There aresomany comic book characters betweenMarvelandDC Comics. Naturally, it was only a matter of time before the two companies started developing similar character ideas. When Marvel puts out a hero, and it’s a major success, it’s not too unusual to see DC coming out with a similar character soon after.
It’s no secret that Marvel and DC have famously taken character ideas from one another in the past. Thanos, one of the greatest Marvel villains ever made, was very explicitly based on Darkseid. While it’susuallyMarvel that is taking ideas from DC, this isn’t always the case, and there have been a few times when DC Comics have needed to look at their rival for inspiration. This has led to DC creating a few characters that were either released suspiciously soon after a Marvel character of the same idea or characters who were just blatant rip-offs.
8Bumblebee And The Wasp Are Suspiciously Similar
A Hero Who Can Shrink And Fly Is An Odd Idea
Some hero ideas are just general enough that no one would bat an eye if Marvel and DC both came up with the same idea.Characters like the Flash and Quicksilverare obviously unrelated, despite having similar powers. The idea of a man who runs really fast isn’t exactly a novel concept. But having a female superhero who can fly, shrink in size, and is named after an insect. That’s a bit more specific. Both Janet Van Dyne and Karen Beecher both ended up with exoskeletons that allowed them to alter their size and fly through the air.
While how they got these suits is different, it’s hard to ignore just how similar their oddly specific powers are. Even more damning is the fact that the Wasp debuted in March 1963, with Bumblebee appearing thirteen years later in December 1976. Considering the Wasp was a core founding member of the Avengers and even helped name the team, it’s not hard to imagine that DC saw Marvel was having a huge amount of success with this new team of theirs and decided to try and cash in by creating their own version of a founding Avenger member.
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7The Winter Soldier And Red Hood Are Both Vengeful Former Sidekicks
Marvel Beat DC To The Punch By One Month
This one is a bit tricky. Jason Todd died alongtime ago, and DC teased his return as early asBatman: Hush, which was released in 2002. Bucky returned as the Winter Soldier in November 2004. But the thing is, DC didn’t really commit to bringing Jason back as the Red Hood untilBatman#635, which was released in 2005. This means that while DC toyed with the idea of bringing back Jason Todd as a vengeful sidekick two years before Marvel did it with Bucky, they didn’t actually stick the landing until a yearafterBucky came back as the Winter Soldier.
The two of them run on an extremely similar idea. They’re both former child sidekicks to iconic superheroes who were killed in the line of action. They both later returned in antagonistic roles to their former mentors. They’re both incredible characters, but, unfortunately, Marvel technically got their idea off first, and Bucky has had far greater success in the comics than Jason has, who DC seems perpetually unsure of what to do with.
6Swamp Thing And Man-Thing Are Comically Similar
Even Their Names Are Easily Confused
This once again goes back to how strange it is that DC and Marvel seemingly arrived at such a specific idea by themselves.Swamp Thing is the former scientist Alec Hollandwho ends up becoming the avatar of The Green, the primal energy of plant life in the DC Universe. Similarly, Theodore Sallis was a biochemistry professor who tried to create a serum that would render someone immune to all toxic biochemicals. Unfortunately, it also had the side effect of turning people into horrible swamp monsters.
This is another close example, as Man-Thing first appeared in January 1971, and Swamp Thing followed close behind as he appeared the same year in July. There were enough months in between that DC could have seen Man-Thing and recognized a good idea when they saw it. Their jobs are also pretty similar. Ted injected himself with his serum, then promptly crashed his car into a mystical swamp and became the guardian of the Nexus of All Realities. Meanwhile, Swamp Thing is the avatar of the Green and protects nature.
5Imperiex Is Just DC’s Version Of Galactus
Imperiex Was A Very Strange DC Villain
Galactus is one of the largest cosmic threats in the Marvel Universe. He’s a being who has cosmic power on a level that most people can’t even imagine. He uses this incredible power to consume planets, destroying them and their entire populations. Naturally, this has made him an incredibly fearsome person and someone that the Avengers and Fantastic Four have to constantly look out for. Having a villain capable of destroying entire planets is a pretty good idea, and DC clearly took note when they introduced their newest villain known as Imperiex.
While both villains shared a similar role, Galactus ended up beingfarmore fleshed out. Introduced way back in December 1965, Galactus had decades to become a complicated character with a major backstory and complex motivations. This is in stark contrast to Imperiex, who was introduced in February 2000. Imperiex was mostly a one-note villain who just wanted to destroy the universe to remove imperfections from it.
4Tracer Was An Actual Copy Of Sabretooth
DC Wasn’t Even Hiding It With This One
Sabretooth is the most vicious and dangerous villain that Wolverine has ever gone up against. Considering Wolverine is two hundred years old and practically immortal, the fact Sabretooth can pose such a threat is a real testament to just how dangerous Sbaretooth truly is. First introduced way back in 1977, he has become one ofWolverine’s most important villains. But the same can’t be said for DC’s very own attempt at the character.
First appearing in June 1990, Tracer was an alien belonging to the Extremists group. Tracer eventually died when he caused a nuclear holocaust on his home planet. He would later be brought back as a robot to battle Justice League Europe. Overall, Tracer is an incredibly forgettable villain. The only thing of note about him is the fact he is directly based on Sabretooth, as all members of the Extremists were based on Marvel villains.
3DC Has Made A Few Attempts At Their Own Spider-Man
None Of Them Have Been Successful Though
Without a doubt, Spider-Man is the most popular Marvel character in existence. While there’s no denying that Batman and Superman tend to dominate the comic book space, Spider-Man is standing right there beside him. He’s one of the greatest fictional characters ever made. That’s why it’s no surprise that DC has attempted a few times to make their own version of the iconic web-head. Unfortunately, they haven’t been anywhere near successful.
Spider-Man was introduced way back in June 1962, and DC’s Sideways was created in April 2018. While Sideways and Spider-Man have completely different powers, their outfits have undeniable similarities and similar personalities. This wasn’t as big of an instance as DC mimicking Marvel directly, but there’s no denying the clear influence that Spider-Man had on the creation of Sideways.
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2Marvel And DC Both Have Kings Of The Sea
But Aquaman Has Gotten A Bit More Popularity
One of the most mysterious places on Earth is the ocean. It is absolutely vast, and it’s frightening to think of just how much is completely unexplored by humanity. This has led to tons of mythological stories, such as the great Kraken and even the lost city of Atlantis. The latter was adapted by both Marvel and DC Comics, though Marvel was able to do it first. Namor is the son of a Atlantean princess and a human ship captain. His first appearance was in April 1939.
DC would quickly debut its own version in November 1941, two years later.DC would try something different with Aquaman, as his original origin had him gaining his ability to live underwater and communicate with marine life due to the experiments his scientist father performed on him. This history was eventually simplified by simply having Arthur be born from the Atlantean queen Atlanna and a lighthouse Keeper known as Tom Curry, clearly mimicking the origins of Namor.
1DC Pretty Blatantly Copied The Hulk
Damage Is An Incredibly Similar Character
One of the character types that DC doesn’t really have is a character who relies on overwhelming brute strength. While DC has Superman, he’s never been a characterdefinedby how strong he is. That’s just one small part of his character. But Marvel has always had Hulk, who is pretty much entirely defined by his physical strength. The Hulk is one of the strongest characters in Marvel and also one of their most complex characters due to the multiple identities living inside of Bruce Banner’s head.
While the Hulk appeared fairly early in Marvel’s history, first showing up way back in March 1962. Since then, Hulk has been one of Marvel’s most popular characters. He was part of Marvel’s Big Three alongside Wolverine and Spider-Man. DC would eventually take notice and try their own version of Hulk with the character of Damage, who appeared in September 2017. Ethan Avery idolized superheroes and tried to follow in their footsteps, but a government program transformed him into a monster with uncontrollable rage.
DC and Marvel both have tons of unique characters that are unlike anything the other has. But they couldn’t avoid borrowing ideas from one another eventually. This has often worked out to great success. One of Marvel’s biggest and greatest villains was directly based on one of DC’s biggest villains. Some characters, like Aquaman, have become bigger than the characters they were copying, and some were pretty big failures. In the end, bothMarvelandDChave taken ideas from each other.
