The Principality of Madripoor or Madripoor is a fictional island appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The island is depicted as being located in maritime Southeast Asia, and has appeared mostly associated with stories from the X-Men series. Based on illustrations, it is in the southern portion of the Strait of Malacca between Singapore and Sumatra, Indonesia.
Madripoor has made several appearances in Marvel-related media, such as the Marvel Anime franchise and the Marvel Cinematic Universe series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021).
Publication history
Madripoor first appeared in
The New Mutants #32 (October 1985). It was created by
Chris Claremont and
Steve Leialoha. Madripoor was featured heavily in the
Wolverine solo series (starting 1988), written by Claremont with artwork by
John Buscema.
Madripoor received an entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89 #4.
History
Madripoor is a fictional location apparently modeled on
Singapore.
They are both wealthy maritime Asian island port nations at a strategic location with a single major city. Within the Marvel Universe, Madripoor is located south of Singapore. Madripoor is divided between a
Hightown and
Lowtown, places which are wealthy and crime-stricken respectively.
Its capital and single large city is also called Madripoor. Madripoor was once a haven for Piracy,[ Old Man Logan (vol. 2) #34 (March 2018)] and that tradition is somewhat continued today with its lawless quality. The principality does not allow other nations to extradition criminals. However, it is one of the business capitals of the Pacific Rim, with its own Trade Center.
The nation was taken over by Hydra with Madame Hydra as de facto ruler, using the nation to finance terrorist plots against the world. With Hydra's terrorist operations causing deaths in the thousands, Iron Man and S.H.I.E.L.D. overthrow Hydra and place the nation in the hands of Tyger Tiger, as she was the only person—apart from the long-absent Patch—who the natives would follow in the event of a revolt.[ Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Annual #1 (November 2007)]
Wolverine's son Daken manages to take power away from Tyger Tiger by acquiring control of various financial resources and key people. This results in several days of intense violence throughout the entire nation.[ Dark Wolverine #5-7 (March - May 2011)] Part of this chaos is caused by Malcolm Colcord, who wants free rein in Madripoor for his super-soldier experiments. Colcord is stopped by Daken, Tyger, X-23, and Gambit.
In the series Avengers World, it is revealed that Madripoor rests on the head of a giant dragon that is as large as an island continent.[ Avengers World #3 (February 2014)] The dragon is beaten and returned to its resting place by Shang-Chi.[ Avengers World #14 (December 2014)]
Magneto and the All-New X-Men use Madripoor's Hightown as the location for their headquarters while Magneto is secretly trying to find a way to send the time-displaced X-Men to their own time.[ X-Men Blue #1 (June 2017)] At the same time, the time-displaced X-Men secretly train themselves in case Magneto returns to his villainous roots and tries to kill them.[ X-Men Blue #2 (June 2017)]
Wolverine learns that the pre-teen criminal conspiracy called "The Hellfire Club," has taken over the criminal underworld of Madripoor.[ Black Cat #10 (May 2020)] This group, sometimes referred to as Homines Verendi, has taken direct hostile action against the mutant nation of Krakoa.[ Marauders #9-11 (May - October 2020)]
During the Iron Man 2020 storyline, Albert is directed by Tyger Tiger to Donald Pierce's company Reavers Universal Robotics in Madripoor and is confronted by Bonebreaker and the Reavers. After Albert subdues the Reavers, Pierce states that he sold Elsie-Dee's parts to other criminal groups. Albert manages to recover Elsie-Dee's parts and reassemble her, causing the criminals to swear vengeance against him.[ 2020 iWolverine #1 (September 2020)] Pierce and the Reavers attack Albert and Elsie-Dee, but they escape after being smuggled out of Madripoor by Kimura.[ 2020 iWolverine #2 (October 2020)]
Geography
Madripoor is estimated to be in diameter. Its coastline is pockmarked with deep water bays and
. The center of the island is a large plateau with steep cliffs. As mentioned above, Madripoor rests on the head of a giant dragon that is as large as an island continent.
Points of interest
-
Buccaneer Bay - A bay frequented by Madripoor's pirates. It is also called Dagger Bay.
-
Hightown - A district of Madripoor for the rich and powerful. Hightown is one of the wealthiest places in the world and sports advanced technology and architecture.
-
Imperial Hotel - A hotel where Wolverine once rescued Lindsay McCabe.
[ Wolverine (vol. 2) #1 (November 1988)]
-
King's Impresario Restaurant - A popular restaurant in Hightown.
-
Madripoor Police Force Headquarters - The headquarters of the Madripoor Police Force.
-
Reavers Universal Robotics - A factory owned by Donald Pierce.
-
Royal Palace -
-
Sovereign Hotel - It is claimed to be the expensive yet finest hotel in the whole world.
-
X-Mansion - A base of operations in Madripoor used by Magneto and the time-displaced X-Men. The mansion is later used by the Raksha, a group of mutant vigilantes.
-
Lowtown - A crime-impoverished district of Madripoor.
-
Brass Monkey Saloon - It is also called the Bronze Monkey and located on 332 Cyan Street.
[ Captain America #363 (November 1989)]
-
Club Azimut - A nightclub that is a front for the Vladivostok mafia.
-
Dream Street - A street in Lowtown.
[ Wolverine (vol. 2) #32 (October 1990)]
-
Foxy Den Strip Bar
-
Harbor Bar - Thunderbolt Ross once visited this bar before looking for recruits for his incarnation of the Thunderbolts.
[ Thunderbolts (vol. 3) #2 (February 2013)]
-
Jade Dragon Triad's Factory - A factory owned by the Jade Dragon Triad, who use slave labor for their operations.
-
Madame Joy's Brothel - A brothel owned by Madame Joy.
-
- A restaurant and drinking establishment in Lowtown. It was run by O'Donnell and Wolverine (under the alias of "Patch").
[ Death of Wolverine #2 (September 2014)] The bar now has a hotel addition, financed by Krakoan interests.[ Marauders #22 (July 2021)]
-
Wharfside - One of the worst spots in Lowtown.
-
Empty Quarter - A section of the city where streets do not consistently connect to each other. The only stable point is by the lighthouse. Attempted flight from the Empty Quarter leads directly to the Negative Zone.
[ Wolverine (vol. 6) #6 (May 2014)]
-
Stinger - A S.H.I.E.L.D. safehouse and second generation secret base whose location is only known to Nick Fury.
Known residents
Notable current and former residents of Madripoor include:
-
Aardwolf (Chon Li) - A mutant with the ability of lycanthropy, he is the local Triads crime lord.
-
Angel (past) - Formerly living in Madripoor with Magneto. Later returned to his original timeline.
-
Beast (past) - Formerly living in Madripoor with Magneto. Later returned to his original timeline.
-
Bloodscream - Sadistic former Nazi with vampiric superpowers. Worked as an enforcer for General Coy and Viper alongside Roughhouse.
-
Archie Corrigan (deceased) - An American expatriate living in Madripoor and working as a local pilot and smuggler. He is an associate and friend of Wolverine (known as Patch in Madripoor). Corrigan is a veteran and former pilot for the US military, and he is the owner of the local South Seas Skyways (a company that utilizes mostly small aircraft and )
-
General Nguyen Ngoc Coy - Former South Vietnamese general who became a powerful crime lord in Madripoor and a rival of fellow crime lord Tyger Tiger.
-
Cyclops (past) - Formerly living in Madripoor with Magneto. Later returned to his original timeline.
-
Dragoness - Former Mutant Liberation Front member and current resident of Krakoa.
-
Jessica Drew - worked as a private investigator in Madripoor during her hiatus from her role as Spider-Woman.
-
Harriers - A team of mercenaries.
[ Wolverine (vol. 2) #5 (March 1989)]
-
Iceman (past) - Formerly living in Madripoor with Magneto. Later returned to his original timeline.
-
Karma - Member of the New Mutants, lived in Madripoor while trying to bring her uncle, General Coy, to justice.
-
Magneto - Formerly living in Madripoor with the time-displaced X-Men. Later resided at Krakoa
-
Jean Grey (past) - Formerly living in Madripoor with Magneto. Later returned to his original timeline.
-
Lindsay McCabe - An American actress and expatriate living in Madripoor. She became a close acquaintance of Wolverine.
-
Mister X - Champion of Madripoor and also a mutant.
-
O'Donnell (deceased) - The co-owner of the Princess Bar.
-
Patch (alias of Wolverine) - Co-owner of the Princess Bar.
-
Prince Baran - Former ruler. Murdered by General Coy.
[ Wolverine (vol. 2) #98 (February 1996)]
-
Raksha - A vicious team of mutant vigilantes operating out of the X-Mansion in Hightown. They strive to honor the memory of Patch.
-
Roche (deceased) - A crime lord.
-
Rose Wu (deceased) - A friend of Patch.
-
Roughouse - Enforcer to General Coy and Viper.
-
Sabretooth - He once lived in Madripoor in 1959.
[ New Avengers (vol. 2) #10 (May 2011)]
-
Scorpion - She was born in Lowtown, Madripoor.
-
Sapphire Styx - A psychic vampire.
-
Seraph (deceased) - Former lover and trainer of Wolverine.
-
Tai - Chief of the Madripoor Police Force and ally of Logan.
-
Tyger Tiger (Jessán Hoan) - Former revolutionary and current head of state. Close friend to Archie Corrigan.
-
Viper - A member of Hydra who seized control of Madripoor on their behalf.
Alternate versions
A future version of Madripoor is the site of a battle between the Guardians of the Galaxy and the criminal gang headed by Rancor."
[ Guardians of the Galaxy #23 (April 1992)]
In other media
Television
-
Madripoor appears in the Marvel Anime series and .
-
Madripoor appears in the Ultimate Spider-Man episode "Game Over".
-
Madripoor appears in the X-Men '97 episode "Bright Eyes".
Film
Madripoor appears in
.
Marvel Cinematic Universe
Madripoor appears in media set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
External links
