It’s not a bird, it’s not an airplane, it’s not Superman. The superhero of the new Marvel installment has not finished landing in theaters and has only generated controversy. And it is that Ikaris seems to raise suspicions among DC fans for his great resemblance to the man of steel . But… are they so identical?
Who created Ikaris and The Eternals?
The Eternals ( Los Eternos in Spanish) was a creation of Jack Kirby in 1976 after his return to Marvel Comics. The American cartoonist and writer had spent 5 years working for DC, where he did not achieve the professional success he was looking for. After his reinstatement, the author did not want to rejoin the main Marvel universe . His head was full of new plans and totally innovative concepts. Also, he disliked the idea of Fantastic Four’s cartoonists and writers being removed from his work so that he could regain control. Marvel listened to his words and gave him complete freedom to create his new projects.
Kirby’s The Eternals franchise was born with inspiration from Erich von Däniken’s pseudoscientific hypotheses. These hypotheses defend that the development of our species was conditioned by extraterrestrial influence. This, coupled with his previous work in DC with New Gods (New Gods), formed the perfect base to build your new universe of superheroes.
The origin of the controversy between Ikaris and Superman
Now that we know that the origin of The Eternals and Ikaris have a certain influence from DC, it is time to delve into the controversy that has formed between Ikaris and Superman. It started out as a typical Marvel movie joke in one of their promo videos. A boy pointed to Ikaris and said “It’s Superman! With his cape and shooting laser beams from his eyes! ‘ To which Ikaris replied “I don’t wear a cape.”
Since then, there is no shortage of theories about who Ikaris really is. And it is that for many, Marvel has crossed a new frontier by accepting a DC character into their own cinematic universe, which is known as the MCU.
Others go much further and their theories defend that Marvel has simply accepted the existence of DC comics in their cinematic universe. An even funnier twist that further fuels this debate while providing a strong counterweight to counter accusations of plagiarism.
Similarities between Ikaris and Superman
Both characters fulfill the role of “The Messiah”
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster surely weren’t very subtle when it came to building the Superman character . These two artists of Jewish origin were inspired by their own religion to create this superhero. Perhaps the most obvious clue is the hero’s own first name, Kal-el, which means “the voice of God” in Hebrew.
This fact has become more and more evident and constant over time, bringing the character of Superman closer and closer to Christianity . In The Man of Steel (Zack Snyder, 2013), the analogy is repeated in each scene of the film. Snyder’s Clark Kent, for example, begins his wanderings working on a fishing boat, where he appears to have an uncanny knack for spotting schools of fish. The age of the character is also constantly repeated throughout the film , making it clear to the viewer that the hero will not die in this film.
The origin of Ikaris is on the other hand based on Greek mythology . His great parallelism between the myth of Icarus and the legend of Noah’s Ark is also quite evident.
Neither Superman nor Ikaris are simple superheroes. Its roots are built with the same fibers as our own culture. They exist in fiction, but their origins are present in our society , culture, and religious beliefs. This is something that the director of the film has defended on numerous occasions to give consistency to the characters in her work.
Extraterrestrial origin
The Man of Steel was just a child when he left on a ship from Krypton , his home planet. His parents, Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van managed to save his life by launching him into space just before the planet collapsed.
On the other hand, Ikaris was born on our planet . Specifically in Polaria (Siberia). However, he was spawned by “The Celestials,” extremely powerful, humanoid-looking beings. In addition to not belonging to our world, these characters have kept a great halo of mystery around their origin for years.
Powers
Both Superman and Ikaris can fly, possess superhuman strength and speed, and are capable of shooting lightning bolts through the eyes.
To this we must add that both are invulnerable. They cannot be pierced by a bullet, nor can they be burned. They’re also immune to exhaustion, making them a really tough pair of heroes to defeat.
Differences between Ikaris and Superman
Aesthetic differences
If we stick to the purely aesthetic part , we must defend that the original Ikaris of the comics is not so similar to the Superman that has reached our days.
Starting with the casting, the choice of Scotsman Richard Madden does not seem wrong. After all, an actor with similar traits to the original character has been sought . This does not mean that issues such as the exact tone of the hair or its length have not been respected, since tracing these attributes to the letter would be really exaggerated on the big screen.
The costume we see in Chloé Zhao’s film has been completely redesigned from the original concept. The clothing of the Ikaris from the comic was much more similar to that of Superman of his time if we compare both the design and the colors.
However, the Superman that we have been able to see recently on the big screen does not correspond to the one reflected in the original comics. Snyder took a dark approach to the character and that has been etched in our retina. Superman’s muted blues and reds seem to have come to stay. That is probably the bottom of the question of the resemblance between the two characters.
Not all powers are identical
Although we cannot say for sure until we have seen the movie, the truth is that the Ikaris of the comics has some powers that the man of steel does not enjoy.
The differences between these two supermen are in the way they obtain their abilities. Superman receives his powers thanks to the Sun. However, Ikaris receives his power from cosmic energy. It does not fly, but levitates controlling gravity. Similarly, the character controls telekinesis and can even transmute matter , although he is quite a beginner at the latter.
And his real name is …
Finally, and in the absence of seeing the movie to be able to make more exhaustive comparisons, there is one more difference between these two heroes. While the Man of Steel was christened Kal-el by his parents on his home planet, as Clark Kent by his adoptive family, and as Superman by American society, Ikaris’s first name has remained unknown to date.
