The DCU
Reimagining the Artifact in this franchise. open/close all folders
Comic Books
Comic Books
The following have their own pages:
- Apache Chief, widely regarded as one of the lamest of the Superfriends, was re-adapted in 2002 by Joe Kelly into a much more interesting character, Manitou Raven.
- Black Canary's outfit dates back to when she briefly was a 1940s pulp villain. In the 1980s and 1990s, DC tried to reimagine its dated style by having the Legacy Character Black Canary style herself after her mother's old costume. When that became unlikely due to Comic-Book Time, DC reimagined it again. In the 2010s, Black Canary became a punk rocker, which coincidently fits her costume.
- JLA (1997): Though Status Quo Is God was in effect for the members of the League themselves, many of the team's most iconic villains were reimagined from their usually goofy Silver Age incarnations into terrifying threats capable of taking on the world's greatest superheroes:
- Starro (the League's original villain) goes from a giant starfish to a true Starfish Alien, being a continent-sized Eldritch Abomination that spawns countless probes to attach themselves to the face of any individual. This becomes especially horrifying when it happens to someone like the Flash, who essentially becomes a super-speed zombie under the Star Conqueror's control.
- The Crime Syndicate Took a Level in Badass similar to the League from their original "what if the Justice League were bad guys" incarnation, becoming the overlords of an entire world built on the concept of "evil always wins." It's notable in that though J'onn and Arthur lay a Curb-Stomp Battle on the Syndicate when they arrive on Earth, they still don't lose in the end as they must remain in the Antimatter Universe to maintain the status quo.
- The various Injustice League/Gangs over the years have typically had an odd assortment of supervillains chosen to plague the League in standard "one-on-one" fights that lack any real tactical prowess. Luthor founds his "archenemies only" incarnation and launches an attack that involves discrediting the League and tearing them apart from within along with using a stone that can literally rewrite reality to his wishes.
- The Key goes from an Intergang scientist in a robe to a dream manipulator with Super-Intelligence capable of locking the Justice League inside their own minds. It's only due to the out of nowhere appearance of Green Arrow (Connor Hawke, not the one you're thinking of) literally sucker punching him with his late father's boxing glove arrow that stops the Key from obtaining omnipotence.
- The original Queen Bee was an alien invader from a bee-themed Planet of Hats who was discarded in the 80s for her human mind-controlling counterpart. She returns as part of Luthor's revamped Injustice Gang as the ruler of a race of superhuman insectoids.
- The Shaggy Man was always an "all-hands-on-deck" level threat for the League, but his sasquatch-esque appearance was more than a little goofy. Here, he's just a shell for General Eiling, who decides to put his brilliant tactical mind into the body of the beast. It basically makes him (renamed the General) a remorseless Superman with the strategic mind of Batman.
- Earth 2 was meant to do this with a number of Golden Age characters, reimagining them in a modern context. For instance, Wing is now a young Asian-American cameraman rather than the Asian Speekee Engrish caricature he was in the 30s. However, Executive Meddling led to the original writer leaving, and the new writer having to throw away all of that writer's work in favour of a Darker and Edgier plot revolving around an evil clone of Superman created by Darkseid.
- DC brought back widely-hated Fad Super / Captain Ethnic Vibe, who was killed off in the 80s shortly after his debut. They've given him a less-ridiculous costume and removed the more offensive aspects of his back story (he's no longer a Gang Banger who talks like Al Pacino from Scarface (1983), and his real name — Paco — was reclassified as his Embarrassing Middle Name, with his actual real name being Cisco) to make him a more well-rounded character, which led him to become a main character in The Flash (2014).
- Wonder Woman:
- Wonder Woman had her invisible jet rendered pointless after it was decided she could fly, and it's been a topic of teasing ever since. However, more recently, people have realized that having a stealth vehicle that could transport people or cargo could be pretty damn useful and a lot more effective than simply carrying one person in your arms. Some versions also make it a high-tech sci-fi super-jet with a Star Trek-style cloak rather than a biplane that is totally invisible and somehow Wondy, appearing to float in midair in a sitting position, just knows where all the buttons are. (Mind you, Narm Charm exists too, so just as often, that's exactly what it looks like, and it is awesome.)
- Steve Trevor has gone through this often. Being the poster child for Useless Boyfriend despite his Ace Pilot status writers can't really find much to do with him, but he hangs on because they all assume that, being the Wonder Woman equivalent of Lois Lane, he should be there. Post Crisis in Wonder Woman (1987) he was reimagined as Etta Candy's husband instead of Diana's, leaving the princess with a several short lived romances with other characters which were all poorly received by the readers. However, the New 52 relaunch has turned him into the liaison between the Justice League and A.R.G.U.S., turning him into the Alternate Company Equivalent of Marvel's Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Sensational Wonder Woman: Nina Close, a Golden Age Wonder Woman villain, is re-imagined as a social media celebrity with millions of followers on SnapShout.
- Etta Candy was originally one of the Holliday Girls, a sorority that Wonder Woman was associated with. After the Holliday Girls disappeared from the series (save for retro stories) the comics followed the TV show in making Etta a USAF lieutenant working with Diana Prince and Steve Trevor, leading to the post-Crisis version being Steve's wife as above. Gail Simone reintroduced her as a military intelligence officer reporting to Sarge Steel, which led to the New 52 version being an A.R.G.U.S. agent (also Black and gay) and Steve's trusted confidante. The Holliday Girls themselves would unexpectedly be reintroduced in 2021 as a biker gang.
- For years Aquaman was this for the Justice League of America. He is the Trope Namer for This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman and, in a team with the likes of Superman, Green Lantern or the Martian Manhunter, he stuck out as having very limited powers, not helped by his portrayal in Super Friends that made him a universal punchline. Then authors like Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, Peter David or Geoff Johns got their hands on the King of Atlantis and explored the Required Secondary Powers, Heart Is an Awesome Power and inherent abilities someone like the ruler of an underwater kindgom should have (Namely, Super-Strength, a great knowledge on both combat and tactical warfare and being able to control both water-dwelling Animalistic Abominations or tap into our brain parts inherited from our marine ancestors to give lethal strokes), making Aquaman an invaluable asset for the Justice League, and developed more his personality beyond "he is a friendly mermaid man", making him a mix of a Boisterous Bruiser and The Stoic.
- Gorilla Grodd, one of the Flash's archenemies, was introduced during a period when gorillas were something of a fad in superhero comics. By the end of the Silver Age, he had essentially become an ignored, one-note threat, and only kept appearing because he'd been around so long. But post-Crisis writers brought him back into relevance by making him a Knight of Cerebus bent on complete world domination, and one of the Flash's deadliest foes; in Geoff Johns' seminal run, in fact, he nearly destroyed Central City singlehandedly. It helps that modern writers tend to emphasize the Lack of Empathy at the heart of his character, demonstrating how scary an aggressively territorial ape would really be with genius-level human intellect, but no human compassion whatsoever.
- In Green Lantern comics, the Green Lantern rings had the weakness of not having effect on anything yellow. This was later said to be due to the influence of Parallax, the personification of the Yellow Light of Fear, who had been imprisoned in the Lantern batteries for eons.
- Egg Fu, a Silver Age Wonder Woman villain who was literally a Chinese sentient egg (the name's based on a Chinese dish named egg foo young) who embodied all Yellow Peril stereotypes imaginable, is widely despised for his bizarre concept and gross racial stereotyping. There have, however, been several attempts by writers who like Silver Age wackiness to update him in a less offensive way, most notably by Grant Morrison in 52 as a serious Chinese mad scientist villain, and later by Amanda Connor and Jimmy Palmiotti in Harley Quinn as a benign American small-time mad scientist who becomes one of Harley's circle of weirdos in Coney Island. As for his origin, later appearances of him as a villain give him an Apokoliptian origin and a much scarier appearance.
- Titans Hunt (2015): The members of Diablo are the Silver Age villains of the Titans—Mad Mod, Honeybun, and Ding Dong Daddy—reworked into more sensible incarnations. Mad Mod trades up the 60's fashion for a more hipster-y appearance, Honeybun is a proper Cyborg as opposed to a giant Spider Tank thing, and Ding Dong Daddy is now a mercenary riding around in a Black Magic-enhanced muscle car as opposed to a PSA villain over the dangers of dropping out of high school.
Films
Films
- In DC Showcase: Green Arrow, this is done with Green Arrow's infamous boxing glove arrows. The arrow's purpose was to strike the opponent with blunt force, in order to deal a good but non-lethal blow from long range. However, it was too goofy for some to take seriously. Here, they are replaced with cylinders or segments (about the size of the exploding arrowhead) made out of what appears to be vulcanized rubber or something similar as to be able to impact hard without impairing the arrow's flight or looking goofy. In essence, the arrow equivalent of rubber bullets.
- DC Extended Universe
- Wonder Woman (2017) does this with a few elements of Wonder Woman lore that are kept around today out of tradition, even if they don't always seem logical.
- Diana's iconic star-spangled leotard doesn't exactly mesh well with the elements of Greek Mythology that are so central to the mythos these days, but she still wears it because it's unthinkable to have her wearing anything else. The movie's version generally keeps the design and color scheme of her classic costume, but it nixes the star motif and replaces the white trim with gold trim, making it look more like an exceptionally colorful suit of Greek armor than a patriotic get-up. Her chest emblem is also reimagined as a winged eagle design that just happens to be W-shaped, preventing any questions about why an Amazon princess wears the letter "W" on her armor. note
- Steve Trevor is a good example of a character who used to be integral to the mythos, but often feels out-of-place in modern stories as the writers don't always know what to do with him. Since the Golden Age, many writers have waffled on whether he's Diana's boyfriend or just her contact in the military, and the nature of Comic-Book Time means that he can't always keep his original backstory as an Army Air Corps pilot who met Diana during World War II. note The movie sidesteps the issue by having him die in a Heroic Sacrifice at the end of the movie, thus making him integral to Diana's origin without having to explain how he's relevant to her life in the modern era.
- Aquaman (2018) revels in this, emphasizing and working with the sillier elements of the Aquaman mythos to its benefit.
- Black Manta's classic bubble-head deep sea diver design has been a difficult thing to process in the modern era, coming across as a silly, impractical top heavy look. This film shows Kane building the suit from scratch, adapting Atlantean weaponry alongside his own high tech armor designs, and specifically making the helmet huge so that it could fire a BFG plasma blast without frying his own head. When he finally shows up he is almost a Walking Tank, believably fighting Arthur on even footing.
- Aquaman and Ocean Master aren't just aliases, they're official royal titles; Aquaman being the title for the king of Atlantis and Ocean Master being the title for the supreme military leader of all of the underwater kingdoms, something similar to the title of dictator in Ancient Rome.
- The iconic orange and green costume from the comics returns, but is now a suit of fish scale armor with a more chain-mail like texture and golden appearance, as befits a king.
- Wonder Woman (2017) does this with a few elements of Wonder Woman lore that are kept around today out of tradition, even if they don't always seem logical.
Live-Action TV
Live-Action TV
- Arrowverse
- Arrow, like the Green Arrow Comic Book examples above, replaced campy Boxing Glove Arrows with high-tech rubber-tipped projectiles. In one episode, though, Oliver does fire an arrow with a boxing glove on the end. But instead of being a pre-prepared gadget, it becomes a hastily-improvised method to incapacitate a fairly skilled opponent, and is only possible because they're fighting at a boxing gym in the first place. It manages to make an homage to the sillier aspects of the character's history into a believable Indy Ploy.
- Zig-zagged with The Flash (2014) when it comes to Barry Allen's suit. It is adapted from a high-tech firefighting suit that STAR Labs had in development, giving a plausible reason for the red color as well as the close fit and heat-and-friction-resistant properties. However, adding the Lightning Bolt insignia to the chest and earpieces is explicitly an invocation of the Rule of Cool by Cisco - when asked why he's adding them, he simply replies "So it's not boring".
Western Animation
Western Animation
- Similar to the above Apache Chief/Manitou Raven example, the campy characters original to the old Superfriends show were re-imagined as the Ultimen and given a tragic arc in an episode of the DC Animated Universe Justice League series.
- Young Justice (2010)
- The show reimagines sidekicks/young partners for superheroes. Batman points out a rather practical reason to do this: because nobody takes them seriously, they're much better suited to covert operations. After all, if the heroes are all fighting the giant Monster of the Week, surely there's nobody else to worry about?
- Invasion also did a more serious, respectful take on Apache Chief and several other of the "Affirmative Action" Super Friends. Samurai and El Dorado became Asami "Sam" Koizumi and Eduardo "Ed" Dorado, losing their stereotypical costumes and quirks in the process, while Black Vulcan is replaced with the already-established Static. Apache Chief's popular for this. The Young Justice version is even named for and voiced by the same guy as his Justice League counterpart. (However, Longshadow is actually his last name, as opposed to Long Shadow as a codename.)
- The original Mad Mod was a Fad Super. The version of the character in Teen Titans (2003) justifies his dated pop-culture references and basis by having him be an old man who uses holograms to make himself appear young.
