Storm (Marvel)

Storm is a fictional superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum, first appearing in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975). Descended from a long line of African witch-priestesses, Storm is a member of a fictional subspecies of humans born with superhuman abilities known as mutants. She is able to control the weather and atmosphere and is considered to be one of the most powerful mutants on the planet.

Born Ororo Munroe to a tribal princess of Kenya and an African-American photojournalist father, Storm is raised in Harlem, New York City, United States and Cairo, Egypt. She was made an orphan after her parents were killed in the midst of an Arab–Israeli conflict. An incident at this time also traumatized Munroe, leaving her with claustrophobia that she would struggle with for life. Storm is a member of the X-Men, a group of mutant heroes fighting for peace and equal rights between mutants and humans. Under the tutelage of a master thief an adolescent Munroe became a skilled pickpocket, the means of which she meets through coincidence the powerful mutant Professor X. Professor X later convinces Munroe to join the X-Men and use her abilities for a greater cause and purpose. Possessing natural leadership skills and formidable powers of her own, Storm has led the X-Men at times and has been a member of teams such as the Avengers and the Fantastic Four as well.

Created during the Bronze Age of Comic Books, Storm is the first major female character of African descent in comics. She is regarded by some as being Marvel Comics' most important female superhero, having drawn favorable comparison to DC Comics' most famous female lead Wonder Woman. When Marvel and DC Comics published a DC vs. Marvel miniseries in 1996, Storm was pitted against Wonder Woman in a one-on-one battle and emerged victorious due to winning a popular vote amongst readers. Storm is also part of one of the higher-profile romantic relationships in all of comics. Having married childhood sweetheart and fellow superhero Black Panther, ruler of the fictional African nation of Wakanda, Munroe was made queen consort through marriage. The title was lost however when the two later divorced.

Storm is one of the more prominent characters in the X-Men series, having appeared in various forms of media relating to the franchise, including animation, television, video games, and a series of films. The character was first portrayed in live-action by Halle Berry in 2000 film X-Men. Berry returned to portray the role in the films X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, and X-Men: Days of Future Past. The younger version of Storm was portrayed by Alexandra Shipp in the 2016 film X-Men: Apocalypse. Shipp had a cameo in Deadpool 2 and reprised her role in the 2019 film X-Men: Dark Phoenix. In 2011, Storm was ranked 42nd overall on IGN's "Top 100 Comic Books Heroes" list.