Its structure is somewhat similar to the real-world New York Mafia (which is itself rarely mentioned in Marvel publications), but the Maggia differs in that it frequently hires supervillains and mad scientists to work for them.

[2] Writer Ed Brubaker says the re-naming as Maggia is part of a Marvel policy of referencing the real-world but "one step removed", similar to their fictional company Roxxon inspired by the real-life Exxon.

The Maggia appeared in the second season of the Marvel Cinematic Universe television series Agent Carter, with the Los Angeles branch led by Joseph Manfredi portrayed by Ken Marino.

Its presence in the United States first came to public attention in the 1890s, and the Maggia's widespread bootlegging of illegal liquor during the Prohibition Era has become legendary.

[8] During the "Gang War" storyline, Count Nefaria visits Hammerhead's group after hearing about what happened to Madame Masque.

While mentioning that he'll take the blame for what happened to her daughter, Count Nefaria tells Hammerhead that the other crime lords will bow to the Maggia once again.

After a parley with Janice Lincoln, Madame Masque uses the same control spell on Count Nefaria and Silvermane the next day when the Maggia confronts the Sinister Syndicate (who now have Digger since Rose was taken away by Wilson Fisk's men) and their allies in Central Park as she gets special gauntlets from Rabble.

[15] After Tombstone had those on Janice's side fall back, Mayor Luke Cage, Mary Jane Watson's Jackpot appearance, and Spider-Boy arrive to help fight the Maggia.

A liberated Shotgun shoots the mind-control sigils off of Count Nefaria and Silvermane leaving them to be subdued by Jackpot and She-Hulk.

Although Silvermane has a son, Joseph, also known as Blackwing, his successor as family head will probably be his longtime rival, top Maggia lawyer Caesar "Big C" Cicero.

The family then sought a new leader who would direct operations along thoroughly traditional lines and chose a newcomer known only as Hammerhead, an amnesia victim whose new ruthless persona had been shaped by his love for gangster films.

Hammerhead uses methods from the Prohibition era, including gang wars, although he will use advanced technology for personal ends, such as the exoskeleton that magnifies his strength.

In light of Hammerhead's recent loyalty shift to Mister Negative, the status of his Maggia family remains undetermined.

The Italian nobleman Count Luchino Nefaria, a scientific genius, was the world's most powerful Maggia leader until his initial defeat by the Avengers.

Afterwards, he moved his base of operations to the New York City area, and then imprisoned Washington, D.C. within an impenetrable force-dome and held it for ransom.

She was eventually succeeded by a costumed criminal, the Masked Marauder, who demanded complete control of New York City or else he would detonate a nuclear device there.

[23] Contrary to standard Maggia practice, the Nefaria family, principally consisting of men under 40, has employed futuristic weaponry and even robots (like the Dreadnoughts),[24] as well as costumed super-powered agents (Unicorn, Whiplash, Gladiator, etc.

With the Kingpin presently exiled from the U.S. in the wake of Daredevil story arcs, the potential for a power vacuum is huge, and the stage is set for a gang war between any and all challengers.

The Spider-Man villain called Mister Negative plotted to target the Maggia Families, perhaps hoping to take the Kingpin's place.

Although the Maggia organization is, for the most part, analogous in the Marvel Universe to the real-life Italian and Italian-American Mafia or La Cosa Nostra, there exist in the Marvel Universe other Italian crime families that resemble more closely the real Mafia or La Cosa Nostra.