Marvel-DC Merged Universe Community Project...

What does everyone think about Ray Palmer and Hank Pym? Maybe they could have developed the shrinking tech together or they could have been rivals or something.

That's one interesting case. The use of "Pym particles" to shrink make more sense than "white dwarf star matter" (since the former are entirely fictional, while white dwarfs actually exist) but The Atom debuted first (1961 vs 1962). However, The Atom has a secret identity, while Pym doesn't.

We can say that Palmer found the Particles in a meteor, as in his traditional origin; but because he chose to keep his identity a secret, the credit went to Dr. Pym a few months later. But Palmer probably doesn't care, after all if he did he could've become rich with his discovery long ago. He might have ribbed Ant-Man over it at some point tough.

(Note that even in canon, other people such as Dr. Doom and Reed Richards also discovered the particles independently.)

edited 2nd Jun '16 6:56:58 AM by Sijo

So how's this? John Henry Irons is a former employee of Stark Industries who quit years ago over an incedent that left him disenchanted with the company. In this universe, Irons would be saved by Iron Man, instead of Superman, and this would inspire him to become Steel.

Makes sense.

And Irons doesn't need to be saved by Iron Man to be inspired; just the story of Stark Industries giving up its weapons production and instead sponsoring Iron Man should be enough. Remember that what actually got him to act was discovering his early ray gun prototypes were now in local gang hands.

edited 2nd Jun '16 10:20:31 AM by Sijo

Regarding the shrinking guys, I imagine they Hank and Ray collaborated to discover the particle. In this universe, it can be formally called the Palmer-Pym particle, and maybe Pym particle is the informal name. (This sort of thing happens quite a bit; for example, evolution by survival of the fittest is referred to as Darwinian even though Darwin collaborated with Wallace on the theory).

As for Steel, his origin story doesn't need to be changed. Superman saves his life and, when John asks how to repay Superman, Superman says to just lead a life worth living. John chooses to do this by making a suit of powered armour. The idea of him working for Tony Stark was raised much earlier in this thread, and was pretty much agreed on.

Oh, hey, I had another idea for the Green Lanterns. Suppose they have ranks, like modern armies and police forces.

The lowest rank is a rookie. Rookies are assigned as sidekicks to full GLs in a sort of apprenticeship where they learn effective Lanterning.

The next rank, the lowest full GL rank, is a GL assigned to one planet, of which they are a native (or at least was born there, in the case of interstellar civilisations). A planetary GL is expected to keep the planet safe from major threats and, while while they have considerable leeway in how much they want to get involved in politics, taking over their planet is a nono. Planetary GLs are expected to obey all orders from sector GLs and, if it's a quiet day, to provide reasonable assistance to GLs on neighbouring planets.

Planetary GLs normally start as rookies, though this isn't mandatory; given how the rings behave, it's inevitable there will be at least a few self-taught members.

Above the planetary GLs are the sector GLs, who are each responsible for an entire sector of the galaxy, of which there are 3600. They deal with Galactus-level threats and also operate as internal affairs, ensuring the planetary GLs aren't abusing their powers. Barring super-exceptional circumstances, every sector GL starts off as a planetary GL.

This structure means we can have GLs patrolling entire sectors of space, while also having one that spends all his time on Earth. Plus, it means we can bring in Kyle Rayner, and even the later GLs, without having Hal Jordan go insane and become a supervillain - instead, Hal just gets promoted.

edited 2nd Jun '16 1:07:08 PM by VampireBuddha

I think the above is canon (sorta...? DC was never very clear on that.) I mean, even Jordan has been called a "rookie" on several versions, Kilowog was a trainer, while people like Sinestro and Abin Sur were 'Legends' and there were the Alpha Lanterns, too.

Note that the Nova Corps (who reside in Andromeda, out of GL territory) also have ranks, such as centurion and Prime Centurion.

Marvel Loki interacts with DC Constantine. Discuss. Who gets the better of whom?

Honestly, if Loki doesn't pown Constantine in everything except the most obscure magic knowledge, I would be very disappointed.

But Scamming Cthulhu is Constantine's thing...

More like suffering Hell On Earth and winning in the end because he's The Protagonist.

IMHO of course.

edited 2nd Jun '16 4:36:13 PM by Sijo

I think when it comes to characters like Thor, Loki and Odin we should stick closer to the original myths. I've never been a fan of the bastardized versions Marvel created and this is a rare opportunity to do them right

edited 2nd Jun '16 4:40:36 PM by DrZadkiel

So Loki is this weird sort of uncle figure that doesn't really fit anywhere? An example of counter-masculinity? Unreliable, selfish, solving the problems he caused himself at best?

Actually, the Mythic versions of the Asgardians DID exist in Marvel- they perished in the First Ragnarok, which (unknown to them) has been repeating in a cycle (a trick by some of the gods to survive, basically setting up others to die in their place.) This is why Thor, for example, isn't Red Haired and bearded like the legends say. I also theorized that this tampering with Ragnarok was what created the New Gods.

And Constantine was not meant to be a DC character. Sure, he debuted in Swamp Thing, but back then the book had already slipped into the grey area of continuity that was Vertigo. Quite honestly they should never have confirmed those characters as canonical; they don't really fit in a superhero universe. They only did because they had become popular.

Except Vertigo was only founded in 1993, and Constantine was showing up in the wider DCU as soon as late 1985. It was only a few panels in the 3rd or 4th issue of COIE, but it still confirmed him as a canon character in the DCU, for better or worse.

I know that. Still, both Constantine -and the whole Alan Moore Swamp Thing Saga- were later pretty much on agreed to take place in Vertigo and ignored by the main books UNTIL they became so damn popular. And I still think it was a bad idea.

It's fun to imagine what Lantern rings people would get. Now, let's just say that for each sector, you get two rings. So if a sector has a Marvel and DC character, they both get a ring. Here's my take on Marvel ring-wielders:

• Red: I'm tempted to say that the Hulk would get it. I really would. But I imagine that'd end badly. The angrier Hulk gets, the stronger he gets. So in a Hulk/Green Lantern crossover, the red ring makes him an extremely broken figure who needs to be de-ringed unless he breaks the universe. Afterwards, the ring would seek out either Frank Castle, or Wolverine
• Orange: Larfleeze would have to deal with Thanos trying to steal it, though he'd probably try to steal all the rings. I also have to wonder what would happen if Galactus got it
• Yellow: Sinestro would have interest in either Sabretooth for a thug for hire. Not the Red Skull though; he's despised, not feared
• Green: Daredevil. He's the Man Without Fear after all, and with all the crap he goes through
• Indigo: Iroque would consider the Red Skull someone who needs to be brainwashed with the most compassion, though either he'd immeditately off himself with guilt or the sheer antipathy of the Skull would corrupt the ring.

Ms Marvel would make a great Blue Lantern. That girl is just so darn optimistic.

Isn't she ADORABLE?

Indeed. Let's just hope they don't do a storyline where they "break" her just because "it would be dramatic."

Wasn't that the point of Kamran?

Karman made her doubt a bit, but never broke her, because she's got INNER STRENGTH as well as OUTER.

So how would Thor and Superman interact? The more Thor I'm reading, the more similarities I see. Except that I find Thor a lot more relatable and a better escapist fantasy.

We could replay that old Silver Age story in which Jimmy Olsen was sent to the past and became "Thor's best friend!" except with the modern Marvel Thor. It would play like this: Jimmy inherits a Viking Horn that can summon Thor. He starts calling on him rather than Superman, making him jealous. But it's Thor who acts erratically and finally picks a fight with Superman. Of course, in the end it's all Loki's doing.

Would Loki eat Luthor for breakfast? What about the Bat Mite? Mr. Myxzptl?

Depends. Loki showed himself to be smarter than the rest of Marvel's villains (except Apocalypse) during the Acts of Vengeance crossover. OTOH so has Luthor on several occasions. So no, I don't think Loki could fool Luthor, or the reverse, though they might work together- until they betray each other. Which of course BOTH would see coming. Loki's only real advantage is that he's much more powerful, except when Luthor is wearing that silly Green/Purple armor of his.

As for the "imps" it depends. In some stories they can warp reality itself even affecting the whole world. That's way beyond Loki's magic. Then again they don't seem very effective in combat. More importantly, if Mxy could be tricked so easily by Superman, Loki would do it even more easily.