Witha woman taking on the mantle of Thoranda new , heavily armored Batmanin Gotham , the idea of a “ replacement hero ” — where a new character is introduced to take up a legacy hero ’s name — is back in style . But more often than not , these handshake - ups do n’t workout . Here ’s eight of the weird and worst replacement .
https://gizmodo.com/marvel-finally-reveals-the-identity-of-the-new-female-t-1703907630
https://gizmodo.com/the-identity-of-dcs-new-batman-may-have-been-discovered-1697984732
Ah , H.E.R.B.I.E. Not a traditional replacement torpedo , but one carry out of necessity . When NBC decided to bring the Fantastic Four to telly as an revive series , the Human Torch was off the plug-in — many hearsay suggest television receiver executives wanted to can Johnny Storm out of a fear kid would seek to emulate his exponent through ego - immolation , but the tangible truth was that Marvel had optioned the hero to Universal for a potential stand - alone movie . Knowing full well they could n’t have the Fantastic Four being the Terrific Three , NBC and Marvel decide a switch was need . Apparently their good melodic theme for replacing the Human Torch was a woefully plaguey golem .
Pitched by Stan Lee himself , the sappy comic respite character had detractors from the get - go — Dave Cockrum was primitively commission to contrive the robot , but he abominate the character so much he hurriedly start the project , to be exchange by Jack Kirby . H.E.R.B.I.E made his debut in the short lived The New Fantastic Four , but woeful animation lineament and world-wide interview disfavor of a Fantastic Four that was n’t really the Fantastic Four spark advance to its swift cancellation , but H.E.R.B.I.E. live on in the comics , where he became a less bothersome digest character rather than a replacement .
Ever wondered why Jessica Drew ’s Spider - Woman did n’t really have anything to do with wanderer - powers outside of some net on her turnout ? Fearful that a rival company could make a female vis-a-vis to Spider - Man , Stan Lee hastily decided to make a one - off Spider - Woman so Marvel could sit down on the name . Jessica Drew was really only connect to Spider - Man by her soubriquet , but a quick receipt from fans promptly escort her evolve beyond a name - hunker down character into a successful Hero of Alexandria in her own right , especially given that she was n’t just a female Peter Parker ( unlike the initial approaching to DC ’s Batgirl and Supergir ) .
So then Marvel decided to ditch Jessica and get a novel Spider - Woman who was fundamentally a female Peter Parker . Yay !
Spider - Woman was cancelled and Jessica all but vanished in Marvel canyon ( and would n’t return as Spider - Woman until the mid-2000s ) . In the original Secret Wars event , Julia was introduced as the novel Spider - Woman , with a costume similar to Spider - Man ’s then brand - raw pitch-dark symbiote suit , along with a power set similar to Peter . Fans were already outraged as Jessica ’s swift expiration , and Julia was never fully accepted as Spider - Woman , finally contribute up the mantle and becoming the Spider - hero Arachne .
What happens when Tony Stark turn sorry ? plain , you go back in clock time to get his younger self to replace him . At least , that ’s what befall in the woeful story arc The Crossing . Tony was divulge as a traitor to the Avengers , having been psyche controlled by time - traveling supervillain Kang the Conqueror . After slay a few small-scale Avengers allies ( his most far-famed kill probably being distaff Yellowjacket Rita DeMara ) , the enthralled Tony stands alongside Kang against the Avengers . Fearful that they ca n’t overreach him , they decided to leap back in time , nab Teen Tony , and get him to be the newfangled Iron Man .
Imagine the worst parts of amusing book Tony Stark ( who , before gaining his snarky repp after the first Iron Man moving picture , was usually just a douche ) , wrapped in the consistence of a mid-’90s pestering teenager . Being face with his former self drive the brain - controlled Adult Tony to sacrifice himself to stop Kang , and Kid Tony became the unexampled Iron Man before promptly being killed off . The dead Tonys were blend together two years later during the Heroes Reborn arc , with the right , grown - up Tony becoming Iron Man once more .
The ‘ 90s : the era of the anti - Cuban sandwich . When being black and gritty and extreeeeme was de rigueur , many heroes found themselves compromising once rock - satisfying nonsuch after being pushed to the edge . In some sheath , they were replaced by characters who embodied the precise opponent of what they stood for . subject in percentage point , Jean - Paul Valley turn as the Dark Knight .
When Batman ’s back was broken by Bane in the iconic Knightfall story arc , homicidal vigilante Jean - Paul ( cognize as Azrael ) donned the Bat - Cowl . With a uproariously ‘ 90s mightiness armor Batsuit to match his ‘ XC extreme mental attitude , Jean - Paul ’s capability for violence as Batman was everything that Bruce Wayne had stood in opposition of . When Bruce fully healed , he was angry at what Jean - Paul did in his name . He face Jean - Paul and beat him into compliance . Bruce was Batman once more , submit the unawares - lived Jean - Paul Batman to being Azrael again .
Many of the entries on this leaning face disceptation upon their initiation , but none could surpass the storm of lover outrage that come with Ben Reilly , and the notorious Clone Saga that come in with him .
The Clone Saga , make in reply to the financial successes of DC ’s Batman and Superman replacement story lines , introduced Ben as the “ literal ” Spider - Man , with Peter Parker being told he was in fact a ringer of Ben . The revelation almost shattered Peter , who promptly drop by the wayside as Spider - Man and bequeath NYC for Portland , while Ben assumed the Spider - title . After 32 years of Peter Parker , fans were incense . However , monumental repercussion did nothing to stay the money being made from the storyline though , and Marvel ’s initial plan for a twelvemonth - long bow was spin out to last as long as it could .
The attempts to extend the story however , destroyed it . Although Ben as the replacement Spider - Man was primary among the list of criticism ( as was the Christ’s Resurrection of Norman Osborn during the arc ) , the ridiculous complexity and dateless cloning roguery turned the report into a ful- on fiasco for Marvel . A minuscule curt of a year after he became Spider - Man , Ben was revealed as the real clone , and perished — in fact , unusually for comics , he ’s stayed all in ever since .
This was the case that inspired four different entries on this lean , making it perhaps the ultimate replacement hero story in strip account .
The now iconic Death and Return of Superman story line in 1993 ( which really come about because DC were forced to retard the marriage ceremony of Clark Kent and Lois Lane so the Warner Bros.-produced Lois & Clark TV series could also culminate in the dyad ’s marriage at the same time , a welcome piece of marketing synergy ) go out Superman perish in battle with then - unexampled villain Doomsday . The story murder internal mass medium and saw an explosion in cut-rate sale for the already well - sell Superman cartoon strip . After a three - calendar month hiatus for Superman cartoon strip , DC relaunched The Adventures of Superman with Reign of the Supermen ! , introducing not one , but four different permutation for Superman .
There was Man of Steel , an Ironworker who don a special suit of power armor to go on Superman ’s legacy . The Man of Tomorrow was meant to be the “ real ” Superman regress , but was a cyborg . The Last Son of Krypton killed his opposition with mortal energy attacks . The Metropolis Kid was an “ edgy ” teen clone — what is it with the ‘ 90s and edgy teens ? — who hated the estimate of being Superboy alternatively of Superman ( spoilers : he later became Superboy ) . Readers were invited to guess which of the four would become the new Superman .
The answer , however , was none of them . About a class after his death , Superman was converted . Man of Steel renamed himself to simply “ Steel ” and became an important supporting hero in the comics , and the Cyborg Superman , revealed to be the half-crazed Hank Henshaw , pop off on to become a major foe for Superman .
Before the surfeit of replacement heroes in the ‘ 90s comics , the most notable replacement hero was John Walker ’s short stint as Captain America , purportedly as a sideboard to literary criticism that Captain America ’s moral code and patriotism were outdated .
Steve Rogers gave up being Captain America follow a refusal to be part of the U.S. government ’s political docket , as pit to a symbol for American ideals , and the Government resolve a new Captain America would take his place . They chose former shipboard soldier John Walker ( who had previously been the mask hero Super - Patriot , out of a hate of what Captain America stood for ) , and Walker very rapidly became the opposite of Steve Rogers .
Walker ’s Captain America was a tool of the U.S. Government ( in more way than one ) , and his bourgeois stance flew in the face of Steve Rogers ’ affirmative liberalism . Walker was also extremely violent , accidentally murdering several of his opposition in fit of fad . The gritty new Captain America , break by the death of his parent after his identity was revealed , went on a rampage and eventually confronted Steve , but the two teamed up to overcome the Red Skull instead of fighting . A class after becoming Captain America , Walker resigned , and win over Steve to return while he became the US Agent .
The reasoning for Artemis becoming the unexampled Wonder Woman given in the comic strip was n’t as half - hearted as DC ’s , but still roughshod . Queen Hippolyta start out seeing visions of Wonder Woman ’s death , and fearful for Diana , decide to rather declare a unexampled Wonder Woman to take her place in fortune . Alleging that Diana was no longer primed for duty , Hippolyta foretell for a trial of armed combat to determine a new Wonder Woman , even going so far as to mystically weaken Diana so she would lose . Fellow Amazonian Artemis bested her , and was crowned with Diana ’s own tiara as Wonder Woman .
Like her fellow ‘ XC replacing zep , Artemis was an “ extreme ” take on Wonder Woman . She had a harsh personality and a leaning for violence , Artemis eventually became more like Diana over her brief tenure as Wonder Woman , but it was n’t to last . Artemis was Wonder Woman for a year before she die fighting the White Magician , carry through Hippolyta ’s vision . Diana was back as Wonder Woman , and Artemis would after be resurrected and become a supporting character on Themyscira having outlived her original use to both DC and Hippolyta .
Daily Newsletter
Get the good technical school , skill , and culture word in your inbox day by day .
News from the future tense , delivered to your present tense .
You May Also Like
