55 Copycat Characters | Marvel & DC | Part-2

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Marvel & DC, the two gigantic comic book manufacturing brands has been providing us with many exciting stories of various superheroes and supervillains since a long duration of time. But in the race of being better than one another, both these companies have also tried to copy each other at some points in time. Today we will discuss about 55 copycat characters of both Marvel and DC, who were either highly inspired from a similar character of the other brand, or is directly copied from the other. So let’s dive into our list and catch the copycats red handed.

Marvel & DC | Copycat Characters

Before starting our countdown, let me tell you that this is the second part of the copycat list which consists of 27 copycat characters. The rest 28 characters are already covered in the previous part of this list, which contains some cool characters like Superman, Iron man, Thanos, Flash and many more. You can check the Part-1 of this post HERE.

Now, let’s begin our copycat countdown :

27) Hawkeye & Green Arrow

In 1941, DC comics introduced its second famous skills based superhero after Batman, Green Arrow. He was basically a mixture of a rich man and Robinhood. Just few years after his first appearance, this character became famous within fans. Later on he also started his relationship with Black Canary.

Inspired from this character, Marvel came up with their own archer Hawkeye in 1964. Like Green Arrow, this character also became very famous within a short span of time. Till date, both these characters are ruling fan’s hearts with their skills and charm.

26) Sandman & Clayface

There is no end to the list of Batman villains that Marvel has copied, and Clayface is one such character. Clayface debuted in 1940 as one of Batman’s Villain who certainly gained a lot of attention at that time because of its unique concept. Inspired from the concept of this character, Marvel came up with Sandman in 1963 as a rival of Spiderman. Although there are a lot of differences between both these characters, but at the root we can say that Sandman is definitely inspired from Clayface.

25) Quasar & Green Lantern

Green Lantern can definitely be included in the top 10 famous superheroes of DC of all time. It was first introduced in 1940, and just like many other characters introduced during this period, Green Lantern also became very famous among the readers. The speciality about this character is that he is not actually a character, but is a post, which is occupied by many different characters over the span of time.

In 1978, Marvel also wanted to create a space based superhero with beam projecting superpower, and hence Marvel introduced Quasar. Quasar cannot be said as the exact copy of Green Lantern, but still both has many similarities. Later on, after Quasar’s downgrade, Marvel created another character inspired from Green Lantern, and today we know him as ‘Nova’.

24) Black Lightening & Electro

Electro can be counted as one of the most powerful enemies of Spiderman today, and why not? Electro possesses the powers to control and manipulate electricity, which is the base of modern world as most of the things today runs on electricity. Electro first appeared in the comics in 1964 as a Spiderman villain. In 1977, DC also came up with its own electricity based character named Black Lightening. If we take a close look, then we’ll see a lot of similarities between both these characters. Hence we can say that in this case, DC has copied Marvel.

23) Silver Banshee & Banshee

This can be termed as one of the laziest copying ever. I mean, atleast DC should have put some effort in changing the name, right? Banshee is one of the X-Men who’s appearing in the Marvel comics since 1967. On the other hand Silver Banshee was introduced later on in the DC comics as a super villainess of Superman. There’s nothing special about both these characters that you should waste your time knowing.

22) Doctor Diehard & Magneto

In the Part-1 of this post, we saw a character from DC which was the main inspiration for the creation of Marvel’s character Magneto. But, you’ll be amazed to know that later on in comics, DC created a new character who was based on Magneto. In the year 1990, DC introduced a new character named Doctor Diehard in the comics, who we can say, was the exact copy of Marvel’s Magneto, who was introduced during the 1960s. We can spot the similarities just from their outfits itself.

21) Power Princess & Wonder Woman

We have seen a Wonder Woman copycat already in the Part-1 of this list, any now there is another one. Power Princess was a pure Wonder Woman copycat character introduced by marvel as an evil character in 1982 who was also the part of the evil version of Justice League called the Squadron Supreme, of which Hyperion was also a member. As Wonder Woman was introduced so long before Power Princess and she has established a proper fame, hence fans didn’t like Power Princess so much.

20) Bullseye & Deadshot

Both these character from the different franchises are very excellent shooters, are pure evils and are rivals of skilled crime fighters Daredevil and Batman. There isn’t much to say about both the characters except for the fact that Deadshot was introduced in the comics in 1950, whereas the copycat Bullseye was introduced in 1976.

19) Bumblebee & Wasp

In the history of Marvel, Wasp has always been a very important character. She was even one of the founding members of the original Avengers team. This character was first introduced in 1963 alongside Ant-man, and since then she has been seen in a bunch of famous storylines.

On the other side, DC introduced its own version of Wasp with exact copied powers in 1976, and she was named Bumblebee. Over time this character has established herself as a very fine member of the Teen Titans. At present, both these characters are very successful and fan favourites, but still the fact remains the same that Bumblebee is just a mere copy of the Wasp.

18) Ultron & Brainiac

Vision and Ultron are always considered as two of the major mechanical characters of Marvel, and as we have seen in Part-1 that Vision is a copycat character himself, and the same is the case for Ultron. Ultron is one of the most reoccurring villain of the Marvel comics and it is also very fan favourite. This character was first introduced in 1968. But, long before Ultron there was another character who was just like Ultron in every aspect of power and is till date a very famous Superman villain. This character is Brainiac. Brainiac made his debut in the comics in 1958, a decade before Ultron and hence established himself as the original mechanical maniac.

17) Imperiex & Galactus

After Avengers Endgame, Galactus is constantly in talks by the fans as for the next major villain of MCU, and this is legit too. Galactus is not just a regular villain in the comics, rather he is a cosmic entity and the eater of planets. First appeared in 1966, till date Galactus manages to stand as the top cosmic level villain of the Marvel comics. In the year 2000, DC introduced its own version of Galactus and named it Imperiex, who has the exact same powers and same purpose as Galactus. Hence we can say that Imperiex is a Galactus’ copycat.

16) Swamp Thing & Man Thing

Despite their ugly and horrible appearances, both these characters are portrayed as heroic characters in their respective comics. Both of them live in muddy areas and have similar superpowers, in fact their names are kind of similar. Man Thing debuted in 1971, whereas Swamp Thing made his debut in 1974. This makes it clear that Swamp Thing is nothing but an exact copy of Man Thing.

15) Tony Stark & Bruce Wayne

When you think about two billionaires of Marvel and DC, I’m damn sure that these two names will struck your head first. We are not talking about Iron man and Batman, rather we’re talking about the men inside the suits. Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne are two similar characters from both the comic brands having billions of money, enormous charisma and are sort of playboys by nature.

Bruce Wayne made his debut in the first Batman comics in 1939, whereas Marvel introduced Bruce Wayne’s counterpart Tony Stark in 1963. Tony Stark cannot be said as the exact copy, rather we can say he is highly inspired from Bruce Wayne.

14) Jarvis & Alfred

When the masters are copycats, then why not their butlers? Fans of the MCU may know Jarvis as a highly intelligent A.I. today, but back then in the comics Jarvis was portrayed as the family butler of Tony Stark, who also helped him in his Iron man missions. The character of Jarvis was copied from Batman’s butler Alfred Pennyworth, who has the exact same tasks as Jarvis’. This was also the reason why Jarvis was portrayed as an A.I. in the MCU, so that the fans won’t think that he is a copycat character.

13) Lobo & Wolverine

If you have checked the Part-1 of this list then you must remember that Wolverine is a copycat character from DC’s Timber Wolf. Since Timber Wolf never gained much attention while Wolverine ultimately resulted in a boom, hence DC thought of creating another character based on Wolverine, and finally Lobo was created in 1983. Although Lobo was so much similar to Wolverine but still he got vanished in the dark soon after his comic debut, while Wolverine still stands tall.

12) Bane & Crossbones

Crossbones is a very famous rival of Captain America in the comics with his signature skull mask. Debuting in 1989, Crossbones gained a lot of popularity very soon. This was because after a long time Captain America got a rival with similar fighting skills like him but with a pure evil nature. Four years later, in 1993, DC came up with a new Batman villain who was highly inspired from Marvel’s Crossbones. This was Bane, whom we know as one of the toughest enemies of Batman.

11) Talia Al Ghul & Black Widow

This is the most non talented copy-paste case ever done in case of any character. In the Part-1, we discussed how Black Widow was highly inspired from DC’s Black Canary but in this case, the famous rival and also the wife of Batman, Talia Al Ghul is nothing just a copy of Marvel’s detective Black Widow. Both have exact same appearance with black suit and both possess similar skill set. The only difference between both these characters is that Talia al Ghul is the evil version of Black Widow. Black Widow debuted in 1964, whereas Talia was introduced in 1971.

10) X-Men & Doom patrol

In 1963, DC decided to introduce a new team of superheroes which would consist of such characters who were discarded and not accepted by the society, and hence Doom Patrol was formed. Copying this idea, within just a few months, Marvel also came up with a team of superheroes who were discarded from the society, and were generally referred as mutants. We know this team as X-Men.

9) Mr. Fantastic & Plastic Man

We know Mr. Fantastic as the most intelligent human of the Marvel comics and also the leader of the first team of the comics history, Fantastic Four. Over the time, Reed Richards has established himself as a very important character in the comics. But if we talk about the super powers of Mr. Fantastic, then we can say that it is the copy of DC’s Plastic Man. Plastic Man was appearing in the comics since 1941, two decades before the introduction of Mr. Fantastic.

Other than the super power, nothing else is similar in both the characters. On one side, Mr. Fantastic is portrayed as a genius scientist whereas on the other side, Plastic man is more of a fun loving cocky guy.

8) Gladiator & Superman

Being the first global Superhero, Superman has always been in the favourites list of fans. Also, Superman is among the very few superheroes who has been copied so many times. We saw a very famous superhero who was a Superman copycat in Part-1, and now there is another one. Basically, in Marvel comics, Gladiator is portrayed as an alien, who is the guardian of the Shi’ar empire and who possesses similar powers as Superman. Gladiator was introduced in 1977. If you view these two superheroes closely, then you’ll find that even their real names sound similar, Clark and Kallark.

7) Ant-man & The Atom

Today Ant-man is a very popular superhero with a lot of fans around the globe, all thanks to MCU and Paul Rudd. But back then in 1961, there was a DC character who was more famous than him. He was The Atom. Atom debuted in the comics in 1961 and with a unique superpower, which easily managed to draw fans’ attention. Envious of this, Marvel launched its own Atom’s copycat character Ant-man after just one year in 1962. Although today both the characters are very famous worldwide, but still the truth remains the same.

6) Moon Knight & Batman

Moon Knight must not be said as the exact copy of Batman, but rather it can be said as a highly inspired character. Moon Knight first appeared in the Werewolf comics of 1975 and has been appearing in different storylines since then.

Just like Batman, Moon Knight also depends on his skills and tricks during battles and he also uses special tools like Batman in case of requirement. The outfit of Moon Knight is completely different from Batman. While Batman wears a black outfit, making him the Dark Knight, Moon Knight’s outfit is white like the Moon. Hence Moon Knight can be said a Batman inspired character more than a copycat character.

5) Aquaman & Namor

Namor the submariner is one of the oldest superheroes of Marvel. Debuting in the year 1939, he existed in comics even before Captain America was introduced in comics. Namor is always defined in comics with the tagline ‘Ruler of 7 Seas’. Two years after namor’s debut, DC came up with its own version of Namor, named Aquaman. The tagline of Aquaman said ‘King of the oceans’. We can say that Aquaman copied Namor from the fact that both have similar abilities, superpowers and also, both are the king of Atlantis city.

Despite being the copycat, at present, Aquaman is more popular than Namor. This is because Namor is somewhat of an anti-hero character who have done many wrong things in comics, whereas Aquaman is a pure heroic personality, and fans love him for that.

4) Doctor Strange & Doctor Fate

It is yet another case of inspiration rather than copycat. Doctor Strange and Doctor Fate, both are considered as the great sorcerers of their universes with enormous amount of knowledge about mystical arts. Today Doctor Strange may be more popular than Doctor Fate because of the MCU, but he was not the first sorcerer Supreme. Doctor Fate was created in the year 1940, whereas Doctor Strange first appeared in 1963.

Although their powers are similar, but we cannot say the same about their personalities and origin stories. Doctor Strange was previously an arrogant surgeon with high knowledge whereas Doctor Fate was a self controlled archaeologist. This is the reason why I said it as a case of inspiration rather than copying.

3) Deadpool & Deathstroke

Among all the other cases of copying, this one is the only one which is done on purpose. Deadpool was created by Marvel in order to make fun of one of DC’s most serious character and violent assassin Deathstroke. In order to make a joke of Deathstoke, Marvel created a character with exact opposite nature.

Deathstoke was introduced in 1980 as a serious and task oriented character, whereas Deadpool debuted in 1991 with a chilled and flirty nature. Even both their names and costumes seem to be similar. Slade Wilson is Deathstroke while Wade Wilson is Deadpool.

2) Spiderman & Blue Beetle

If you are not a fan of comic books then the chances are less that you may know who Blue Beetle is. On the contrary, Spiderman is a character who is known by everyone, starting from kids to aged persons. Sorry to say this but in this case our beloved Spidey is the character which is inspired from DC’s Blue Beetle. The major inspiration of Stan Lee for creating Spiderman was to create an independent teenage superhero just like Blue Beetle.

Blue Beetle debuted in the year 1939 whereas Spiderman first appeared in 1962. But today, after so many years, Spiderman has established himself as a legend whereas Blue Beetle got lost in the shadows with time.

1) Avengers & Justice League

One of the hottest topics of comparison among the fans of DC and Marvel has always been Avengers vs Justice League. This is because Avengers and Justice League are the two major teams of their respective comics. Marvel fans may get sad from this fact, but the truth is that the idea of putting the major superheroes in a team was the original idea of DC, which was later copied by Marvel.

Justice League made its first appearance as a team in 1960, whereas the Avengers team was first seen in 1963. Despite having the tag of the second team, the Avengers have proven themselves worthy a lot of time thoughout the years. Even if we talk about the cinematic universe, then Avengers are more successful than Justice League.

So this was all about the second part of our list of the 55 copycat characters of both Marvel and DC. If you still haven’t checked the first part then do check it out HERE.

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