History Main / LostInImitation

* The film adaptation of ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' has been so successful that it has influenced a number of other works and adaptations.

* Characters/BlackCanary and ComicBook/GreenArrow are a prominent BattleCouple in the comics. In live-action adaptations? Not so much. ''Series/BirdsOfPrey2002'' and the ''Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse'' did not adapt Green Arrow (''Birds of Prey'' was canceled before [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Oliver's planned appearance]]) and instead focuses on Black Canary's dynamic with [[ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey her team]], while both ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' and the ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'' had Green Arrow end up with a blonde hacker.
* Comic-style Chitauri have yet to appear outside the comics, ever. The ''WesternAnimation/UltimateAvengers'' films, and everything that followed including the live-action [[Film/TheAvengers2012 Avengers movie]], treat them as your basic AlienInvasion -- no sign of being [[ShapeShifting shapeshifters]] who never show their true forms. It makes sense, though: the comic Chitauri are the ComicBook/UltimateMarvel version of the Skrulls, only ''actually threatening,'' at a time when the Skrulls were mostly remembered for the early appearance that [[NeverLiveItDown ended with them getting tricked out of invading when they were convinced monster movies were real, and winding up turned into cows. Some people ate their meat and got super powers later on]]. With ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion2008'' the comic Skrulls TookALevelInBadass, making "like the Skrulls, except competent" something that's no longer needed. When you need shapeshifting aliens, you use the real deal; when you just need ''bad'' aliens, the Chitauri are a name comic fans recognize.
* ComicBook/TheFlash:

* In the ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' comic books, Characters/RocketRaccoon does not speak with any sort of discernible accent, but was given a cockney UsefulNotes/{{British accent|s}} in ''VideoGame/UltimateMarvelVsCapcom3''. (''Rocky'' Raccoon, however, did have a British accent in a preview appearance before his official debut in the pages of ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk''; his name and characterization were changed to a ''slightly'' less blatant [[Music/TheBeatles Beatles]] reference.) This proved popular enough that he was given the same one in ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'', and a New York / Creator/JoePesci-ish accent in ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012''. When it was revealed that Creator/BradleyCooper would not be using a cockney accent in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'', some people complained, even though that's how Rocket sounds in the source material.
* ''Film/IronMan'':

* Some adaptations of [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] since ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' have drawn from Creator/MarkHamill's performance as the character, particularly either the high pitch, slight rasp or both, and definitely the laugh. It can be jarring for even older fans to watch [[Film/Batman1989 the 1989 film]] again and note that Creator/JackNicholson's laugh for the character was very different: more "weasel" than [[TheHyena "hyena"]], and often a lot more lower-pitched than the Joker is "supposed" to laugh. Nicholson himself drew from the "hoo-hoo-hoo" laugh (not unlike that of Tigger of ''Franchise/WinnieThePooh'' fame) popularized by Creator/CesarRomero on the [[Series/Batman1966 TV series]].
* When ComicBook/{{Robin}} was introduced in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', he was redesigned so that his elf boots and scaly shorts were replaced with pants and a pair of more practical black combat boots, bringing him closer to the then-current Tim Drake look, despite the character being Dick Grayson. (The design originally arose from a concept for ''Film/BatmanReturns'', which was meant to be Dick Grayson.) Virtually every cartoon to feature Robin since then (''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Teen Titans|2003}}'', ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Young Justice|2010}}'') has used a similarly "modern" design rather than using his classic look. Also, the new black-and-red costume Tim Drake got when he finally appeared in the cartoon (since his comic look was stolen by Grayson) eventually made it back to the comics.
** Likewise when he graduates to Characters/{{Nightwing|DickGrayson}}. Nearly every DC Comics adaptation following ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' featuring Dick's adult identity (a BadFuture in ''WesternAnimation/{{Teen Titans|2003}}'', a not-so-bad future in ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'', the second season of ''Young Justice'' and ''WesternAnimation/SonOfBatman'') uses a variant of the costume from ''New Batman Adventures'': a blue bird ChestInsignia with serrated wings on an otherwise unmarked black outfit. Make the bird red (and of course add the infamous nipples) and you have his Robin outfit from ''Film/BatmanAndRobin.'' Nightwing has never worn this outfit in the comics, the closest being a black outfit with a blue stripe that went down the arms and formed a sort of arrow on the chest. His ''ComicBook/New52'' outfit was kind of like this, but with a red, more stylised bird. ''Teen Titans'' and ''Young Justice'' also follow ''NBA'' in not including the bat-symbol mask. (Exceptions: ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' uses the original seventies costume; ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood'' uses the blue-stripe version.)
** No adaptations have ever shown any variation of the costume design he wore for the first 20 years he was Nightwing. The first variation was a circus style with a high collar similar to ComicBook/{{Deadman}}'s, which makes sense as Dick is also a former circus aerialist. It was mainly navy blue with lighter blue highlight and a yellow wing design at the shoulder blades. A second variation had more standard collar and closed chest and hit had small glider wing attached to the armpits.
* Ever since ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' cast Creator/PhilMorris to play the ComicBook/MartianManhunter's "John Jones" identity, just about every subsequent adaptation (such as ''WesternAnimation/{{Young Justice|2010}}'' and ''Series/{{Supergirl 2015}}'') has made the Manhunter's [[ShapeshifterDefaultForm human form]] a black man.
* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':

* Of all things, the comedic ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperHeroSquadShow'' gets to provide one of these: its version of [[Characters/CaptainAmericaHeroes The Falcon]] has FeatherFlechettes. Every animation since it has had them, though sadly the comic has yet to take them up. (The movies lack them too -- as a military man, MCU Falcon is a SuperheroPackingHeat.)
* [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex Luthor]]'s {{bodyguard|Babes}} Mercy Graves from ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' proved popular enough to not only become a CanonImmigrant, but has also been featured in a number of subsequent adaptations such as ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Young Justice|2010}}''. Even when Mercy herself doesn't appear, it's become pretty standard for Luthor to now have [[{{Expy}} a female bodyguard or assistant]] whenever he appears in an adaptation. In another example, ''The Batman'' {{Race Lift}}ed Mercy into an Asian woman, an idea that was later used in ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice''.
* Franchise/{{Superman}}:
** As [[http://www.supermanhomepage.com/other/other.php?topic=phonebooth this page]] analyzes, "If you ask the average person on the street, 'Where does Clark Kent change into Franchise/{{Superman}}?', nine out of ten people will answer 'In a phone booth'". This particular part of Superman mythology was not originated in the comics, but in "The Mechanical Monsters", a Fleischer WesternAnimation/{{Superman Theatrical Cartoon|s}}. The page presents another 9 mentions until 1978 (another Fleischer cartoon, 1 Superman Sunday Newspaper, 1 Continental Insurance Superman Ad, some references to [[Radio/TheAdventuresOfSuperman the radio series]], and one reference to the Superman Broadway Musical, and four cover in the comics). But then mentions the joke in ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' (1978) works because, for some reason, everyone "knows" Clark Kent uses a phone booth to make his quick-change into Superman. How could this be if the joke was made only ten times in Superman canon? Because the joke was made ''far'' more often than in canon.

* In the original comics, [[Characters/TeenTitansCheshire Cheshire]] doesn't wear a mask. The ''WesternAnimation/{{Teen Titans|2003}}'' animated series featured her briefly, but her appearance was quite memorable, and she wore a big [[CheshireCatGrin grinning]] cat mask, its smile the last to fade when she was being stealthy. Since then, all her animated appearances (''WesternAnimation/{{Young Justice|2010}},'' ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueCrisisOnTwoEarths'') feature it.
* The popularity of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' has led to numerous adaptations of [[ComicBook/TeenTitans the comic of the same name]] such as ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueVsTeenTitans'' to use that version's team roster (ComicBook/{{Robin}}, [[Characters/TeenTitansStarfire Starfire]], [[Characters/TeenTitansNewTeenTitans Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy]]) despite it not being the original lineup. It's the lineup of the Wolfman/Perez ''New Teen Titans'', but with the non-Robin sidekick characters removed (the animated series reportedly had to deal with some rights issues).
* In ''Franchise/XMen'' adaptations, the need to keep the sprawling cast of the comics relatively simple tends to lead to villains who are unassociated in the comics working for whoever the main villain of the adaptation is. This has a tendency to become their default status in other adaptations:

** ''Series/PennyDreadful'' also attempts to stick fairly close to the source material, with 'Caliban' (the name given to the Monster to distinguish him from his maker) looking appropriately like a corpse that has been resurrected and who is even rather eloquent, as he is in Shelley's original text.

** In the book, Father Wolf is [[NoNameGiven unnamed]] and generally OutOfFocus compared to Raksha. Adaptations usually either [[CompositeCharacter combine him with Akela]] or at least [[NamedByTheAdaptation give him a name]]. ("Rama" in the Disney version, "Vihaan" in ''Mowgli.'')

* Adaptations of ''Literature/LittleWomen'' (namely the [[Film/LittleWomen1933 1933]], 1949, 1994 and [[Film/LittleWomen2019 2019]] film versions and the 2005 Broadway musical) tend to make the same standard changes, following the 1933 version's example:

** One of the few modern exceptions to this is Marvel's ''ComicBook/{{Oz}}'' comics, which are ''extremely'' faithful adaptations of the books. This means that only the first miniseries, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", has anything to do with that movie you might have seen, and even then resembles it only slightly. Of course, again, the movie is still under copyright, so it's not as though they could have used much from it in the first place.

* The book version of ''Literature/MaryPoppins'' was published in 1934 and set in the contemporary 1930s. The [[Film/MaryPoppins 1964 Disney version]] moved the setting back to 1910. Since then, the character of Mary Poppins has become intractably linked to TheEdwardianEra.

** The iconic bridge scene from ''ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied'' gets adapted a lot -- ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'', ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'', [[Film/SpiderMan1 the movie]] -- and they always replace [[Characters/SpiderManLoveInterests Gwen]] with [[Characters/MarvelComicsMaryJaneWatson Mary Jane]] and let her live. The child-friendly cartoon series actually came the closest to adapting the tragedy by having Mary Jane fall into a dimensional time and space rift (alive but in an AndIMustScream state of floating through a no-man's-land outside reality and definitely believed dead by Peter, with an arc about grieving her loss). When the ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2'' FINALLY gets the right girl, and [[KilledOffForReal kills her off for real]], they have to replace the iconic setting with a clock tower because people have already seen the familiar set up with Mary Jane too many times. They also replace Norman with Harry. Don't expect a 100 percent faithful adaptation anytime soon.

* Nearly every modern adaptation of the [[MidasTouch King Midas]] myth features a story beat in which he accidentally turns his beloved daughter into a golden statue, which serves as his big MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment. The original version of the story from Myth/ClassicalMythology makes no reference to any daughter nor to anyone else being turned into a golden statue. This daughter character seems to have originated from the version written by Creator/NathanielHawthorne in 1851. Notably, she is often named Marigold (Hawthorne spelled it "Marygold"), a name that would be hugely anachronistic in the time of Ancient Greece.

A common cause of the UnbuiltTrope. Compare RetCanon, SeinfeldIsUnfunny, AudienceColoringAdaptation, and {{Flanderization}}. Since the first imitators change things from the original work, this is strongly related to SadlyMythtaken and BeamMeUpScotty.