Christmas is right around the corner, and what better way to ring in the festive season than to beat up a Nazi? Marvel Comics seems to agree, as they once put out a comic in which Santa Claus takes out Hitler.
This is going to need a little explaining. Santa Claus has long been an established figure in the 616 comics universe, with an X-Men comic revealing that he’s an Omega-level mutant – perhaps even “the most powerful mutant ever registered”. His mutant powers include altering the size of his body, levitation, physically transforming a person into an inanimate object, global teleportation, generating snow, and, perhaps most importantly, the power to determine who’s been naughty or nice.
Adolf Hitler is very firmly on the ‘naughty’ list. The dictator also has a long history in Marvel Comics, despite being officially killed at the end of World War II. At the moment of his death, his brain was copied by Armin Zola, who has subsequently transplanted his consciousness into several cloned bodies.
The most notorious of these clones is Hate-Monger, who wears a Klan-style outfit and uses his Hate-Ray to turn Americans into racists. Captain America, S.H.I.E.L.D., and The Fantastic Four have all tangled with him, though only Santa truly put him in his place.
This clash came in ‘Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD Vol 1 #10’. Set on Christmas Eve, the issue opens with Nick Fury settling in for a relaxing evening, only to be summoned by S.H.I.E.L.D. and told that the Hate-Monger has announced plans to unleash a “germ bomb” that’ll wipe out New York City. Fury is captured by Hate-Monger, so Santa takes a detour to help save the day and soars through the air at unprecedented speed, destroyed the bomb, foiling Hitler’s scheme.
Fury ended the issue celebrating Christmas, wondering whether he could admit to himself that Santa was real. This isn’t a question that bothers most in the Marvel Universe, though, as he’s popped up all over the place in subsequent years.
Can it really be too long before Santa Claus arrives in the MCU?
