Has Marvel stole any DC movie ideas and made them better? That question was first posed to me by my nephew who is starting to become a comic book fan. The conversation began when he noticed the similarities between Marvel’s Mister Fantastic from the Fantastic Four movies and a character named “Elongated Man” he saw in one of his father’s old DC comics. He looked at me with glee in his eye about his recent discovery “Look Uncle Matt! Mister Fantastic used to be called Elongated Man in comic books!”
I politely told him with a smile “No they are different characters. Elongated Man is a DC Comic book character. Mr. Fantastic is a Marvel character.” He looked at me confused… “But they have the same powers…” I replied, “Yes, basically.”
His eyebrow lifted quizzically “Does Marvel steal all their movie characters from DC Comics?”
What?!?!
How laughable of a question is that?… At least I thought it was until I began researching…
Take a look at these findings and judge for yourself…
Has Marvel stolen any DC movie ideas and made them better?
Gladly, I didn’t find much evidence of Marvel appropriating DC movie ideas into their films. This could be for many reasons, the most striking is that in a world that’s so connected through social media the similarities would quickly be spotted, someone would post them, and it would likely go viral. I don’t think Marvel Studios wants to sully their brand in such a way as blatantly stealing from a direct competitor. With that being said, I did find some striking similarities between several Marvel & DC characters. Let’s begin here…
Batman vs. Iron Man
Before I get into the similarities between these two characters, let’s first acknowledge the fact that Iron Man made his debut nearly 30 years after Batman. Now let’s break down how similar these two are.
- Both are billionaire playboy’s that fight crime.
- Neither have super powers. Instead, they fight crime with gadgets they created.
- Both have parents that died untimely deaths.
- Both are CEO’s of major corporations but double as superheroes.
As much of a comic book fan as I am, it’s hard to believe I hadn’t spotted this sooner. I mean seriously, you could nearly switch the names and have the same outcomes. As shocking as this is, Iron Man doesn’t appear to be the only character Marvel ripped off from DC. There’s the aforementioned Elongated man who appeared in “The Flash vol 1” 6 months before Mister Fantastic made his print debut in “The Fantastic Four #1.” Then there’s “Green Arrow” and “Hawkeye” two mysterious characters that fight crime with bow and arrows and have female sidekicks. The only real difference… DC’s Green Arrow predates Hawkeye by over 20 years.
But here’s the big one… DC’s superhero team of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and others known collectively as “The Justice League” was created three years before Marvel’s Avengers… I’m sorry… As much of a Marvel fan as I am, I can’t deny this evidence… It appears that Marvel has stolen ideas from DC… Okay, I’m done, my childhood is ruined.
Conclusion
I couldn’t find any blatant rip-offs of movie plots from Marvel, but in regards to characters, they have a lot of explaining to do. It’s obvious that Marvel has drawn “inspiration” from DC. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery… If that’s the case, DC should be flattered beyond measure… I mean at least Marvel did actually make the characters better after they stole them…
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