Warning! Contains spoilers for Venomverse Reborn #4!Wonder And DC have been trading ideas for decades, with each of them taking inspiration from the other. Marvel just took things a step further by officially introducing their own version of Gotham City, including what characters like the Riddler and Joker would look like in the Marvel Universe.
Readers first get to see the fascinating Marvel version of the iconic DC villains in Venomverse Reborn #4 Story “Nighthawk V. Hyperion” by writer Dan Slott and artist Stephen Byrne. The story takes place on a dark earth where the Squadron Supreme, Marvel’s very own version of the Justice League, has been taken over by Venom. The disaster begins with Nighthawk, a clear parody of Batman, who is upset that he is getting older every year, and his villains only become more aggressive.
It seems that, over the years, Nighthawk has had trouble with his rogues gallery, which includes such heavy hitters as Laughing Cat, Gigglepus, Agent Orange, The Exclaimer, and Rockface, all of whom reside in Gray Haven, mockingly. – Up from Gotham and Bludhaven. The villains are also all clear parodies of Joker, Harley Quinn, possibly Poison Ivy, The Riddler, and Clayface.
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Venomverse Reborn #4 by writer Dan Slott, artist Stephen Byrne and letterer Travis Lanham
There have been several times that Marvel has copied DC, and Squadron Supreme is a prime example of this. DC is not interested at the moment, wanting a crossover between the Avengers and the Justice League. Not wanting to cancel their event, Marvel simply created their own Justice League with the Squadron Supreme and stocked them with obvious parody characters such as Nighthawk and Hyperion. That inspiration is only made all the more clear now that Nighthawk has his very own version of Batman’s most iconic rogue.This isn’t the first time that Marvel has decided to take a page from DC’s book.
Over the years, Marvel has taken quite a bit of inspiration from their main competitors, with the most famous example being Deadpool, which was clearly based on Deathstroke, their names even being Wade Wilson and Slade Wilson respectively. Hawkeye was inspired by Green Arrow, and it’s a known fact that Thanos was directly inspired by Darkseid. It’s not just individual characters either, as the Thunderbolts team, who have an upcoming movie, are taken directly from DC’s Suicide Squad.
Marvel has been taking inspiration from each other for decades
That’s not to say that Marvel is the one Only Someone who copied their letters. DC is also guilty of this, with some of the most notable examples being Black Racer and Silver Surfer, Commander Steele and Captain America, Red Lion and Black Panther, and many Many More. The biggest example would be Aquaman and Namor, with Aquaman going to be one of DC’s most prominent heroes for many years to come. When two companies are the biggest in the industry, it is not surprising when they have ideas that overlap, or when they decide to take direct inspiration from each other.
DC recently debuted their own version of Spider-Man and has made obvious references to Marvel in the past. There was even an implied secret crisis that would involve Superman going up against a “Jade Giant”, which is a clear reference to the Hulk. The two companies have dozens of crossovers, such as Justice League/Avengers and the Amalgam Universe. Although the two companies don’t cross paths much anymore, it’s clear that they still have a healthy respect for one another, and that sometimes an idea that starts in DC May just find his way to these Wonder universe eventually.
Venomverse Reborn #4 is now on sale from Marvel Comics.