Earth 616 vs. Earth-199999

For the purpose of this article, I will be referencing the MCU portrayal of heroes as Eath-199999. Earth 616 will remain the identifier for the original Earth in the comics. This depiction is important because when Marvel Entertainment released Marvel rights to Disney, Kevin Fiege refers to the original earth in the MCU as Earth-616 and is continuing to stick to it. Either way, it is awesome to come across such an amazing account of renditions and portrayals of what is supposed to be the same exact characters. This is the exciting part about creativity and perspective when reading, watching, and imagining. If you were to recreate your favorite hero, what attributes would you choose to highlight over others? What visible features would to you water down or amplify? How about that characters judgement and decisions? Original content provides context to all these decisions and it i always a great experience to see the same character come back to life in new ways. The fans will react, which adds to the conversation on how exceptional a hero has turned out, or how the recreation poorly depicts the OG’s. So, how has the MCU been doing on their MCU renditions of OG comic book heroes?

Captain America: This is an easy one. Fans love Captain America front to back. From his early comic book debut, to a formerly casted Johnny Storm actor that has taken up the shield. This rendition in the MCU holds the character true to his old motives, backstory, judgement, and costume. Granted, the costume is a little more detailed in Earth-199999, the format goes hand in hand.

Iron Man: Not many people know this, but Iron Man was not very popular in the comics. He was an ass hole. A C list character with money that was cocky. If an exact copy of the comic book character made it to the big screen, it’s doubtful the fans would receive it well. RDJ did a really good job at adding charisma and his own personal touch to the character. After Blade saving Marvel once, RDJ’s Iron Man is the second coming of Marvel.

Daredevil: Everyone agrees that Matt Murdock’s Daredevil on the big screen is in close relation with his comic book counterpart. Aside from the lack of acrobatics due to budget cuts, his persona, ideologies, and abilities are close to identical. Some debate he isn’t slutty enough, but tbh, who knows what’s going on behind the scenes!

Spider-Man: Tom Holland’s Spider-Man to be specific. This hero has a lot changed about him in Earth-199999. To start, a lot of the people in his life have been altered. His aunt May is a lot younger, MJ does not stand for Mary Jane, Flash Thompson is a weird entrepreneurial fool, and Uncle Ben isn’t the one to deliver the famous Spider-Man quote, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” Though, his abilities are vastly similar. Some fans depict this version of Spider-Man as Iron boy due to Tom Holland’s reliance on Stark Tech for high level encounters. The MCU did hold true to Spider-Man and his superhuman feats. His strength is depicted by blocking Bucky’s punch and catching Cull Obsidian’s Chain Hammer. As an overview, I don’t think anyone is upset about how Spider-Man turned out in the Cinematic Universe.

Thor: Thor is known to have a drastic change in personality in his transfer over into cinema. In the comics, he started off as a noble god. Then in the 70’s he inherited some arrogant and raging traits and eventually emphasized his Nordic traits. In the beginning, the MCU was close to this rendition, but over time he became more comedic. Humorously, they also portrayed him as a drunken oath with a beer belly. Everyone remember when Korg and Thor were gaming against their nemesis, “NoobMaster69”.

Captain Marvel: In the comics, Captain Marvel was Marvel’s answer to Superman. After a successful release year, Marvel had to counter the Superman phenomenon with their own. This holds grounds for debate as to why Captain Marvel in the strongest character in the Marvel Universe. There’s also a lot of interesting information on the copywrite battle over Captain Marvel and DC’s Shazam. Anyway, Captain Marvel began with the name Mar-Vell and was actually a male alien that has fallen in love with Earth and wanted to protect it’s people, much like Clark Kent. After the OG, there are 4 more renditions, including the one we see in theatres. Instead of a direct comparison, I think it would be fair to say that the theatrical version of Captain Marvel is closely modeled after what it means to be Captain Marvel, but her duties seem to focus her attention on the galaxy due to the high presence of super heroes currently on Earth.

Black Panther: In terms of abilities and power, Black Panther remains consistent in his transition from comics to movies. One powere that was left out, probably due to it’s rarity, it necromancy. Yes, the Black panther has the ability to temporarily bring back the deceased through his connection to the Ancestral Plane. Another difference is T’Challa gains the thron at a much younger age. In the comics, T’Challa takes the Wanda throne in his teens, maybe early 20’s.

Hawkeye: A lot of fans see the Hawkeye in the MCU as the Ultimate Version he matures into in the comic books. This is due to his leadership, seriousness, and lack of quips. Hawkeye was know in the comics to have a cocky side that would go back and forth with Captain America. Aside from a few jokes prior to Age of Ultron, Clint is referred to as Clint more than his super hero alter ego, “Hawkeye”. Also, his life is non existent prior to SHIELD which takes away from his character.