For a very long time, Marvel and DC have been competing with each other, and this competition has at times led to some “inspiration” that has been picked up by both the comic book publishers. We are referring to the fact that Marvel has imitated the DC characters and vice versa. Characters like The Atom and Ant-Man hardly have any differences, and the same can be said about Darkseid/Thanos or Winter Soldier/Red Hood. So let us take a look at the Marvel heroes that proved to be better than their DC inspirations and the DC characters that proved to be superior to their Marvel originals. Take a look at the list below:
Hawkeye vs. Green Arrow
Before Marvel created Hawkeye, DC had Green Arrow, a Robin-Hood style archer who had a fantastic aim. Green Arrow was quite successful initially, and still is a popular character, courtesy of the success of Arrow on The CW.
Having said that, we believe Hawkeye has proved to be the better comic book hero, because of some reasons. His costume is batter, his origin story is more fascinating, and he has become much more evolved due to creators like Matt Fraction handling his comic series. Also, if we look at the skills, Hawkeye emerges as the better archer.
Red Hood vs. Winter Soldier
Back in January 2005, The Winter Soldier debuted in the Marvel Comics, and later we came to know that he was Bucky Barnes, the long-lost buddy of Captain America from World War II era. Barely a month after that, another long-dead sidekick came back to the comics. Jason Todd, who appeared as The Red Hood aimed to control the Gotham crime world.
The concept of a sidekick become a villain is fantastic, and if DC did copy Marvel, it is not their fault. While Red Hood never really took over the mantle of his mentor, he emerged as a standout character because of it.
Aquaman vs. Namor
Apart from the original Human Torch, Namor, the Submariner was the first ever Marvel Superhero to be printed. Namor has had a long and successful run in the Marvel Universe, and he has been a member of The Invaders, The Avengers, The Defenders, and even the X-Men. A couple of years later, DC came out with their own underwater hero: Aquaman.
So what do you think? Which of these water-borne superheroes is superior? We will be backing the clone this time. Aquaman is more famous than Namor, and also the orange scales and green tights are anytime better than a speedo and ankle wings.
Thanos vs. Darkseid
We first saw Darkseid in comic books in 1971, and a couple of years later, Thanos arrived in the Marvel Universe. The two of them are the biggest villains of their respective universes. They are both power-crazy and have identical powers as well as looks, and are famous for trying to grab the biggest source of power in the universe. Darkseid is after the Anti-Life equation, and Thanos is after the Infinity Stones.
Which of these galactic warlords is the better villain? We think it is Thanos, because he has been amazing in Avengers: Infinity War, and since he has got a much prominent role in the superhero universe, he is probably the more iconic of the two.
Ant-Man vs. The Atom
We think DC has a lot more of Silver Age reboots of their Golden Age heroes than the rival. One such character was The Atom, who was rebooted in 1961, and that was still before Marvel came its own size altering hero, Ant-Man, who came into existence after one year.
They are both fantastic scientists who created technology that allowed them to change their size, but, Ant-Man has proven to be the better of the two. He is not only capable of expanding or shrinking, but, he also has some things that favor him such as his ability to interact with and control ants, and the fact that he was a founding member of The Avengers.
Ultron vs. Brainiac
It was not easy to decide whether Brainiac is better or the Ultron since they are both popular villains with great character habits that are not easy to compare. However, eventually, we had to choose Ultron due to his popularity, his concept, and his origins.
Brainiac is a fantastic villain, but, ultimately, all he wanted to do was to collect objects, which is not exactly a great thing for a villain. Whereas Hank Pym had created Ultron to assist the world, but, it all went terribly wrong, and he became a major Marvel villain. Also, he had an adamantium body which gave him the strength to defeat Brainiac.
Deadpool vs. Deathstroke
Here is another weird character on this list, Deadpool is an absolute replica of Deathstroke. However, while imitating the character, Marvel created something even better, more loved and more successful. You can judge their popularity by simply thinking the number of people that know who Deathstroke is and the number of people who are familiar with Deadpool.
Deadpool is extremely similar to the character he was inspired by, and he is called Wade Wilson, which is not much different from Slade Wilson. He has a healing power like the Deathstroke (although Wade’s healing power is much stronger), he is a ruthless killer like Deathstroke, and they both love swords. However, between these two, Deadpool wins hands down.
