The Inhumans are a superhuman race of super beings appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The comic book series has usually focused more specifically on the adventures of the Inhuman Royal Family, and many people associate the name "Inhumans" with this particular team of superpowered characters.
The Inhumans first appeared in Fantastic Four #45 (December 1965), though members Medusa and Gorgon appeared in earlier issues of that series (#36 and #44, respectively). Their home, the city of Attilan, was first mentioned years earlier, in a Tuk the Caveboy story written and drawn by Jack Kirby that appeared in Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941). The city was described as the home of a race that was evolutionarily advanced when human beings were still in the Stone Age.[1][2][3]
The Inhuman Royal Family has been adapted to numerous Marvel animated series and video games over the years.
Inhuman characters were introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in live action in the second season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., while the Inhuman Royal Family is featured in the television series Inhumans, which premiered in 2017; the latter show was critically panned and lasted only one season. Earlier, a proposed film adaptation of the Inhumans was announced in 2014 by Marvel Studios but was later removed from its slate and never came to fruition. The Inhuman race was represented by the appearance of Black Bolt in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), portrayed by Anson Mount who reprised his role from the television series.
In a 1967 interview, Stan Lee discussed the creation of the Inhumans: "The first Inhuman that we brought in was Gorgon... And he was a fella who looked a little like a centaur or something. He could kick his foot very hard and he had great power. He could shatter a mountain by kicking his foot. He started out as a villain. We liked him so much, I should say Jack liked him so much, that he kept using him. We figured he has to come from somewhere. We decided, let him come from some strange land over in Europe, where there are a whole group of people like him. And well, what else could you call them except the Inhumans. Then Jack had to create a whole bunch of Inhumans and I think he did a great job. When it came to doing the leader, we decided, well, there was no need for them all to be villainous. I think we did have in mind that Black Bolt would eventually be a heroic type. And again, we always try to give a character a hangup so his hangup is he doesn't speak."[4]
In a 1969 interview Kirby discussed the costumes of the Inhumans "[with] Black Bolt I began to dress up the lightning insignias. Karnak with the judo-type uniform, it's almost Japanese Oriental and half-Egyptian and Medusa with her hair"[5]
The Inhumans first appeared in Fantastic Four #45 (December 1965).[6][7] The Inhumans appeared as a back-up feature in Thor #146 (Nov. 1967) to #152 (May 1968) which contained their first extensive origin story.[8] They fight the Silver Surfer in Silver Surfer #18 (September 1970). The Inhumans' first ongoing feature, the first six issues of which were written and pencilled by their co-creator Jack Kirby, appeared in Amazing Adventures #1 (Aug. 1970) to #10 (Jan. 1972).[9] The characters received their own self-titled series in October 1975, which ran for 12 issues and ended in August 1977.[10] All but issue #9 were written by Doug Moench, who has said he was fascinated with the shaggy God story aspect of the Inhumans.[8] A follow-up to the series's ending appeared in Captain Marvel #53 (November 1977).[8]
The Inhumans were largely absent from publications for much of the 1980s, but appeared in their own graphic novel in 1988, written by Ann Nocenti and illustrated by Bret Blevins.[8] Nocenti followed up by making the Inhumans Karnak and Gorgon supporting cast members in Daredevil from issue #272 (November 1989) through #283 (August 1990).
An Inhumans limited series by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee ran for 12 issues from November 1998-October 1999.[11][12] The series, which used the Inhumans as a social allegory for the U.S., won an Eisner Award for Best New Series and established the Inhumans as viable comics-selling characters.[8] A four-issue limited series by writers Carlos Pacheco and Rafael Marín and artist José Ladrönn was published in 2000.[13] The fourth volume (2003-2004, 12 issues) concentrated largely on new characters within the Inhumans' society.[8][14]
In 2007, the Inhumans featured in the Silent War limited series by writer David Hine,[15][16][17] and artist Frazer Irving.[18]
Following events in the Secret Invasion, the Inhumans appeared on one side of the War of Kings storyline, with Black Bolt being made king of the Kree, facing off against Vulcan, who is leading the Shi'ar.
The 2013 event, Infinity, led to major changes in status quo for the group, with many new Inhumans, or "NuHumans", appearing as a result of the detonation of the Terrigen Bomb. Writer Charles Soule became the lead writer of the Inhuman franchise, starting with the Inhuman series, which ran for 14 issues from April 2014–June 2015. The NuHuman Kamala Khan also becomes the lead of her own title, Ms. Marvel vol. 3. Following the Secret Wars event, the franchise expanded to two ongoing titles, Uncanny Inhumans,[19] which ran for 20 issues from 2015 to 2017,[20] and All-New Inhumans,[21][22] which ran for 11 issues.[23] There have been two spin-off titles with Karnak[19] running in 2015 for six issues penned by Warren Ellis and drawn by Gerardo Zaffino and Roland Boschi[24] and Black Bolt running for 12 issues from 2017 to 2018 penned by Saladin Ahmed and drawn by Christian Ward.[20] In 2017, Marvel announced two series involving the Inhuman royal family, Royals written by Al Ewing drawn by Kevin Libranda that was cancelled after 10 issues,[25] and a five issue miniseries titled Inhumans: Once & Future Kings written by Christopher Priest and drawn by Phil Noto that explored the royal family's origins.[26]
In July 2018, Marvel launched a new five-issue miniseries titled Death of the Inhumans written by Donny Cates and drawn by Ariel Olivetti.[27]
At the beginning of the Kree-Skrull War, millions of years ago in Earth time, the alien Kree established a station on the planet Uranus, a strategic position between the Kree and Skrull empires. Through their work at this station, they discovered that sentient life on nearby Earth had genetic potential invested in it by the alien Celestials. Intrigued, the Kree began to experiment on Earth's then-primitive race Homo sapiens to produce the genetically advanced Inhuman race. Their goal was apparently twofold—to investigate possible ways of circumventing their own evolutionary stagnation, and to create a powerful mutant race of soldiers for use against the Skrulls.[28] Although their experiments were successful in creating a strain of humanity with extraordinary abilities, the Kree abandoned their experiment because a genetic prophecy had predicted that the experiments would eventually lead to an anomaly who would destroy the Kree Supreme Intelligence.[29]
Born approximately 50,000 BC, Tuk the Caveboy was the first offspring of the Inhumans.[3][30][31]
The Inhumans went on to form a society of their own, which thrived in seclusion from the rest of humanity and developed advanced technology. Experiments with the mutagenic Terrigen Mist (a process known as Terrigenesis) gave them various powers, but caused lasting genetic damage and deformities, which led to a long-term selective breeding program in an attempt to mitigate the effects of these mutations. The Terrigen Mist is a natural mutagen, arising as a vapor from the Terrigen Crystals, which are able to alter Inhuman biology. The Mists were discovered by the Inhuman geneticist Randac approximately 25,000 years ago. He immersed himself in the Mists and gained mental powers comparable to the Eternals.[32] After centuries of eugenics and birth control, the Inhumans managed to mitigate the genetic damage and cultivated a more responsible use of the Terrigen Mists. The practice they developed was to let only genetically perfect specimens undergo the random mutations provoked by the Mists. Their theory was that genetic screening could avoid the risk of hideous and animal mutations in an individual. However, there are examples throughout the Inhumans' canon where an exposed Inhuman became a devolved, sometimes mindless, evolutionarily inferior throw-back. The term Alpha Primitives was coined for these unfortunate outcasts of Inhuman society, who would for centuries become the breeding stock of a slave race. Resentment at this caste system sometimes bubbles up, and the Alpha Primitives have tried to overthrow their rulers in multiple storylines, often as a result of manipulation by a third party.
Attilan's society and culture are predicated on a conformist belief system that permits individuality as it applies to genetic development and physical and mental ability, but demands rigid conformity in that each member of society is assigned a place within that society according to those abilities following exposure to the Terrigen Mist. Once assigned, no Inhuman, no matter how great or powerful, can change his or her place within this rigid caste system.[33][34] However, as an exception, a member of the Royal Family, Crystal, married outside the Inhuman race to the mutant Quicksilver.[35]
The Inhumans are led by their king, Black Bolt, and his Royal Family, consisting of Medusa, Karnak the Shatterer, Gorgon, Triton, Crystal, Maximus the Mad, and the canine Lockjaw. Both Crystal and Medusa have been members of the Fantastic Four; Crystal has been a member of the Avengers as well.
Black Bolt has guided the Inhumans through some of the most turbulent times in their history, including several attempts by Maximus to usurp the throne, revolts by the worker class (with their eventual emancipation), attacks by human renegades, the kidnapping of Medusa, the destruction and rebuilding of Attilan, and the revelation of the Inhumans' existence to humanity.
His role as king of the Inhumans has been tumultuous. The first major crisis occurred when he and Medusa conceived a child. Medusa bore the child in defiance of the Genetic Council, who felt that Black Bolt's bloodline was too dangerous to pass on. The Council nonetheless took the child to examine and forbade parental contact. Medusa escaped to Earth with members of the royal family only to be harassed by Maximus. Black Bolt was torn between his love of family and his duty to respect the Genetic Council, and it was only when the council was revealed to be using his son in a plot against him that he finally turned against the council. With that, he gave up the crown as king of the Inhumans. For a while, they lived away from Attilan, but returned in times of need.[36]
The once-secret existence of the race has come to light among the general public as the Inhumans interact more often with many of Earth's superheroes—including the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, and the X-Men—whom they have aided against threats such as Doctor Doom,[37] Ultron 7,[35][38] Magneto, and Apocalypse.[39][40] However, no one came to the Inhumans' aid when an army of Portuguese mercenaries attacked Attilan, which was now located on risen Atlantean ruins.[41] This was actually a coup-d'etat orchestrated by Black Bolt's brother Maximus the Mad.
Inhuman society changed radically when Ronan the Accuser sought to use the Inhumans as an army to disrupt the Shi'ar control of the Kree after their defeat in the Kree-Shi'ar War. Appearing over the city of Attilan, Ronan seized control in a surprise attack and forced the Inhumans and their king, Black Bolt, to obey, or he would destroy their only home and everyone in it. He also exiled Maximus and the Alpha Primitives to the Negative Zone. During their time in forced servitude, Ronan revealed that the Inhumans had always been intended as weapons in service to the Kree. To this end, much of the genetic attributes that were encoded in them during the original experiments were meant to give them the abilities and appearances of various alien races, the idea being that these Inhuman slaves could be used to infiltrate alien worlds and races to conduct espionage or assassinations to weaken potential conquests. Ronan used the Inhumans to launch attacks on ships and bases, disrupt a treaty between the Shi'ar and Spartax, and manipulate Black Bolt to assassinate Empress Lilandra.[28]
Eventually, Black Bolt sought to free his people by challenging Ronan to a personal battle. If Ronan won, the Inhumans would continue to serve him. If the king won, the Inhumans would go free. After a terrible battle, Black Bolt won and Ronan, demonstrating that the Kree still had honor, kept his word and left the Inhumans. All was not over, as the Inhumans were not willing to just follow Black Bolt back to Earth. Pressure had been building in the closed society of Attilan since open contact with the outside world had been made. During their enslavement by Ronan, the Inhumans had wished for their freedom, but had developed a sense of pride in their power and a belief in their own destiny. They no longer believed that Black Bolt or the Royal Family was fit to lead them in the new life they wanted, and they exiled the Royal Family from Attilan.[28] The Royal Family returned to Earth to find their destiny. After suffering bigotry while living in the Baxter Building with the Fantastic Four and turning down political asylum from Latveria by Dr. Doom, the royal family returned to Attilan, which was located on the Blue Area of the Moon.[42] The Inhumans attempted to foster better relations with Earth by sending students to the University of Wisconsin.[43]
In the events of Son of M, Quicksilver stole the Terrigen Crystals in an attempt to regain his powers and cure the de-powered mutants from M-Day. The theft led to a conflict on Genosha between the re-powered mutants (whose powers came back as too powerful for their own good causing their eventual surrender), the Inhumans, and the U.S. Office of National Emergency. The conflict ended with the O.N.E. confiscating the Terrigen Crystals, an act that incited Black Bolt to verbally declare war on the United States.[44]
In January 2007, the miniseries Silent War began, with Gorgon launching a first strike on New York. Although the Inhumans do manage to recover the crystals, the episode ends with Maximus again taking control of Attilan.[45] The mini series ends on a cliffhanger, with the destruction of Atilian (foreshadowed in Son of M) and Maximus having taken control over the Inhumans using his psychic power, leaving only Luna and Black Bolt (imprisoned in a cell while Luna feigns support for Maximus for her own safety) free from his control and Maximus vowing that the Inhumans will enslave Earth in retaliation for their destruction of Atilian.
It has been revealed that Black Bolt has been replaced by a Skrull impostor, in a time frame after Silent War, but before World War Hulk.[46][47] The impostor revealed himself to the Illuminati and was killed after a failed attempt to assassinate the heroes.
The series, along with Planet Hulk and World War Hulk, and subsequent mini-series Secret Invasion outright ignore the events of Silent War and its status quo
Written by Heroes writer Joe Pokaski, this story digs into how the Inhuman Royal Family deals with the news that the Black Bolt had been replaced by a Skrull impostor.[47] The Skrulls attack Attilan while Black Bolt is revealed to be a prisoner of the Skrulls, who intend to use his voice as a weapon of mass destruction. The Inhuman Royal Family defeated several Skrull soldiers and took a Skrull ship with the point of taking the war to the Skrulls and save Black Bolt. With some help from the Kree, they rescue Black Bolt and return to Attilan.[47] The story itself ignores the ending of Silent War, with Medusa being under Maximus's mental thrall, Atilan's destruction, and Maximus having seized control over the Inhuman population via his mental powers save for Black Bolt and Luna (who are immune to his telepathy).
The Inhuman Royal Family confronts the Unspoken, a cousin of Black Bolt.[48]
Finally deciding that they will no longer be used and abused by other races, the Inhumans take drastic action to ensure their survival as a race. To that end, they activate a series of long dormant machines beneath the city of Attilan, transforming it into a gigantic starship, powered by Black Bolt's voice. Breaking free from its resting place on the Moon, Attilan enters hyperspace and tracks down the remnants of the Skrull Armada, completely eradicating it. As Attilan enters Shi'ar space, it attracts the attention of three Shi'ar warships, who order them to depart or they will open fire. They too are destroyed without mercy.
Attilan reaches the planet Hala, destroying the protective shield that guards their weakened empire and enter the planet itself. The Royal Family confronts Ronan the Accuser, who is serving as king. He admitted he felt that he was just holding the spot of ruler for their true king, Black Bolt, but Black Bolt declined the seat of king.[49]
The T-Bomb has killed Black Bolt, leaving leadership to Queen Medusa. The Inhuman Royal Family struggles to maintain their grip on the Kree Empire. The Alpha Primitives revolt, Maximus tries to take the throne, and the Kree aristocracy revolts, which erodes the Inhumans' rule.
Back on Earth, the Fantastic Four encounter an interstellar group of Inhumans formed from the Centaurians, the Dire Wraiths, the Kymellians, and the Badoon. These new Inhumans reveal that the Kree experimented on other interstellar races, aside from humans, and used methods other than the Terrigen Mists. The resulting Universal Inhumans have banded together and traveled to Earth in search of Black Bolt, who they believe will lead their collective people in an eventual takeover of Earth.[50] When Black Bolt returned, the Universal Inhumans arrive on Earth's moon where a prophecy revolving around a Midnight King rising from the Inhuman Program and bringing an end to the Kree is revealed.[51] It is this prophecy which was foresaw by the organic super-computer the Supreme Intelligence during the initial stages of the program that lead to its cancellation. The Intelligence ordered Accuser Huran to murder science officer Von-Warr and weaponized biologist Ry-Noor, the scientists responsible for the program, and summon the Accuser Corps to cleanse the experiments on every world that they had seeded. In its haste, however, the Supreme Intelligence failed to download the full data packet from the scientists, and five races of future "Inhumans" escaped the slaughter: the Badoon, the Centaurians, the Dire Wraiths, the Kymellians and early humans. Together they go to Earth to defeat the four Reeds from the Interdimensional Council.[52][53][54]
Meanwhile, the resurrected Supreme Intelligence orders the Kree to launch an attack to destroy the Earth and the Inhumans in a bid to prevent the genetic prophecy from occurring. They are repelled, wit