Marvel-DC Merged Universe Community Project...

I've been pondering Stormwatch and The Authority lately, and in thinking about how to fit them (well, Stormwatch) in, I think I may have come around to Sijo's view of the eclectic teams.

The Authority is an ersatz Justice League, but since we have the actual Justice League, there seems little point in including the canonical Authority, as they would be redundant. Now, the Authority's schtick is taking a proactive approach to superheroics - where other teams are content to go after villains as or after they commit crimes, the Authority actively tried to improve the world. From what I can gather, they were treated sympathetically in their own comic, but the whole arrangement reminds me a lot of the Justice Lords. Heck, even the name 'The Authority' sounds fascist. Let's park that train of thought for the moment.

Here's how I envision the big teams working. The Justice League is the first modern team of superheroes with discrete origins. Formed to revive the ideals of the Justice Society, the Justice League is a non-governmental international humanitarian organisation which deploys superpowers wherever they might be needed most. From the start, it would be known solely as the Justice League, or possibly Justice League International; if there is a Justice League of America, it would be merely the American chapter of the larger organisation.

Many countries decide to establish their own, state-sponsored superhero teams. I'm guessing that in our stories, the most prominent will be the Avengers, which is America's superhero team and is commonly led by Captain America except when he decides he can't represent the government. There's also Alpha Flight in Canada, Excalibur in the UK, Big Hero 6 in Japan, Collective Man in China, and presumably others.

With the rise of state-sponsored superhero teams came the threat of escalating war. To this end, the UN votes to establish Stormwatch as an official UN-sponsored team which requires a formal petition to operate, and is intended to take the global view. Yes, this is more or less the original Image/Wildstorm incarnation, though we can still use elements of DC's attempted reboot - for example, Stormwatch members act like soldiers rather than heroes, and see themselves as professionals as opposed to the hobbyists who run around in masks.

So what of the Authority? Well, I'm going to use the name for a very different team, one based mostly on the Justice Lords.

In the DCAU, the Justice Lords went fascist as a consequence of Lex Luthor killing the Flash and getting away with it. I'd like to have an alternate universe with the same situation, though obviously Captain America wouldn't stand for superheroes seizing power. So, obviously, in this alternate universe, Lex Luthor kills Captain America. The various superheroes are torn, especially Superman, who has always admired Cap.

Luthor goes on to become president, and promptly acts like the supervillain he is, outlawing unlicensed superhumans and turning the Avengers into his personal army as well as massively expanding the US Army with technology developed by Lexcorp, designed to make him an overlord. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Justice League petitions Stormwatch to intervene an oust Luthor from power. Stormwatch, feeling hamstrung by the UN's red tape, agrees and assists with an attack on the White House as Luthor is preparing to launch nukes (shades of The Authority here). They win, President Luthor is killed, and the heroes decide to seize power. Temporarily. Just long enough to get America back on track. No, really, they totally intend to return power to the people just as soon as things are stable.

Yeah, that doesn't happen. The heroes inexorably slip into a state of believing they need to be in charge, and so Stormwatch and the Justice League merge to form The Authority, annexing the Avengers along the way. After that, they expand into other countries, forcibly absorbing other teams and banning unaffiliated vigilantism. They mgiht also implement motorcycle-riding police officers empowered to hand out instant sentences, like in one of Marvel's various Judge Dredd pastiches, and which the canonical Justice Lords universe kind of looked like it had.

Okay, that is...

...actually pretty fucking awesome. No joke. And of course, since there's a LOT more heroes here than the DCAU had at the time, any crossover between this universe and the regular one in the same vein as the DCAU version is basically going to be an out-and-out war. Speaking of which, here's an idea for a big event to end all big events. Basically, as our universe and the Authority's are in the middle of duking it out, right at that moment, Earth X — you know, the Nazi Earth — decides to try and invade our world for the first time since WWII, but since they're busying battling the Authority, they also discover their world and decide to go after both in the bargain, resulting in a three way Mexican standoff between our world, (virtually democrats by comparison,) the Authority's world, (fascists who have deluded themselves into believing they're not,) and Earth X. (Fascists who have delusions about not being fascists.) Of course, I've got no clue how that would go down beyond the basic premise, but I still it could turn out to be pretty kickass if done right nonetheless.

I'd like to point out that The Elite- from Superman vs The Elite- is pretty much an Ersatz Authority.

What does everyone think of combining the Daily Planet and Daily Bugle? Peter as a Photographer, Olsen as an Art Director like in Supergirl or a Cameraman?

I've been curious how the Ultimates (the Al Ewing team) would interact with the Authority. They have similar premises but somewhat different methodologies.

Also, I'm thinking of making the Omega Men a rival group to the Guardians of the Galaxy. The Omega Men are type 3/type 4 antiheroes while the Guardians are more straight up atoners.

The Lords of Order could be a check for the Sorceror Supreme composed of people who could be runner ups for the title of Sorceror Supreme.

I think it would make more sense for the Planet to be The Bugle's rival, taking the place of the Daily Globe (which was obviously based on the Planet.) The Bugle has a reputation for sleazy stories (thanks to J.J. Jameson) while The Planet has a reputation for honesty (which is why Clark Kent works there.)

Doctor Strange does indeed serve the side of Order (specifically, The Three Who Are The Vishanti) so yes having him work for the Lords of Order (who in turn should serve Marvel's Master Order) makes sense. Note however that Strange is much less likely to blindly obey Order's commands than Doctor Fate (who btw, cannot be Sorcerer Supreme of Earth because he's a Lord of Order, not a native of this universe.)

edited 6th Jan '17 9:01:19 AM by Sijo

Idea: Mister Hyde's formula was a (failed) attempt at recreating Hourman's miraclo pills.

This is probably just the Silver Age fan boy in me, but I think it would be interesting if the Fantastic Four were relocated to Central City with the Flash. I always felt that, out of all DC/Marvel crossovers I could imagine, FF and Flash make the most sense. Plus, it would make the early installment weirdness of "Central City," from Fantastic Four #1, canon

edited 6th Jan '17 12:08:42 PM by mchlfx

I'd like to invite readers of this thread to join the soon-to-be relaunched Justice Avengers RPG game right here in TV Tropes: [1]. Trust me its been pretty good!

edited 15th Feb '17 4:07:32 PM by Sijo

Hey, you know how Marvel had a Godzilla comic in the 70s which was never officially retconned out, meaning the King of Monsters was technically a part of the Marvel Universe at least until Secret Wars III? I was thinking that maybe for an even we could have a bunch of kaiju attack.

Godzilla was mutated by Doctor Demonicus, giving it a new appearance (nice copyright dodge, Marvel! ) As far as I know, it still exists in their universe. And sure, you can use Kaijus- Marvel had plenty of its own, and even DC had a few! (bring in Titano the Super-Ape and have it slug it out with Not-Godzilla!)

edited 15th Feb '17 4:13:31 PM by Sijo

I have several ideas:

Crossover comics where Marvel and DC characters live on the same Earth happen (e.g. Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man).

Earth-C and Duckworld are one and the same. Howard ends up in our Earth at the same time Superman helped the Amazing Zoo Crew defeat Starro. We should ignore that weird thing where Duckworld is not the same as Howard's original homeworld.

Earth-C Minus and Marvel world(s) where the regular characters are animals (e.g. Spider-Ham) are also one and the same.

Perhaps Age of Apocalypse and Flashpoint are merged as one storyline, since they both involve a character going back in time to change something only to result in a much worst timeline.

A member of several Marvel alien races also being Green Lanterns (or any other colors).

Ganthet and Uatu are close friends.

With all these alien invaders and conquerors from both universes around, there should be a galactic alliance of sorts to help maintain peace. It's a combination of the United Planets from Legion of Super-Heroes and Galactic Council from Marvel, and was already formed before the modern age of heroes. It's allied with the Green Lantern Corps, Nova Corps/Empire, L.E.G.I.O.N., and the Shi'ar Empire led by Lilandra.

Among others.

edited 3rd Mar '17 11:09:32 PM by TitoMosquito

While we are each free to write our fics our own way, I've always believed logic should apply regarding how characters fit in a shared universe (that's the whole point) but also that characters or concepts should not be changed to the point of being too different (ex., no amalgams.) I also like the idea of combining alternate realities with similar premises to avoid redundancy (ex., why more than one Nazi Earth?)

Oh, absolutely. We only need one universe where the Nazis win WWII, one mirror universe, one zombie universe, and one where the heroes are fascists.

[Makes sense, I guess...

However, I would say it would be wise to keep things open to multiple timelines...

That way, someone could adapt the Old Man Logan and other similar storylines. As long as the main worlds are consistent, things should be good.

edited 16th Mar '17 11:16:05 AM by Durzan

anyone want my Superman backstory, inspired by this thread from a while back? It's pretty detailed and I even have some ideas for the first few story arcs.

Feel free to do whatever you wish with this. I've just had it on my computer for a long time and needed to do something with it. I also have a couple more ideas, and backstories if anyone wants them as well.

________________________________________________

Superman

-This book would be one of the ones to start off the series

-It would start in media res in the rest of the universe

______________________________________________

General

His powers are not sunlight based. I feel like most people forget that except when they need a weakness anyway.

-We are keeping the same backstory to superman, but we don’t need to retell it until later

-All we need to know for the early books are that Clark Kent is the adopted son of Ma and Pa Kent, and grew up on a farm Kansas.

-At first, Clark and his parents think he is metahuman as it is not that unusual

-When he was little, many people refused to let their children play with him because he accidentally used his powers

-After third grade he was homeschooled, -Because people rejected him, he is reluctant to use his powers at all, even in private,

-He is rather ashamed of what he can do despite his parents best efforts to convince him that he has nothing to be ashamed of

-Has no idea he is an alien, All he and his parents know is that they found him on the side of the road, wrapped in a red blanket, and think he’s just a human with powers,

When he moved to metropolis, he was surprised by how many people openly used their powers, and how accepting people were of them

-I want to justify why his parents taught Clark to not use his powers in front of everybody

_____________________________________________

First Issue Flashback: -We are in Clark’s parents house. A mother is dragging her 5 year old son frantically back to the car, -Why can’t I finish playing with Clark, Momma?

-You are not playing with “Him” anymore, do you understand?

-Cut to Clark also about 5 looking at his mother, confused

-Why wouldn’t (His friends name) mom let me play with him?

-Some people don’t understand you Clark. And sometimes when people see something they don’t understand, they get scared.

-But why would she be scared of me, momma?

(This is a bit cliché, but I wanted to salvage one idea of man of steel, that people may have been scared of him. It's an interesting idea if done right)

____________________________________________

Flash Forward

-We start with Clark Kent, Rookie reporter for the Daily Planet, just a year or two out of college with a degree in journalism

-We see Clark going about his day, trying his best to push down his natural inclination to use his powers

-We are also introduced to many of his main supporting cast such as Perry White, and Lois Lane, who is the reporter that Clark is working with

-Just for comparison we also see several non-superhero people using openly using powers for completely mundane things,

-Clark walking back to his apartment and somehow using his powers to anonymously save a woman from something simple such as a mugger. Before the person has time to see who he is, he gets away.

-Clark at his apartment, looking giddy, nervous, and just a touch of guilt

-the issue ends with Clark rummaging through his desk, when he finds what he’s looking for, he clears the desk and lays it out. It’s a picture of him, in the Captain America costume, smiling. He looks at it for a moment, remembering

_____________________________________________

Flashback

- In a first or second grade classroom, Each child was told to dress up as what they want to do when they grow up. Some kids are dressed up like doctors, firefighters, etc, Clark about 8 years old is wearing a homemade Captain America costume with a cardboard shield.

-So Clark, can you tell us what you want to be when you grow up?

-I want to help people like Captain America.

(So in this universe Clark would be inspired to become Superman by Captain America. Don't tell me that's not great.)

_____________________________________________________

So with this I wanted to highlight the different attitudes that people might have to minorities. It's much more realistic to have a wide range of attitudes towards meta-humanism and other things like that (in this universe, this would also tie into attitudes about Mutants as well). Also I wanted to justify why Clark would go to such lengths to hide his identity, particularly in the beginning.

edited 18th Mar '17 5:09:43 PM by megaeliz

I'd make Captain Atom a result of an attempt to replicate Carol Danvers' powers. Nathaniel would still have his origin of being framed for a crime and Carol would help him try to clear his name.

In my Head Canon, Comic-Book Time runs at 1/4 of real time- because comics are published every four weeks, usually. So if we assume that the "Present" started in 1960 (when the Justice League debuted) its been 14+ years since the current generation of heroes debuted. That's enough to cover things like the Teen Titans growing up and Franklin Richards still being a kid.

Also should we keep Hyppolyta being the original Wonder Woman and Steve Rodgers as Diana's father?

Also do any of you have a google account? If we really want this to be more than speculation, was thinking that we could do a shared google docs or something. Than it can be all in one place

edited 21st Mar '17 8:05:35 AM by megaeliz

Yeah, Captain America being Diane's father was a cool plotthread.

loldude974@gmail.com

edited 24th Mar '17 9:59:40 AM by Durzan

mine is mepr.1998@gmail.com

Edit: Created a doc to just get a tally of who's interested. If you're interested just put your Google account usernames and I will share it.

edited 26th Mar '17 5:05:06 PM by megaeliz

Anyone else? I want to get a feel if it's actually something that people would be interested in.

I would, but I'm in a ton of other projects right now, so can't.