Marvel’s Jeff the Land Shark: Origin and Powers Explained

Originally published on June 2, 2026. This article delves into the character creation history, Marvel comic continuity, powers, and other details of Jeff the Land Shark.

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Unless you’ve been living under a Galactus-sized rock, you’ve probably at least heard of everyone’s favorite new Marvel Comics cutie — Jeff the Land Shark, AKA Jeffrey. He’s everywhere these days, from the comic books to the video games, even a brand-new Hot Toys figure! But where did this adorable, aquatic creature come from?

Like his Hide and Seek ability in Marvel Rivals, it feels like Jeff snuck up and took the fandom by surprise. But his origin isn’t as recent as you might think. Let’s dive into the wet, wild secrets behind Marvel’s Jeff the Land Shark:

• Who created Jeff the Land Shark?
• Jeff the Land Shark first appeared in West Coast Avengers #6 and #7 in 2018.
• Jeff is a runaway M.O.D.O.K. experiment.
• Jeff has all the powers of a shark with four legs.
• Jeff was adopted by Gwenpool, but he has also befriended Deadpool and Elsa Bloodstone.
• Jeff has starred in several of his own Marvel comics, including It’s Jeff! and Jeff the Land Shark.
• In Marvel Rivals, Jeff is a playable Strategist Hero.

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Who created Jeff the Land Shark?

• Writer Kelly Thompson and artist Daniele de Nicuolo co-created the character Jeff the Land Shark for Marvel Comics in 2018.
• In the continuity of Earth-616, M.O.D.O.K. created an army of land sharks, which included Jeff.
• Artist duo Gurihiru helped popularize Jeff and were the main artists of the It’s Jeff! series of humor comics.

From a real-world perspective, Jeff was created by multiple individuals working on the West Coast Avengers (vol. 3) series in 2018-2019. Writer Kelly Thompson wrote the plotline that involved genetically modified land sharks, while two different artists tackled the first issues in which the creatures appeared.

Stefano Caselli designed the legion of land sharks which featured a cameo by the little guy who would become Jeff, but the shark wasn’t formally introduced as Jeff until an issue drawn by Daniele de Nicuolo several months later. His design was later refined into a hyper-cute, rounded style by art duo Gurihiru, who worked on the Gwenpool comics.

In-world, Jeff was created by M.O.D.O.K. Superior, who was masquerading as the much more handsome (though still large-headed) B.R.O.D.O.K., a Bio-Robotic Organism Designed Overwhelmingly for Kissing. Jeff was one of many land sharks engineered to be an aquatic and land-dwelling fleet of killers that were unleashed on Santa Monica, California. B.R.O.D.O.K. himself was a clone of the original M.O.D.O.K., George Tarleton.

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Jeff the Land Shark first appeared in West Coast Avengers #6 and #7 in 2018.

• Land sharks as a species were introduced in West Coast Avengers (vol. 3) #6, which published in October 2018. They were introduced by Kelly Thompson and artist Stefano Caselli.
• Jeff the Land Shark was formally introduced as a character in WCA #7, which published in January 2019. This time, he was drawn by Daniele de Nicuolo.
• Thanks to positive fan reaction, Jeff appeared in the rest of the West Coast Avengers series.

Issue #6 of West Coast Avengers published in October 2018 and featured the debut of the land sharks species. They were bio-weapons designed by M.O.D.O.K. Superior as retribution for the women of Santa Monica who spurned his advances. However, Jeff specifically wasn’t officially introduced or named in this issue — this is considered his cameo appearance.

Jeff was properly named and characterized in the following issue, making his official first appearance West Coast Avengers #7. This issue launched a few months later, in January 2019. Left abandoned after the defeat of the other sharks, Jeff was discovered by Gwenpool and quickly adopted. He proved such an early fan-favorite he was seen throughout the rest of the series and then went on to appear in other Marvel titles.

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Jeff is a runaway M.O.D.O.K. experiment.

• Jeff and other land sharks were created by M.O.D.O.K. Superior, a failsafe clone of the original George Tarleton, who called himself B.R.O.D.O.K. at the time.
• M.O.D.O.K. Superior/B.R.O.D.O.K. was working with the West Coast branch of the Masters of Evil at the time.

As mentioned above, the Tarleton clone M.O.D.O.K. Superior wanted to reform himself and seek a new life. He created a muscular, conventionally attractive, still somewhat big-headed body for himself called B.R.O.D.O.K. This version of the villain was blonde and perfectly beach-tanned, but still found himself rejected romantically by women on the West Coast. He swore revenge on Southern California and created the land sharks to unleash as his ultimate payback.

He also developed an A.I.M. offshoot branch, which stood for Advanced Image Mechanics. Here, B.R.O.D.O.K. took the women who rejected his advances and turned them into giant monsters — the most notable of these was Tigra, who was brainwashed into destroying Santa Monica like an old sci-fi B-movie.

When the West Coast Avengers defeated his army of land sharks, Jeff was left abandoned and all alone.

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Jeff has all the powers of a shark with four legs.

• In Marvel Comics continuity, Jeff is merely a genetically modified shark that has four legs.
• He has sharp teeth, can breathe out of water, and possesses above-average intelligence (for a shark).
• In Marvel Rivals, his powers stem from items and artifacts he has eaten, including Pym Particles and the Infinity Stones.

The land sharks seen in West Coast Avengers (vol. 3) don’t have any exceptional abilities besides having four legs, the ability to breathe out of water, and above-average intelligence. Land sharks, especially Jeff, also have immense appetites.

Jeff the Land Shark often behaves like a puppy in many of his appearances, endearing him to heroes and readers alike. He cannot speak but often growls, purrs, or makes other noise effects to emote.

In the online team shooter game Marvel Rivals, Jeff has abilities granted to him by the consumption of Pym Particles as well as other magical Marvel artifacts like the Infinity Stones. Here, he can heal teammates, dive into the stage and emerge elsewhere for a surprise attack, and occasionally change size in order to consume his enemies.

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Jeff was adopted by Gwenpool, but he has also befriended Deadpool and Elsa Bloodstone.

• Gwen Poole, AKA Gwenpool, adopted Jeff after the other land sharks were defeated. She shares custody of him with Kate Bishop, AKA Hawkeye.
• Gwen Poole is a former employee of M.O.D.O.K. Superior and has a love of sharks and shark-theming. She also has a habit of adopting small animals and naming them Jeff.
• When her series was being canceled, Gwenpool entrusted Jeff to Deadpool for protection.

As part of the West Coast Avengers team, Gwenpool adopted Jeff when the team had successfully defeated the army of land sharks that B.R.O.D.O.K. had unleashed. He became a sort of team mascot-slash-pet throughout the rest of the book’s run. However, West Coast Avengers came to an end, and Gwenpool was worried about who would take care of Jeff.

Since Gwenpool can break the fourth wall (and actually comes from “the real world”), she was aware of how many books involving her were getting canceled at Marvel at the time. She hopped over to the book Deadpool was starring in and entrusted him with Jeff. Then Deadpool’s ongoing series got snuffed too, putting Jeff the Land Shark in the care of Elsa Bloodstone.

In the years since his debut, Jeff has been all over the Marvel Multiverse, even bonding with a symbiote, going to a super hero pool party, and eating the Infinity Gauntlet!

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Jeff has starred in several of his own Marvel comics, including It’s Jeff! and Jeff the Land Shark.

• Jeff the Land Shark has been given several solo series following the success of the character in books like West Coast Avengers, Deadpool, Gwenpool, and more.
• It’s Jeff! was nominated for a prestigious Eisner award for humor in comics.
• Jeff comics can be found on the Marvel Infinity digital app as well as collected in print.

While Jeff has mostly been a supporting character to the more familiar Marvel heroes, his success as a character earned him some guest appearances in issues of Deadpool and other ongoing Marvel books. Jeff is even the star of a few individual titles on the Marvel Infinity digital comics platform. Several of these were collected in physical published format.

Perhaps the most well known and popular of these is the It’s Jeff! serial, written by Kelly Thompson with art by Gurihiru. These are mostly silent adventures following Jeff as he does adorable things throughout the Marvel Universe. The comics are so cute and funny that the series was nominated for the Eisner Award for Best Digital Comic in 2022 and won the award for Best Humor Publication in 2024. It’s been nominated again for Best Humor Publication for the 2026 ceremony, set to take place at San Diego Comic-Con.

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In Marvel Rivals, Jeff is a playable Strategist Hero.

• Jeff the Land Shark is a Strategist role character, a support class known for healing and damage assistance.
• Jeff’s abilities include Joyful Splash, It’s Jeff, Aqua Burst, Hide and Seek, Healing Bubble, and Oblivious Cuteness.
• Jeff has synergy team-up abilities with Groot and Rocket Raccoon, Venom and Hela, and Deadpool and Elsa Bloodstone.

The 23rd hero introduced in the game’s roster, Jeff is one of the playable characters in the free-to-play team hero shooter Marvel Rivals. His moves and mobility tools are all based around aquatic elements like blowing bubbles, splashing foes, and diving beneath the stage to maneuver through the fight. And of course, his finisher is all about chomping down on his foes — battling is hungry work!

Jeff has team synergy with several duos of Marvel heroes, including Groot and Rocket Raccoon as Planet X Pals, Venom and Hela for Symbiote Shenanigans, and Deadpool and Elsa Bloodstone for Mr. Pool’s Interdimensional Toy Box. All of these characters have some relation to the little scamp of a shark — from Jeff’s Venomized appearance in the comics to Deadpool and Elsa Bloodstone adopting him temporarily in the comics.

This immensely popular game has skyrocketed the character’s popularity beyond the realm of dedicated monthly comics readers. Jeff the Land Shark is here to stay!

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Get Your Very Own Jeff!

Whether you’ve followed Jeff’s adventures since the beginning or are just learning about him now, you’re sure to have fun with this little finned wonder. Don’t forget to pre-order your very own Marvel Rivals-inspired Jeff the Land Shark Collectible Figure by Hot Toys.

When did you first discover Jeff the Land Shark? Join the conversation with other Marvel fans over at Sideshow Social Network or in side.show/geekgroup, and don’t forget to Let Your Geek Sideshow!