One Of Marvel's Strongest Mutants Almost Killed Harry Potter (No, Really)

Outside of someone like the planet-eating giant Galactus or the terrifying mutant-hunting Sentinels in the "X-Men" stories, there really aren't many Marvel characters more physically intimidating than Juggernaut. Born Cain Markos, the Marvel Comics version of Juggernaut is Professor Charles Xavier's human step-brother and was given superhuman powers by a gem belonging to a god, enabling him to become a "human juggernaut." His domed helmet not only protects his noggin' a bit when he smashes through walls like a villainous Kool-Aid man, but it also guards him from psychic attacks, keeping his sibling safely out of his mind. (Think of it like Magneto's anti-telepathy helmet, except with some more practical physical uses and a lot less style.) Juggernaut is a force of nature and then some. In fact, in one comic, he almost trampled right over everyone's favorite boy wizard with a silly scar. 

That's right — Juggernaut almost accidentally squashed Harry Potter like a bug.

In 2006's "New Excalibur" #3 (which was written by Chris Claremont and illustrated by Michael Ryan), there's a great series of panels that show an out-of-costume Juggernaut hauling it down the street in London when he almost crashes into The Boy Who Lived and his two closest friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. It's a cute little crossover (see below for the image), but could Harry and his friends actually exist in the same canon as Marvel heroes?

"New Excalibur" follows the events of the devastating "House of M," which saw Scarlet Witch change all of history by uttering the words "no more mutants." In this particular storyline, Juggernaut has been reformed and is now working with some former X-Men to take down an evil version of Professor X called Dark Xavier. There is a lot of wild magic going on in "New Excalibur" and it takes place in the U.K., so the idea of Harry Potter and his fellow wizards appearing isn't really all that far-fetched. And since the "X-Men" timelines and canon are almost as malleable as that of "Star Trek" thanks to things like time travel and the multiverse, the "Harry Potter" characters could easily exist within the boundaries of that continuity.

The only real issue is that it seems like this was just a bit of a fun visual gag inspired by Juggernaut being in London. It's also worth recalling that "New Excalibur" came out at the height of the "Harry Potter" franchise's popularity in the 2000s. "New Excalibur" #3, specifically, came out not long after the publication of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" and just before the release of the film "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (which starred Daniel Radcliffe as the titular Quidditch-playing, spellcasting hero), so Potter-fever was everywhere. Unfortunately, "X-Men" and other Marvel characters are the property of Disney while the Harry Potter movies and TV shows are all owned by the Mouse House's competitor Warner Bros., so the likelihood of another, even bigger crossover is very slim. 

Oh well, at least we'll always have "New Excalibur."