25 Iconic Cartoon Characters Reimagined As Superheroes

Whether you’re a kid or an adult, watching cartoons is fun. For some of us, watching animated shows on a Saturday morning is a nostalgic memory we hold dear to our hearts, and even as grown-ups, there’s still something so reassuring and comforting about sitting down with a good cartoon show. Nowadays, there’s such a huge variety of cartoons for all ages, from kid-oriented programs, to more mature ones like Archer and Rick and Morty.

With cartoons being such a universally loved genre of television, it’s no surprise that artists have flocked to create alternate fan-art versions of their favorite shows. One specific area of this art is superhero reimaginings. Superheroes have permeated every aspect of our cultural consciousness these days, and it seems like we collectively can’t get enough of caped heroes.

The only thing better than cartoons is superhero cartoons, right? From the weird to the wonderful, these cartoon-superhero mashups put our beloved characters in some pretty odd and funny alternate universe situations where they all become the heroes we know them to truly be. At one time or another, we’ve all wished we could be a heroic warrior. Maybe these artists are living vicariously through their favorite cartoon characters. Whatever the reason they have for creating these great works, we’re sure happy they did as they show great imagination and inspiration. Who knows: these artists could one day create brand new superheroes for us all to enjoy.

With that in mind, here are 25 Iconic Cartoon Characters Reimagined As Superheroes.

25 Looney Tunes

The Looney Tunes gang are known for their madcap antics and their spirited tricks on one another, so seeing them as the Avengers team in this art by dylanliwanag means they’d probably have to put their separate issues with one another aside.

It’s fitting to see Bugs Bunny as Captain America, the perpetual good guy, and of course Taz is well-suited to be the ever-angry, unpredictable Hulk.

The only other one here that really makes sense is Lola Bunny as black Window, as the rest of the choices for the characters seem pretty randomly chosen. Yosemite Sam as Thor? No, thank you.

24 Family Guy

Family Guy’s hero is Peter Griffin, but let’s be honest, aside from fighting a giant chicken, can you really picture him as any kind of fighting force of strength? Well, in case you were having trouble imagining Peter as a superhero, here’s your chance to see what would happen if he became suddenly went from zero to hero.

In this art by gordymcglone we see Peter as Green Lantern fighting Giant Chicken Sinestro, Two-Face mr Pewterschmidt, Chris(the flash) and Super Stewie vs Bizzarro Bertram, and of course BatBrian taking care of business as usual.

23 Mario Bros.

Mario and Luigi have traded in their plumbing tools for superhero suits here in an epic reimagining of Super Mario. We’ve seen these characters get pretty violent with one another in Super Smash Bros, but in this art by TheJayPhenrix, it looks like they’re ready to stop battling one another and start working together in order to save the universe.

The funniest character reimagining here has to be Toad as Captain America.

The incongruity is both hilarious and genius, and we’d love to see Toad take on all evildoers one at a time. Mario as Iron Man is a fitting choice, as is Wario as angry Hulk.

22 Adventure Time

Everyone loves following the adventures of Jake and Finn, but imagine if this awesome duo suited up and became superheroes for the day. What an adventure that would be!

We’re sure the land of Ooo could use the help of Iron Jake and Captain Finn, especially when it comes to dealing with the Ice King. These two would make an epic superhero team, and we can only hope that this imagined scenario gets written into an episode at some point. The show has spawned comic books, video games, and so much merchandise, so our Cap Finn and Iron Jake dreams might just come true someday.

Art by Steven Lefcourt 

21 Disney Princesses

We all know that despite being depicted as gentle beauties, Disney Princesses can kick some serious butt. Mulan saved China – you can’t really get any cooler or more baller than that!

Here we have a Disney-Marvel mashup which sees the princesses suited and booted up as our favorite superheroes, as if we needed any more convincing these ladies are the baddest bunch around.

You wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of these crime-fighting women.

We have no doubt they’d put you in your place if you tried.

Art by Robby at Cartoon Cookie

20 Mickey, Donald and Goofy

He might be called Goofy, but he certainly isn’t goofing around as Wolverine. This Disney-Marvel mashup sees the beloved dog become the fearsome, clawed fighter, while Mickey is looking no-nonsense as Spiderman.

The best reimagining here has to be Donald Duck as The Hulk.

We all know Donald can have quite the temper tantrum when things don’t go his way, so making him become the green monster is absolutely fitting. We might be laughing when Donald throws a tantrum, but we sure wouldn’t be cracking up if he suddenly transformed into the Hulk.

Art by Aeolus06

19 Bob’s Burgers

Here we get a hilarious mashup involving Bob’s Burgers and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Mix the two and what do you get? Burgers of the Galaxy, of course!

While we might think the only weapon Bob can wield is his spatula, clearly he’s just as capable as using quad blasters in his reincarnation as Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord. Linda makes for the sweetest version of Gamora possible, Gene looks like the friendliest Drax ever, and Louise is basically already Rocket. As for Tina, well we couldn’t think of anything better than seeing her become Groot. The comedic genius of it is almost too much.

Art by Richard Garcia

18 Lilo and Stitch

From the first moment Stitch landed on Earth, we knew he was going to be trouble, so it’s only fitting that his reimagined superhero persona would be chief troublemaker and the Joker. Who better to have as his sidekick than Harley Quinn?

Lilo looks like the cutest Harley that could possibly exist, while Stitch looks just a little too deranged to be entirely adorable.

Nonetheless, this DC-Disney mashup makes these two baddies look like innocent angels, meaning they could probably get away with anything. Don’t be fooled by the cuteness, though, these two are definitely up to something.  

Art by Christopher Uminga

17 My Little Pony

While you might have thought the strangest thing to come from My Little Pony was the brony community, you’ll certainly be surprised by how odd this Avengers reimagining of the show is.

Clearly the ponies are tougher than we thought as they look ready to kick some serious butt here, decked out in their Avenger-pony supersuits.

You only have to look at Hulk pony to know this bunch means business, and we don’t think anybody would be daring to take any of these sassy horses for a ride. Neigh to that indeed.

Art by Musapan

16 Minions

Minions exist in order to serve their masters, but clearly in Darren Wallace’s art, this minion has no intention of being anybody’s loyal sidekick.

This Wolverine-Minion mashup sees one of the yellow henchman turn into the clawed mutant, looking ready to fight whatever foe comes his way.

Even though this Minion has turned into one of X-Men’s most fearsome members, he is still undeniably adorable, and we’d love to see a Minion/X-Men movie in the works. Sure, it would be complete gibberish, but just think of the fight scenes – now that we’d pay to see.

15 Pikachu

Pokemon creatures are used to battling it out with one another, and Pikachu definitely knows how to put up a good fight. But just imagine if our favourite Pokemon mascot had his electric powers reinforced by the power of the Norse god of thunder. Now that would be pretty spectacular!

Here we get a Marvel-Pokemon mashup which sees Pikachu become Thor, wielding his hammer Mjolnir in all its glory. We’d love to see Thor Pikachu battle the other Pokemon characters, as the electricity coming off of our yellow pal would be absolutely mind-blowing.

Art by James Farr

14 Powerpuff Girls

The Powerpuff Girls were alway the coolest Cartoon Network ladies around, and their kick-butt attitude and fighting spirit did wonders to help children see that girls could be just as tough as boys and they’re not to be messed with. They might be made of “sugar and spice,” but these girls meant business, especially when it came to fighting Mojo Jojo.

It’s not like these superhero gals needed to be any more heroic than they already are, but this comic book reimagining where the girls become Batgirl, Wonder Woman, and Supergirl sure is great to see.

Art by Mandrie

13 Carl Fredricksen from Up

If there’s one Pixar movie that really unleashed the waterworks for everyone, it’s most certainly Up. Even the coldest of hearts were melted after watching the first ten minutes of this film, and it’s gone down in history as one of the most heart-wrenching moments in an animated movie ever.

The film’s main character Carl might be a bit curmudgeonly when it comes to young explorer Russell, but we certainly wouldn’t think of him as being as angry as Hulk.

Well, despite this, this artist has reimagined the lovable old man as Marvel’s angriest member of the Avengers, a persona Carl could have used when it came to seeing his neighbourhood become gentrified.

Art by Smokemesober

12 Hey Arnold

Another classic ’90s cartoon has gotten a mashup makeover, here with a reimagined scenario involving the characters of Hey Arnold as Teen Titans.

The artist has chosen the Teen Titan persona for each character exceptionally well here, carefully matching their personalities for each one.

We love the serious look Arnold is giving and it’s almost enough for us to ignore his football head. It’s an awesome superhero reimagining, and once again we just wish Hey Arnold were still on the air for this to become a real thing we could watch and enjoy.

Art by DR-WAR

11 Toy Story

We’ve already had a few Disney-Marvel mashups here, but none look as happy as Woody and Buzz do as Captain America and The Thing.

In Toy Story, Buzz and Woody have their differences, but learn to put them aside and become best buds. Could the same thing happen in this Marvel scenario? Well, this artist seems to think so, and we’d love to see Cap and Thing hanging out and kicking back together.

We can definitely see Cap being a great choice for Woody, but our first pick for Buzz probably wouldn’t have been The Thing. Surely Iron Man would have been a better fit, wouldn’t it? Ah well, we’ll have to agree to disagree with this talented artist.

Art by csr1977

10 Winnie the Pooh

Not too much excitement goes on in the Hundred Acre Wood, except of course for pooh sticks drama and whatever stress Rabbit is facing on a day-to-day basis. Well, things would be a lot more dramatic if A.A. Milne’s famous furry friends suddenly found themselves turned into superheroes.

It’s hard to think of any of these characters as Avengers heroes, and we’re not quite sure why these specific Winnie the Pooh animals were given these particular avengers personas. The end result though is very cute, though, and a unique reimagining of two very different ensembles.

Art by Natasha Elizabeth

9 Futurama

Futurama is set in the 31st century, so we’re not sure if superheroes will even be relevant then, but this mashup with the Avengers sure has us hoping the people of the future still love to get their nerd on.

Fry as Captain America is an obvious but great choice here, and of course, the natural fit for Bender is Iron Man.

Not only is Bender already made of metal, but his egocentric ways could definitely pass for Tony Stark. The Professor is also excellently matched with Professor X, giving the whole picture a very believable feel for the Futurama characters.

Art by kameleon84

8 The Simpsons

He might strangle Bart and have a two-digit IQ, but Homer Simpson is the accidental hero that America, and the world over, has been besotted with since The Simpsons first aired in 1989. Thanks to his relatability and humor, Homer Simpson has become one of the most important cultural figures of our time.

It’s only fitting then that everyone’s favorite Middle America family get the heroic treatment they deserve, seen here in a Simpsons-Marvel mashup. There’s a lot to take in in this picture, but it’s every bit as entertaining as the characters are themselves.

Art by Rhyno777

7 Spongebob Squarepants

He’s a sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea, so he’s already pretty super, but the SpongeBob SquarePants crew is given a true heroic makeover here in this Avengers-Spongebob mashup. Of course, Plankton is the one doing evil deeds here and it’s up to Spongebob and his loyal friends to defeat him and his treacherous robo-jellyfish army.

We love that gentle-natured Patrick has been turned into The Hulk here, and SpongeBob as Hawkeye is a little random, but definitely still great.

Squidward is clearly the Captain America we never knew we wanted, and we have no doubt Mr. Krabs could kick some serousbutt as Iron Man.

Art by Axel Ryan

6 Recess

One of the cartoons that defined a lot of ’90s kids childhoods was Recess, a show about an eclectic bunch of fourth-graders who help protect other kids from bullies in the playground. The show is iconic of the late 1990s and to many kids watching at home, these Recess characters became heroes in their own right, for standing up to bullies and being great pals.

It’s only fitting then that this group of friends be portrayed as the superheroes they really were, given an Avengers makeover.

Clearly the artist was a big fan of the show, and we only hope they keep making this great fan-art for all us ’90s kids reminiscing about our favorite childhood TV shows.

Art by raggyrabbit94

5 Ren and Stimpy

Ren and Stimpy got up to all sorts of adventures together on their show, from being space explorers to nature-program hosts, but one of the scenarios we really would have loved to have seen them in is fighting crime as Batman and Robin. Well, thanks to dead82, we can live out these improbable dreams.

It’s easy to imagine Batman Ren calling Stimpy Robin “Eeediot” and running around in mayhem together, trying unsuccessfully to fight crime. Ren and Stimpy is definitely a cartoon we’d love to see come back, especially if it meant seeing this dynamic duo don their suits and capes to track down evil-doers.

4 DuckTales

Who didn’t love watching DuckTales as a kid? It was one of the most entertaining cartoons back in the ’90s with one of the greatest theme songs ever.

Huey, Dewey, and Louie were used to solving mysteries and rewriting history, but we sadly never got to see them become superheroes.

Well, lindziart has come to the rescue and given us the mashup we never knew we wanted. D-d-d danger might lurk behind them, but it won’t matter when they’re suited up like the Avengers.

3 Angry Birds

Although it would have been appropriate, it would have been far too easy to make all these Angry Birds into The Hulk. That being said, it’s surprising to see the green humanoid missing from this artist’s superhero reimagining.

In spite of the fact that we would have loved to have seen The Hulk in this line-up, we’ve still got Wolverine, Superman, Batman, and Captain America.

It’s an odd mix, to be sure, but then again the Angry Birds bunch are can be pretty off-the-wall themselves. Hopefully they’ll be putting all their anger into fighting crime as a collective team.

Art by OlechkaDesign.com

2 Bob’s Burgers

Do you know what’s better than one Bob’s Burgers superhero reimaging? Two Bob’s Burgers superhero reimaginings, obviously.

We loved the Guardians of the Galaxy–Bob’s Burgers mashup so much that we have another one here, this time showcasing a hilariously great action scene. Taking the prison fight in the first Guardians movie as inspiration, Mario D’Anna has placed the Burgers gang in full brawl mode, with Groot Bob at the center of it all.

This has to be one of the greatest cartoon-superhero mashups around, and we only wish we could watch a full episode, or even full movie, with the Burgers of the Galaxy crew.

1 Rick and Morty

One of the biggest TV shows at the moment is Rick and Morty, which regularly subverts and deconstructs well-known storytelling tropes and makes biting commentaries on narrative conventions.

The show took a swing at the super hero trope, with a hilarious satire on the genre in the Season 3 episode “The Vindicators”. Although this picture isn’t from that episode, it just goes to show that it’s not difficult imagining our favorite dysfunctional family as heroic, or indeed not-so-heroic warriors, and this Avengers mashup with the show isn’t so hard to believe.

Art by Punisherman

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What cartoon characters would you most like to see become superheroes? Share your thoughts in the comments!