Marvel-DC Merged Universe Community Project...

Cadmus is American while Weapon X is joint American-Canadian. There's room for both.

Now, that doesn't mean that they CAN'T be merged however. Not saying that it should or even needs to, but it would certainly work should we decide to merge the two...I think.

(I am assuming that Weapon X and Cadmus are similar in concept.)

Some ideas I have:

I'm thinking the (Teen) Titans should be a youth movement, started by the younger superheroes like Spider-Man and Static, the primary goal of which is to help disadvantages children and teenagers. Some members would have powers, and they would make a special effort to bring in those youths with powers to keep them on the side of good, but the group's activities would be mostly in charity work.

The Avengers is a loose network of superheroes in major cities. Each city would have its own chapter of Avengers, who would unite to solve particularly perplexing local crimes, and provide a forum where vigilantes can seek help if needed. Each Avengers chapter would sponsor the local Titans chapter if there is one, with powered Titans given the choice of joining their local Avengers when they reach the age of majority.

Then the Justice League is a semi-official body that administers all member heroes in the country/world. The leader of each Avengers chapter is a member of the League, but the League also has several members, such as Superman and Wonder Woman, who are not members of any Avengers chapter. All senior members of the League would be required to either never have been an Avenger or foreswear all affiliation with their Avengers chapter for a preiod of at least five years before election in order to avoid partisanship.

For mutants, I'd like if we could treat them the way 2000 AD and Futurama do - that is, only a small minority of mutants have any form of superpowers. The majority are just disfigured in some way, such as being covered in hair, having lots of lumps, purple skin, organs in weird places, or occasionally an extra limb.

This means that anti-mutant sentiment would actually be a prejudice, and not just reasonable people not liking the idea that their sexy neighbour might suddenly explode their house. It also opens up the possibility of tension between mutants, as the powerless majority think that those who Xavier gathers are just whiny brats who have all kinds of cool advantages and don't realise how tough it is in the real world.

I kept starting to write [[squirrel]] instead of [[quoteblock]].

I always imagined Squirrel Girl as a latecomer to the party. Like she wouldn't show up until long after everyone else had been introduced and established. Borrowing from Vampire Buddha up there, she's come in as a recent member of of the Teen Titans, or even something like the Legion of Super Heroes reserve members. I mean, she has the powers of squirrels! Who would take her seriously? Maybe even she herself would mess up a few times and some big honcho like Batman or Robin chews her out for it. Makes her wonder if she really did get the short end of the stick. Then when things go down, and it looks like the world is doomed, Little Miss Determined and her squirrely sidekick manage through wits, ingenuity, and the grace of God to save they day.

To be honest, I think this "new" continuity would probably start In Medias Res—or at least, Batman's story would. That's one of the few things the New 52 did right (even if in a really dumb way).

The thing is, NO ONE wants Dick Grayson to go back to being Robin again. Nightwing is too popular, and Batman can't go back to being without a Robin (they've tried this several times—outside of movies, it doesn't last long). So by the time the first story is written, enough time should have passed for Dick Grayson to have been adopted, grown up, and struck out on his own.

That's something we're kind of stuck with. Like I said, the only other alternative would be to reverse some of the most successful and popular character development in comics history.

Yeah, Squirrel Girl definitely comes later on. Not as an early hero.

I see no real problem with merging Cadmus and Weapon X.

I definitely agree with the majority of mutants simply being mutants. Looking different, but having no powers, or very low-level powers. Grant Morrison did a lot with that, and so did other writers around that time. That would be the model to use. Start it with mutants being isolated freaks. Over time, they start to band together as a minority, and start engaging in a civil rights movement. The X-Men would initially be formed to protect mutants from being attacked or exploited, but would largely work in secret. As mutants start to create a culture, though, the X-Men would become increasingly involved in it, and so would be increasingly public. They would also fight against more aggressive mutants, of course.

Have we mentioned the Fantastic Four yet? Because it would be cool if Superman was an honourary member the same way She-Hulk or Medusa are. Would make for a great mythology gag.

Proposal for Captain America: Keep him on ice or just make him have flat out died during World War II and have the hero legend built around his exploits. He was the greatest of the Greatest Generation. A true champion of of freedom and a paragon of truth, justice, and the American Way. Went down fighting all the way, taking the Red Skull and his Nazi hordes with him. The modern day heroes like the FF 4, Superman and Spider-man grew up on his legend and idolized him as the proto-super hero and are inspired to take up their own capes and costumes from his example.

I don't want to live in a Marvel Universe without Captain America.

Me neither.

Are there any DC characters that would be classified as mutants?

... Beast Boy, probably.

I mean, I know there's a classification in DC for people born with powers, I'm just not sure how many of those would qualify as mutants. Obviously Superman and the Martian Manhunter are not mutants.

I have an encyclopedia at home. once I get back ill have a look and make a list for you Terek

While I do like the idea of Captain America being a role model from the past, it would be terrible to lose Steve all together. Maybe he acts as a secret operative for this universes spy agency. So the legend is still there, but Steve has to adjust to the new world of cloak and dagger?

edited 23rd Oct '13 6:47:23 PM by AtomJames

Eh, sorry, but I can't see a present Marvel-ish U without Captain America. He is the Superhero community's moral bedrock, but more then that, he's the one that brings everything together; it's his own charisma and force of personality that commands the various heroes of the Marvel U, and just having him be a legend would be a poor substitute. Not to mention, he's Tony's (Ironman's,) best buddy, and aside from Civil Diast— uh, ahem, I mean Civil War, they've always been there for each other. The bottomline is that, without Cap being a very real, very alive presence in this universe, it just wouldn't be the same otherwise. Imagine trying to have Superman only having operated in the war, in the era when he first showed up, and then say he flew off into outerspace or something, and that all we have now are legends of the old boyscout to inspire the current Superheroes. It just wouldn't be the same now, would it?

EDIT: As for the X-Men, that sounds good, so long as the 'majority' of mutants is, say, several million or so. That way, there can still be around 100 different characters who have been X-Men at one point or another, like in the mainstream universe, and you can still say that they don't represent the average mutant, since there's only so many of them compared to the average mutant population.

edited 23rd Oct '13 8:40:03 PM by kkhohoho

I believe that is the premise of the Legion of Super Heroes.

And I suggest it because I can easily imagine Superman playing the role of both himself and Captain America in a combined universe, easily acting as a counterpoint to both Batman and Iron Man. Having Superman decide to be the superhero he is today in part because he grew up listening to Pa Kent's stories about Captain America sounds really fitting.

edited 23rd Oct '13 8:20:21 PM by Parable

@Con Terek: There was Jericho of the Titans. When he first joined, his backstory was explained, and the Titans were basically, "So, you're a mutant, huh? We've seen weirder, welcome to the team."

To be honest, I think actually having the two be separate characters in the present could still work, because while their general mundus operandis may seem to be similar on the surface, there are some differences that can be played up. Captain America, for example, is a tried and true soldier. He fought in wars. This gives him something of a different perspective than Superman. While Captain America doesn't want to kill, he is willing to do so if deemed necessary, especially in times of war. Superman, on the other hand, deems killing to be an absolute no-no under any circumstance. Due to not having fought in a war, he's more idealistic then even Cap himself is. Cap is still fairly idealistic, but compared to Supes, is more grounded, and just a tad more skeptical. And whereas Superman really likes to play by the rules, Captain America is more willing to go against the Government. Afterall, he respects the American spirit, not necessarily the Government itself, if the Government is not deemed to be truly supporting the beliefs that America was founded on. That's why he fought against Tony in the Civil War, after-all. (Well, that and bad writing, but I digress.) Superman... would be much more conflicted. He'd try to stay as neutral as possible for a long time, but in the end, I'm not really sure what side he'd choose. And finally, while Superman would be more favored among those on the high-level end of the Superhero spectrum, Captain America would still be favored by some of them for his beliefs, but he would also have more support from the more street-level crowd as well, since he doesn't have any real powers to call his own, and yet still manages to be A-list.

My point is that while the two characters may seem to have similar beliefs and outlooks on the surface, there are enough fundamental differences between the two to justify them both being active in the present day.

edited 24th Oct '13 4:18:19 AM by kkhohoho

While I agree with you, Superman (when well-written) typically chooses "Good" over "Lawful", too.

One of the reasons why killing is more acceptable for a person like Cap is because he's human. He has our same limitations, instincts, and vulnerabilities. If he sees a terrorist point a gun at a hostage with intent to kill, he has to make judgment call. He has to use the limited options his otherwise brilliant tactical mind affords him.

In the same situation, though, Superman has options. Leaving aside that he could cross the street 100 times before the villain pulled the trigger, his senses afford him a wider feeling of awareness. His heat vision gives him a pin-point weapon that moves at light speed. His analytical (and somewhat tactical) mind lets him calculate hundreds of variables.

In short, put Superman in a given situation, and there's a 90% chance he'll have a better solution than everyone else. Maybe not the best solution, and maybe a risky solution, but definitely better than most. Put Cap in the same situation, and he'll make the most tactically wise decision, which will probably be far more direct.

Plus, Captain is a Soldier. Try as he might, he knows not every situation is the going to be the one where everyone gets out alive and the bad guys get the cuffs on em. He's seen war.

Double post I know, but how does everyone feel about a Old Boys Genius Superhero group consisting of a very young Reed Richards, Doc Magnus, T. O. Morrow and of course their fearless leader, The Chief? A group of supergeniuses who travel the world fixing its problems with the aid of the incredible Metal Men. Could even serve as an explanation as to why Reed would immediately suggest that the Fantastic Four should enter Superheroics. Because he's already done it and knows thats where they could be of proper use in the world!

edited 23rd Oct '13 10:25:00 PM by AtomJames

I propose a law that every one of Thor's lines has to include the word "verily."

"Verily, the Starbucks barista hath botched mine cappuchino."

"Verily, mine nutsack doth itch like a Jotun's beard on a spring day in Hel."

"Verily, friend Tony, thy bachelor pad be-eth most pimp-ed out."

"Odindamnit! I hath verily hit mine thumb with mine own hammer!"

"So, like, let's verily buy some super cute shoes at the mall."

This line. This line right here.

This line needs to happen.

Get on it, Marvel.

Ha ha ha ha. roflol!

That should be one of Thor's lines in the next Thor movie...!

Anyway guys, I am liking the ideas, keep it up.

I must agree that we shouldn't Kill Off Captain America. I like him. If we want to remove him from the story, then fine, leave him in ice. That way we can always choose to revive him later if we want.

would it be too much to de-age Spidey back to a teenager and make him a member of the Teen Titans?