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Is Superman Marvel or DC?


Since the release of the Man of Steel, Batman Vs Superman, and The Justice League, it's hard to turn around anywhere without seeing the chiseled jaw of Krypton's last son. It's through this re-vamp of Superman alongside new superhero films being released every year that new Superman fans are born every day.

There is no doubt that Superman is the world's most famous hero. However, this begs the question to new fans as to why they don't see Superman in the same universe as The Avengers or some of their other favorite superheroes.

So is Superman Marvel or DC?

Henry cavill as superman in DC's man of steel
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When was Superman Created?

Superman is a superhero that can be found within the DC Universe. He was created by writers Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster back in 1938 and first appeared in Action Comics #1 which was a subsidiary for Detective Comics (which later became DC Comics comics).

Supermans first appearance in action comics #1
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According to online sources, the writers drew inspiration from other science fiction stories in Pulp Magazine. There are certainly similarities between characters like Doc Savage who was the first character to ever have his own fortress of solitude in the Arctic, stand for truth and justice, and also have the first name, Clark.

First Superman Movie?

We first saw Superman come to the screen in the B-film Superman and The Mole Men in 1952. Superman was played by the actor George Reeves, no relation to Christopher Reeves, who went on to play the iconic hero in the feature film Superman in 1978. After the Superman and The Mole Men movie, George Reeves continued to play the character on the tv series Adventures of Superman from 1952-1958.

Superman and the mole men with George Reeves
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The Superman franchise has been rebooted several times including Christopher Reeves' performances across the four Superman films, Superman Returns with Brandon Routh in 2006, and finally with Henry Cavill bringing the character to the screens in Man of Steel in 2013.

Is Superman Marvel? - Amalgam Universe

Superman is absolutely from DC and not Marvel. However, new fans have a right to be confused as they may have seen Superman fighting or teaming up with Marvel characters within the comic books.


In 1976, Marvel and DC collaborated to co-publish a Superman Vs The Amazing Spider-Man comic book in which the two had to team up to fight Lex Luthor and Doctor Octopus.

Superman Vs Spiderman
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In 1996 however, DC Comics and Marvel Comics came together to take a step further and create a publishing imprint, Amalgam Comics. It was here that they merged some of their most loved characters into one. We saw Wonder Woman and Storm from the X-Men combine and become "Amazon". Batman was combined with wolverine to become Dark Claw. As for Superman? He was merged with Captain America to become Supersoldier - the ultimate good guy!

In conclusion, despite these mini-series being popular among fans, Superman still belongs well and truly to DC Comics and the DC Universe.

Related: Is Batman Marvel or DC? Character History Explained

For more articles like this, take a look at our DC page.