Generally it is the other way around. Marvel comics inspire and influence Marvel Movies. That is not always the case though. Turns out, it is a two way street. Sometimes, Marvel Movies become so popular they ended up changing Marvel Comics. Some of these changes make sense. The rest of them don’t always do.
Hollywood dabbling into the comic book arena is not a new thing. But the film industry changing such a niche segment like Marvel Comics sure does sound interesting. These changes are permanent now in the comic books. Fans have stopped complaining and if you find yourself raising your eyebrows, get in line. We all are (were) pissed.
X-Men (2000) Forced Marvel Comics To Go For All-Black, Yellow Accent Outfits
Till 1999, the majority of X-Men comics showed the various X-Men wearing colorful outfits. Wolverine wore yellow spandex. Rogue wore her signature green and yellow costume. Even Cyclops had his own blue tinged overalls with yellow costume. Every X-Man had a very specific costume that looked good on him or her.
Then came the 2000 Fox film – X-Men. The movie gave the X-men uniforms, which weren’t an unusual thing in comic books. But the fact that the movie popularized those jet-black X-men costumes was what drove Frank Quitely and Grant Morrison to start their New X-Men run. The comics started imitating the X-Men movie costumes.
Blade (1998) Completely Changed His Origin Story In Comics
Blade started out as a pretty obscure character. His origin story was nothing to boast about either. Blade was still in his mother’s womb when a vampire killed his mother during childbirth. Blade got superhuman longevity and immunity to vampire bites. He still used silver blades to kill vampires and got so good at it that he became infamously known as “Blade”. He was originally just a regular human being.
When Blade came in 1998, it gave the Wesley Snipes character a whole new array of powers. He was now half-human and half-vampire. He had all their powers and none of their weaknesses. The movie was so popular that in 1998’s Marvel Team-Up #7, Blade is bitten by Morbius, gaining his signature daywalking powers.
Avengers (2012) Changed The Chitauri From Cunning Shapeshifters To Mere Pawns Of Thanos
Many do not know this but the Chitauri have been there since a long time in the comics. They first appeared in Ultimates #8. Their original MO was changing their shape and voice into whichever human being they ate and then infiltrating the government. In many ways, they were like Skrulls. They tried to conquer Earth during World War Two but failed. The Chitauri’s goal was to crush all free will in the universe.
Fast-forward to 2012 and we finally see the Chitauri in a live action movie. The difference is – they aren’t who they were in the comics. The Chitauri were an alien armada under Thanos‘ command. Even their appearance is different than in the comics. Marvel tried to bring the version of Chitauri from Marvel Movies during 2013’s Nova #4.
Iron Man 2 Changed Nick Fury’s Origin Story For The Better
The original white caucasian version of Nick Fury appeared in 1963. Created by Stan Lee and jack Kirby, he became an instant hit. Nick Fury would lead marvel’s premier spy organization and his Howling Commandos would save the world many times over. The Ultimate Marvel Universe had a whole new version.
A new Nick Fury was introduced in 2001, many years before the same version of Nick Fury appeared in the MCU. An African-American Nick Fury modeled after Samuel L Jackson already had a comic book presence before the movie made him famous. In 2012, Marvel comics introduced a new origin story for Marcus Johnson. Johnson realizes he is the son of the original Nick Fury. After losing an eye and joining SHIELD, Nicholas Fury Jr. replaced Nick Fury Sr. as the agency’s director.
Age Of Ultron Turns The Maximoffs From Mutant Freaks To Lab Guinea Pigs
The brother-sister duo came forth in 1964 in Marvel comics. That was five decades before the maximoff twins got their live action debut in MCU. Originally, they were mutants, children of Magneto, who sided with many teams including the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
In Age of Ultron, wanda and Pietro are laboratory freaks created after testing the Mind Stone on their bodies. In 2015’s Uncanny Avengers #4, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are revealed to be experiments. But instead of Hydra, it was the High Evolutionary that gave them their powers.
