 Welcome back to Come Again TV, the only place on YouTube where all geek culture collides. I'm Shannon, and today on a new episode of Marvel Vs DC, we're going to find out who Marvel Superman really is. So stay tuned. The debate as to which character is Marvel Superman has raised on for years. Is it Hyperion, or is it Sentry, or some other individual in the Marvel Universe? To answer this question, we have to first look back to when Superman was created. The Man of Steel first appeared as a telepathic supervillain in a pulp magazine entitled Rain of the Superman in January of 1933. This incarnation of Superman was a bald madman with the ability to take over the minds of those around him. A vagrant named Bill Dunn who is tricked by an evil scientist into consuming an experimental drug. The drug gives Dunn the powers of mind reading, mind control, and clairvoyance. He uses these powers maliciously for profit and amusement, but then the drug itself wears off. Leaving him a powerless vagrant again, Schuster provided illustrations depicting Dunn as a bald man. So if we look at the original Superman, we see that he shares many similarities to that of X-Men founder Professor Charles Xavier. First appearing in the X-Men number one in September of 1963, Xavier was a telepathic bald man as the majority of people today know, which matches with that of the original Superman, but his personality is also similar to that of the Superman we know today. But since Xavier came along in 1963 and he bears more of a resemblance to the original pulp character rather than the hero we know today, I think we'll go ahead and cross him off this list. The second incarnation of Superman came in July 1933 when Jerry Siegel teamed with Leo Malia and created a scientist adventurer from the far future when humanity has naturally evolved superpowers. Just before the earth explodes, he escapes into a time machine to the modern era whereupon he immediately begins using his superpowers to fight crime. However, this version of Superman was more or less a complete ripoff of Doc Savage, the man of bronze, so we'll go ahead and not even include him into these comparisons. We then receive one other Superman in 1934 before the Superman we know of today was created in 1935. Some of the influences for Superman were John Carter or Mars, Philip Wiley's 1930 novel Gladiator, Zorro, Robin Hood, Popeye, the Scarlet Pimpernel, and Doc Savage. Superman's current power set is that of super strength, invulnerability, super speed, flight, super hearing, telescopic, microscopic x-ray, and heat vision, as well as cold and super breath. With that being said, there are currently three characters in Marvel's history that have long been argued as being Marvel's Superman, Hyperion, Century, and Gladiator. Hyperion made his first appearance in Avengers No. 69 in October of 1969. The first Hyperion, as there have been several alternate versions over the characters history, was Zibran, a member of Squadron Sinister. This Hyperion was a villain, and it was eventually revealed that he was a duplicate of the Earth 712 Hyperion and created by the Grandmaster. The Earth 712 Hyperion was a hero and belonged to the Squadron Supreme, but he eventually became a villain when the Squadron believed they could keep everyone safer by taking control of the nation. Neither of these versions of the character truly fit with who Superman is. It wasn't until 2003 when Marvel Comics launched Supreme Power, a new take on the Squadron Supreme Universe, designated Earth 31916, where Hyperion is an alien baby sent to Earth from a dying planet. The origin mirrors that of Superman, but Hyperion is found and raised by the United States government to be a super-powered operative. He later turns on the government and helps establish Earth 3196's first superhero team. In any case, Hyperion's powers include superhuman strength, stamina, speed, durability, flight, and in a few cases powerful breath enhance sensory perceptions among many other powers. In October of 1977, X-Men No. 107 introduced the world to Gladiator. Gladiator and the Imperial Guard were an homage to DC Comics Legion of Superheroes. Gladiator was the analog to Superworld. The name Gladiator was a conscious homage to the Philip Wiley novel Gladiator from 1930 on which Superman was partially based. His powers include superhuman strength, superhuman speed, stamina, and durability, reflexes, microscopic and telescopic vision, x-ray vision, heat vision, super breath, frost breath, super hearing, regenerative healing, psionic resistance, and warp speed flight. The current version of the Century, which is widely considered to be Marvel's Superman, was introduced in Marvel Night's limited series, The Century No. 1 in September of 2000. His powers include superhuman strength, speed, and stamina, healing factor, light manipulation, nigh-end vulnerability, psionic powers, flight, enhanced senses, transmutation, and intangibility. If we were going only by introduction date, then Hyperion would obviously be Marvel's Superman. However, we should take everything into consideration, introduction date, powers, and whether he's a hero or villain. Hyperion meets the power and introduction date requirements, but given that he's mostly considered a villain, I would actually say that Hyperion is actually Marvel's Black Adam. So that just leaves Century and Gladiator. Both are considered heroes, both have similar powers. Gladiator debuted in 1977, while Century debuted in 2000. I'm going to have to say that given Century's origin story, he's closer to Marvel's version of the Black Terror than he is that of Superman. But if you have to compare him to DC character, Century would most likely be Marvel's Shazam. Which means Marvel's Superman is actually Gladiator. In fact, his real name is even a combination of both of Superman's names, Kal-El and Clark Kent. Gladiator's real name is Kel-Ark. Honorable mentions include Mar-Vell. Captain Marvel made his debut in Marvel Super Heroes number 12 in December of 1967. The reason Mar-Vell was excluded from this list is because the majority of his powers didn't come until much later due to being enhanced by someone else. When he first came to Earth as an agent for the Kree, he had no superpowers. He was only slightly stronger and more durable than most humans. Honorable mention number two is Prime. Since Malibu Comics was bought out by Marvel on November 3rd, 1994, the ultra-verse hero known as Prime became a Marvel character. He made his first appearance in Prime number one, which was a part of Malibu Comics Ultraverse in June 1993. Prime was excluded from this list due to the fact that his secret identity is that of a teenager who transforms into a full-grown super-powered man, which would actually make him another of Marvel's Shazams. The Blue Marvel debuting in Adam, the legend of the Blue Marvel number one in November of 2008. Blue Marvel has nearly all the same powers as Superman to the point that he should by all measure be considered Marvel's Superman. Created by Kevin Greveau, to answer the question what if Superman wore a suit covering his entire body, saved the people of Metropolis and was praised for it. But then what if he removed that suit and revealed to the world that he was a black man? Would they rally behind him or would the government ask him to retire? The reason I excluded him from the list is because he's such a new character in comics and he was meant as more of a what if character than anything, which would actually make him more of Marvel's version of Icon. The next honorable mention is Marvel Man. Created in 1954 as Marvel's answer to DC's Captain Marvel also known as Shazam and we have Wendar the Aquarian first appearing in Fear number 17 in October of 1973. Wendar's origin story is nearly identical to Superman's and even has all of Superman's original golden age powers. The reason he was left off the list is because he was actually more intended as a parody of Superman. Up next is Superior, created by Mark Miller and Lionel Francis U and running from October 2010 until March 2012. A comic inside a comic similar to Big Bad Beetleborgs. A 12 year old boy suffering from multiple sclerosis who idolizes comic book superheroes is granted one wish and becomes superior. The comic character inside this comic may very well be Marvel Superman but the character this story revolves around should actually be considered to be another of Marvel's versions of Shazam. Finally we have Thor, created for Marvel Comics and introduced in Journey into Mystery number 83 in August of 1962. While there are some similarities to DC's Superman, Thor was left off this list simply because he is an actual god in the comics. So there you have it my friends Marvel Comics Superman debate has finally been put to rest with Guardian taking on the title. Hey guys if you enjoyed this video make sure you hit that subscribe button right there and also go ahead and check out one of these two playlists here that goes along with the video you just watched. I'm Shannon for Come Again TV the only place on YouTube where all geek culture collides. Take care my friends.