Marvel and DC Comics have been rivals for decades. Whether it’s comics, film, television or merchandise, these guys have been duking it out for a really long time. Sometimes Marvel comes out on top (MCU) and sometimes DC is the one that gets bragging rights (TV). Either way, there’s an unending debate about which company is better and it pretty much depends on who you ask, because both have rabid fan bases.

Oscar Wilde once said, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.” The House of Ideas can run out of inspiration, just as the Distinguished Competitor can lose the plot. Often one isn’t better than the other and let’s face it, without this rivalry, we would’ve most likely missed out on some truly exceptional stories.

Every DC character seems to have a Marvel counterpart, but there are many for whom the similarities run much deeper than a power set. Some of these heroes share a great deal more.

These two comic book giants have been trying to outdo each other, they even went as far stealing /copying characters and ideas.

Let's start with the characters DC stole from Marvel.

There is no shortage of Marvel characters who seem to have been
"inspired" by super-people who first made their debut in the pages of DC
Comics. You can read all about some of the more obvious DC copies that
showed up at Marvel right here . But what about characters and concepts
that went the other way? Here are a few DC Comics heroes and villains that
seem a little familiar…because they were Marvel characters first.

Aquaman (1941) vs. Sub-Mariner (1939)


Back in 1939, the company then-known as Timely Comics published Marvel
Comics #1. The issue featured a sea-dwelling jerkface named Namor, the
Sub-Mariner, who terrorized the surface world because of its inhabitants'
abuse of the oceans. He regularly fought the original Human Torch, but
Namor would soon fight for humanity when he teamed up with the Torch
and Captain America in the fight against the Nazis in World War II. Two
years later, National Comics, which would later become DC, published More
Fun Comics #73, which provided the first appearance of Aquaman…a guy
whose scientist dad gave the ability to breathe underwater and talk to fish.
Many years later, Aquaman would gain a surly disposition towards the
surface world while ruling an Atlantean kingdom…two defining
characteristics that Namor had first.

Bumblebee (1976) vs. the Wasp (1963)

In 1961, DC Comics published Showcase #34, which featured a hero named
the Atom, a scientist who shrunk down and beat up bad guys with the
power of, uh, smallness. In 1962, Marvel published Tales to Astonish #27,
which told the story of Ant-Man…a scientist who shrunk down and beat up
bad guys with the power of smallness. Plus ants. But then a year later in
1963, Marvel debuted the Wasp, a little lady who helped Ant-Man fight
crime with wings and a power to "sting" criminals. It took DC 13 more years
to make its own version of the Wasp, and it's a pretty blatant copy in most
outward respects. Like the Wasp, Bumblebee is a shrinking lady that stings
villains while flying around. Unlike the Wasp, whose name is all-too-
appropriate for the sake of this comparison, Bumblebee was actually DC's
first female, African-American superhero. Too bad she's never risen above
B-level status, known mainly for being a member of various versions of the
Teen Titans and the Doom Patrol.

Ghost Rider was a lesser known Marvel character but was made more famous in recent years when he appeared in his own blockbuster movie and portrayed by cinema’s favorite son Nicolas Cage. The original Ghost Rider was a motorcycle stuntman named Johnny Blaze who signs a contract with the devil (or a demon by the name of Mephisto) to save his father. Blaze then finds that when he is in the presence of evil he turns into the Ghost Rider with a signature flaming skull. The Rider has been an antihero since 1972.

Ghost Rider rides his motorcycle on the line of good and bad. Atomic Skull, on the other hand, is just bad. Albert Michaels was a scientist at a place called S.T.A.R. Labs, you may have heard of it, that suffered from chronic seizures due to a mental disorder. He signed a contract with a group a villains known as SKULL in order to get an implant to stop the seizures but from then on he was forced to do their bidding. His most notable feature is a radiating head. Atomic Skull started pestering Superman in 1976.

Anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock is familiar with Captain America. Steve Rogers was a scrawny kid who joined the military and was injected with a super soldier serum in order during World War II in 1941. The Cap has been the goody two shoes of Marvel ever since, most recently going head to head with Ironman in Captain America: Civil War.

Most audiences will probably be less familiar with Commander Steel. Commander Steel, aka Henry Heywood, was a service member in the United States Marine Corps during World War II (sound familiar?). Heywood suffered severe injuries when he was betrayed and had to undergo surgery. The surgery didn’t only fix his injuries though, it gave him super strength and speed along with other superhuman abilities. He donned a suit and mask to fight in the war under an alias of Commander Steel while Henry Heywood is stuck in a desk job. The Commander came onto the scene in 1978. But could Commander Steel take on Robert Downey Jr.?

Spiderman fans may know Electro from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 as portrayed by Jamie Foxx. Spoiler Alert: The movie isn’t great. But Foxx’s portrayal of Maxwell Dillion is not the reason. The movie did, however, alter the character’s origin story. The original Maxwell did not work at Oscorp but was instead an electrical engineer who was struck by lightning while changing out a powerline which gave him the ability to harness and control electricity. Magneto asked him to be a part of the Brotherhood, which would have set him on a track to fight the X-Men for the rest of his life. He turned Magneto down and robbed J. Jonah Jameson setting himself up to fight Spiderman for the rest of his life. The OG Electro has been around since 1964.

Black lightning has a different backstory in that he was born with his powers. Jefferson Pierce grew up in a troubled neighborhood but a mentor taught him to bottle his powers so that he wouldn’t hurt anyone. He lived life as a normal human and pushed himself to become an Olympic gold medalist. It wasn’t until he returned to his home and saw the death of his father that he decided to use his electric powers for good. Jefferson’s powers are definitely similar to Electro's, but his backstory is more reminiscent of Luke Cage.

This one is a close call. Man Thing came to the scene in May of 1971 when a young biochemist named Ted Sallis of Nebraska is working in the Everglades trying to recreate the super soldier serum from Captain America. He disobeys orders and brings his girlfriend who betrays him. While on the run he injects himself with a sample of the serum that he has been working on which has a bad reaction with the swamp. This causes him to become Man Thing.

Two months later in July of 1971 scientist Alec Holland was working to create a secret chemical in the marshlands. Holland was killed when a bomb went off in his lab, but a creature made of the vegetation absorbs Alec’s memories and personality. Swamp Thing has the ability to control plants, he has super strength, and can regrow his body. Both Man Thing and Swamp Thing work to protect humanity.

Now few people would even know who Iron Man was if it weren’t for Robert Downey Jr.’s amazing portrayal on the big screen. Iron Man, however, has been around since 1963. Born Anthony Edward Stark, Tony was the son of a brilliant inventor named Howard. Tony takes after his father in the intellect department and attends MIT at the age of 15 where he double majors in electrical engineering and physics. He prematurely gains control over his father’s company when both his father and mother are killed in a car crash, but Tony finds himself captured by a terrorist named Wong-Chu. Wong-Chu orders Stark to make weapons for him but instead Tony makes his first Iron Man suit and escapes.

Commander Steel was similar to Captain America, but Steel hit DC Comics in 1993 looking a lot like Iron Man. John Henry Irons was a weapons engineer for a company called AmerTek Industries but turned away when he saw what his weapons were capable of. He decided to fight crime at a lower level creating a metal suit and taking on street thugs. Although Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark effortlessly, the Shaquille O’Neal version of Steel left some things to be desired.

At first glance, Jason Todd and Bucky Barnes do not even look alike nor they have the same powers but their backstories are shockingly same. Both worked side by side with their respective comic book heroes, both apparently died and returned as vigilantes to fight their ally, both eventually became their partners again and succeeded them.

Considering the fact that Jason Todd resurfaced as Red Hood after Bucky Barnes returned as Winter Soldier, DC did not steal from Marvel in terms of imagery and powers but they definitely stole the concept.

MJBOLT:

off subject, but Superman was a knockoff of Philip's pulp novel Gladiator... Hugo Danner, a man whose father invents a secret formula that can create superpowers. Instead of selling it and making millions, he just injects it into his son. Hugo gains super strength, bulletproof skin and the ability to jump over the tallest building in a single bound just how Superman started


You may not know this but in addition to the Gladiator novel, even more elements of Superman were stolen from Doc Savage:
Doc Savage was the 'man of bronze'. Superman was the 'Man of Steel'.
Doc Savage had a blonde girl cousin with the same skin tone as himself that would from time and again go on adventures along with her cousin... just like Kara what often go on adventures with HER cousin Kal-El.
Doc Savage had the original Fortress of Solitude in the Antarctic, and DC spared no expense to rip that off from Doc Savage straight up without even cover it up by giving it a new name or location

Superman may have been copied from some other character but certainly not marvel comics, in fact Marvel copied Superman twice with Sentry and Hyperion

Apparently DC is not smart enough when it comes to stealing characters. Twenty years after the debut of Marvel’s Banshee, DC created another superhero who had sonic abilities.

It is amazing that DC was too lazy to not even change their character’s name from the source of inspiration but shortened it to just Banshee. Oh, and they decided to change the sex too as usual.

There’s just enough different about Zatanna from the Avengers’ teammate Scarlet Witch that it’s almost a stretch to call her a rip-off. They were introduced in the same year, with Wanda Maximoff arriving on scene in March of 1964 in an issue of X-Men, while Zatanna appeared that November in Hawkman #4.

They’re both the de-facto magic controlling members of their respective super-teams, though Wanda’s also got the ability to control probability through hexes thanks to her mutant powers, while Zatanna learned all her skills training under her father Zatara. They’re also both somewhat responsible for massive changes inside their respective universes, with Wanda having nearly wiped out the mutant race after the events of House of M, while Zatanna’s Silver Age mind-wiping shenanigans eventually lead to some of the events of “Identity” and “Infinite Crisis”.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first. Both Red Tornado and the Vision are androids. That’s hardly the end of the comparison though. They were both created by villains that were attempting to use them against the Justice League and the Avengers, respectively. Red Tornado turned on his maker, T.O. Morrow, just as the Vision turned on his, Ultron. Both are synthetic creations that long to find their humanity.

Also, both take their names from obscure characters from the Golden Age, although the Vision bears a much stronger resemblance to his namesake. The silver age characters, aka the iterations that we know and love, made their first appearances mere months apart (although a version of RT known as Ulthoon was created in 1960). Aside from all that, they have both fallen for human women. Red Tornado dated Kathleen Sutton and the two adopted a daughter. The Vision married the Scarlet Witch and they had two children (who she essentially willed into existence). It is their power sets that truly differentiate them. Red Tornado can mainly, well, create tornados. The Vision, on the other hand, can do pretty much anything.

Cyborg AKA Victor Stone is a DC character and a prominent member of the Justice League and Teen Titans. He first appeared in 1980 and was quite obviously copied from a Marvel concept that first hit comic books in 1974. That Marvel concept is Deathlok – the name of several characters who had died and been reanimated using cybernetic technology, which is exactly what happened with Stone. Although the Deathlok title has been bestowed on a number of characters, what they all have in common with Stone is a constant struggle to retain their humanity and a difficulty in coming to terms with being part-machine.

Honourable mentios

.

DC are not the only ones stealing characters and ideas.
Bad news, hardcore Marvel nerds: many of your favorite characters were
probably remorselessly stolen from your terrible arch-nemesis. Yes, it's
true; DC Comics has been busting out awesome characters since 1934, so
they had a five-year lead when Timely Comics, which would eventually
become Marvel, launched in 1939, and Marvel's been trying to catch up ever
since. Sure, Marvel is pretty great, but it has quite a few characters of
questionable origin. Here are some of Marvel's greatest pitted against their
earlier DC counterparts, so you can be the judge.

Will Smith plays Deadshot in 2016's Suicide Squad film, but he looks nothing
like his 1950s origins, where he first appeared wearing a top hat while
attempting to replace Batman as the hero of Gotham. Later, in the world of
Marvel, another street-level hero, Daredevil, would face a similar foe in
Bullseye. Both Deadshot and Bullseye are master marksmen who never
miss their targets, experts at hand-to-hand combat, have metal body
enhancements, and come from abusive families. They're basically a couple
of sad sacks with really good aim, and that aim is good enough to keep
both of them working in comics and on screen… but Deadshot was first by
a longshot.

Cool stuff.

can't believe the very obvious one didn't make the list Deathstroke and Deadpool, Slade Wilson and Wade Wilson.

Maravilla:
can't believe the very obvious one didn't make the list Deathstroke and Deadpool, Slade Wilson and Wade Wilson.

don't mind the op. come and finish this thread jare

Green Arrow (November 1941)
Hawkeye (September 1964)

Darkseid (Feb. 1971)
Thanos (Feb. 1973)

Flash (November 1939)
Quicksilver (March 1964)

Deathstroke (1980) Slade Wilson
Deadpool (1991) Wade Wilson

Captain Boomerang (1960)
Boomerang (1966)

Atom(1940)
Ant-man(1962)

Clayface(1940)
Sandman (1963)

Hawkman (1940)
Angel(1963)

Green Lantern (1940)
Quasar (1978)

Dr. Fate (1940)
Dr. Strange (1963)

Dark Knight (1939)
Moon Knight (1975)

Superman (1938)
Hyperion (1969) and Gladiator (1977)

Brainiac (1958)
Ultron (1968)

Judge them fairly or I open marvel Yansh more

Csami:
Green Arrow (November 1941)
Hawkeye (September 1964)

Darkseid (Feb. 1971)
Thanos (Feb. 1973)

Flash (November 1939)
Quicksilver (March 1964)

Deathstroke (1980) Slade Wilson
Deadpool (1991) Wade Wilson

Captain Boomerang (1960)
Boomerang (1966)

Atom(1940)
Ant-man(1962)

Clayface(1940)
Sandman (1963)

Hawkman (1940)
Angel(1963)

Green Lantern (1940)
Quasar (1978)

Dr. Fate (1940)
Dr. Strange (1963)

Dark Knight (1939)
Moon Knight (1975)

Superman (1938)
Hyperion (1969) and Gladiator (1977)

Brainiac (1958)
Ultron (1968)

Judge them fairly or I open marvel Yansh more

thank you bro
The dude is just siding marvel anyhow