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Dueling Works Live Action TV / Superhero

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Dueling Works — Live-Action TV
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  • Initiators / Followers
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Description
    • Implementation: Implementation
  • Batman (1966) (1966) / The Green Hornet (1966)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Live-action superhero series debuting in 1966.
    • Implementation: Batman is a comedy series that parodies superheroes while Hornet plays it straight.
  • Captain Nice (1967) / Mr. Terrific (1967)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Superhero comedies where a nebbish temporarily gains super powers by ingesting a secret formula.
    • Implementation: Both aired on Monday nights on different networks in consecutive time slots.
  • Spectreman (1971) / Return of Ultraman (1971) & Kamen Rider (1971)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Live-action tokusatsu superhero shows inspired by Ultra Fight (an Ultraman / Ultraseven clip show)'s success, which previsibly meant the Ultra Series' comeback.
    • Implementation: Return is a sequel to Ultraman, while Spectreman was noticeabily inspired by it. Kamen Rider, unlike the other two, was a life-sized superhero created by famous manga author Shotaro Ishinomori.
  • Silver Kamen (1971) & Iron King (1972) / Mirrorman (1971)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Darker and Edgier takes on the Ultra Series aired during the same day and time slot, made by Tsuburaya Productions (Mirrorman) and former Tsuburaya / Ultraman staff in Senkosha (Silver Kamen). Iron King was a followup to the otherwise unrelated Silver Kamen.
    • Implementation: Although expected to debut on the same day, Silver Kamen's first episode hurriedly debuted a week before Mirrorman. The much more comedic Iron King debutted after a brief hiatus from its prequel, but managed to air alongside the still-ongoing Mirrorman. It's said that there was a ratings rivalry from both teams, who shared the same origins in Tsuburaya.
  • Kaiketsu Lion Maru (1972) / Henshin Ninja Arashi (1972)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Tokusatsu shows set in feudal Japan about Ninjas who transform into animal-themed forms.
    • Implementation: Both aired neck-and-neck with each other, with Arashi making its premiere just two days after Lion-Maru.
  • Ultraman Ace (1972) / Henshin Ninja Arashi (1972)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Tokusatsu shows that aired at the same exact day and time slot, and spiritual successors to the famous Ultra Series and Kamen Rider franchises.
    • Implementation: Toei Company (creators of Kamen Rider) aired Arashi in Return of Ultraman's time slot to gain the definitive ratings edge over Tsuburaya Productions (of Ultraman fame). Inversely, Ultraman Ace heavily borrowed concepts from Kamen Rider.
  • Kamen Rider (1971) / Totsugeki! Human!! (1972)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Henshin Hero shows aired at the same exact time slot (saturday prime time).
    • Implementation: Kamen Rider, the creator of the Henshin Hero craze, was at the height of its fame, and was airing its record-breaking seventh season (last quarter of 1972) before being followed in early 1973 by its sequel Kamen Rider V3. Its competitor, Totsugeki! Human!!, was co-produced by early Ultra Series staples Tohl Narita (character designer) and Bin Furuya (stunt team chief), and unlike its inspiration, was a Broadcast Live show featuring live special effects, music, and crowd participation.
  • Ultraman Leo (1974) / Denjin Zaboga (1974)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: 1974 entries of TV series which were aired since 1971 (the Ultra Series and P Productions' tokusatsu shows). Both of them were also heavily inspired by Bruce Lee.
    • Implementation: Denjin Zaboga, one of P Productions' seventies tokusatsu shows (traditionally aired before the Kamen Rider series), was moved to the Ultra Series' traditional friday time slot in hopes of surpassing it. At that time, tokusatsu ratings were on a steep decline, including both the Ultra and the Kamen Rider series.
  • Abaranger (2003), Dekaranger (2004) and Magiranger (2005) / Chou Sei Shin Series (2003-2005)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Sentai shows (the former three all being installments in the Trope Namer) that aired at around the same time in the early 2000s.
    • Implementation: The first Chouseishin series, Chouseishin Gransazer, starting by having four separate teams who begin at odds with one another before unifying later on. It sequels would scale down the number of heroes and be more in-line with a regular Sentai series. They were also produced by Toho and had more realistic monster suits in line with the Godzilla franchise.
  • Smallville (2001) / Heroes (2006)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Live action drama featuring people discovering they have superhuman abilities
    • Implementation: Smallville was a Superman origin story, and focused on the growth of Clark Kent from farm boy to Earth's greatest hero; Heroes was about what would happen if people with super powers started appearing in the "real" world. Smallville would gradually introduce various DC Comics characters over the course of the series, whilst Heroes wasn't tied to an existing comic book property. Due to it being set in the "real world" Heroes was a lot darker than Smallville.
  • Kamen Rider Decade (2009) / Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger (2011)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Milestone Celebration shows for popular Toku franchises whose main characters utilize the powers of various past heroes.
    • Implementation: Decade served as an anniversary season for the first ten shows of the Heisei era of Kamen Rider and saw its main protagonist meeting alternate versions of various past Riders, while Gokaiger was an anniversary season for the then 35 year old Super Sentai Series and featured cameos from various past Sentai heroes. Ironically, these two would later literally duel in the very first Super Hero Taisen film.
  • Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013) / Gotham (2014)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Shows based on Marvel Comics & DC Comics properties that focus on the law-enforcement rather than the superheroes themselves.
    • Implementation: A continuation of the Marvel vs. DC rivalry. Whereas S.H.I.E.L.D is a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe & (as mentioned above) has its hands tied on which characters it can use; Gotham is a separate continuity to existing DC properties, but has its hands tied on which characters it can use, since the show starts with the deaths of Thomas & Martha Wayne & will feature a young Bruce Wayne. Humorously, CTV will broadcast both shows for Canadian release.
  • Arrow (2012) /The Flash (2014) / Constantine (2014)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Live action drama based on DC Comics properties.
    • Implementation: Whilst Arrow & The Flash share a continuity & both air on The CW, Constantine stood separately on NBC. However, Arrow is an action series, whilst The Flash is more of a Sci-Fi series, Constantine is a supernatural/horror themed series.
  • Arrow (2012) / Daredevil (2015)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Another DC vs Marvel entry, they are live action dramas based on street level heroes with almost no superpowers trying to save their respective cities.
    • Implementation: Both are touted as dark and gritty takes on comic book superheroes. However, Marvel decided to forego debuting Daredevil on network TV and instead ran it on Netflix. They've also firmly placed the series as part of their greater cinematic universe whereas Arrow isn't connected to DC's films, but was instead the first installment of its own super-franchise.
  • Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013) / Legends of Tomorrow (2016)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Live action dramas focusing on teams of superheroes.
    • Implementation: SHIELD consists mostly of Marvel canon foreigners (who all later migrated to the comics), while Legends consists of canonical DC characters, albeit ones who've mostly never been on teams together; the "Legends" name itself has never officially applied to any team in DC canon, either. SHIELD is much darker than Legends. Both shows also tie into larger franchises (the MCU and the Arrowverse, respectively).
  • Gotham (2014) / Supergirl (2015)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Live action drama featuring the mythos of two of DC's most well-known heroes.
    • Implementation: Supergirl borrows heavily on the Superman mythos, and focuses on the maturity of Kara Zor-El both as a hero and an individual; Gotham is directly linked to the Batman mythos. Both shows are not told from the perspective of the iconic hero whom the mythology is based from. Supergirl treats Superman as a Hero of Another Story and initially only occasionally appeared as The Faceless, while Bats himself is only the Tritagonist of Gotham. Both shows also aired originally on Mondays in the same time slot.
  • Arrow (2012) / Iron Fist (2017)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Yet another DC vs Marvel entry, the shows are about a billionaire whom many thought died somewhere during the Turn of the Millennium after an accident returning so they can save their respective cities. During their time away, they Took a Level in Badass.
    • Implementation: Iron Fist is more mystical in nature than Arrow, who is more grounded (though it's fourth season is in similar tone to Iron Fist).
  • The Umbrella Academy (2019) / Doom Patrol (2019)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Live action adaptations of comic books about teams of weirdos with special powers, both based in big mansions and led by eccentric older men who assembled them to become superheroes, each airing on streaming platforms (Netflix & DC Universe, respectively) and premiering their first seasons on the same date. A fun coincidence is that Gerard Way, the creator of the Umbrella Academy comic, also had a run on Doom Patrol a few years before the shows premiered.
    • Implementation: Umbrella Academy entered development three years before Doom Patrol (and was originally envisioned as a film even earlier than that), but the latter's source material predates the former's by quite a few decades.
  • Invincible (2021) / Superman & Lois (2021) & Jupiter's Legacy (2021)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Comic-based shows that all centrally deal with a Superman Substitute (or just Superman, period) raising a son and dealing with a changing world.
    • Implementation: Invincible focuses primarily on the son, being a Coming of Age Story, and is the only one of the three to be animated. Superman and Lois is part of an existing universe, being a spinoff of Supergirl, and is generally more optimistic than either of its fellows. Jupiter's Legacy focuses much more heavily on the intergenerational drama and broader society, with sections of story being period pieces.
  • Invincible (2021) / The Boys (2019)
    • Capsule Pitch Description: Both Amazon Prime shows based on pre-existing superhero comics that are way more graphic than most other shows in the genre and prominantly feature a Superman Substitute.
    • Implementation: While The Boys is a deconstruction of Superheroes (with that show's version of (not)Superman being both a Psychotic Manchild, and all super-powered people being made that way by an evil corporation), Invincible is a reconstruction of the Genre, with it's version being the protagonist. And while the central conflict of The Boys is the titular group trying to take down the corporation who owns the team of Superheroes, Invincible has the titular character be a member of a government-sanctioned superhero team that combats supervillains and other global threats.

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