Reinvention Ideas For DC/Marvel Characters

The purpose of this thread will be to take any characters from DC and Marvel and how you would reinvent them if you could.

For me:

Ryuko Orsono/Bushido: I'd make him a magician who specializes in making magical copies of any objects he sees. This includes divine weapons like Wonder Woman's lass and Zeus' Master Bolt. Basically his power set would be similar to that of Archer 2 and Shirou Emiya from Fate/Stay night. This rare ability would make him a target for certain mystical forces who wish to either exploit him or kill him.

Takeo Yamata/Ram: I'd make him a part on international cyborg police force tasked with cyborg-related crime.

Also, adding to mine, I'd give the Amazons of the DCU a set of classes for powers. All Amazons would have magic based powers to some extent.

Soldiers - Super strength and speed rivaling that of Kryptonians.

Casters - Ranged spells and healing. Glass cannons.

Hunters and Scouts - Enhanced senses with some speed and strength and teleportation and abilities similar to Corvo Attano.

Assassins - Shadow magic. Focused on stealth and speed.

Engineers and Metalurgists - Technopathy and metal control.

Also, while the Caster class would be the most difficult but powerful class to master as other classes use a more crude form of magic.

edited 29th Nov '16 2:13:27 AM by windleopard

I'd make the X-Men diverse. Right from the start. Right from the very first team that Xavier recruited, there'd be a lot of diversity, and each subsequent line-up would be diverse, as well.

Could you elaborate on what characters you'd use for rosters? Who'd make the O5 for instance?

edited 29th Nov '16 1:05:21 AM by windleopard

I'd be fine with keeping the same characters for the O5. But make Iceman gay from the start. And make him black, to boot. Make Jean Latina. Make Hank Asian-American. Make Angel trans. Make Scott explicitly neuro-atypical, maybe on the autistic spectrum. You can keep the same characters. Just make them diverse, rather than being a bunch of WAS Ps.

Then for the ANAD X-Men, Nightcrawler could be of Middle-Eastern descent. Make Wolverine a First Nations person. Kitty as openly bisexual. Mixed-race Rogue. Give Longshot an Asian appearance.

These are all spit-balling. You could do whatever. Just don't have the minority metaphor consist almost entirely of white people.

Some of these ideas sound good though I'm not sure about Nightcrawler who has a demonic appearance being Middle Eastern or Wolverine whose typically depicted as a savage being a First Nations person. But not too bad for the most part.

I'd probably make Psylocke Japanese or half-Japanese myself and ignore the body swap thing.

edited 29th Nov '16 1:22:54 AM by windleopard

Nightcrawler wasn't a wasp (White Anglo Saxon Protestant) in that he was neither anglo-saxon nor protestant (he was German and Catholic). Same with Banshee. And Colossus (who was an athiest Russian, not anglo-saxon) and Kitty Pryde (Jewish).

I get it, you want the X-Men to include more people of color. It's a great idea, but it's not what you said. I gots to pick on you a little here, cuz not all white people are Anglo-Saxon, and not all Christians are Protestant.

@ Windleopard: I like your idea for Bushido, but you'd kind of have to rename him, wouldn't you? The name "Bushido" doesn't have much to do with that power-set, unless you'd plan on making his personality fit it more than his powers do.

edited 29th Nov '16 1:56:02 PM by Robbery

The original X-Men were all WAS Ps. Those were the ones I called WASPS, in that first paragraph. After that, I went on to the ANAD line-up.

I'd like to see the Superfriends homages from YJ brought into the comics too. I'd give Asami wind powers and make her a sidekick to the Japanese Dr. Light, Ed would be a physics student from Peru, and the Wonder Twins would an experiment trying to use Atlantean and Martian powers. Tye Longshadow I'm thinking of giving some kind of power upgrade regarding dark matter or some such. Still haven't quite worked out the kinks yet.

Resurrecting an idea from the Marvel/DC combines universe thread...

Mutants like Iceman, who look outwardly normal but have cool (heh) superpowers, are the exception. The majority of mutants have no superpowers, but look weird on the outside - things like green skin, horns, werewolfiness, etc.

Prejudice against mustants is widespread but more subdued. People view the Friends of Humanity the same way they view modern fascists or the Ku Klux Klan (although with Trump in the White House...), but mutants still get dirty looks and have trouble finding work, getting houses, and all the other hallmarks of the middle class lifestyle. The freakier they look, the harder it is for them. Angel, for example, wouldn't have too much trouble, but Nightcrawler is incredibly lucky to have found his childhood circus.

Attitudes among mutants vary considerably. The relatively comfortable ones think that the remaining prejudice, while unfortunate, isn't too bad and will wither away in time; they also privately think that mutant victims of police brutality probably brought it on themselves in some way. As one goes down the socioeconomic ladder, one finds that mutants tend to be angrier and more aggressive, and are more prone to radicalisation. Since mutants who can pass for flatscan , this leads to a stereotype that the radical mutants are only radical because they don't look normal (like how people today think that feminism is just a way for ugly women to make themselves feel better).

Among the more radical mutants, as well as rebellious teenage mutants, there is a fashion for having lots of tattoos, piercings, scarification, and other cosmetic body modifications, on the grounds that mutants aren't supposed to look normal. This started with the more normal-looking ones who got radicalised and wanted to break with their suburban upbringings in favour of inner-city mutant culture, and spread from there. In particular, a chin piercing emerges as an identifying mark for Callisto's supporters, sort of like how hoodies have become associated with #Black Lives Matter.

Xavier does seek equality for mutants and flatscans, and to this end recruits young mutants to form his X-Men. However, while devoted to equality, he sees mutants rights as just one plank of a broader sociological transformation. In short, he's a Leninist who sees the X-Men as the vanguard party that will bring socialism to America.

I'd keep Magneto as an analogue to Malcolm X. While the Brotherhood of Mutants is considered a terrorist organisation by many, including Xavier and Callisto, it does have its supporters even among the X-Men and Morlocks, as well as among the edgier and criminal mutants. There are also those who defend the Brotherhood even if they don't participate in it themselves.

Callisto lives above ground and is the most prominent mutant rights leader. I'd make her a woman of Central Asian descent whose skin is super-pale and slightly translucent, inviting comparisons to the Morlocks of HG Wells. Callisto embraces the name, and her movement reclaims the word to refer initially to mutants who can't pass for flatscan, and later mutants in general who support of agree with her. She's the main analogue to Martin Luther King, and while she does have some policies in common with Xavier, she doesn't trust him, condemning him as a cryptofascist who is more interested in amassing influence for himself than in advancing mutant rights.

Sounds a lot like the situation present in George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards series. In that, most people effected by the Wild Card virus are "Jokers" who physically mutate but only occasionally develop superhuman powers, and "Aces" who look entirely human but develop super human powers (and there are "Deuces" too, who look human and develop powers but the powers are mostly silly or useless...one guy, for instance, could change color and that was it). Martin and his writers were careful as well to bring home the fact that, while there was a lot of undeserved persecution of and prejudice against those effected by the virus (primarily against Jokers, but some against Aces and Deuces too) they were definitely dangerous, and potentially dangerous, to the public, sometimes unintentionally and sometimes not.

I haven't read Wild Cards; I was actually mostly influenced by Strontium Dog.

So my ideas for Tye Longshadow.

I'd make a Longshadow a sort of "Shadow lantern". He can produce a sort of "dark matter" that he can shape at will. It can also enhance his physical stats and produce flight of sorts. The material can also be used to render Tye invisible or turn invisible itself. What the matter is remains unknown and is hard to explain by science but is not magic.

Longshadow's abilities would be inherited from his father who would be Thomas Kalmaku. Kalmaku would be an abductee of the Dominators who escaped after his powers manifested during an experiment on him. He'd flee his family to protect them.

I would kill Batman.

Well, not really, but I'd have Alfred fake Bruce's death alongside his family so as to protect him from a targeted mob hit. Bruce goes about the usual training routine, while Alfred maintains a million (with an "M") dollar estate as the family's official heir. So when Bruce returns, there's no visible coincidence to connect him to Batman (who himself would be keeping a much lower profile in terms of technology - if only because the world in general has pretty much caught up with him anyway), no DNA traces to lead back to the Waynes (if necessary, the forensic records would be the first thing to alter), and no financial paper trail to track, save for Alfred's, ahem, upkeep of the mansion. Bruce Wayne is dead, long live the Batman.

I'd also make Steve Trevor the official head of Checkmate or A.R.G.U.S. - God knows superhero comics could use some genuine reasonable authority figures, and his reputation as Wonder Woman's on-and-off boyfriend evokes Aquaman levels of undeserved lack of appreciation. Giving him power of the traditional kind can offset that. I maintain that his best portrayal so far was by Nathan Fillion, so you can easily imagine him going all Malcolm Reynolds when it comes to leadership. And that's not even going into how scary he could be if he invokes Castle.

edited 8th Dec '16 6:22:24 AM by indiana404

At various times, I've toyed with the idea of having Dick Grayson, Jason Todd. and Tim Drake serve as Robin concurrently. Only one would go on patrol with Batman at a time, except in case of emergency. I think it could add an interesting dynamic. Oh, and I'd have Jason go bad and betray everyone (in some way) eventually.

@indiana Etta Cabdy from rebirth Wonder Woman is a reasonable authority figure if you're interested.

Is she? I oughtta check her out then. Just don't tell me they gave her a Waller-style lypo.

Speaking of whom, I'd glue Amanda Waller to the well-intentioned extremist pole. It's one thing to execute thousands of zombified sports fans - gruesome as it is, it can be argued as being necessary for the circumstances. Even sending out the squad to assassinate Riddler had its utility in keeping them in check. However, killing her own employees just to cover up her own mess was a straight up Jason Bourne villain move. It's getting ridiculous when even among assassins, cannibals and gangland killers, the one explicitly villainous act is still reserved for the gubmint agent.

It might be controversial, but I'd bring back Spidey's organic web shooting. I like gadgeteer geniuses as much as anyone, but post-Ant-Man, I can't summon any respect for people keeping beneficial technology to themselves, especially as the web-shooters have virtually no nefarious applications. Besides, after the fights in TASM, I really want to see the animalistic spider aspect, the idea that Peter's newly acquired instincts are showing, particularly when he dons the mask. Garfield's Spider-Man could actually be scary in a way neither Maguire nor Holland (so far) manage.

edited 10th Dec '16 8:22:30 AM by indiana404

Actually both Etta and Walker are back to being heavy again. And Etta's still black so basically she's a lighter and softer Amanda.

edited 10th Dec '16 8:56:58 AM by windleopard

There actually is a story where Peter tried to market his web-fluid., but the company he took it to wasn't interested, as they apparently saw little use for what they saw as "temporary glue" (given that Spidey's webbing dissolves after an hour, or at least it did when that particular story was written). You could easily call this a writer's cop out, or a joke on the lack of imagination of corporate executives, or both. One would expect he could market it through Stark Industries or some such, but I suppose the point is Spidey writers can point to the story as showing that he DID try to sell it but, due perhaps to the classic Parker luck, couldn't find any takers.

I'd streamline Wonder Woman's origin, and the origins of the Amazons in general.

Instead of being formed from clay and given powers by the gods, just have Diana be Hippolyta's biological daughter, with her abilities (like those of the other Amazons) the result of training her body to physical perfection over the millenia.

But how did Hippolyta get pregnant when the Amazons are an all-female society? Just explain that the original Amazons, per Greek Mythology, were a mixed-gender society, just with the typical gender norms of time reversed: women filled the leader and warrior roles, while men filled the domestic roles. At some point the Amazon warriors went off to war, and while they were away their homeland was attacked, and all of their men and children were killed. Seeing this tragedy, the gods gave the Amazons a new homeland where they would have eternal youth, so that their society would not die out. Diana would be one of the few Amazons born on the new Paradise Island simply because Hippolyta happened to be in the early stages of pregnancy when the male Amazons were slaughtered.

I'd also simplify Superman's powers/origins along a similar line. Instead of gaining his powers from Earth's yellow sun, I'd go back to how the original Superman stories did it and have his powers be something all Kryptonians had, even back on Krypton. The whole red-sun/yellow-sun thing (and, prior to that, the Heavy Worlder thing) was only introduced because Superman's powers had escalated to the point where he could fly across the galaxy faster than most people can cross the street. It didn't make sense (even by the standards of the day) that the rest of the Kryptonians died when their planet blew up if they could simply fly to a new planet on a moment's notice. So the writers had to come up with a reason for Kryptonians on Krypton to not have the same powers as Superman. But if you just limit Superman's abilities so that he can't fly to other planets (or at least other solar systems) under his own power, a limit that's been applied to most modern versions of the character, then there's no need to include the yellow-sun explanation. You can just have Krypton be a planet where everyone can fly and lift million-ton objects like it's no big deal.

edited 10th Dec '16 12:34:12 PM by RavenWilder

I'd would keep the sun as the power source for Superman, but have Krypton actually having a history of colonizing(enslaving) other planets. After a while, the colonized territories demanded freedom to rule. General Zod, along with other Kryptonians wanting to keep the colonies, started a intergalactic war with billions dead, leading the Green Lantern to interfere. Krypton's space program was forced to shut down, leading to Krypton becoming isolationist. General Zod would be a relic of the past, in the Phantom Zone which time passes differently. Obvious metaphor for American civil war is obvious. The variety of Kryptonites is interesting, or at least allow for funny storylines, but might as well make it possible to create it on Earth, since it's pretty much everywhere anyway. Just make it so that only large quantities would affect Superman.

Metallo could be reinvented into an interesting Foil for Superman. They're literal men of steel, with Superman's power source being readily available while Metallo's being hard to find. With his origin being so inconsequential and boring, might as well make it so that Metallo was never human to begin with, but a robot created to help the world. Unlike Superman, who while being an alien, is more humane than most of humanity, Metallo would be alienated for not acting like one. Unlike the other androids in the DC universe, Metallo would be completely robotic in mannerism, like the Terminator. A robot programmed to please humanity, with looks designed to be appealing, but cannot act human. Basically commentary on the public judging based on who they are instead of what they do. Metallo, with literal green eyes of envy, aim to destroy superman and other heroes, since humans won't shun him if he's the only thing saving them, thus fulfilling the directive of pleasing humans. Metallo would still protect humans from danger, but also attack Superman. Superman won't destroy him because Metallo only ever attempts to harm him, won't ally with supervillains unless reprogrammed, and is technically a sapient being

I'd keep the sun as a power source for Superman, but I'd switch it to any kind of sun. I'd have Krypton exist within a dust cloud (either naturally or by the design of other entities aware of what would occur should Kryptonians come in contact with solar energy). Said cloud would have diluted the energy of their own sun, so Kryptonians would have no (or at least, severely diminished) abilities on their own world. The cloud is also the reason for Kryptonians never ventured beyond their own solar system, as the cloud obscures their ability to see beyond it; hence, Kryptonians believe, based on the evidence they have available, that there is nothing beyond their solar system. This is as well why, when Krypton's doom is upon it, Jor-El is laughed at by the Science Council when he postulates going to another world. One could keep that Jor-El was such a genius as to develop a star-drive all on his own, or perhaps he discovered lost records of such devices (from before the cloud existed, if one wanted to take the idea that the cloud is something inflicted upon them).

I'll take Green Lantern back to its roots.

Alan Scott is the Green Lantern, wielding a mystical ring that gives him standard flight and force fields, but does not affect anything made of wood. Alan is a civil engineer by trade, so his force fields often take the form of elaborate machinery, which he uses to fight crime and magical threats on Earth.

The Green Lantern Corps is introduced later, when a team led by Hal Jordan comes to Earth to investigate what appears to be a renegade Green Lantern - naturally enough, this turns out to be Alan, but Hal's team is confused when they see him blatantly lifting yellow things.

After some fighting and misunderstanding, the status quo is established. The Green Lantern Corps is a space police organisation which uses magic rings to maintain the peace in the galaxy. The meteor of which Alan's ring is made happened to pass through the radiance of the Main Green Power Battery billions of years ago and was began drawing cosmic energy, making a natural power battery. However, the nature of the meteor slightly changes the amplitude and wavelength of the energy that passes through it, which is why it works on yellow things but not on wood.

With that all cleared up, Alan joins Hal's team for some space adventures before returning to Earth.

As for the Green Lantern Corps, I would drop the whole notion that there are only 7200 members in the entire galaxy. The Corps has millions of members from the numerous inhabited planets, and makes an effort to have at least one member from as many sentient species as possible, plus a few robotic races. Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner, John Stewart, Guy Gardner, and Simon Baz were all recruited from Earth at different times, though they might not all be members as of Hal's original introduction.

This would be spun off into Green Lantern Corps, which would be a full-on space opera in which the Corps members travel around the galaxy righting wrongs and having all sorts of insane adventures. They would only visit Earth in exceptional circumstances, when the situation specifically called for it (though obviously exceptional circumstances would arise on Earth not infrequently). Such circumstances would also provide a reason for Alan Scott to go into space occasionally for a change of pace from his usual adventures.

Oh, and due to the presence of Alan on Earth, plus presumably various other superheroes, the Corps reasons that Earth doesn't need a full-time Corps member, since they have their problems reasonably under control.

I'd reduce Superman's power to roughly DCAU levels (without the world-of-cardboard justification), and in writing terms, I'd do away with the more-humane-than-humanity angle. Not only is it severely misanthropic, but it's quite the double standard for someone anonymous, bulletproof, and altogether unaccountable to serve as an example to live by. Instead, I'd go the opposite way, closer to the DCEU interpretation - that the ability to bench-press a truck doesn't by itself grant any providence to be used benevolently, nor does X-ray vision automatically confer wisdom and insight. That being humane is not merely the result of never needing to be anything else.

To complement this, I'd also glue Lex Luthor to the ruthless yet honest Anti-Villain seat, someone who's experienced corruption and crime from day one and learned to thrive in it, settling for pragmatic villainy over what he perceives to be hopeless idealism. Moreover, he can see himself as a paragon in these same terms - a Sink or Swim Mentor that pulls no punches, but doesn't go for needless malice either (the Young Justice interpretation springs to mind - he was basically a bald and shaven Xanatos there). All in all, this is the basis for an actual complex conflict between the two men of steel, rather than the usual monochromatic routine.

I'd also lighten up the Joker with a vengeance. The modern version evokes the wrong kind of dislike from me - I don't want to see him lose; I just don't want to see him. Instead, I'd have him be honestly unaware of the difference between taking candy from a baby, and setting the baby on fire. Someone who doesn't understand the concept of malice to begin with, and just likes playing with the funny guy in the black cape. And on the flip-side, his vulnerability would be precisely the things a toddler would fret about, like someone breaking his toys or ruining his attempt at a party. Moments that you'd have to be heartless not to pity him just a little bit for being a petulant child in a grown man's body. So when Batman hangs him from a building, he enjoys the scenery, but if Batman were to threaten him with a time-out, well, that's when things would get interesting.

I'd keep Maxima as a lesbian like the New 52 did and show her trying to change the laws of her planet while facing opposition from those who cling to tradition. Captain Comet will be her brother who is forced into conflict with her.

I'd also make Indigo a race of machines that was enslaved by Brainiac and have her work to free her people from him. She's also have a lot to say about the way DC's heroes treat machines (I'm sure indianna would appreciate that).

edited 13th Dec '16 6:50:22 AM by windleopard

Damn straight I would!

(But gee whiskers, with mashing metallic mooks no longer being considered family friendly, how will the upcoming films fill their third acts? You can't expect Whedon and the Russos to come up with main villains that can actually fight, now, can you?)

For that matter, it's not so much a reinvention, but I'd bring back the focus on straightforward gadgeteers like Ted Kord over the now overexposed powered armor crowd. Maybe give Hiro Okamura his own series, to compete with Kamala Khan for the youth oriented line-up. Age of the geek, baby.

In particular, I'd put Hiro in a mutant-infested rural town, since a giant robot inventor fighting B-movie monsters in flyover country practically writes itself.