Reinvention Ideas For DC/Marvel Characters

Ted is currently a deuteragonist in the Blue Beetle comic. he shares spotlight with Jaime Reyes.

Is the powered armor crowd that overexposed. There's Iron Man and that's it as far as I can see.

edited 13th Dec '16 7:41:11 AM by windleopard

Doesn't Jaime's alien bug backpack transform into armor? Then there's Terry's Batman, or even the DCEU Batman going for the heavy gear rather than more advanced tactics. As far as tech-oriented characters go, that seems to be the fashion now.

As of Rebirth, Jaime's scarab is no longer technology but a magical artifact. I'd also point to Mr Terrific, and various members of the Arrow and Bat clans in the comics and other media as gadget users so it evens out I think.

Edit: We can add Clint Barton, Kate Bishop, Natasha Romanov and Bobbi Morse.

edited 13th Dec '16 8:34:44 AM by windleopard

Don't think I was the only person to make this association but think it would be cool to explore this idea I had one brought up in the Marvel thread. So, there's this D-list Spider-Man villain called Overdrive who I think was created by Dan Slott but featured in The Superior Foes of Spider-Man and interestingly he's the only one on the team whose real name is unknown. Overdrive is Ambiguously Brown but seems to have African-American ancestry and also has an uncle (IIRC) shown in a flashback who looks more Hispanic. There's also an unexplored plot left hanging of Miles Morales existing in the main universe and Peter being surprised at who he is.

So, with this preamble, the idea is that Overdrive is the main universe Miles Morales although with some subtle differences in the timelines coupled with a For Want Of A Nail effect (among other things, Overdrive is about a decade older which could tie into how Peter in the main universe is older than Miles/the Ultimate!Peter). It makes a lot of sense because Overdrive is obsessed with superheroes, especially Spider-Man and is shown to have made comically disastrous attempts at getting powers, including being bitten by a radioactive spider. Besides being a super-villain, which he got into both to get super-powers and in an attempt to invoke a later Heel–Face Turn that would get him a spot on the Avengers, Overdrive is basically a none-too-bright Lovable Jock which makes him different than every member of the Spider-Family (except Flash Thompson to an extent).

So, the idea would be about Miles remembering the universe merge and interacting with the other Miles, with big doses of Other Me Annoys Me on both sides, and looking at differences in the time lines that contributed to differences between the two of them. Among other things, Overdrive would go by his father's last name and be Miles Davis, which he'd consider an embarrassing name. So, it would be a good way of further fleshing out Miles Morales. And basically, Overdrive would sort of be like Booster Gold and be a wannabee hero who gradually developed better motives for heroism.

Needless to say, he'd get a new costumed identity- probably Steel Spider, since he has technopathic powers but no physical abilities. In fact, I looked up the image of the Ultimate Prowler/Miles Morales' Uncle and something like that would make for a good costume.

Tl; dr,- Hero Squared with Miles Morales.

edited 13th Dec '16 10:01:35 AM by Hodor2

I'd change Circe's origins. In mys story, Circe is the daughter of the Titans just as in some myths and would have much of her power sealed away for fear of her rising against the Olympians in future.

Remember the part in the Odyssey where Odyseus and his men stumble across Circe's island and get turned into animals? I'd add a twist to that. Odyseus and his men do find the island but instead are given shelter and food by Circe who has no ill intentions toward them. However, Odyseus drugs Circe and ribs her home and kills her daughter Lyra. On their way, some of Odyseus' men consume a plant that was on Circe's island which turns them into beasts and kill some of the men who weren't turned. This betrayal by Odyseus as well as the following slander would be what sets Circe on a path to darkness. She'd also try to appeal to the Amazons as both are women who've been shunned and slandered by the world if men.

Circe's goal would be trying to resurrect her daughter and attaining a way to get revenge on the Olympians for their cruelty. However, some of her methods also endanger human lives hence why Diana is opposed to her.

Whenever villainy is sparked by a legitimate grievance, there's the risk of heroes appearing unsympathetic for interfering with the resulting revenge rampage. Unless Diana picks up the slack herself, she could easily look like she's defending the gods over their own transgressions. For that matter, it would take some contrivance for a vendetta against gods to affect unrelated mortals. Then there's the usual pitfalls of obligatory failure for such quests, and the resulting motive decay. It sounds great for a single story, particularly an origin story, I'm just not sure how it can be maintained as a stable premise.

I'd love to see S.T.A.R. Labs get their own series, maybe even a show in the Arrowverse so as to compete with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. With comics being all about representation these days, it's kinda weird that ordinary people with no superpowers and fancy codenames are still barely if ever featured. A decent team title of badass normal specialists could find a pretty viable niche - and one that was overflowing with toy-based franchises back in the day, so there's money in that too. So as Marvel has already covered the spy angle, it makes sense for DC to go for the weirder and more lighthearted sci-fi experience.

Actually, I've been thinking of making the Olympians more villainous for some time now. Zeus, Poseidon and Apollo at least. Would that work for you?

Probably because you can find such characters elsewhere outside of comics, whereas women, minorities and LGBTQ individuals tend to not get much spotlight in superhero comics.

edited 14th Dec '16 6:13:41 AM by windleopard

Notice the irony, though - the implication that one is all but powerless unless one belongs to or is sponsored by a financially or supernaturally privileged social caste known for circumventing any law it doesn't like. Contrariwise, there's nothing more inclusive than an organization of people defined by shared purpose rather than any particular physical trait. Any Star Trek crew is a case study in that regard - people are far more willing to accept "others", so long as you give them other others to worry about, or even just a common issue to focus on.

The Olympians being jerks is a fairly well-established interpretation. I was more concerned about how they're supposed to get their comeuppance for various misdeeds, as the alternative - which is pretty much the cornerstone of ancient mythology - doesn't exactly spell justice in modern views. More than enough superhero stories try to preach against simple vengeance, but with the kind of legal system they're forced to rely on, the message starts sounding like shilling for criminal immunity.

This could apply to any other story from another medium but replace supernatural or financial rather with "main cast". People have made jokes about the Enterprise being the only ship that ever seems to see action for a reason.If you're not a main cast member, you're not important to the story. That's just how it works. And these days people are a lot more critical of the lack of diversity so fictional aliens won't really cut it.

And just for the record, I'm not even against your idea of a STAR labs series. Just pointing out some things here.

If it helps, Wonder Woman has been shown to avoid that. More than typical superheroes anyway.

She's certainly not one for disapproving of self-defense or justified retribution, that's for sure.

As for diversity, notice how the first choice for affirmative action recruits seems to be the Green Lantern Corps. It's an organization of voluntary specialists from all sorts of backgrounds and biological configurations, with additional multi-colored offshoots galore. And while it may appear that Earth-based Lanterns are vastly more important than anyone else, there's no hard and fast rule to certify it. To contrast, you can pretty much slap a "no guns, no government" code on mainstream comics that's all but explicitly designed to limit what civilians are supposed to do in case of emergency.

So when a random mercenary somehow slipped past it, not to mention overcoming the explicit opposition from producers, what happened - the dam broke. People loved him, the blood-colored blue-collar bruiser that fought for love and vengeance rather than truth and justice. They loved him because he's the closest thing to an ordinary guy comics have had in decades - and the dude's face looks like an inside-out haggis. Similarly, it took barely a few appearances for the Punisher to warrant his own series, not because he's a representation staple in real life terms, but because he's just an ordinary man of ordinary means, who nevertheless gets the job done - there's no idea more empowering than that.

Speaking of Deadpool, I'd probably give him a divorce and amicable separation from the demon queen, in favor of a new marriage and family business with a reborn Copycat. Something like Mr And Mrs Smith... man, I'll miss Brangelina.

I was actually wondering what a Deadpool/Black Cat pairing would be like. But your idea is great too.

In what way does Deadpool count as an ordinary guy? Even putting aside the superpowers thing, he's an absurdly skilled mercenary who's completely flippant in the face of danger and is either massively delusional and/or able to see past the dimensional barriers between fictional reality and the real world (depending on how you look at it). There are Arnold Schwarzenegger characters who are more down to earth than this guy.

edited 14th Dec '16 10:27:03 AM by RavenWilder

Deadpool is ordinary in the sense that he starts off no different from anyone else, his abilities are the result of volunteering rather than birth, luck or riches, and they mostly amount to an in-universe explanation for surviving the typical daily life of named comic book characters. He doesn't suffer from chronic hero syndrome borne of survivor guilt, he isn't out to save a world that fears and despises him, and the only thing he symbolizes is the unholy mixture of Canadian badassery and Texican cuisine. He exists for his own sake, like any normal person.

To go with the new marriage, I'd likely move him slightly away from the family-friendly overexposure he's enjoying now, and back into the grayer mercenary game. The great thing about the character is that he can be a neutral observer to Marvel's typical madness, freely interacting with heroes and villains alike. That's a perspective not often explored in comics, and it also ties in well with the viewpoint of ordinary people who haven't got the time to determine which of the behemoths thrashing about downtown is running face and heel at the moment.

Two ideas for Black Cat

1) More of a hero for hire than an off again, on again crook. This would at least make her different from Catwoman and she could also work with the Daughters of the Dragon. I'd keep her relationship with Spider-Man and her father being a crook which she's trying to live down.

2) I'd give her an origin similar to the 90s Spider-Man cartoon. She's kidnapped and blackmailed into being a test subject for a villain's scheme by holding her dad hostage.

That sounds pretty good; always liked that particular origin.

If I were to revamp the Green Lanterns, I'd get rid of the obnoxious blue Yodas and make the hierarchy more fluid. The backstory would be that in ancient times, explorers and scientists from across the galaxy discovered and shaped the spectrum forces, with those that mastered the green element devoting themselves to preserving peace and order, forging the original rings, as well as lanterns to serve as condensers for the green energies occurring naturally. At some point, a cataclysm happened, upon which Sinestro - then head of the organization - declared its ways to be too weak, and forged his own rings and lanterns, his goal being to bring order through fear. He is wont to attack his former comrades, but does fight them for jurisdiction over the worlds more appreciative of his style, same as the rest of the spectrum organizations. It's a cold war of sorts, with uneasy truces and shifting alliances galore, and with lanterns being cops, spies and soldiers all at once.

Except for Larfleeze. Nobody likes Larfleeze.

edited 15th Dec '16 8:37:09 AM by indiana404

Always thought Ghost Rider would work better as a 'The Crow' like figure where Zarathos is a demon that offers unjustly killed innocents vengeance in exchange for their souls. The more innocence they have to 'burn' the more powerful they are.

Another idea involves making Thanos a Hannibal like serial killer only on a planetary/genocidal scale. He is still in love with Death and the more people he kills the more he can interact physically with her. So he murders planets in order to go on dates with her.

I'd make Roy Harper Native American by blood and have him join the Titans as a kid but retire and become a cop. He'd move to Seattle and help with dealing with supervillains thanks to his knowledge of them from his time as a Titan. Jade would also pull a face turn and settle down with him and Lian while dealing ghosts of her past. Artemis would be her sister like in the YJ cartoon.

I'd have Jinx of the Fearsome Five pull a face turn like her cartoon counterpart.

Cisco would work with the DEO as a an agent in charge of dealing with dimensional fissures alongside his brother Dante and Cynthia Reynolds.

The Titans would be a public identity group with government sponsorship.

How about some Marvel heroines as a team of henshin magical girls?

SHIELD director Nicola Fury assembled a team of teenage girls with impressive powers to defend the world from the menace of Doctor Doom. Mentored by Captain Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America, they consisted of:

• Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel
• Jennifer Walters, She-Hulk
• Jessica Drew, Spider-Woman
• Orora Munroe, Storm
• Crystalia Amaquelin, Crystal

Alas, after a few missions, Captain America was taken prisoner by the Doctor Doom, who intended to psychologically break him. The SHIELD girls were forced to go on without their mentor, finding the strength to continue, until they eventually defeated the Red Skull and rescued Captain America, with occasional help from the Storm Siblings, Susan the Invisible Girl and Johnny the Human Torch.

That was 20 years ago. Now, a new threat is arising in the form of Sinthea Schmidt, a Neo-Nazi terrorist known as the Red Skull. Carol, now a senior SHIELD operative, launches a plan to assemble a new team of fighters to resist her.

The initial lineup consists of:

• Kamala Khan, Ms Marvel
• May "Mayday" Parker, Spider-Girl
• Nico Minoru, Sister Grimm

They are soon joined by two others:

• Brunnhilde Thorsdottir Foster, Valkyrie. In this reimagining, she is the daughter of Jane Foster and Thor, who decided to live on Earth for a few decades.
• Laura Kinney, Wolverine.

And later a sixth ranger, Riri Williams, Ironheart. In contrast to the others, Riri has no inherent magical abilities, instead using a suit of powered armour that runs entirely on science.

Various magical girl shenanigans ensue with a definite Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha influence.

You know how the Batfamily and the Kryptonians like to put on a front of being invincible? I'd do the opposite for the Amazons, Atlantians and Arrow clan; they present themselves as not being as competent as others to give their enemies a false sense of security thus they can take them by surprise.

I don't know that Kryptonians put on a front of invincibilty; they're simply extremely powerful outside of their native habitat, and other people know this. It strikes me that, in practice, what you suggest would be counter productive. A reputation for invincibility would be likely to get you attacked less often, or be likely to induce people you confront to surrender. If you lull your opponents into a false sense of security as you propose, while you'll still likely beat your enemies, you're still getting into fights a lot more often than you'd need to otherwise.

I know, it's been played both ways Depending on the Writer, what with having a rep for invincibility getting someone into a fight with someone else out to make their own rep, but with that in mind one's reputation just becomes a negligible factor—one's likely to get attacked or challenged by someone, regardless of what one does.

edited 18th Dec '16 12:16:37 PM by Robbery

I'd make Manitou Dawn a moder day character as opposed to one out of time. I'd also make her one of the few mages in the DCU who uses human skills and modern technology alongside magic.

I remember a earlier rework here that suggested curtailing the Martian powerset to those that are unique to them, to make J'onn compete less with Superman for the same narrative space.

Looking up that thread, It also suggested making some of the Martian powers (shapeshifting, intangibility) unique to J'onn, with him being a Super Hero even among his fellow Martians.

edited 23rd Dec '16 7:25:31 PM by grandphoenix

I'd pretty much just cut down on the number of speedsters/Robins/Batgirls/sidekicks in general.

Does anybody other than Batman even bother with a sidekick these days?

While she primarily appears separately, isn't Wonder Girl Wonder Woman's sidekick? Is Ms. Marvel Captain Marvel's sidekick?

I actually think it makes sense for Batman to work with a partner/ assistant. I don't even mind it being a 15 year old kid.

I'll agree with the idea that DC needs to do a serious paring down. There are way too many Robins, Batgirls (funny that the brooding loner apparently works with his own frickin' army), speedsters, and Kryptonians running around.

edited 31st Dec '16 10:16:48 AM by Robbery