Icon did NOT disguise himself as a Black man. His escape pod sampled the DNA of the predominant species that first opened his escape pod. And that was a Black woman. The pod altered Icon's physical form to match hers.
Superman is so iconic that many people are using his origin story. Even legendary mangaka Akira Toriyama used it to help create another Icon. Also, Variant Channel you should see the death battle between Goku vs Superman. You won't regret it.
I never heard of Invincible or The Boys until they have they’re own shows on Amazon Prime, when I was little I grew up with both Marvel and DC comics, i didn’t know they were other comic book companies like Dynamite Comics or Image Comics
Reading through a lot of the space events in Marvel and Gladiator shows up a lot. Nova, Quasar, Gladiator etc are mainly in space. They rarely show up in the comics and events happening on Earth in Marvel.
@@Tribrid-zv3nq Tsk, tsk,,, Hyperion is based off of Superman. The imperial guard is based off the legion of superheroes Superboy not Superman is a part of the Legion of Superheroes.
@@truffle6082 Bingo. Before that, Superman mostly jumped around for travel. Which is probably what gave birth to the classic catchphrase "to leap tall buildings in a single bound".
Man, Icon. I love this character so much. Every time I hear someone talk about the black Superman, I think of Icon first. There's a character that doesn't get enough love.
@@joshuagorski9452 Lord Majestros from the planet Khera, went by the name "Mr. Majestic" on Earth. He was part of the Jim Lee Wildstorm corner of Image comics as well as when DC bought Wildstorm.
Except, unlike Batman or a Spider-Man, Superman as a character pretty much sucks, because of his lame villains, over the top super-strength and mediocre stories. That's why we keep getting the same Superman motifs comic after comic and movie after movie. The Phantom was the first superhero without super-powers, he would be Batman's archetype, and was created a year and half before Superman. But like Blade restarting the Superhero movies (to which I dread), everyone forgets.
@KAW101 Meh. To me, Superman is superhero comics in its purest form. The trope of Superman being boring has been so overblown that the claim itself has become boring. I don't know what you were on about with The Phantom thing though. But as much as I love Batman, we've kind of had the same Batman stories for over thirty years, too. We had the same Daredevil stories for over twenty years. They're all great characters though. If you wanna get technical, every superhero is a variation of Superman.
@@GoHawgs1987 Except, he's not. The Phantom came before Supes and Bats, for he is the archetype. You just don't want to admit that because Bats/Supes are much more popular and successful. The thing with Supes is, he's a one trick pony. You can't get a Dark Knight or Killing Joke or Kraven's Last Hunt or Roulette or Phoenix Saga or The Man Without Fear from Superman. No, every superhero is a variation of The Phantom.
Superman is a rip off of Gladiator (not marvel gladiator) by Philip Wylie. Philip Wylie's Gladiator came 8 years before superman and had all of his powers which superman copied.Also the creators of superman Jerry and Simon used to read Gladiator when they were kids.
@@kto0312WOW!!!!!! that is 100% correct. gladiator was the name and title of the book. Hugo Danner was the hero and Superman is based off of Hugo Danner. I am not kidding, you’re the first person I’ve ever come across that knew that.
I personally wouldn't put Blue Marvel or even Sentry since their power sets are completely different outside of the basic flight, super strength, cape, durability etc. Even though Sentry also has an S.
That was only for a couple of years I believe. I love Captain Marvel, but that's been overblown. By '48 I think Superman was back on top and never looked back til Batman overtook him in the late 80s. And the X-Men, but they aren't a single character.
a forgotten Superman inspired hero (less of a copycat) was Prime from Malibu Comics back in the 90s. He was one of the most powerful hero of that universe, while being a kid under the appearance of that huge man it was an interesting one
Superman is so iconic that even my Grandfather knew about him and the funny thing is that we are from South Asia and here internet became a household thing 10 years ago
@paorasimon4957 like it was explained you can be inspired by more than one character and he only became popular (dragonball z)when he had the superman backstory coincidence 🤔
@@paorasimon4957😂😂😂😂😂it isn’t cap 🧢 bruh sure db is inspired by journey to the west but Goku is inspired by Superman it’s obvious humanoid alien from planet Vegeta sent to earth real name Kakarot adoptive name Son Goku . Country boi raised by uncle grandpa . Superman raised by Marta and Jonathan. Kakarot finding out his lineage are saiyans ! Superman Kryptonians his planet destroyed within itself or brainiac or etc multiple ways . The list goes on and on wit Goku 😂
The super Broly movie they like retconned the Bardock movie and pretty much as Soulja boy says they stole my flow and had Goku sent to earth then we saw his mom and dad send him off to earth. After Frieza going crazy on the planet
Superman is a rip off of Gladiator (not Marvel's gladiator). So Let's give credit to the character that "inspired" the creation of superman. The character Gladiator by Philip Wylie Came 8 years prior to superman, had all the abilities superman had. Gladiator even came from a small town. "Coincidentally" Jerry and Simon both read Gladiator when they were kids.
I did hear that the English dub leaned in more into the Superman-like dialog, but he does genuinely want to protect the world or the universe when it's in danger.
In Brazil we had "Captain 7" too. But from all these you mention the only costume that I don't like is from Icon. The colors of his costume are "too loud" and looks like he got the cape and his symbol from the shower curtain.
All big comic book characters get copied and or partially adapted into new characters. It's a staple of fiction going backbto Greek Myth & beyond. Vampires, syper onservant detctives, cops, gods etc. Superman is an amalgamtion of other characters, like John Carter of Mars in the 1st place (even Moses righ?)t. As well as an original creation
False goku did not grow up wanting to protect the earth. He lived in a forest with his grandfather who taught him martial arts then when on a long adventure with a girl searching for dragon balls fell in love with fighting and protecting his friends. A quick overview but while Goku protects the earth it was never his main thing, he likes to fight strong opponents
His father also didn't send him to Earth. He was sent there to conquer the planet because he was a low class Saiyan and they're typically sent away to conquer less dangerous worlds.
Someone doesn't know that these "addtion" was not in the original manga and bardock have many origion stories including time traveljust do make my point they were added IN THE ANIME near the stories finaly even then a scientist sending his son away from planet was the origion story of countless fictional character before superman😂 why do you feel the need to frame Superman as this "original" never seen before finctional character he isn't body@@RedwindAndBeyond
Wasn't it flesha(I butchered that name) studios didn't want to to animate superman jumping so they just made him fly and DC decided to keep it for main supes
It was in an a cartoon where Superman first flew , and it’s totally different originality to their flight , Shazam is magic based when Superman is more science based .
I mean, Hyperion was meant to BE Superman as the Squadron Supreme was meant to be the Justice League . DC got the last laugh when the sued Shazam/Captain America (well Fawcett Comics) basucally out of existence and then bought them. (A classic olf DC play.)
1. Hyperion 2. S.H.A.Z.A.M. 3. Steve Rogers/Captain America 4. Martian Manhunter 5. Invincible 6. Peter Parker/Spider-Man 7. All Might 8. Goku 9. Icon 10. Mr. Majestic
Wo Wo Wo..... where is Samaritan from Astro City??? My God!!! Not only is a great riff on Superman... the stories they tell with him are amazing alternate views of Superman himself... The opening story is posing the question "When does Superman (Samaritan) get time to just enjoy his powers?" How much better do you need it to get?
superman nowadays feels like a simp for lois lane making his super heroing less impactful. making us think that without lois , superman wouldn't be superman
I’m tired of people saying Captain Marvel/Shazam is a rip off of Superman. He’s not. He was inspired by Superman, but far from a rip off. If anything, Superman ripped off Captain Marvel/Shazam. For those who don’t know this, Captain Marvel/Shazam did a lot of things before Superman did. Before Superman did, he had: the power of flight, a bald genius archenemy, a boy scout personality, a female protege, and a superhero family.
Some of my favorite Superman copycats are Hyperion (Earth 13034 version), Gladiator, Blue Marvel, Icon, Omni-Man, Martian Manhunter, Captain Marvel (Billy Batson), and All Might.
Captain Marvel is NOT a Superman copy cat. Yes he was created n response to Superman. But everything else about him, his design influences his powers, his supporting cast, and his villains are different. In fact it’s Superman who directly copied many of Captain Marvel’s powers and abilities in order to try and be more poppular. Lex Luthor was created in response to Dr Sivana, Supergirl was created after Mary Marvel, Superboy was created in response to Captain Marvel Jr, Superman started to fly and breath in space, after Captain Marvel. Many Superman writers like Otto Binder went on to writer Superman after Captain Marvel. Captain Marvel also inspired the other characters like Thor, Captain America, Mar-Vell, and even Elvis Presley Superman was trying so hard to be Captain Marvel that they sued him. That’s the truth
Yep. I don’t understand how people miss something this basic. You can’t keep adding features to a character (that others have) and then claim he’s the original.
@@airforcex9412 It’s because of historical revisionism. Geoff Johns did such a good job with the New 52 convincing everyone that Billy was just “magic Superman”. He stripped any nobility that was in the character away, made the costume more generic, made Sivana more like Lex Luthor, and made Billy look up to Superman. And sadly every adaption these days is based on that version. The sad matter is DC invented Superman. Fawcett invented Captain Marvel. But now DC has both, so they Superman will always be the favorite. He will always be painted as the core superhero all others orbit. Fawcett doesn’t exist anymore to put Captain Marvel center stage.
Big whoop Superman was MEANT to be that guy , and came out on top with the help of DC . Superman makes more sense anyway, than a magic based being , Superman is counter to magic , science based being .
@@bon-a-petite9224 Ya obviously Superman I guess won out in the end. But only because Fawcett decided to settle out of court. DC never one the case. The fact of the matter is CapTain Marvel is not a Superman ripoff. He has influences and a legacy separate from Superman, that’s Superman himself belongs to. That’s both my opinion, those are well documented facts.
At around 15:30 you mentioned Metro Man, Hancock and even Meteor Man at the same time I was thinking it I almost jumped in fear, reading my mind. But what about Supreme, Majestic and "The Utopian".
Another Superman like character i remember was Silver Sentry from the 2003 TMNT animated series he was also the leader of Justice Force that universe's version of the Justice League
3:58 Goku was never inspired by superman what are you on😂 It’s pretty well known that he’s based on the monkey king from journey to the west he’s not a superhero
Plutonianin (irredemable), Utopian (jupiters legasy). But seriously, it's sickening to see SO MANY characters with almost identical abilities. Even if the personalities are different, it still looks like a terrible hack job.
I mean Goku is technically a superhero but a Boyscout no nor did he grow up wanting to be a hero he likes fighting strong Opponents and he's actually kinda selfish when you really think about it
*Meteorman (1993)* played by the Robert Townsend was One of the 1st Black Super heroes on film was a inspirational and Iconic representation of culture and courage. *One of my favorite heroes and movies of All-time*
To me, the synopsis that makes Homelander a fascinating take on the Superman archetype isn't the question: "What if Superman was evil?". It's the question: "What if Superman was selfish and incompetent?"
Gladiator was always my favorite Superman knock off. Growing up in the 90s and watching X-Men the animated series, when he flew down to earth and then tossed Juggernaut like he was a baseball.
The flying squirrel from Happy tree friends, he always tries to help like superman but accidentally kills everyone in the process and doesnt realise it, I think its an interesting spin on the superman persona
One minor suggestion for Variant when they do videos like these: please put fonts on screen when new characters come up. Some are unknown and the voiceover isn’t always clear. I had to use cc for most of this. Thanks.
Thanks to you, i am also creating my own universe and it's all thanks to youtube comic creators like yourself. I hope we can talk about is somehow. You had a dream of creating your comic book universe and as far as i know, you were the only youtuber who actually executed it. If it's possible, can we talk more about it and i would realy need some pointers about creating my universe.
My favorite that only got a brief mention (glad he got at least a shout out) is Marvelman. Much more a deconstruction of "a superhero with enough power could be considered a god" (and seemingly Moore's first exploration of this topic that he'd go on to explore more) and then taken to its logical end. Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman really are firing on all cylinders during their respective runs.
I’m 2015 I created my own superhero universe as Marvel and BvS was coming next year and I loved avengers assembled, I created my own version of Superman named Fusion, he was a character who would fuse with an amulet and become a powerful character, Rex early I forgot about them but I’m striving to work on my own books or comic books so I might work on them once again
I really like the list and opinion that y’all have. Also can y’all do a copycat list on Spider-Man, understanding if it’s a short list and or if there’s not many but I would love to see a video on that.
There's also Captain Celebrity in the My Hero Academia universe who has Superboy's powers of tactile telekinesis which allows him to fly and have strength, speed, and durability. Which pretty much allows how Superboy emulates the powers of Superman. He is America's premiere superhero of the past back when All Might was in his prime.
Back the DC Super Heroes United campaign @ cmon.co/variant
Will variant ever do alternate versions of characters again?
🎉
Underdog!! My fav Sup Clone is Gladiator, but I had to mention Underdog.
Superman is a ripoff of Gladiator (novel)
1930 novel by Philip Wylie.
What about Mr Majestic?
Icon did NOT disguise himself as a Black man. His escape pod sampled the DNA of the predominant species that first opened his escape pod. And that was a Black woman. The pod altered Icon's physical form to match hers.
Yea it was more of a Accident
@@hoodiek6802 Yes, if Icon's pod landed in China, he would have been Chinese. If it landed in Mexico then he would have been Mexican.
@@starbrand3726 precisely
Did he grow up picking cotton? Did he make his master rich? Messed up story line
@@incognito8015 Yes, Icon did grow up as a slave with his mother constantly telling him to hide his abilities.
One of the best Superman copycats is SUPREME
Supreme, Majestic and "The Utopian".
Superman is so iconic that many people are using his origin story.
Even legendary mangaka Akira Toriyama used it to help create another Icon.
Also, Variant Channel you should see the death battle between Goku vs Superman. You won't regret it.
They got the winner correct but their research and ending of the fights was terrible
Nah bruh...Sentry and Hyperion are superior.
Superman is based off of Hugo Danner.
Super man's origin was copied from Tarzan.😂
@@thanosdoomjuggernaut2846Superman is based off of Tarzan & Jhon Carter.
I never heard of Invincible or The Boys until they have they’re own shows on Amazon Prime, when I was little I grew up with both Marvel and DC comics, i didn’t know they were other comic book companies like Dynamite Comics or Image Comics
@darkshadowx803 but I like both Invincible and The Boys, I still like marvel and dc but it wouldn’t hurt to like other superhero universes
@darkshadowx803I know the Boys series is disturbing but I still watch the series, I heard the comics version are a lot worst
You mean Image Comics.
@@damonr.1098 yes I do mean Image Comics
I had a spawn action figure as a kid so I had an idea of image comics
everyone forgets that in one scene in eternals, the kid goes "omg, it's superman", when he sees Ikaris
Hahahhaha YES.
People forget that we in real life have both comic companies but in-universe, they have each other.
"Now known as Shazam." But will always be known as Captain Marvel to me.
My favorite is Gladiator. Wish marvel did more awesome things with him
gladiator is based off Superboy, as the Sh’iar is based off the legion of superheroes
@@thanosdoomjuggernaut2846 he's based off Superman
Reading through a lot of the space events in Marvel and Gladiator shows up a lot.
Nova, Quasar, Gladiator etc are mainly in space. They rarely show up in the comics and events happening on Earth in Marvel.
@@Tribrid-zv3nq Tsk, tsk,,, Hyperion is based off of Superman. The imperial guard is based off the legion of superheroes Superboy not Superman is a part of the Legion of Superheroes.
@@Tribrid-zv3nqsuperBOY AND the legion of superheroes. Do your research.
If I remember right, Captain Marvel had flight before Superman.
He did and after they gave Superman that ability
@@truffle6082 Bingo. Before that, Superman mostly jumped around for travel. Which is probably what gave birth to the classic catchphrase "to leap tall buildings in a single bound".
I didn’t know this, that’s super interesting 🤔
@@disgruntleddev Thanks, mate. Glad to help,
Correct, Superman first had flight in the Fleischer cartoons and then in the comics, both after Captain Marvel had it first.
Man, Icon. I love this character so much. Every time I hear someone talk about the black Superman, I think of Icon first. There's a character that doesn't get enough love.
Blue marvel
Val Zod .
You forgot Mr majestic
Who?
@@joshuagorski9452 Mr majestic wildstorm comics
@@joshuagorski9452 Lord Majestros from the planet Khera, went by the name "Mr. Majestic" on Earth. He was part of the Jim Lee Wildstorm corner of Image comics as well as when DC bought Wildstorm.
But he mention Mr.Hugedeek
Supreme, Majestic and "The Utopian".
Superman, like Batman, is an archetype for superheroes so a ton of characters start as that only to come into their own character
Except, unlike Batman or a Spider-Man, Superman as a character pretty much sucks, because of his lame villains, over the top super-strength and mediocre stories. That's why we keep getting the same Superman motifs comic after comic and movie after movie. The Phantom was the first superhero without super-powers, he would be Batman's archetype, and was created a year and half before Superman. But like Blade restarting the Superhero movies (to which I dread), everyone forgets.
Grow up, dude, maybe get a girlfriend or something. idk@KAW101
Well, at least you didn't deny what I said.
@KAW101 Meh. To me, Superman is superhero comics in its purest form. The trope of Superman being boring has been so overblown that the claim itself has become boring. I don't know what you were on about with The Phantom thing though. But as much as I love Batman, we've kind of had the same Batman stories for over thirty years, too. We had the same Daredevil stories for over twenty years. They're all great characters though. If you wanna get technical, every superhero is a variation of Superman.
@@GoHawgs1987 Except, he's not. The Phantom came before Supes and Bats, for he is the archetype. You just don't want to admit that because Bats/Supes are much more popular and successful. The thing with Supes is, he's a one trick pony. You can't get a Dark Knight or Killing Joke or Kraven's Last Hunt or Roulette or Phoenix Saga or The Man Without Fear from Superman. No, every superhero is a variation of The Phantom.
Blue Marvel, Sentry, Omni-Man Hyperion, Homelander; this list could go to Krypton and back 😅
Very true! To this day, if he flies, has super-strength and a cape, it's impossible to escape the comparison!
Superman is a rip off of Gladiator (not marvel gladiator) by Philip Wylie. Philip Wylie's Gladiator came 8 years before superman and had all of his powers which superman copied.Also the creators of superman Jerry and Simon used to read Gladiator when they were kids.
@@kto0312yup
@@kto0312WOW!!!!!! that is 100% correct. gladiator was the name and title of the book. Hugo Danner was the hero and Superman is based off of Hugo Danner. I am not kidding, you’re the first person I’ve ever come across that knew that.
I personally wouldn't put Blue Marvel or even Sentry since their power sets are completely different outside of the basic flight, super strength, cape, durability etc. Even though Sentry also has an S.
Captain Marvel was never a copy of Superman. In fact, Captain Marvel was able to fly first, DC and stole Lex Luther from Fawcett comics.
just got this noti and was reminded of how i watched you and comicstorian growing up shits crazy rip ComicStorian 🕊️
I believe Superman is not just a character anymore, he's become a archetype ...thats explains all that powerful powers all inspired by him
Captain Marvel/Shazam OUTSOLD Superman in the Golden Age and was only defeated by DC killing Fawcett with court costs.
So what Superman was still the superior character
That was only for a couple of years I believe. I love Captain Marvel, but that's been overblown. By '48 I think Superman was back on top and never looked back til Batman overtook him in the late 80s. And the X-Men, but they aren't a single character.
Big whoop , Superman would whoop him silly nilly.
a forgotten Superman inspired hero (less of a copycat) was Prime from Malibu Comics back in the 90s. He was one of the most powerful hero of that universe, while being a kid under the appearance of that huge man
it was an interesting one
Superman is so iconic that even my Grandfather knew about him and the funny thing is that we are from South Asia and here internet became a household thing 10 years ago
Who cares
@@garyhewhowalklikeagodgreen3514 you cared enough to reply loser
@@garyhewhowalklikeagodgreen3514you do...that's why you replied him😂
Akira Toriyama was SO inspired by Superman that he retconned Goku's backstory. 😂
Stop the cap. It's well known fact that Goku is inspired by Son Wukong. It just happened that the story was very similar
@paorasimon4957 like it was explained you can be inspired by more than one character and he only became popular (dragonball z)when he had the superman backstory coincidence 🤔
@@paorasimon4957😂😂😂😂😂it isn’t cap 🧢 bruh sure db is inspired by journey to the west but Goku is inspired by Superman it’s obvious humanoid alien from planet Vegeta sent to earth real name Kakarot adoptive name Son Goku . Country boi raised by uncle grandpa . Superman raised by Marta and Jonathan. Kakarot finding out his lineage are saiyans ! Superman Kryptonians his planet destroyed within itself or brainiac or etc multiple ways . The list goes on and on wit Goku 😂
The super Broly movie they like retconned the Bardock movie and pretty much as Soulja boy says they stole my flow and had Goku sent to earth then we saw his mom and dad send him off to earth. After Frieza going crazy on the planet
Goku definitely has Superman origin story.
I just glad that at the end of the day no copy can beat the original.
Superman is a rip off of Gladiator (not Marvel's gladiator). So Let's give credit to the character that "inspired" the creation of superman. The character Gladiator by Philip Wylie Came 8 years prior to superman, had all the abilities superman had. Gladiator even came from a small town. "Coincidentally" Jerry and Simon both read Gladiator when they were kids.
Yup not many people know this.
@@kcopara1 it's not actually the same character, you do know that right?
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!
@@TwippyTwilightsame with most of the charterers in his list they manage to be their own and stand for different things yet he says they’re copycats.
i think Superman was inspired by the Japanese manga character the golden bat
You got the english dub Goku mixed up with the REAL Goku he isn’t a “boy scout” he just wants to fight anyone that’s stronger than him good or evil
I did hear that the English dub leaned in more into the Superman-like dialog, but he does genuinely want to protect the world or the universe when it's in danger.
You forgot to mention Underdog as well. He too has similarities to Superman and Shazam
I should have read your comment first, cause I just said the same thing 🤣
Mr. Majestic is my favorite Superman copycat. I wish DC didn't dumb him down and integrate him from the Wildstorm Universe into the DC Universe
me too.
The biggest Superman copy is Supreme from Image Comics followed by Mr. Majestic of Wild Storm Comicss
Supreme, Majestic and "The Utopian".
In Brazil we had "Captain 7" too. But from all these you mention the only costume that I don't like is from Icon. The colors of his costume are "too loud" and looks like he got the cape and his symbol from the shower curtain.
Just call him .Captain marvel!
Superman > Sentry > Blue Marvel > Shazam > Hyperion > Martian Manhunter > Superboy > Icon.
Superman is SO famous that other heroes rip off of him.
And Superman is a rip off of Hugo Danner from the book gladiator.
Bruh sups isalso a rip off by that accord
@@sakkoyaba4482 no
No. It's that dc never done anything with him so these other industries copies the character with another newly character
All big comic book characters get copied and or partially adapted into new characters. It's a staple of fiction going backbto Greek Myth & beyond. Vampires, syper onservant detctives, cops, gods etc. Superman is an amalgamtion of other characters, like John Carter of Mars in the 1st place (even Moses righ?)t. As well as an original creation
False goku did not grow up wanting to protect the earth. He lived in a forest with his grandfather who taught him martial arts then when on a long adventure with a girl searching for dragon balls fell in love with fighting and protecting his friends. A quick overview but while Goku protects the earth it was never his main thing, he likes to fight strong opponents
But since goku get brain trauma damage he became good guys unlike natural sayang who is ruthless
@@yaqinmalul6467but he still doesnt wanna be the savior of earth
His father also didn't send him to Earth. He was sent there to conquer the planet because he was a low class Saiyan and they're typically sent away to conquer less dangerous worlds.
@@kamui003 Someone did not read dragon ball minus or watched DBS Broly movie.
Someone doesn't know that these "addtion" was not in the original manga and bardock have many origion stories including time traveljust do make my point they were added IN THE ANIME near the stories finaly even then a scientist sending his son away from planet was the origion story of countless fictional character before superman😂 why do you feel the need to frame Superman as this "original" never seen before finctional character he isn't body@@RedwindAndBeyond
If it wasn't for Shazam, Superman would not be able to fly, I believe Shazam was the first superhero to defy gravity
Wasn't it flesha(I butchered that name) studios didn't want to to animate superman jumping so they just made him fly and DC decided to keep it for main supes
It was in an a cartoon where Superman first flew , and it’s totally different originality to their flight , Shazam is magic based when Superman is more science based .
I mean, Hyperion was meant to BE Superman as the Squadron Supreme was meant to be the Justice League .
DC got the last laugh when the sued Shazam/Captain America (well Fawcett Comics) basucally out of existence and then bought them. (A classic olf DC play.)
i always saw bright burn as "what if Zod was sent to earth instead of kal-el?"
One Punch Man???
No laser vision or flight, but quite literally a satire of the invincibility of a "Superman." A "Goku."
Almight looks like the most evil man alive 😭😂
Yeah Superman & Batman Is The Most Copied ComicBook Characters Ever
Superman Himself was copied from Tarzan and Jhon Carter
Batman? It's only superman
the idea of superman came from john carter of mars
& his origin was copied from Tarzan
Just because someone fights for peace and justice doesn't mean they are a superman copycat
“Faster than a rolling O, stronger than a silent E, able to leap capital T with a single bound!
It’s a word, it’s a plan, it’s LetterMan!”
1. Hyperion
2. S.H.A.Z.A.M.
3. Steve Rogers/Captain America
4. Martian Manhunter
5. Invincible
6. Peter Parker/Spider-Man
7. All Might
8. Goku
9. Icon
10. Mr. Majestic
Mighty Mouse's weakness to limburger cheese was so funny to me as a child
Wo Wo Wo..... where is Samaritan from Astro City??? My God!!! Not only is a great riff on Superman... the stories they tell with him are amazing alternate views of Superman himself... The opening story is posing the question "When does Superman (Samaritan) get time to just enjoy his powers?" How much better do you need it to get?
superman nowadays feels like a simp for lois lane making his super heroing less impactful. making us think that without lois , superman wouldn't be superman
More honorable mention: Malibu Comics “Prime, Marvel comics: Virtue & Taegukgi”
"Here I come to save the day!" Who says NO ONE talks about Mighty Mouse? 🤣
Thank you for mentioning The Meteor Man and Ikaris from The Eternals. And yes. Brightburn and Homelander are truly evil.
This Superman Copycats list is great. 💙
Thanks!
@@variantdo one of Batman
I’m tired of people saying Captain Marvel/Shazam is a rip off of Superman. He’s not. He was inspired by Superman, but far from a rip off. If anything, Superman ripped off Captain Marvel/Shazam. For those who don’t know this, Captain Marvel/Shazam did a lot of things before Superman did. Before Superman did, he had: the power of flight, a bald genius archenemy, a boy scout personality, a female protege, and a superhero family.
True and when Shazam was more popular than superman DC bought him from Fawcett
In a way Squadron Supreme (where Hyperion is from) did Injustice's plot way way before
1. Shazam
2. Miracleman
3. Hyperion
4. Superior
5. Supreme
6. Invincible
7. Blue Marvel
8. Majestic
9. Samaritan
10. Ikaris
My Favorite Best copy Cat Superman's ever
Goku, I never paid attention, but this makes so much since 😂
Honestly, they kinda got this one wrong.
@@therealeverton Agree. Goku is based off on Sun Wukong
Yeah, boi! Mighty Mouse! I legitimately love that you included him on this lidt.
'IMITATION .. IS THE SINCEREST FORM OF FLATTERY' ..
So glad you guys mentioned meteor man. He's always been my favorite superhero, watching that movie literally got me into comic books in general.
Some of my favorite Superman copycats are Hyperion (Earth 13034 version), Gladiator, Blue Marvel, Icon, Omni-Man, Martian Manhunter, Captain Marvel (Billy Batson), and All Might.
MCU really needs to find a way to bring Hyperion to the screen. They could use Mark Milton since he’s the ultimate universe version.
Captain Marvel is NOT a Superman copy cat. Yes he was created n response to Superman. But everything else about him, his design influences his powers, his supporting cast, and his villains are different.
In fact it’s Superman who directly copied many of Captain Marvel’s powers and abilities in order to try and be more poppular.
Lex Luthor was created in response to Dr Sivana, Supergirl was created after Mary Marvel, Superboy was created in response to Captain Marvel Jr, Superman started to fly and breath in space, after Captain Marvel.
Many Superman writers like Otto Binder went on to writer Superman after Captain Marvel.
Captain Marvel also inspired the other characters like Thor, Captain America, Mar-Vell, and even Elvis Presley
Superman was trying so hard to be Captain Marvel that they sued him. That’s the truth
Yep. I don’t understand how people miss something this basic. You can’t keep adding features to a character (that others have) and then claim he’s the original.
@@airforcex9412 It’s because of historical revisionism. Geoff Johns did such a good job with the New 52 convincing everyone that Billy was just “magic Superman”. He stripped any nobility that was in the character away, made the costume more generic, made Sivana more like Lex Luthor, and made Billy look up to Superman. And sadly every adaption these days is based on that version.
The sad matter is DC invented Superman. Fawcett invented Captain Marvel. But now DC has both, so they Superman will always be the favorite. He will always be painted as the core superhero all others orbit. Fawcett doesn’t exist anymore to put Captain Marvel center stage.
Big whoop Superman was MEANT to be that guy , and came out on top with the help of DC . Superman makes more sense anyway, than a magic based being , Superman is counter to magic , science based being .
@@bon-a-petite9224 Ya obviously Superman I guess won out in the end. But only because Fawcett decided to settle out of court. DC never one the case. The fact of the matter is CapTain Marvel is not a Superman ripoff. He has influences and a legacy separate from Superman, that’s Superman himself belongs to. That’s both my opinion, those are well documented facts.
Finally after all these years I was wondering when you were going to try and do this episode yourself
Great Video With Superman Copycats Dude!
Sentry sounds like a Captain America × Gollum × Anakin × Superman mashup 😂
At around 15:30 you mentioned Metro Man, Hancock and even Meteor Man at the same time I was thinking it I almost jumped in fear, reading my mind. But what about Supreme, Majestic and "The Utopian".
Gladiator has one-upped Supes in one way: He punched the U.S Enterprise.
Another Superman like character i remember was Silver Sentry from the 2003 TMNT animated series he was also the leader of Justice Force that universe's version of the Justice League
3:58 Goku was never inspired by superman what are you on😂 It’s pretty well known that he’s based on the monkey king from journey to the west he’s not a superhero
Also no he isn’t a Boy Scout he’s arrogant and doesn’t sweat killing his opponent just as long as he has a good fight
@@gwina64Womp womp
😂 my bad as soon as I unpaused it you bring up the monkey king 🤣😅 carry on
They should make a movie with Icon
Plutonianin (irredemable), Utopian (jupiters legasy). But seriously, it's sickening to see SO MANY characters with almost identical abilities. Even if the personalities are different, it still looks like a terrible hack job.
Almost every superhero universe has their own version of Superman. Including mine. I made two Superman copies. Supercircle, and Manly man.
Wait, what about Sun God aka Zoran from Earth-4290001 from Hickman's run on Avengers and New Avengers?
I mean Goku is technically a superhero but a Boyscout no nor did he grow up wanting to be a hero he likes fighting strong Opponents and he's actually kinda selfish when you really think about it
That the Son Wukong half of his inspiration.
Jonathan Plan Is A Miraculous GODSEND!
*Meteorman (1993)* played by the Robert Townsend was One of the 1st Black Super heroes on film was a inspirational and Iconic representation of culture and courage. *One of my favorite heroes and movies of All-time*
Hyperion is probably my favorite Superman copycat he doesn’t get much credit
Superman can go intangible, invisible and can phase.
You forgot to mention the fact that Hyperion is one of the physically strongest, & most powerful of the Eternals, Top 5 in fact
Sonic is a copycat of a copycat and shadow is technically a dark copycat of a copycat of a copycat
To me, the synopsis that makes Homelander a fascinating take on the Superman archetype isn't the question: "What if Superman was evil?". It's the question: "What if Superman was selfish and incompetent?"
Gladiator was always my favorite Superman knock off. Growing up in the 90s and watching X-Men the animated series, when he flew down to earth and then tossed Juggernaut like he was a baseball.
If you look in to history Shazam had flight before superman... not a copycat
This was a great list/video! There's one key character you forgot though and that's Mon-El (Legion of Super Heroes).
The flying squirrel from Happy tree friends, he always tries to help like superman but accidentally kills everyone in the process and doesnt realise it, I think its an interesting spin on the superman persona
Mr Majestic
One minor suggestion for Variant when they do videos like these: please put fonts on screen when new characters come up. Some are unknown and the voiceover isn’t always clear. I had to use cc for most of this. Thanks.
Thanks to you, i am also creating my own universe and it's all thanks to youtube comic creators like yourself. I hope we can talk about is somehow. You had a dream of creating your comic book universe and as far as i know, you were the only youtuber who actually executed it. If it's possible, can we talk more about it and i would realy need some pointers about creating my universe.
My favorite that only got a brief mention (glad he got at least a shout out) is Marvelman. Much more a deconstruction of "a superhero with enough power could be considered a god" (and seemingly Moore's first exploration of this topic that he'd go on to explore more) and then taken to its logical end. Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman really are firing on all cylinders during their respective runs.
I’m 2015 I created my own superhero universe as Marvel and BvS was coming next year and I loved avengers assembled, I created my own version of Superman named Fusion, he was a character who would fuse with an amulet and become a powerful character, Rex early I forgot about them but I’m striving to work on my own books or comic books so I might work on them once again
Goku only represents one part of the monkey king
“The show follows the comic closely”
*Proceeds to spoil*
Great video.
I know this wasn’t a list but this is oddly ordered.
Front end was way more Superman like then the back end.
Props for the mention of Meteor Man. I loved that movie.
mr. majestic and wonderman
One of my favorite cartoons when I was young that you can relate to Superman was "MIGHTY MAN and YUKK"
I really like the list and opinion that y’all have. Also can y’all do a copycat list on Spider-Man, understanding if it’s a short list and or if there’s not many but I would love to see a video on that.
Sideways from DC. A horrible rip-off. It's just awful. Black Spider, but he was a villain. Blue Beetle predates Spider-Man.
love that Meteor Man shout out! 👏👏👏
I thought I was the only one who saw Goku as Superman's copycat. And All might Vs Nomu is definitely Superman VS Doomsday. Hugs from Mozambique
Also The Majestic, from Wild C.A.T.S.
Superman was copy of Tarzan & Jhon Carter
Thumbnail:
"Where are the pixels Williams?"
There's also Captain Celebrity in the My Hero Academia universe who has Superboy's powers of tactile telekinesis which allows him to fly and have strength, speed, and durability. Which pretty much allows how Superboy emulates the powers of Superman. He is America's premiere superhero of the past back when All Might was in his prime.