, who crushed him from the waste down with a boulder.
However, the accomplishments that the telepathic hoverchair user would achieve from that point on — from fighting for the equal rights of other mutants and recruiting them onto one of the world’s most powerful defense teams — make this hero (played by Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy on the big screen, so far) one of the most inspirational characters in Marvel’s history.
Dr. Niles Caulder
There are also a few notable wheelchair users in the DC Universe, such as the genius engineer Dr. Niles Caulder — played by Timothy Dalton on Max’s Doom Patrol TV show — who became paraplegic when a robot of his invention took too long to remove an explosive device placed in his torso by his employer-turned-archenemy, General Immortus. Even though he would be the direct cause of the tragic events that brought the Doom Patrol together, he and his team of fellow damaged souls would serve as an inspiration to readers who have struggled to overcome their own tragedies.
Oracle
Originally, Barbara Gordon fought crime as Batgirl, until — in Alan Moore’s dark, seminal 1988 graphic novel, The Killing Joke — Joker shot her in the spine. However, she would find a way to continue helping Batman protect Gotham City from her wheelchair as the operator of the Batcomputer, going by the alias, “Oracle.” Eventually, when DC Comics introduced The New 52, Barbara was back in her cape and cowl, but without ignoring the events of The Killing Joke and allowing her the ability to walk again after surgery.
Hawkeye
When Jeremy Renner’s master archer, Clint Barton, got his own Marvel TV show with 2021’s Hawkeye, the Disney+ original series addressed that the Avenger was partially Deaf and required the use of a hearing aid. That plot point reflects a time in the comics when — according Men’s Health — Hawkeye lost 80% of his hearing after biting down on a sonic arrow during a fight with the supervillain, Mockingbird.
Echo
Another Deaf comic book character who appeared on Hawkeye in her MCU debut was Echo — the alter ego of Maya Lopez, whose alias is inspired by her ability to mimic the actions of other people (from playing an instrument to acrobatic or combative movements) with uncanny precision. I am looking forward to seeing more of this talent when Alaqua Cox — a Deaf, Native American actor who recalled to Variety that Hawkeye was her first-ever acting gig — reprises the role in her spin-off series, Echo.
Doctor Strange
As detailed in his own self-titled MCU debut, Dr. Stephen Strange was once one of the most esteemed, skilled, and arrogant neurosurgeons of his time, until a car accident caused severe nerve damage to his hands. However, this would lead him to seek the help of the Master, who taught him the ways of the Mystic Arts, which he would master to the point of being named the Sorcerer Supreme of his corner of the Marvel Multiverse.
Hornet
A character who has yet to be adapted for the screen is Hornet: an alias that has been used by multiple Marvel characters — two of which had physical disabilities. The first, Scotty McDowell, was a wheelchair-using criminologist and Spider-Woman ally given insect-like abilities — super strength and wings to fly — by mad scientist, Karl Malus, who also gave him a suit that brought out villainous tendencies.
The second — a bright, collegiate inventor with cerebral palsy in his right arm named Eddie McDonough — donned a new costume originally designed by Mary Jane Watson for Peter Parker to use, which made him a hero by increasing his strength and allowing him to fly.
Misty Knight
A Marvel character who has also benefitted from mechanical enhancements to help her fight crime is New York police detective, Mercedes “Misty” Knight, who lost her right arm while attempting to defuse a bomb, which was replaced with a bionic appendage designed by Tony Stark that has since undergone various upgrades.
Her injury was reimagined for the MCU in Episode 7 of The Defenders, in which Knight’s (Simone Missick) arm was sliced off by Hand member, Bakuto, but that would not stop her from fighting crime, even before receiving her new arm courtesy of Rand Enterprises. Hopefully, we see more of her in the MCU and, perhaps, leading the “Heroes for Hire” with Colleen Wing.
Winter Soldier
Another Marvel character famous for wielding a mechanical arm is Captain America’s BFF, James Buchanon “Bucky” Barnes. In the comics he lost his arm in a plane explosion that sent him plunging into icy waters before being recovered by Soviet forces, who then fitted him with a bionic arm and made him into a spy assassin called the Winter Soldier.
Luckily — much like his MCU counterpart — Bucky was rehabilitated into a hero and even inherited the Captain America mantle from Steve Rogers. While upcoming Marvel movies will continue to see Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson in that role, Sebastian Stan is reprising the Winter Soldier for the upcoming Thunderbolts movie, which is set for a 2024 release.
Cyborg
A character I certainly hope we see more of in upcoming DC movies is Victor Stone, who is better known as Cyborg. Differing from his origin as depicted in Zack Snyder’s Justice League (as played by Ray Fisher), in the comics, the young athlete was attacked by an inter-dimensional creature that left his mother dead and him severely injured, convincing his scientist father to replace his missing body parts with mechanical prosthetics. Victor would then use his new, mostly cybernetic body to protect those in need, fighting alongside teams like the Teen Titans and the aforementioned Justice League.
I think that Christian Bale’s Batman said it best in 2005’s Batman Begins: “It is not who I am underneath, it's what I do that defines me.” Similarly, these comic book characters are not defined by their physical disabilities, as it's the things that they have done in spite of them that make them heroes.
