Does the Marvel Universe have a character that could essentially be called its ‘Harley Quinn‘? After all, Marvel Comics has a lot of heroes and villains that are more or less parodies of existing DC characters. Heck, just look at Thunderbolts* breakout character Sentry and how much inspiration he takes from the Man of Steel.
But what about Harley Quinn? She’s one of the DC Universe’s most popular characters, so does Marvel have anyone similar to her? Sure, one could say Gwenpool fills that role (a quirky, chaotic gal with a love of fourth wall humor sounds about right). But Gwen was never as villainous as Harley used to be. A more appropriate Marvel villain to compare Harley Quinn to would be the recurring Daredevil villain Typhoid Mary. Not only are the two cut from the same cloth, they both have backgrounds that include romances with some truly iconic villains.
Typhoid Mary is the Marvel Universe's Twisted Counterpart to Harley Quinn
A More Dangerous and Unhinged Version of DC's Cupid of Crime
To be fair, Typhoid Mary predates Harley Quinn by a good couple of years, making her first appearance before Harley even debuted in Batman: The Animated Series. And unlike Harley, Mary didn’t have a professional background as a mental health professional before falling into a life of crime. But the two’s similarities really became obvious when Mary entered Daredevil’s life, and she brought hell with her. Mary was an assassin hired by the Kingpin to kill Matt Murdock, only to fall in love with him (at least one of her personas did).
Typhoid Mary’s first appearance was in Daredevil #254!
Mary has dissociative identity disorder and, while that particular persona is friendly, her ‘Bloody Mary’ alter is violent and dangerous. Needless to say, the romance between Matt and Mary did not last, but she did manage to endear herself to Daredevil’s most hated nemesis, Kingpin. Now anyone who knows anything about Harley Quinn knows that she was in a toxic relationship with the Joker. And just like Harley, Mary found herself in a back-and-forth relationship with Wilson Fisk. While there was nothing there between Harley and Joker, Kingpin and Typhoid Mary appeared to have something real.
Despite Their Differences, Harley Quinn and Typhoid Mary are One and the Same
Harley and Mary Are More Alike Than Fans Think
Now, obviously, there are a lot of differences between Mary and Harley. Aside from their backgrounds, it should also be said that Mary has legit superpowers, with each persona having a different degree of psionic powers. Not to mention, Harley has done a lot of work on herself since she first burst onto the comic book scene and is largely an anti-hero now, while Mary is still firmly in the villain camp. And yet, Harley Quinn and Typhoid Mary have way more similarities than they do differences.
And at their cores, Harley and Mary are driven by love.
Both characters are women with tragic backgrounds; Mary falling in with a bad crowd at a young age and Harley falling for the absolute worst person alive. Not to mention they both struggle with mental illness (granted, Mary’s is far more pronounced). And at their cores, Harley and Mary are driven by love. For all the chaos they cause and the people they’ve hurt, they both genuinely believe in romance and have found it with villains they actually care about (Poison Ivy for Harley, Fisk for Mary).
No comparison is going to be 100% accurate. After all, both characters have their own history and characterizations. While arguments could be made about other Marvel characters, it’s hard to deny that Typhoid Mary is a strong contender, if not the most likely person to be worthy of being called Marvel Comics’ ‘Harley Quinn’. Though fans are welcome to claim that the title belongs to someone like Gwenpool, Typhoid Mary is a far better Harley Quinn than any other Marvel character.
