{"id":296457,"date":"2025-11-17T05:29:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T05:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/296457\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T05:29:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T05:29:13","slug":"7-avengers-rip-offs-who-became-beloved-characters-in-their-own-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/296457\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Avengers Rip-Offs Who Became Beloved Characters In Their Own Right"},"content":{"rendered":"

As one of the biggest superhero teams in the game, it\u2019s no wonder that the Avengers<\/a> have so many parodies. Now, if you\u2019ve been reading comics as long as I have, you know that Marvel and DC Comics are constantly<\/a> taking good-natured potshots at each other. One will make a parody of a popular hero or villain, and the other will respond in kind. It\u2019s been happening for decades, and the result is DC Comics having more than a handful of characters inspired by notable Marvel icons.<\/p>\n

Sometimes it\u2019s the result of a writer wanting to borrow the elements or aura of an Avenger like Thor. Other times, these characters popped up thanks to a big marketing push like the New Age of DC Heroes (which gave us our greatest amount of Marvel parody characters in recent years). But no matter how they came to be, they ended up becoming well-received heroes in their own right. So please, read on to discover seven Avengers parodies that, amazingly enough, carved out their own space in the DC Universe.<\/p>\n

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I know Deadpool\u2019s not exactly the kind of Marvel hero people think of when they hear \u2018Avenger\u2019, but he\u2019s been on enough associated teams for me. And that\u2019s good, because it gives me a chance to talk about Red Tool, DC\u2019s demented spin on Wade Wilson. Like Deadpool, Red Tool is a superhuman antihero with a smart mouth and a gift for taking punishment. While he was introduced as an antagonist for Harley, the two eventually became allies. Not to mention, fans really liked the idea of a world where Harley and (not) Deadpool could work together.<\/p>\n

6. Damage<\/p>\n

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One such hero that debuted during the New Age of DC Heroes was a revamped version of Damage, who was heavily inspired by Marvel Comics\u2019 Jade Giant, Hulk. DC\u2019s rampaging behemoth didn\u2019t have as many anger issues as the Hulk<\/a>, but Damage had his own problems. Namely, his incredible size and strength were derived from Miraclo, making his powers only last an hour. Damage\u2019s self-titled comic was incredibly good, and fans really took to him. Damage could have been just a generic Hulk parody, but DC actually put some serious thought into him.<\/p>\n

5. Silencer<\/p>\n

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Another New Age of DC Heroes icon that fans gravitated to was Silencer, a character largely inspired by Marvel\u2019s Punisher. Maybe it\u2019s cheating to call her an \u2018Avengers\u2019 parody, but Frank Castle was a part of the Savage Avengers. Anyway, Silencer, aka Honor Guest, is a former assassin who\u2019s called back into duty. Her adventures took her all across the DC Universe, pairing her up with heroes and villains such as Nightwing, Deathstroke, and Wonder Woman. While Punisher is always at odds with the heroes of the Marvel Universe, Silencer has a positive relationship with many DCU icons.<\/p>\n

4. Red Lion<\/p>\n

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I got to tell you, seeing Red Lion come to life was amazing. Christopher Priest, one of the most lauded Black Panther writers in history, took over the Deathstroke title during the Rebirth era. And in it, he introduced a character who\u2019s almost exactly like Black Panther. Like T\u2019Challa, Matthew Bland is a political leader who operates under a costumed identity that utilizes a special, rare material (For Red Lion, it\u2019s promethium instead of vibranium). Fans loved Red Lion in his handful of appearances, so hopefully, he\u2019ll come back one day (maybe under Priest again?).<\/p>\n

3. Thunderer<\/p>\n

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If there\u2019s an Avenger that people really like to see, it\u2019s Thor. That\u2019s probably why The Multiversity had Thunderer take on such a huge role in that event. Like Thor, Thunderer is an elemental god who can control the power of storms themselves (he even uses powerful weapons similar to Mjolnir, like Thunderer\u2019s Thunder-Axe). Thunderer became a crucial member of Justice Incarnate, a team of multiversal heroes dedicated to protecting the various worlds from dark threats that endangered the entire Divine Continuum.<\/p>\n

2. The Terrifics<\/p>\n

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I\u2019ll admit this one is kind of a stretch since every member of the Terrifics<\/a> was a character that already existed prior to their self-titled series. But they were brought together during the New Age of DC Heroes to essentially act as a Fantastic Four-like squad. Unlike the Fantastic Four, a legit family, these people had no choice but to form a team since they were cosmically bound to one another. But that conflict made for an incredibly captivating series and turned them into a team that, to this day, is remembered fondly by fans everywhere.<\/p>\n

1. Sideways<\/p>\n

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As far as I\u2019m concerned, Sideways is the best original character and the best thing to come out of the New Age of DC Heroes period. While he was 100% meant to give Spider-Man vibes, Sideways is so much more. He\u2019s a kid who was blessed with the incredible cosmic power to create rifts in space and travel between his world and the worlds beyond. And while his comic was unfortunately canceled, Sideways keeps popping up to the delight of fans. The world could always use more Spider-Man, but Sideways was and will always be so much more.<\/p>\n

Who are some of your favorite Avengers rip-offs? Let us know below and join the conversation now in the\u00a0ComicBook Forum<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As one of the biggest superhero teams in the game, it\u2019s no wonder that the Avengers have so…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[51919,9417,88,125058,24783,206],"class_list":["post-296457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-avengers","tag-dc-comics","tag-entertainment","tag-list-feature","tag-marvel-comics","tag-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/296458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}