DEVIANTS
Earth-8101
Membership: Unidentified
Purpose: To act as a counterbalance to the Eternals' stability
Aliases: None
Affiliations: Celestials
Enemies: Eternals (Ikaris, Makkari, Sersi, Thena)
Base of Operations: Subterranean base, Prehistoric Earth
First Appearance: Marvel Apes I#1/3 (November, 2008)
History:
(Marvel Apes I#1/3 - BTS) - At the dawn of the simian race, the godlike Celestials traveled to Earth to experiment on the simian race, believing them to hold great cosmic potential. From these experiments emerged two new races, the long-lived Eternals and the monstrous Deviants, setting the stage for their lasting influence on simian history.
(Marvel Apes I#1/3) - The Deviants stood together from their subterranean base, watching over the simian race.
Comments: Created by Tom Peyer.
The Deviants were created as the unstable, rapidly mutating branch of the Celestials' genetic experiment, evolving through constant change and conflict in contrast to the Eternals' controlled stability. While on Earth-616 the Deviants appear as monsters, on Earth-8101 they appear human, which would of course be monstrous to any simian.
We've extensively discussed which well-known Deviants might be portrayed here. While the large robed man in the background could be Warlord Kro and the scheming figure in the foreground could be Ghaur, this remains unconfirmed. As such, we have chosen to keep them unidentified.
The Marvel Apes limited series (2008) was conceived as a playful companion to the earlier Marvel Zombies phenomenon. Following the unexpected commercial success of Zombies, Marvel looked to replicate the formula by reimagining its superheroes in another offbeat, high-concept alternate reality. Writer Karl Kesel, inspired by Silver Age whimsy and the classic "What If?" tradition, pitched a world where Marvel's heroes and villains were evolved primates rather than humans. The project was greenlit as a four-issue miniseries, launching with a tongue-in-cheek promotional campaign that leaned into its absurdity while still delivering a surprisingly dark, satirical storyline. The series spawned several tie-ins and one-shots, positioning the Ape-Verse as both a parody of and homage to Marvel's multiverse storytelling.
Earth-8101 is the main Marvel Apes reality, but there are three others as well:
- Earth-81218, possible future of Earth-8101 set in the year 2099.
- Earth-90543, monkey Speedball was send back to his world and branded a traitor by the Ape-Vengers. This was a bad dream of the Gibbon.
- Earth-95019, diverged from Earth-8101 when zombies invaded their world. The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update #5 indicates that the timelines designated Earth-95019 and Earth-21050 were seemingly erased when Earth-616's Gorilla Girl went back to the moment the portal was opened and destroyed it.
Profile by MarvellousLuke
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Deviants has no known connections to
images: (without ads)
Marvel Apes I#1, p25, pan2 (main image)
Appearances:
Marvel Apes I#1/3 (November, 2008) - Tom Peyer (writer), Barry Kitson (pencils, inks), Stephen Wacker, Tom Brennan, Tom Brevoort (editors)
First Posted: 1/13/2026
Last Updated: 1/13/2026
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
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