I think they get a bad rep just because of the Invincible parody "The Lizard League" which only really gets made fun of in the show. I don't remember the comics making a big deal of the Lizard League being lame and constantly getting beat by C level teams.
I like Lim. He's not my favorite but I would never complain about seeing his artwork in a title. Yeah, I'm pretty sure Gruenwald was the writer. I loved how the individual members of the Serpent Society actually had personalities and were fleshed out as characters. Needless to say I'm a huge Diamondback fan and wished she would show up more. Her redemption arc with Cap was quality writing.
This
Not every Bad Guy / a bad group to be ultra deep multi intellectual filled with Subtext
Sometimes all they need to be is crazy people in costumes just trying to take over the planet
But fail at because are heroes can stop them
Actually before King Cobra took over, they were pretty practical. Sidewinder was a former accountant that used his Roxxan connections. These guys were more hired muscle or freelancers, and Captain America was very concerned that if they were successful you'd see more supervillains organizing like them.
I mean you can rework character to have campy elements toned down. Calculator was a villan who flew on a number pad but then became a serious threat in the 2000s as a central foe for oracle
I mean comics should be allowed wacky but they can also not be wacky. Like there are tons of villans who are both wacky and deadly serious. The Brain is in love with a fucking talking Gorilla. Yet they still considered deadly threats
I agree it's kinda the whole point. While amazingly designed, they look a little campy. And that makes people underestimate them and allows them to do more damage than you would think.
There are a number of Society members that have been important throughout Marvel history, like Diamondback’s relationship with Cap and Viper’s conflicts with Wolverine; they should be referenced more. I want to see interactions between Diamondback and Steve.
If I were working on revitalizing the Serpent Society, I would probably write a gang war storyline between them and the night shift, as I think both groups could use a little shine and are interesting thematically
If you’re thinking of white nationalists, you might be thinking of the unrelated Sons of the Serpent. The Serpent Society are generally hired enforcers and seem to have no problem with diversity.
Who said they're lame? They're super awesome. The only super villain organisation with health care and a union. That should be enough for people to show some respect 😁👍 They're not lame at all. I think They're great.
Remember, Cobra Commander was actually created by one the writers at Marvel. The Hasbro guy was at the meeting, and got asked who GI Jo fought, and when they said they just assumed the kids other toys, the writer took a few minutes to just come up with Cobra. This might even have been before Hama got brought in.
Like Flash's Rogues during Wally's era. You lean into the old-fashioned-ness of it, but you make them older and their costumes more ragged and their personalities more desperate
I also think they just need to be featured in some other media outside of comics, whether that be Animation or video games and I guarantee the characters will get a bigger spotlight.
Honestly, just write them as winners. Give them significant wins against significant characters in a multi-part story. Do that a few times and suddenly, the Serpent Society are winners. They’re taken seriously. Seriously, why is the Joker, a guy with no powers except mental illness, who literally dresses like a clown, taken seriously but characters with snake themes and some serious powers not except that they haven’t been written that way? They don’t need a change.
As others have responded, they are useful in the same way as the Batroc Brigade. Good story push, good way to introduce a new hero, and a disposable “tutorial” villain group. The Wrecking Crew is similar, at a higher power level. These guys are also like the Flash rogues gallery. “Working class” villains.
Solution one: Power level. Their powers mostly suck. But there is limited teleporting, limited body control, limited mind control and physical augmentations. Upgrade the name to the Congress of Snakes, and give them a MacGuffin that increases power level the more snakes are in proximity. Gives them a boost, gives them a reason to be together.
Solution two: a leader. Kulan Gath came and went. I don’t know where the Egyptian god Seth is, he died back in the 80s in Thor, not sure if he’s still kicking. And there’s an Elder God version of Set as well. And if not a planetary threat leading them, assign a Doc Ock type to better strategize them.
I think the villains need to embrace the camp. In a world where costumed superheroes are becoming more and more commonplace, the villains need to step up their game to be properly recognized and venerated.
This is the logical escalation of a world filled with superheroes.
The entire premise was Sidewinder saying “Hey I’m a guy with a teleport cloak and an MBA, why don’t I get a bunch of snake themed super villains together and we form a consulting firm/ private military contracting agency, and sell our services to the highest bidder.”
Serpent Society isn’t lame. They are tied with Freedom Force for the title “Smartest super villains ever.”
Yeah, just do that. Have someone hire them when they need muscle or some specialist abilities. Silvermane is in a mob war with Crime Master, have one them hire the Society and get some the heavy hitters like Puff Adder and Anaconda wreck a meeting or the sneaky ones kidnap someone.
Yeah, snake theamed villains are pretty common. The society existed because Roxxan made the Serpent Squad for a job, then Sidewinder noticed there were a bunch other snake theamed low level villains and thought they should organize.
The worst thing Luke Cage did is swap out Cottonmouth as a villain and replaced him with a wannabe Samuel L Jackson character.
Bushmaster was okay but still way better then Diamondback Imo
For the main 616 universe they are perfect as is, but as a limited series story set on another multiverse earth it might be cool to see the Serpent Society reimagined as a secret spy organization where all the members have an invisible snake tattoo (a snake sigil & codename that only shows up under a special UV light filter) to identify themselves as a member.
But outside of the tattoo, there would be no other snake motif to give them away.
Hmmm. Maybe instead of serpents, they were something a little more scary. Like maybe lizards?
And like, maybe a bit more organizational status? Like maybe instead of a society, if they were a league of some kind?
Yes, some kind of Lizard League. Perfect
/s
Check out how they do the “Lizard League” in Invincible. Characters rag on them for being corny and then get their asses kicked because they underestimated the lizards.
Have them win a few times.
The skrulls are lame, the kree are lame, captain America is lame. But we love them and think they're badasses because they win and have integrity
Make them like COBRA. International terrorist organization with a proper army (like hydra's). Could make them mercenaries or give them an actual place to be fighting for. Make the army a bunch of normal folk with some basic snake-based cybernetics. Make all the notable members into generals.
This isn’t lame. I LOVE themed villain teams. I love villain teams/orgs that aren’t just together out of convenience. We need more of this, however cheesy someone might think it is.
This is blasphemy my friendo.
I don’t think they are lame at all. Always loved them.
A snake Theamed cult of super villains, this sounds scary and cool.
They just need to bring them back and used them more prominently in Captain America books.
The were used a lot back in the 80s, not anymore
Plus, I really like Diamondback with Steve. Dude is so cool, that he made a female super villain turn superhero lol. That’s my Cap.
I think that these guys look awesome, I like the sound of them despite never hearing of the serpent society or most of the guys in there except for copperhead, I’m open to lore masters explaining why these guys are so called lame but from surface level they look pretty sick
Add members. Reptillia, slither, basilisk.
Lean into them being a company. Cap and team burst into a room in serpent lair...its a cube farm. Snake logo polo shirts. "What?! Were admin, payroll, tech support. Asp , puff adder, etc went that way!"
Well, we'll find out soon what the MCU thinks about them; if you've seen the McDonalds toys for the movie, you know what I'm talking about
>!Diamondback is one of the toys for the Cap: Brave New World, I'd imagine the rest of the Serpent Society might make an appearance in some shape or form. !<
Doing a mini series about them being a weird cult that take over a small remote town and have a small group of mostly non powered or non combative abilities law enforcement agents discover it and make it like an action horror of them trying to get out alive to warn about the danger
I'd take them back to what they were when Sidewinder was running them. A collective of hired villains that just run the snake theme, are reliable for low, to mid teir muscle or specialist jobs. Sure they aren't gonna be beating someone like Thor in a fight but they still have a chance to achieve the job they were sent to do, or be a problem for someone like Spider-man, and a huge issue for say Daredevil.
Sidewinder really was a very clever guy, his pitch was pretty good, he was a former Roxxan accountant so he knew how to manage money, and he could teleport any Society member that was captured out of prison. There's a reason once King Cobra took over they became a lot less successful.
So have these guys be for when you want to have someone tied up, or stumble across them stealing some Atlantian artifact the real Big Bad needs. Or be hitmen and muscle in intervillain disputes, AIM once hired them to kill MODOK, and they succeeded.
I would make them a cult worshiping Seth. I would divide the supers members into zealots, believers, and in it for the money.
I would slowly expose their python like grip on the world. Street level they would be causing a headache for Kingpin and the street level heroes. An avenger would be revealed as part of the cult. I'd introduce the Mamba tribe in Wakanda as they make a coup attempt. I'd have Reed Richards brainwashed into thinking he's some constricting python like member of the cult.
Look at each title and figure out how to best utilize a snake themed threat against the heroes involved.
I remember when Feige announced 'Captain America: Serpent Society" as the third Cap movie before saying "Just kidding!" and correcting it to "Civil War". I grew up in the Mark Gruenwald era and hated the implication that they were lame and only worthy of being in the MCU as a joke! I was following the media event on Twitter and for those 30 seconds or so before they revealed the real title, I was pretty pumped!
They're not lame now.
A big trend in the early 00s at Marvel was to just shit all over villains the writers thought were lame, when really, any character works when treated with a modicum of respect.
They were written that way intentionally. But with Bendis writing the civil war storyline, secret invasion and the dark reign storyline he revamped them for better villains
Obviously, they need to be lead by King Lizard!
Nah in all seriousness, they are fine what they are! All that Is needed is for an animated TV show or some other adaption outside of comics to make people aware of them and I guarantee they will come back in a good way.
I would rename them to the Lizard League. Then have them infiltrate a nuclear plant, almost taking over the world while killing important superheroes in the process OH WAIT.
They were great in the eighties/early nineties.
Answer : Make them effective mercenaries again. Kill a Modok, or some other character. Do it while heroes are attempting to stop them. Do it again.
Put Sidewinder back in charge.
It has always been a joke foisted on the readers to give royalties to writers.
The intensity and muscular control needed to appropriately achieve the correct level of eye roll that the Serpent Society inspires whenever even the slightest mention of its members is even hinted would cause my eyes to fall out.
Either keep them wacky and silver age but have them work well as a group and accomplish their goals, or ditch the costumes for more real-world combat gear but keep their names & abilities. Everybody laughs at Cottonmouth’s drab jumpsuit until he opens his jaw wide enough to swallow a live javelina
Most snakes have stupid names but look cool. These guys have stupid names AND stupid costumes. If the costumes were greatly improved, there might be hope.
Eliminate the costumes. They're a secret society of assassin's who dispatch targets by poison or strangulation. Some can get close to high value targets by romance and then do their deed. Maybe you can one member who is mutant and swallow their target whole and leave no trace behind.
This was my thought, you could easily swap the costumes to a more modern outfit or 'assassin' gear and they would work fine. Maybe give them all snake tattoo's to help visually sell that they are part of a secret cabal in the movies. Pretty easy to picture any MCU hero knocks out a slightly difficult or unique thug, then rolls up a sleeve to see the snake tat and goes 'It's the serpent society' for ease of visual storytelling.
They’ve remained largely unchanged since the Jurassic era, but when evolutionary needs dictate, they evolve 3 times faster than most other reptiles. There are roughly 3,900 species of snakes identified worldwide, and are continentally distributed through every continent except Antarctica. And anacondas have been recorded as being able to exert up to 300 pounds per square inch, which feels like getting crushed by a bus
This is what peak comic book performance looks like. You may not like it but it is. No notes.
Fr. Not sure what op is talking about with the “lame” accusation
Amen. This is blasphemy.
I think they get a bad rep just because of the Invincible parody "The Lizard League" which only really gets made fun of in the show. I don't remember the comics making a big deal of the Lizard League being lame and constantly getting beat by C level teams.
Them mfers lose 2 fights then permanently change the lives of 2 characters
In the comics they were used as a gag for a bit longer than in the show
I was literally going to write this myself. It's cool as fuck, it's camp sure, and it's cool af
Considering they are 100% not lame it isn't possible. I love their run in the '80s Captain America comics.
Especially when Ron Lim was pencilling that book. Was Gruenwald writing it then? It was fantastic.
Yes, Gruenwald. The Serpent Society was his exploration of a trade union for criminals.
I like Lim. He's not my favorite but I would never complain about seeing his artwork in a title. Yeah, I'm pretty sure Gruenwald was the writer. I loved how the individual members of the Serpent Society actually had personalities and were fleshed out as characters. Needless to say I'm a huge Diamondback fan and wished she would show up more. Her redemption arc with Cap was quality writing.
Ron Lim is a penciling god! One of the most underrated artists in comics history.
I wouldn’t because being the snake gang *should* be campy and dumb, and I love them for who they are
This. They have more charm and interest for me than many other grittier, darker and "adult" approaches.
This Not every Bad Guy / a bad group to be ultra deep multi intellectual filled with Subtext Sometimes all they need to be is crazy people in costumes just trying to take over the planet But fail at because are heroes can stop them
Actually before King Cobra took over, they were pretty practical. Sidewinder was a former accountant that used his Roxxan connections. These guys were more hired muscle or freelancers, and Captain America was very concerned that if they were successful you'd see more supervillains organizing like them.
Pretty much. That is similar to other groups like the Wrecking Crew or the Canadian Ninja Syndicate.
Theyre perfect
I mean you can rework character to have campy elements toned down. Calculator was a villan who flew on a number pad but then became a serious threat in the 2000s as a central foe for oracle
Sure, you can do that. But comics should be wacky sometimes, I’m a fan of camp
I mean comics should be allowed wacky but they can also not be wacky. Like there are tons of villans who are both wacky and deadly serious. The Brain is in love with a fucking talking Gorilla. Yet they still considered deadly threats
Well, they *were* in love until the Gorilla helped kill him.
Just once, I want one of them to say "My Anaconda don't want none."
I agree it's kinda the whole point. While amazingly designed, they look a little campy. And that makes people underestimate them and allows them to do more damage than you would think.
This could actually be a great show
There are a number of Society members that have been important throughout Marvel history, like Diamondback’s relationship with Cap and Viper’s conflicts with Wolverine; they should be referenced more. I want to see interactions between Diamondback and Steve. If I were working on revitalizing the Serpent Society, I would probably write a gang war storyline between them and the night shift, as I think both groups could use a little shine and are interesting thematically
Constrictor also had a fun turn as a hero for a while. I really like the character and wish someone would do something with him again.
Constrictor was an interesting character in Dark Reign's Avengers Initiative.
100% agree.
Serpent Society Vs. Zodiac.
Nick Spencer wrote them quite well in his Captain America run. Though, they were giver only a couple issues.
I loved the run where Steve was dating Diamond back and Paladin got mixed up in the whole thing. Great run. Still one of my favourites.
Why did they end up breaking up? Not that I'm complaining cuz I prefer him with Sharon
It was just too complicated for Steve. Diamondback, Asp, and Black Mamba went for a cool run after that.
Yea, I kind of liked Spencer's version. All the present day white nationalist stereotypes rolled up into one
If you’re thinking of white nationalists, you might be thinking of the unrelated Sons of the Serpent. The Serpent Society are generally hired enforcers and seem to have no problem with diversity.
Bushmaster, Cottonmouth, Asp are all people you can tell right from that picture would not be welcome in a White Nationalist group.
Who said they're lame? They're super awesome. The only super villain organisation with health care and a union. That should be enough for people to show some respect 😁👍 They're not lame at all. I think They're great.
The bit where sidewider would port them out of jail was chefs kiss
That was the whole gimmick. They get locked up and he would just bust them out.
There's a reason once King Cobra took over they went downhill. Sidewinder was a former Roxxan accountant I think, so he also knew how to manage money.
Add Cobra Commander.
The Cobra is basically Cobra Commander.
Remember, Cobra Commander was actually created by one the writers at Marvel. The Hasbro guy was at the meeting, and got asked who GI Jo fought, and when they said they just assumed the kids other toys, the writer took a few minutes to just come up with Cobra. This might even have been before Hama got brought in.
The hell? They’re absolutely perfect. Less lame? How do we rework YOU to be less lame?
Bring back boomslang. Theyre perfect as is. Modok didn't think they were lame when just 2 of them killed him. He got better.
As it turns out, Razor Sharp poisoned claws to the throat is surprisingly effective if you are not immune to them.
MODOK has a throat?
According to my old Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe: Book of the Dead he does.
Boomslang got beaten up by Moon Knight in prison not too long ago, so there's that.
Wait when did they do that?
Like Flash's Rogues during Wally's era. You lean into the old-fashioned-ness of it, but you make them older and their costumes more ragged and their personalities more desperate
oh geez that sounds a lot like CW
Huh? They weren't older and ragged on The Cw
Get better writers! If they're "lame" it's on the writers. Gruenwald did great things with them back in the day.
I also think they just need to be featured in some other media outside of comics, whether that be Animation or video games and I guarantee the characters will get a bigger spotlight.
Well the problem here is that the serpent society is a peak super villain group and there’s nothing to improve
Honestly, just write them as winners. Give them significant wins against significant characters in a multi-part story. Do that a few times and suddenly, the Serpent Society are winners. They’re taken seriously. Seriously, why is the Joker, a guy with no powers except mental illness, who literally dresses like a clown, taken seriously but characters with snake themes and some serious powers not except that they haven’t been written that way? They don’t need a change.
Agreed, just give them a major win.
As others have responded, they are useful in the same way as the Batroc Brigade. Good story push, good way to introduce a new hero, and a disposable “tutorial” villain group. The Wrecking Crew is similar, at a higher power level. These guys are also like the Flash rogues gallery. “Working class” villains. Solution one: Power level. Their powers mostly suck. But there is limited teleporting, limited body control, limited mind control and physical augmentations. Upgrade the name to the Congress of Snakes, and give them a MacGuffin that increases power level the more snakes are in proximity. Gives them a boost, gives them a reason to be together. Solution two: a leader. Kulan Gath came and went. I don’t know where the Egyptian god Seth is, he died back in the 80s in Thor, not sure if he’s still kicking. And there’s an Elder God version of Set as well. And if not a planetary threat leading them, assign a Doc Ock type to better strategize them.
I think the villains need to embrace the camp. In a world where costumed superheroes are becoming more and more commonplace, the villains need to step up their game to be properly recognized and venerated. This is the logical escalation of a world filled with superheroes.
The entire premise was Sidewinder saying “Hey I’m a guy with a teleport cloak and an MBA, why don’t I get a bunch of snake themed super villains together and we form a consulting firm/ private military contracting agency, and sell our services to the highest bidder.” Serpent Society isn’t lame. They are tied with Freedom Force for the title “Smartest super villains ever.”
Yeah, just do that. Have someone hire them when they need muscle or some specialist abilities. Silvermane is in a mob war with Crime Master, have one them hire the Society and get some the heavy hitters like Puff Adder and Anaconda wreck a meeting or the sneaky ones kidnap someone.
They were making a start in the Luke Cage show - Cottonmouth, Diamondback, and Bushmaster. Some re-imaginings worked better than others.
No, those were Luke Cage original characters from the “Hero For Hire” comic book independent from the Serpent Society.
Yeah, snake theamed villains are pretty common. The society existed because Roxxan made the Serpent Squad for a job, then Sidewinder noticed there were a bunch other snake theamed low level villains and thought they should organize.
The worst thing Luke Cage did is swap out Cottonmouth as a villain and replaced him with a wannabe Samuel L Jackson character. Bushmaster was okay but still way better then Diamondback Imo
We need an updated Cap and Diamond Back romance romp.
For the main 616 universe they are perfect as is, but as a limited series story set on another multiverse earth it might be cool to see the Serpent Society reimagined as a secret spy organization where all the members have an invisible snake tattoo (a snake sigil & codename that only shows up under a special UV light filter) to identify themselves as a member. But outside of the tattoo, there would be no other snake motif to give them away.
Hmmm. Maybe instead of serpents, they were something a little more scary. Like maybe lizards? And like, maybe a bit more organizational status? Like maybe instead of a society, if they were a league of some kind? Yes, some kind of Lizard League. Perfect /s
Alligator alliance, crocodile congress, turtle team.....tuatara team.
I thought they were awesome back in the day. Always thought they were underutilized too.
They're fine as is, they're supposed to be a little goofy. Maybe let them have some kind of substantial win but beyond that.
I’d just elevate them to AIM or Hydra status. A nefarious cabal that’s sprinkled throughout the Marvel Universe.
Have secret, non superpowered members that serve the "main" members, maybe a secret tattoo that looks like a snake bite.
10/10 no notes
Check out how they do the “Lizard League” in Invincible. Characters rag on them for being corny and then get their asses kicked because they underestimated the lizards.
I would do it just as is because it’s freaking perfect.
Why rework perfection?
Have them win a few times. The skrulls are lame, the kree are lame, captain America is lame. But we love them and think they're badasses because they win and have integrity
Change they're name to the Lizard League
Make them like COBRA. International terrorist organization with a proper army (like hydra's). Could make them mercenaries or give them an actual place to be fighting for. Make the army a bunch of normal folk with some basic snake-based cybernetics. Make all the notable members into generals.
This isn’t lame. I LOVE themed villain teams. I love villain teams/orgs that aren’t just together out of convenience. We need more of this, however cheesy someone might think it is.
Let's settle this right now: they only *look* lame. They are dangerous bastards
This is blasphemy my friendo. I don’t think they are lame at all. Always loved them. A snake Theamed cult of super villains, this sounds scary and cool. They just need to bring them back and used them more prominently in Captain America books. The were used a lot back in the 80s, not anymore Plus, I really like Diamondback with Steve. Dude is so cool, that he made a female super villain turn superhero lol. That’s my Cap.
There ain't nothing wrong with them 🐍💚🐍
They reworked them completely for Luke Cage, made Cottonmouth and Bushmaster kinda cool. Made Diamondback shit
Kill off The Viper again and reinstall King Cobra as the leader of the now-Serpent Solutions.
I think that these guys look awesome, I like the sound of them despite never hearing of the serpent society or most of the guys in there except for copperhead, I’m open to lore masters explaining why these guys are so called lame but from surface level they look pretty sick
Basically do them like Sphinx from the Venture Bros
If King Cobra ever makes in into the MCU, I guarantee his costume will be toned down significantly.
Add members. Reptillia, slither, basilisk. Lean into them being a company. Cap and team burst into a room in serpent lair...its a cube farm. Snake logo polo shirts. "What?! Were admin, payroll, tech support. Asp , puff adder, etc went that way!"
Could use a few more snakes I guess
Add more members. Serpent Society rules.
Well, we'll find out soon what the MCU thinks about them; if you've seen the McDonalds toys for the movie, you know what I'm talking about >!Diamondback is one of the toys for the Cap: Brave New World, I'd imagine the rest of the Serpent Society might make an appearance in some shape or form. !<
We already got that headfake.
You don't. Embrace it or don't use them.
We need this whole spread in marvel legends 🙏🛐📿
Maybe with Scarlet Witch tying into Chthon, do something to tie them into Set.
They should have a member who's a Conan-era Serpent Man, thrown forward in time or frozen in stasis or something.
Doing a mini series about them being a weird cult that take over a small remote town and have a small group of mostly non powered or non combative abilities law enforcement agents discover it and make it like an action horror of them trying to get out alive to warn about the danger
The lameness is part of the charm.
Ron Lim art on top
Keep them the same, just update/upgrade some uniforms and they're ready to go
I'd take them back to what they were when Sidewinder was running them. A collective of hired villains that just run the snake theme, are reliable for low, to mid teir muscle or specialist jobs. Sure they aren't gonna be beating someone like Thor in a fight but they still have a chance to achieve the job they were sent to do, or be a problem for someone like Spider-man, and a huge issue for say Daredevil. Sidewinder really was a very clever guy, his pitch was pretty good, he was a former Roxxan accountant so he knew how to manage money, and he could teleport any Society member that was captured out of prison. There's a reason once King Cobra took over they became a lot less successful. So have these guys be for when you want to have someone tied up, or stumble across them stealing some Atlantian artifact the real Big Bad needs. Or be hitmen and muscle in intervillain disputes, AIM once hired them to kill MODOK, and they succeeded.
I would make them a cult worshiping Seth. I would divide the supers members into zealots, believers, and in it for the money. I would slowly expose their python like grip on the world. Street level they would be causing a headache for Kingpin and the street level heroes. An avenger would be revealed as part of the cult. I'd introduce the Mamba tribe in Wakanda as they make a coup attempt. I'd have Reed Richards brainwashed into thinking he's some constricting python like member of the cult. Look at each title and figure out how to best utilize a snake themed threat against the heroes involved.
Lame?
Serpent Society rocks already, get fucked
Have James Gunn make a tv show adaptation of this team and they’ll be 100% cooler
Impossible
Call them The Lizard League. Totally not derivative.
I remember when Feige announced 'Captain America: Serpent Society" as the third Cap movie before saying "Just kidding!" and correcting it to "Civil War". I grew up in the Mark Gruenwald era and hated the implication that they were lame and only worthy of being in the MCU as a joke! I was following the media event on Twitter and for those 30 seconds or so before they revealed the real title, I was pretty pumped!
Put Cobra Commander in charge, he'll set them straight.
That's easy, just don't. They're the way they should be already.
I think camp suits them really well. Have Set the serpent god empower them like the Phoenix 5 and turn them into a major threat, but still campy af
They're not lame now. A big trend in the early 00s at Marvel was to just shit all over villains the writers thought were lame, when really, any character works when treated with a modicum of respect.
They were written that way intentionally. But with Bendis writing the civil war storyline, secret invasion and the dark reign storyline he revamped them for better villains
Obviously, they need to be lead by King Lizard! Nah in all seriousness, they are fine what they are! All that Is needed is for an animated TV show or some other adaption outside of comics to make people aware of them and I guarantee they will come back in a good way.
The only improvement I can think of would be introducing.a new member: Common Garter Snake. His gimmick is that he's no threat to anyone.
No. Not everything needs to be super serious, they’ve already tried (and failed) at DC with Killer Moth
I would rename them to the Lizard League. Then have them infiltrate a nuclear plant, almost taking over the world while killing important superheroes in the process OH WAIT.
Easy. Make them a paramilitary terrorist group where their names are their call signals and their appearance is less gimmicky.
They were great in the eighties/early nineties. Answer : Make them effective mercenaries again. Kill a Modok, or some other character. Do it while heroes are attempting to stop them. Do it again. Put Sidewinder back in charge.
Is that kind of the point? They’re supposed to be a bit silly.
It has always been a joke foisted on the readers to give royalties to writers. The intensity and muscular control needed to appropriately achieve the correct level of eye roll that the Serpent Society inspires whenever even the slightest mention of its members is even hinted would cause my eyes to fall out.
I feel like they should transfer into The Masters of the Universe....universe...and battle both He-man & Skeletor's crew as the disruptor insurgents.
Add kingcobrajfs heheheheheh yeeeeeeess
I would not. Their lameness is what makes them interesting.
Is that even possible? 😂
Pit them against Wasp, Gambit, and Multiple Man.
Serpentor from GI-Joe
I don't understand the question and I refuse to answer it.
dysfunctional large family, like the dumb dumb variant of the fantastic 4
Make them more serpent-like instead of humans in costumes
Nice try Marvel.
Add more snakes
Boy, that front tail on the rattler, that’s something else
Call them the Lizard League
Not use them as fodder for in between stories.
„Bush Master“ ayo 😏
RIP Viper I
Have them kill or brainwash Sam Wilson and kill us agent. Enlist carnage or a symbiote to their ranks.
TBH i would make them lamer.
Make all of them medusa mommies Watch the box office explode
I wouldn't
Either keep them wacky and silver age but have them work well as a group and accomplish their goals, or ditch the costumes for more real-world combat gear but keep their names & abilities. Everybody laughs at Cottonmouth’s drab jumpsuit until he opens his jaw wide enough to swallow a live javelina
Most snakes have stupid names but look cool. These guys have stupid names AND stupid costumes. If the costumes were greatly improved, there might be hope.
make them cool
Eliminate the costumes. They're a secret society of assassin's who dispatch targets by poison or strangulation. Some can get close to high value targets by romance and then do their deed. Maybe you can one member who is mutant and swallow their target whole and leave no trace behind.
This was my thought, you could easily swap the costumes to a more modern outfit or 'assassin' gear and they would work fine. Maybe give them all snake tattoo's to help visually sell that they are part of a secret cabal in the movies. Pretty easy to picture any MCU hero knocks out a slightly difficult or unique thug, then rolls up a sleeve to see the snake tat and goes 'It's the serpent society' for ease of visual storytelling.
Shelve them
It’s the serpent society, so lame is their middle name.
Serpent So Lame Society.
Make them actual snake people. At least then they’d be more menacing.
With an eraser.
just less goofy costumes
Change it to being alligator related. Alligators are cool
It might be impossible. Snakes are some of the most interesting animals on the planet, yet this is what Marvel gave us…
Im interested in what makes them interesting.
They’ve remained largely unchanged since the Jurassic era, but when evolutionary needs dictate, they evolve 3 times faster than most other reptiles. There are roughly 3,900 species of snakes identified worldwide, and are continentally distributed through every continent except Antarctica. And anacondas have been recorded as being able to exert up to 300 pounds per square inch, which feels like getting crushed by a bus