SUPER-PRISONS OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
Super Heroes and Super Villains alike go to extraordinary lengths to achieve their ends—so what happens when they break the law in that process? Why, they go to a super-prison, of course! The Marvel Universe is home to several prisons specifically designed to keep superhuman prisoners locked down. Here are some of the most notorious super-prisons in the Marvel Universe.
Super-Prison Blues
In Avengers Annual (1967) #15
Buried deep within the Rocky Mountains, the Vault is specifically designed to neutralize the powers of its inmates. When it debuted in this issue, some of the Avengers ended up calling it home for a spell. For more of the Vault, don't miss Venom's big breakout in AVENGERS: DEATHTRAP - THE VAULT (1991) #1.
In New Avengers (2004) #1
The New Avengers assemble for the very first time in this issue after a Skrull stages a massive prison breakout. Notably, in THUNDERBOLTS (2006) #144, Luke Cage launches up a program where inmates like Ghost could join his new team of Thunderbolts in exchange for a reduced sentence.
In The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #345
Based in New York's East River, Ryker's Island primarily hosts non-powered prisoners like Wilson Fisk and the Punisher. However, it is also the birthplace of Carnage, thanks to the time Eddie Brock shared a cell with Cletus Kasady in this particular issue.
In Ruins Of Ravencroft: Carnage (2020) #1
Although the Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane is intended to be a mental health facility, it acts more like a prison. Built on cursed land, Ravencroft continues a legacy of of violence perpetuated by villains like Mister Sinister, Dracula, Carnage, and Norman Osborn.
In Hero for Hire (1972) #1
A maximum-security facility based off the coast of Georgia, Seagate Prison is the birthplace of Luke Cage. After his wrongful imprisonment, Cage—known then as Carl Lucas—endured an experiment that gave him super-strength and bulletproof skin. Later on, Seagate incarcerated several Thunderbolts, including Bucky Barnes, Hawkeye, and Mach-1.
In Uncanny X-Men (2024) #1
Following the fall of Krakoa, Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters transforms into a prison built specifically to contain mutants. Thanks to Dr. Corina Ellis, Graymalkin now stands as the symbolic embodiment of a world that hates and fears mutants.
In Thanos (2003) #7
Stationed near the cosmic center of the Marvel Universe, the Kyln once housed inmates as powerful as Thanos the Mad Titan himself. Due to its location, the Kyln was one of the first places destroyed by Annihilus and his Annihilation Wave in ANNIHILATION (2006) #1. Star-Lord (Peter Quill) and Gladiator managed to escape, unlike thousands of others imprisoned there.
In Avengers Standoff: Welcome to Pleasant Hill (2016) #1
Pleasant Hill may be the most insidious super-prison of the Marvel Universe. S.H.I.E.L.D. used the reality-warping Kobik, a living piece of the Cosmic Cube, to brainwash criminals into Pleasant Hill's polite, mild-mannered residents. Multiple Avengers squads were required to quell the violence after the inmates broke free of their conditioning.
In Devil's Reign (2021) #2
As Mayor of New York City, Wilson Fisk used the Myrmidon to house superhumans arrested under his anti-vigilante laws. During Devil's Reign, Captain America (Steve Rogers), Moon Knight, Mister Fantastic, and the Invisible Woman spent time there as inmates.
In She-Hulk (2004) #5
Hank Pym's Pym Particles shrank this New York prison and its dozens of superhuman inmates before its debut in this issue. A similar facility called the Lang Memorial Penitentiary, AKA the Ant-Farm, was modeled after the Big House and used ants as security guards.
In Civil War: Front Line (2006) #5
As CIVIL WAR raged, Tony Stark, Mister Fantastic, and Hank Pym built this prison in the Negative Zone to contain heroes who did not register with the government. Following the release of its heroic inmates, it was repurposed for aliens and other superhuman villains.
In Marvel Boy (2000) #6
Originally designed to hold alien prisoners on Earth, the Cube was once one of the most classified places in the world. S.H.I.E.L.D. used this location to imprison Noh-Varr, among others. The Cube became a base for the Thunderbolts after Norman Osborn transformed S.H.I.E.L.D. into the more aggressive H.A.M.M.E.R. during Dark Reign.
In House of X (2019) #6
When mutantkind came together to form the nation Krakoa, they established a prison for their most dangerous foes and called it the Pit of Exile. The Pit originally held its inmates in stasis, but Sabretooth—its first and longest-serving prisoner—turned it into a hellish hallucinogenic space where he could kill endlessly. Every prisoner escaped before the Fall of Krakoa.