Legacy vs Original Characters

[skyvolt2000]

DC can't be pinned as being any less guilty of this than Marvel is. All those All New and All Different mantle changes Marvel hyped up were eventually revoked and the originals came back, and that's not even the first time it happened. John Walker? Bucky? Thunderstrike? Rhodey? Ben Reilly?

Everyone else was doing that as it pertained to a STORYLINE. None were showcased as being there forever.

Also until the second Thor movie- if a movie or tv show by Marvel was coming out-they made sure who you saw MATCHED who was in the comics.

The majority of the replacements got new names and books to try out.

All this crying over there were lead by entitled fans who CLAIMED to know Marvel but never read the books and had issues with POC not being in the background.

Rhodey at most was Iron Man for 20 issues. Both times left a door open for TOny to come back and he did.

DC's issue is you saw the legacies way more than many of the originals.

See Jaime Reyes-most folks did not hear of Ted Kord.
If you were born after 1986-John Stewart was the GL not Hal.

[TheRay]

The Flash? Jay, Wally, Barry, in that order.

I’m okay with Jay being Earth 2 Flash and Barry being Earth 1 Flash, but in certain circumstances what would be so bad about just calling Barry The Streak or something? They already call him the Red Comet or whatever sometimes anyway.

[DrNewGod]

I really like the concept of Legacy heroes because it gives the OGs the chance to have poignant endings to their stories. I don't wanna see Bruce Wayne never get over his trauma and continuously push his family away... it's just not interesting at a certain point.

Of course the OGs will always come back but I'd be fine with a bunch of them retiring or finding other jobs (kings, queens, space ambassadors, etc.) for 5ish years before having a bombastic return.

Yours is one of the most interesting opinions I have read. I love your vision of Batman.

At the same time, I can see Bruce being the tragic figure, doomed to ruin and hope existing in the idea Grayson is the one that finds peace.

This something I loved about Batman Beyond, although I couldn't articulate it until I read your post: it let Batman go all the way to the end of his dark road, but gave him some peace through a more optimistic suçcessor. That's good use of Legacy. And it happened in an Elseworld, as it should.

[Agent Z]

Everyone else was doing that as it pertained to a STORYLINE. None were showcased as being there forever.

Ben was. The reason for him being retconned into the original Peter Parker was because Marvel wanted to reset the Spider-Man books to when the main hero was young and unattached. They undid that change later.

[PCN24454]

I really like the concept of Legacy heroes because it gives the OGs the chance to have poignant endings to their stories. I don't wanna see Bruce Wayne never get over his trauma and continuously push his family away... it's just not interesting at a certain point.

Of course the OGs will always come back but I'd be fine with a bunch of them retiring or finding other jobs (kings, queens, space ambassadors, etc.) for 5ish years before having a bombastic return.

It’s sad. Batman could kill himself in despair of never being able to progress from his trauma and he’d still come back as Batman.

[TheRay]

Steel belongs under legacy.

If you really want to sure, I guess. To me, though, Steel does not fit because he has his own identity, and I honestly feel like "legacy character" holds a negative connotation.

[PCN24454]

If you really want to sure, I guess. To me, though, Steel does not fit because he has his own identity, and I honestly feel like "legacy character" holds a negative connotation.

Isn’t that the problem? What’s wrong with inheriting someone else’s legacy? It wasn’t forced on him. It was something he chose for himself. It was something that he wanted to continue.

[TheRay]

Being in somebody else's shadow. It's the same argument people use against sequels; they can never measure up to the original. But that isn't the case with Steel because he no longer needs to be measured against Superman.

[Agent Z]

Being in somebody else's shadow. It's the same argument people use against sequels; they can never measure up to the original. But that isn't the case with Steel because he no longer needs to be measured against Superman.

Not all legacies are in the shadow of their predecessor. Jaime Reyes, Michael Holt and Scott Lang have long since overtaken their predecessors in popularity.

Even then, "not as popular as this other guy" is hardly a fair criticism. Plenty of characters, legacy or no, are in someone else's shadow. We might as well cancel every DC character that isn't Batman if that's the case.

[TheRay]

No. Just give them their own identity. It’s not hard.

[PCN24454]

No. Just give them their own identity. It’s not hard.

Actually, it is. New identities are very hit-or-miss.

While people criticize a lot of new superheroes for being copies of old ones, they at least get remembered compared to a lot of "original" new guys.

[TheRay]

I've never seen one that was "hit or miss". Maybe "hit or miss" in the way that some people like Superman and some people don't, but aside from that.

[Samm]

In recent years I feel DC relies way to much on legacy POC characters that will always stand in the shadow of their White counterparts. Those characters are the ones getting all the attention over their original creation counterparts. It’s like, quick we need more diversity... oh I know let’s create another Green Lantern or make a POC Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman... A comment I saw on Facebook said it best

“why settle for a legacy who will always stand in his/her White counterparts shadow, depending on them to even exist, when I can have an original character who will never have that problem!”

[Captain Nostalgia]

Original characters.

As a Wally West fan,... who is really the only legacy character that was generally accepted, I can honestly say I'm really enjoying Barry Allen at present.

It would be nice if they could both have books, and Wally kept his current uniform that shows his cropped red hair.

[DrNewGod]

While I voted original, it's a case-by-case issue. To me, the original Dr. Fate is unsurpassed, but Holt far surpasses Sloane as Mr. Terrific.