Marvel Officially Reveals Its Versions of DC’s Most Iconic Gotham Villains (Including Joker & Riddler)

Warning! Contains Spoilers For Venomverse Reborn #4!Marvel and DC have been trading ideas for decades, with each of them taking inspiration from the other. Marvel has just taken things a step further though 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 these iconic DC villains in Venomverse Reborn #4 story “Nighthawk V. Hyperion” by writer Dan Slott and artist Stephen Byrne. This story follows a dark Earth where the Squadron Supreme, Marvel’s very own version of the Justice League, is taken over by Venom. This disaster starts with Nighthawk, a clear parody of Batman, being upset that every year he gets older, and his villains only get more aggressive.

It seems that, over the years, Nighthawk has been having trouble facing off against his rogues’ gallery, which includes such heavy hitters as Laughing Cat, Gigglepus, Agent Orange, The Exclaimer, And Rockface, who all reside in Grey Haven, a mock-up of Gotham and Bludhaven. These villains are also all clear parodies of Joker, Harley Quinn, likely Poison Ivy, the Riddler, and Clayface.

Nighthawk Uses Venom To Bring Down His Rogues

Venomverse Reborn #4 by Writer Dan Slott, Artist Stephen Byrne, and Letterer Travis Lanham

There’s been a few times that Marvel has copied DC, and Squadron Supreme is a major example of this. Wanting a crossover between the Avengers and the Justice League, DC wasn’t interested at the time. Not wanting to cancel their event, Marvel simply created their own Justice League with the Squadron Supreme and stocked them with clear parody characters such as Nighthawk and Hyperion. This inspiration is only made all the more clear now that Nighthawk has his very own version of Batman’s most iconic rogues, and this isn’t the first time Marvel has decided to take a page from DC’s book either.

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 well-known fact that Thanos was directly inspired by Darkseid. It wasn’t just individual characters either, as the Thunderbolts team, who have an upcoming movie, were directly taken from DC’s Suicide Squad.

Marvel Has Been Taking Inspiration From Each Other For Decades

This isn’t to say that Marvel is the only one who’s copied their characters. DC is plenty guilty of this as well, with some of the most notable examples being Black Racer and Silver Surfer, Commander Steel and Captain America, Red Lion and Black Panther, and many many more. The biggest example would be Aquaman and Namor, with Aquaman going on to be one of DC’s most prominent heroes for many years. When two companies are the biggest in the industry, it’s not too 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 facing off against a “jade giant”, which is a clear reference to the Hulk. The two companies have had dozens of crossovers, such as Justice League/Avengers and the Amalgam Universe. While the two companies don’t cross over much anymore, it’s clear that they still have a healthy respect for one another, and that sometimes an idea that starts in DC might just find its way over to the Marvel universe eventually.

Venomverse Reborn #4 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.