The New Men are a fictional group of characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They are depicted as uplifted animals created by the High Evolutionary.

Publication history

The New Men first appeared in Thor #134 and were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Fictional group history

The New Men are the result of Wyndham's first experiments in accelerated evolution. When Wyndham learns that Wundagore Mountain (on which his advanced genetics research citadel was based) is the prison of the powerful demon known as Chthon, he decides to train some of his creations in chivalry and battle tactics so that they can oppose Chthon should he ever return where these elite New Men warriors are called the Knights of Wundagore. The High Evolutionary equips the Knights of Wundagore with advanced weaponry and armor and gives them flying "atomic steeds" on which to ride. He is assisted in this endeavor by the ghost of the 6th century magician named Magnus the Sorcerer. When the wife of Magneto had died, the High Evolutionary enlisted a New-Man named Bova to watch over Magneto's children Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch As seen in flashbacks, the New Men become an extended family to Luna Maximoff. Wyndham later converts his citadel into a spaceship and he and most of his New Men leave to explore the stars. They eventually settle on a planet which they name Wundagore II. When the Evolutionary learned that the god-like Celestials were coming to Earth to judge whether humanity should continue to exist or perish, he allied with the Evolutionaries in order to eradicate those they've deemed "tainted", fearing that their unnatural presence may cause the Celestials to deem the planet unworthy. He himself began slaughtering systematically his own creations. When the High Evolutionary's Counter-Earth resurfaced under unknown circumstances, some of the New Men were seen living on it. They are routinely exterminated and recreated by the High Evolutionary when they fail to meet his standards. Some of these New Men "flaws" have taken refuge in Lowtown where they are given shelter by a man called the Low Evolutionary. Several New Men showed up in Lexington, Kentucky when the High Evolutionary plotted to sync the vibration frequencies of Earth and Counter-Earth so that he can combine them. During the "Hunted" storyline, Kraven the Hunter hunted some New Men in order to draw out the High Evolutionary. Kraven cuts a deal with the High Evolutionary to take his DNA sample and create 87 clones of him in order for them to go out into the world and prove themselves to Kraven. The High Evolutionary agrees to the terms.

Members

Known New Men have included:

In other media

Television

Film

In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the Humanimals are uplifted animals created by the High Evolutionary who are loosely based on the New Men. They resided on Counter-Earth until most of them were killed when the High Evolutionary destroyed it.