History Main / MetaOrigin

* In the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, both Banner[=/=][[Film/TheIncredibleHulk2008 the Hulk]] and Emil Blonsky[=/=]the Abomination gained their powers through attempts to replicate Film/{{Captain America|The First Avenger}}'s SuperSerum. Banner thought he was researching ways to resist radiation and had no idea what his superiors were really after. Emil Blonsky's version of the serum seemed to work just fine, but when the Hulk still curb-stomped him, he got greedy and demanded that he be injected with [[spoiler:a large sample of Banner's irradiated blood, which [[GoneHorriblyRight goes horribly right]]]].
** Several characters are revealed to have gotten their powers from the [[ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet Infinity Stones]], and several powerful objects from the comics are revealed to ''be'' Infinity Stones.
*** In ''Film/IronMan2'' and ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'', it's implied the the Arc Reactor created by Howard Stark was created by studying the Tesseract (a seemingly Asgardian artifact discovered by the Red Skull), and in turn was adapted and miniaturized by Tony Stark for his ComicBook/IronMan armor, linking Iron Man to Asgard and other supernatural elements by way of the SuperSoldier project.
*** ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'' reveals that the Tesseract ([[AdaptationNameChange the "Cosmic Cube" in the comics]]) and the Aether are the Space Stone and the Reality Stone, respectively, and it's heavily implied that the Asgardians can build space portals because they had the Space Stone in their possession for centuries.
*** In ''Film/{{Guardians of the Galaxy|2014}}'', Ronan the Accuser gets his enhanced strength from having the Power Stone embedded in his hammer.
*** In ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', ComicBook/ScarletWitch, ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}}, ComicBook/TheVision and ComicBook/{{Ultron}} himself are all created in some form or another by the Mind Stone; Ultron achieved sentience after being connected to it, the twins gained their powers from experimentation with it, and the Vision achieved both his sentience and his energy-blasts from the Stone being embedded in his forehead.
*** The Eye of Agamotto from ''Film/{{Doctor Strange|2016}}'' contains the Time Stone, which gives it its powers.
*** [[spoiler:The movie ''Film/{{Captain Marvel|2019}}'' revealed that the titular hero's powers actually were the result of her being caught in an explosion of a space engine powered by the Tesseract, meaning her powers are derived from the Space Stone.]]
** In the [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary material]] for ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', it's revealed that ComicBook/TheFalcon's military exoskeleton was designed by [[Film/IronMan Stark Industries]], presumably utilizing technology similar to what is found in by Tony's Iron Man suits.
*** The weapons used by the soldiers in ''Film/{{The Incredible Hulk|2008}}'' were ''also'' designed by Stark Industries. In fact, the sonic weapon seems to be the big brother of [[spoiler:the sonic paralyzer Stane uses on Tony]] at the start of the final act of ''Iron Man''.
** ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' [[spoiler: establishes that Comicbook/{{HYDRA}} was originally an ancient cult worshiping a powerful Inhuman who had been exiled from Earth.]] HYDRA was the proximate cause of much of the preceding: their actions led to the creation of the Strategic Scientific Reserve (later SHIELD) in response, which led to the creation of the Super Soldier Project, HYDRA were the ones who uncovered the Tesseract and began using it, uncovering the Tesseract led to Loki's invasion that created the Avengers, and HYDRA was also responsible for the creation of the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver (which accidentally led to Tony Stark creating Ultron). All of this can therefore be directly connected [[spoiler: to the Kree having attempted to create supersoldiers out of humans (creating the first Inhumans) in the ancient past]].
** This version of ComicBook/SpiderMan got his enhanced costume and web-shooters (an upgrade from his initial homemade costume) from Tony Stark, who first recognized young Peter Parker's potential as a superhero and took him under his wing. ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'' also reveals that his enemies the Vulture, the Shocker and the Tinkerer are all part of the same gang, and that they built their enhanced gadgets out of salvaged Chitauri technology after [[Film/TheAvengers2012 the Battle of New York]].
** In ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'', Matt Murdock's costume and [[IconicItem billy clubs]] are designed and built by Melvin Potter ("Gladiator"), who has also built Wilson Fisk's armor-weave suits that give him the appearance of being invulnerable. [[note]] Many of Fisk's earliest appearances strongly hinted at him having super-strength and invulnerability powers, due to him being [[{{Acrofatic}} improbably muscular for someone of his girth]].[[/note]] [[Film/TheAvengers2012 The "Incident"]] also provides a handy justification for Matt and Foggy [[FriendsRentControl being able to start their own law practice in New York right out of college]]: it turns out that an alien invasion can really bring down real estate prices, even in one of the world's most expensive cities. Likewise, the Incident doing a number to Hell's Kitchen is a handy way to explain how its gentrification has been reversed and crime increased to a level reminiscent to how it was in the 70's.

* [[MegaCorp Oscorp]], with its mysterious "Special Projects" division, is the common thread tying together all costumed characters in ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'' and [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2 its sequel]]. The company produces the genetically-enhanced hybrid spiders that give Peter Parker his abilities, and Peter eventually uses synthetic threads from the same spiders to build his web-shooters, while [[spoiler: Harry Osborn]] gets his superhuman abilities from a concentrated dose of the spiders' venom. Meanwhile, Curt Connors (Lizard) and Max Dillon (Electro) are both Oscorp scientists who gain superpowers from projects gone awry, while Aleksei Sytsevich (Rhino) uses a robotic exoskeleton given to him by Oscorp. A scene near the end of the second movie even shows a pair of robotic wings and a harness of four robotic tentacles in the Special Projects vault, hinting at the eventual emergence of the Vulture and Doctor Octopus.

* In ''Film/GreenLantern2011'', Hector Hammond gets his powers after accidentally becoming infected with Parallax's DNA, unlike in the comics, where his mental abilities came from a crashed meteor.
* The ''Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse'' uses a Kryptonian scout ship that crashed on Earth thousands of years ago as a point of reference to minimize the typical ContrivedCoincidence in comic book stories. It explains how Krypton knew of Earth in the first place, and when [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Clark]] finds the ship it sends out a beacon that fellow Kryptonian General Zod was able to track back to Earth. In the comics, Doomsday appeared in ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman'' initially without an origin, but was later given a complex backstory as a genetically engineered LivingWeapon originating from Krypton in the distant past, bounced around from one planet to another before crashing on Earth and remaining dormant until the modern age. In ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' the "Kryptonian LivingWeapon" premise is more or less intact, but ComicBook/LexLuthor creates him using the database and technology within the scout ship to reanimate General Zod's corpse, also creating a CompositeCharacter.

* In ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', Solomon Grundy, [[spoiler: Roy Harper, and [[Comicbook/{{Deathstroke}} Slade Wilson]]]] all got their powers from a Japanese SuperSerum dubbed "[[ComicBook/HourMan Mirakuru]]".
* In ''Series/TheFlash2014'', the hero and most of his villains got their powers from [[MagicalParticleAccelerator a particle accelerator explosion that occurred at S.T.A.R. Labs]]. The lightning that struck Barry came from a cloud that had been altered by the explosion.
** With the Speed Force still serving as an unifying factor for speedsters' powers.
* ''Series/{{Gotham}}'' reveals corrupt Wayne Enterprises executives engaging in twisted experiments at Arkham Asylum. This leads, directly or indirectly, to the origins of several Franchise/{{Batman}} rogues.

* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'' retcons Solomon Grundy's origin and ability to die and resurrect to [[spoiler:a Lazarus Pit in the swamp near Gotham City where his body was dumped, these Lazarus Pits are part of a big scheme by Ra's Al-Ghul]].
* ''VideoGame/BatmanTheTelltaleSeries'': For season one, it's the mysterious leader of the Children of Arkham. They bring Penguin and Catwoman into Gotham, infect Harvey Dent with the PsychoSerum that sends him down the path to becoming Two-Face, and they're somehow connected to that strange, pale, giggling guy you encounter in the asylum in episode 4.

* ''Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse'':
** While much less overarchingly-celestial in origin, ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' tended to interlink the origins of various characters that were previously not related in-comics, making for stronger continuity: For instance, rather than being made by an unaffiliated scientists, Metallo and Bizarro are now the direct creation of Lexcorp (though the latter was true in the comics canon as of John Byrne's ComicBook/PostCrisis ''Man Of Steel'' reboot). Brainiac is portrayed as a Kryptonian computer system with a direct link to the end of that world, rather than being an unrelated alien that [[EarthIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse just happens to stumble across Earth]]. Toyman's origin is now the result of the actions of Intergang, which itself became a pawn to Darkseid's schemes, and so on.
** ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' did the same thing with a few characters, such as having ComicBook/TheCreeper gain his powers after being dumped into a vat of chemicals by ComicBook/TheJoker.
** ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' explicitly ties the origins of ComicBook/WonderWoman and the ComicBook/MartianManhunter to the same alien invasion that leads to the formation of the Justice League, since both characters made their debut in that show without prior introduction. Diana chooses to leave Themyscira to aid the people of "Man's World" against the invaders, refusing to remain safe in the Amazons' island refuge while innocent people die; J'onn J'onzz is a veteran of the invaders' earlier war with the peaceful Martian race, who escapes to Earth to warn humanity about their return, and he's the LastOfHisKind because the invaders slaughtered his people. Note that ComicBook/GreenLantern and [[ComicBook/{{Hawkman}} Hawkgirl]] don't get this treatment, instead being examples of RememberTheNewGuy. [[note]] ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' introduces Kyle Rayner and the Green Lantern Corps, but it's never explained how John Stewart became the Green Lantern, or how Superman and Batman met him before the invasion. No DCAU shows ever tell us how the other superheroes first met the Thanagarian warrior Hawkgirl, though the series finale of ''Justice League'' did finally explain that [[spoiler: she first came to Earth as an advance agent for a Thanagarian invasion.]][[/note]]
** In ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'', all of the original characters' powers can be traced to the Big Bang, when a container of mutagenic Quantum Vapor exploded during a gang riot. The resultant mutated individuals became known as "Bang Babies".
* The 1990s ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'' has the science of "Neogenics", which is basically the science of applying LegoGenetics to an existing life-form (why take years to grow your super-mutant to adulthood when you can zap someone who is already an adult?) in a process that involves a kind of radiation. The spider that bit Peter hadn't been zapped by generic radiation, but with a "neogenic recombinator". Neogenics goes on to be responsible for the transformations of Lizard, Scorpion, Vulture, and Morbius, mostly preserving their comic-book origins but pulling them together in a way that makes it a bit more plausible than a bunch of MillionToOneChance accidents.
** Interestingly, Morbius is the only vampire created by the "mix human and bat DNA" method; ComicBook/{{Blade}} and his enemies appear to be the supernatural real deal. However, vampire queen Miriam ([[spoiler: ''Blade's mom'' has moved up in the world, hasn't she?]]) is more than happy to "borrow" the Neogenic Recombinator and mass-produce Morbius-like vampires.
** Also, in the "Six Forgotten Warriors" arc, attempts at recreating ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's SuperSerum were responsible for five other [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] heroes (the Destroyer, the Whizzer, Miss America, the Thunderer and the Black Marvel) as well as Black Cat, and even Omega Red from the ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'' cartoon.
* Similarly, ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'': Many of the previously unconnected villains now related back to Oscorp (just like in the Ultimate Universe): Dr. Octopus worked as a brilliant scientist and inventor who works at Oscorp, Toomes became the Vulture because Oscorp stole his technology, Sandman and Rhino get their powers from Oscorp experiments, Shocker gets his suit as the result of Norman Osborn's machinations, and so on. Interestingly, one of the few major villains in the series whose origin ''was'' related to Oscorp in the comics universe, Tombstone, has a criminal-working relationship with the company, and nothing more.
** ''Spectacular'' also makes use of the ESU genetics lab: For one thing, it's where Spider-Man himself got his powers. Then there was an electrical freak accident that created Electro, which in turn affected Doc Connors' Lizard serum. Miles Warren later used the Lizard serum research in order to give Kraven powers. And to top things off, the symbiote later known as Venom was to be studied in the lab (just like in the Ultimate Universe), too. But since ESU is a subsidiary of Oscorp, it all amounts to the same thing.
* In ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012'', both ComicBook/{{Venom}} and Carnage are genetically-engineered from samples of Spider-Man's blood, while the Rhino, the Lizard and the Vulture are all products of ComicBook/DoctorOctopus. Additionally, the Awesome Android is a ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} project created by Curt Connors, and ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} is a former S.H.I.E.L.D. trainee and protege of ComicBook/NickFury. [[UnreliableNarrator Or at least, claims to be.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble'', ComicBook/TheFalcon's wings and costume are actually a suit of PoweredArmor he made with help from his teammate [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]].
* ''WesternAnimation/WolverineAndTheXMen2009'':
** Nitro is a mutant rather than the product of Kree experimentation like he was in the original ''ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}}'' comics.
** The Wendigo is also introduced as ComicBook/{{SHIELD}}'s attempt at recreating the SuperSerum that turned Steve Rogers into ComicBook/CaptainAmerica. In the comics, the Wendigo was the product of an ancient Indigenous curse.
* ''WesternAnimation/IronManArmoredAdventures'':
** Likewise, this show makes the Extremis formula into an another attempt at recreating the SuperSerum, even though they're entirely unrelated in the comics.
** It also establishes ComicBook/DoctorDoom's PoweredArmor as something engineered from [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum Makluan technology]], much like the Mandarin's [[RingOfPower rings]]. Likewise, the Grey Gargoyle is reimagined as one of the Makluan's guardians, rather than a human scientist who gave himself superpowers.
* Season 2 of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' introduced the concept of the metagene into animation, with the explanation that a small percentage of the human race possessed the genetic potential to develop superpowers in times of duress. Static, Neutron, and {{Captain Ersatz}}es of the four CanonForeigner WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}} all got their powers from metagenes, as opposed to the comics, where they all had separate and wildly different origins.
** Another, minor example was Bumblebee. In the show, she was the sidekick of the Atom and got her {{Sizeshifter}} powers from the same white dwarf star matter that her mentor used.
** Beast Boy manifests his abilities after [[SuperhumanTransfusion getting a blood transfusion from Miss Martian]].
** Matt Hagen was transformed into Clayface after being trapped in Ra's Al Ghul's Lazarus Pit for too long.
** The show's [[AllThereInTheManual tie-in comic]] provides a coherent Meta Origin for the various KillerGorilla characters DC has (Monsieur Mallah, Gorilla Grodd, Ultra-Humanite, and Congorilla) by establishing that they were all part of a troop of gorillas that had been captured and experimented upon.
** In season 3, the same meteor that gave Vandal Savage his powers also mutated his genes to create the first metagene. Therefore, as he passed it down to so many children throughout time, he became the ancestor to every metahuman in the present day. Season 4 continues the trend with the reveal that [[spoiler:he founded Atlantis and was also the ancestor of the magical humans known as ''Homo magi'']].