Marvel Comics isn’t as known for their sidekicks as their distinguished competition, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have any. In the Golden Age of Comics, sidekicks were all the rage and several Marvel heroes were given them. When the House of Ideas got back into the superhero game in the ’60s, they went in a different direction than the traditional superhero/sidekick dynamic. Their heroes didn’t recruit teens to jump into battle with them, but they would still have sidekicks. Many Marvel sidekicks in the Silver Age and beyond were adults, yet there was still the same basic idea – a younger hero who was being trained by the older one.
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One thing that a lot of Marvel fans don’t want to admit (probably because they’ve never read comics and believe that the House of Ideas is the end-all, be-all of superheroes) is how much the publisher has copied DC over the years. While Marvel has taken things in new directions, they’ve definitely been inspired by their distinguished competition. Many of their sidekicks were pretty overtly influenced by DC sidekicks, even if they’ve gone in their own directions over the decades. These are Marvel’s seven best copycat sidekicks, some of whom have reached the highest levels of the superhero community.
7) Microchip
The death of Alfred Pennyworth was a major status quo change for the Dark Knight. Most people don’t think of Alfred as a sidekick, but he was honestly Batman’s most important one. He kept Bruce going behind the scenes, working with the Bat-Computer, helping him come up with plans, acting as a sounding board, and very rarely leaving the cave to help the Caped Crusader in the field. Eventually, the Punisher comics would debut their version of Alfred in Microchip. Microchip did all of the same things that Alfred did, keeping Frank going. Eventually, he became somewhat villainous and ended up betraying the Punisher, after which point he would end up dead. He’d get resurrected by the Hood to hurt Castle, but he would end up betraying the villain and would start working with the skull-wearing vigilante again, taking his old spot as Marvel’s answer to Alfred.
6) Scout
The Sentry is one of Marvel’s most intriguing heroes. The Golden Guardian of Good was meant to be the Marvel version of Superman, so he had various elements taken from various DC superheroes. Since he was a traditional type of hero, he was given a sidekick named Scout, who was basically his version of Captain Marvel Jr., a younger version of the main hero with weaker powers. However, things would go very badly for Scout in the final battle with the Void before the Sentry disappeared; he lost his arm to the tendrils of the monster. When the Sentry was erased from everyone’s mind, he lost his entire superheroic career. Years later, after getting his memory back, he would go after his former mentor for revenge, trying to steal his powers and become something again. The Sentry defeated him, with Scout subverting the usual sidekick tropes to become some unique.
5) Jubilee
Jubilee was introduced in 1989 and meant to be the ultimate ’80s mallrat teen. She was known for her mutant fireworks powers and her big attitude, quickly becoming Wolverine’s best friend, partner, and biggest cheerleader. While an argument can be made that she was a unique character all her own, there’s no doubt in any comic fans’ minds that she was basically the ’80s version of Robin. Wolverine had reached a similar level of popularity to the Dark Knight by 1989 and Jubilee acted as the contrast for the gruff, rather dark hero. She brought humor and light to Wolverine’s world that wouldn’t otherwise be there and her big yellow jacket had the exact same vibe as Robin’s cape. There’s a reason that her and Tim Drake were teamed together in the various DC/Marvel’s crossovers of the mid ’90s.
4) Sam Wilson
Sam Wilson becoming Captain America has been quite a ride. Starting out as the Falcon, he worked with Captain America for a time before becoming an Avenger, and then his own hero. While he still worked with Steve Rogers over the years, he was the Falcon more than Cap’s sidekick and would eventually reach a level where he was able to take the mantle of Captain America. Sam may seem like a more original type of sidekick than any of the others, but he’s basically always been Dick Grayson, or at least the teen/adult version of the character. He was a trusted sidekick to an iconic hero, got his chance on a team to prove that he wasn’t completely defined by his mentor, and worked on his own for years, eventually becoming Cap. Dick did the same thing once he got a little older and once you see the parallels between where they’ve been over the years, you’ll never not notice them.
3) Carol Danvers
Carol Danvers has become one of Marvel’s most important heroes, taking up the mantle of Captain Marvel after years as Ms. Marvel, Binary, and Warbird. Carol was an Air Force intelligence officer who started to hang around Captain Marvel, eventually gaining powers of her own because of her hidden Kree heritage as Ms. Marvel. She’d end up joining the Avengers and the rest is history, growing as a hero until she’s become Captain Marvel, taking her mentor’s place. Carol isn’t like sidekicks like Wonder Girl or Supergirl, but she is from that lineage – she’s basically Mar-Vell’s Mary Marvel. She has adventures with her male counterpart and eventually gets similar powers, but then grew in her own directions. When you look at her as Mary Marvel, it makes a lot of the early moves made with the character make more sense.
2) Rick Jones
When the Marvel Universe started in 1961, DC had Snapper Carr hanging out with their heroes since 1960. Carr was a young teenager who ended up hanging around the Justice League and Stan Lee decided at some point that the House of Ideas needed their own version to be the reader stand-in. Rick Jones was introduced in The Incredible Hulk #1 and soon became a roving sidekick, helping bring together the Avengers, and eventually even working as Bucky for Captain America. Jones had a lot more staying power than Carr, growing and changing over the years, dying and getting resurrected, gaining and losing powers, and the like, while Carr hasn’t been seen in ages.
1) Bucky
Bucky is one of Marvel’s most iconic heroes, playing a massive role in the history of the Marvel Universe. James Barnes was assigned to be the partner of Captain America. While he seemed like he was the standard young daredevil sidekick, he was actually a highly trained black ops operative, sneaking in at night and softening up targets for Cap’s attacks the next day. He worked with his mentor for years and ended up being thought dead after he and Cap tried to stop a remote control missile launched by Baron Heinrich Zemo and later becoming the Winter Soldier. While Bucky has been retconned into a very different character, he was basically Robin in his early years. He was the funny, brightly colored sidekick meant to give the kids a character they could pretend to be. He’s been retconned, but that doesn’t change his inspiration.
Who’s your favorite Marvel copycat sidekick? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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