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While the superheroes of DC and Marvel may seem like fun and games, and they are often the saviors that the world needs, many of these superheroes are riddled with a dark past that the audience is not aware of. After all, even the greatest of men has a skeleton somewhere deep in their closet.
This article is not a criticism but rather an attempt to show that no character can be one-dimensional. Even a hero has many arcs to their character that one might not be aware of.
We have seen the same for villains such as the character of Joker in the 2019 Joaquin Phoenix starrer movie of the same name, or the Joker from Alan Moore's comics. There is a structure in his madness, a past that shaped him into who he is.
This is the same for superheroes in Marvel and DC. There are many layers to the heroes we see on the big screen, and they are worth exploring rather than turning a blind eye to.
Black Adam, Hulk, and two DC and Marvel superheros who bear a dark history
1) Black Adam
The song Anti-hero by Taylor Swift probably goes best for Black Adam, as it is really hard to place him in a black-and-white dynamic. He has many superhero origin stories, and in many of them, his actions seem understandable, if not justified. But that is not to say he did not do terrible things.
The most popular origin story is about Black Adam, an enslaved man. The story takes an even darker turn when readers see that Black Adam becomes resentful when the chosen champion of the Wizard Shazam!, Aman, tries to use his powers to help even the people who enslaved Black Adam.
Readers saw in the comics that he went to horrifying lengths to kill Aman and get his power. But as an enslaved person who has lost everything, his rage does not look villainous but rather humane.
In another storyline, it is demonstrated that it was the daughter of the Wizard Shazam who corrupted Black Adam, and he was stripped of his powers due to the instigation made by the daughter. This makes the reader much more sympathetic to him, much like Harley Quinn, who had a similar story under the influence of the Joker.
However, it is not like he never did anything bad. In many stories, he has done unspeakable things, from turning his love into a zombie to killing the parents of Billy Batson.
2) Spiderman
When you think of the superhero Spiderman, only two words come to mind: friendly and neighborhood. Nothing feels dark or threatening about this friendly neighborhood Spiderman. Buried by the tragedies he has faced, his past trauma often catches up with him, and he forgets where the boundary lies.
The superhero Daredevil once tried to stop him from going too far while he was head-to-head with Sin Eater. Spiderman responded by throwing him out of the window and almost beating him to death.
Not just that, since the MCU is making this decade an era of the Spiderman superhero multiverse, there exists one Spiderman in the multiverse who has resorted to cannibalism. After seeing this storyline, the audience would probably steer clear of being either a friend or neighbor of the friendly neighborhood Spiderman.
3) Hulk
“Steve Rogers: Doctor Banner, now might be a good time for you to get angry.”
“Bruce Banner: That's my secret, Captain: I'm always angry.”
-The Avengers (2012)
So, what happens when the superhero mighty Hulk’s anger meets the dark side? You get the Devil Hulk. The Hulk already symbolizes the famous literary characters of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, who is playing a cat-and-mouse game with himself.
The Devil Hulk, by Paul Jenkins, Ron Garney, and Sal Buscema, is a monstrous creature with all the demonic aspects of Bruce Banner minus the redeeming qualities that make him a hero. The darkness does not stop there. We also have the Savage Hulk, which is when the superhero is fully controlled by his rage without an ounce of rational thought, and the Professor, who is a superhero who has achieved the perfect balance of rage and intellect, only to misuse it, and so on and so forth.
So, for the sake of the expensive New York buildings, the world hopes Hulk would not go rogue in this universe.
4) Daredevil
Everybody loves the superhero Daredevil. It is hard not to. He was blinded as a little boy, and against all odds, he still strives to save the world as a Daredevil, as well as out of costume as a lawyer. While creators Stan Lee and Bill Everett explored him as a more positive hero, when creator Frank Miller took over, things took a much darker turn.
The noir-esque atmosphere of the show Daredevil is the creation of Frank Miller. He was seen as a ruthless fighter who was hell-bent on cleaning up Hell’s Kitchen. Anything and everything that stood between them was vanquished. All the internal struggles, moral battles, and the ruthless ninja-like hero are, after all, what stuck with the audience as well. Although it has been toned down a lot, it still retains its dark past.
5) Batman
Batman probably enjoys the combined popularity of all the superheroes on this list. The caped crusader is indeed seen as a protector of Gotham City. He is someone who brings justice.
However, his superhero origins are quite traumatic. His parents were killed in front of him and he spent the rest of his life trying to bring justice. This can be seen as a form of PTSD that manifests through a sense of vengeance.
Early on, Batman was seen as a ruthless superhero who was not afraid to squash his enemies if that meant achieving his goal of the greater good. In one of the comics, readers even see Batman hanging his enemy from his Batplane.
During the era of Frank Miller taking over Batman, we see him beating an enemy (KGBeast) to near death and leaving him in an abandoned subway to die. This would truly give someone more of a nightmare than a bunch of actual bats.
Nobody can be completely good or bad. It would be a blend of the dark and the good side. That is why the best symbol of human nature is Yin and Yang. What makes them a superhero at the end of the day is their willingness to overpower the darkness and head over to the light.
