I think Hulk because he has had a great deal of TV and film exposure over the years (starting with the Bill Bixby TV show) so non comic fans will recognise him. Also Spider-man because of the trilogy of films Marvel have produced. Non-comic fans who won't generally like superheroes will at least know who he is. Captain America, because he is marvel's iconic red, white and blue hero and again I think even those who are not interested in comics will know who Cap is. And the Thing because a) he is that "orange guy" from the FF and b) I think Marvel have used him in loads of their in house ads down the years. Grown ups who gave up comics years ago would probably still recognise him from their childhood.

The only change I might make would be to replace Wolverine for the thing. Non - comic readers might more easily recognise Wolverine because of the prominent part given to Hugh Jackman in the X films. I personally don't think that non comic readers would recognise Deadpool or be able to identify many individual members of the X-Men.

i definitly think no one would be able to recognize deadpool outside of comic readers

out of every marvel based comic character who do u think the non comic readers know most about and Deadpool is definately out of question

spider-man
hulk
ironman
the last is difficult i keep thinking that the thing would be highly recogonizable and if not him then captain america

i think wolverine would diffinately be up there as well

Hulk and Spider-man for certain.

Then I'd go for Captain America and, due to the recent movie, Iron Man.

I can see the logic with Wolvie but his movie look is quite different from the comic book, so unless the claws were out, he wouldn't necessarily be stand out recognisable.  Whereas with Cap and IM, they have very distinctive, one could say garish looking, costumes.

I don't think there is a single person who had a list with out hulks name in it lol. I'm surprised people didn't say juggernaut instead of america.

I doubt non-comic fans really know who Captain America is. My daughter, who loves comic book movies, has no idea who he is. My wife, who lives with a comic nerd, and rents a room to another comic nerd, has no idea who he is. Most of my family, and non-comic reading friends have no idea who he is.

The non-comic fans know Spider-Man, mostly from his cheesy 60's cartoon (the song! Oh, the song!), Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends and The Electric Company. Plus, he gets jokes written about him on Simpsons and Family Guy, which is a good sign that he's a cultural benchmark.

Same thing with the Hulk. Outside of the Bill Bixby show, and his 80's cartoon, he's parodied all the time. We all know what someone means when they say "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

I might agree with Wolverine after the X-Men movies, and cartoons...

...but if you're talking Iron Man because of mainstream movies, you also have to consider Blade (3 movies), Daredevil (who has a few years head start), the Fantastic Four (2 movies)...hell, even the Silver Surfer is in the name of the second FF movie.

Cap really can't compete with all that.

"

yeah i think thats about right too, outside of the states Cap is the only one im not sure of... i wonder if thor is up there?

"

Yeah the thing Stands out, that big guy.

I don't like Punisher. And he is definitely not a hero. He's a vigilante. Big difference. I did enjoy Batman the more well known vigilante waxing his cap during the JLA/Avengers crossover.

The Hulk, Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Wolverine

Spiderman and Hulk and Wolverine are the top three followed closely by Cap America, next would be Ironman , then Thor and Storm, then maybe Iceman, Venom, Surfer, Ghost Rider, Daredevil, and the Punisher

This is an easy answer...

Captain America
Spider Man
Hulk
Wolverine

...if you show a picture of them or their trademarks (Cap's shield, Spidey's mask, etc.) to any non-comics reader, they would still recognize them.  These characters have permeated the mainstream with movies, TV, etc.  Everything from Kevin Smith movies to the Colbert Report discuss these characters.  I think you could POSSIBLY argue people like the Thing, Storm, or Thor, but I don't see them being the most recognizable.  The only comics characters who may be more recognizable would be Batman and Superman, but that's it.

Today? 2009? and  Around the world from NYC to Brazil to South Korea to Moscow to Rome? 
 
I would say
 
 
1
Spiderman (no matter where you go in the world you will find his games, movies and cartoons)
2
Wolverine
3
Ironman
4  
Hulk
5
Another X-men character - (Storm, Magento, Xavier...pick one)
 
The rest including Captain America, Thor and Ghost Rider are more or less unrecognizable around the world and will not be able to compete against Batman
However I've a feeling after the Avengers movie Cap will be back into the top 5

• Spiderman. 
• Ironman. 
• Hulk. 
• Wolverine.

" wolverine, storm , spiderman and hulk "

" wolverine, storm , spiderman and hulk "