Every Superhero Parody In Guardians Of Justice – Powers & Who They Rip Off

The Guardians Of Justice is packed to the gills with characters unashamedly based on well-known superheroes and villains. Filled with homages, tropes, and references, it’s a show that aims at people who’re familiar with superhero stories – and it’s not the only show to have parodied Marvel and DC superheroes recently. For casual viewers, it’s helpful to know a little about the eclectic cast of characters and who they’re based on.

Superhero parodies and deconstructions are nothing new, of course. Notable examples include The Return Of Captain Invincible, with its parody of Superman as a retired alcoholic, and Unbreakable, framing a superhero origin story as a neo-noir thriller. The most famous example is Alan Moore’s Watchmen, a comic book series that shows heroes as a collection of vigilantes and god-like figures who’ve become perilously out of touch with the world around them. It’s since been adapted into a movie that, sadly, missed out a few key themes from the comics, and into a TV show that tells a different story within the same universe. The influence of Watchmen also shows in Guardians Of Justice.

Guardians Of Justice, created by Castlevania‘s Adi Shankar, may have the tone of grimdark superhero fiction, but it has a far more vibrant color palette, blending live-action with various animation styles. It seems to fall firmly within the genre of superhero deconstructions, though Shankar himself disagrees with this assessment, stating in an interview, “I’m not trying to say anything about the superhero genre.” With such a vibrant mess of characters, many go without much introduction (or even characterization). With so many references, it can help to connect the characters with those they’re mimicking. The largest reference is immediately obvious. The story revolves around a team of superheroes, the Guardians of Justice themselves, who are quite unsubtly based on DC’s Justice League.

Marvelous Man

Variously described as a god and an alien, Marvelous Man is the superhuman savior of humanity, who ends world war 3 in the series prologue. Everything about him is based on Superman, played most recently by Henry Cavill and Tyler Hoechlin. Marvelous Man is very much a DC-style hero archetype, despite the reference to Marvel in his name. Like Superman, he has super strength, speed, the power of flight, heat vision, and weakness to a glowing stone called caltronite. The events of Guardians Of Justice follow in the wake of his untimely death, and the power vacuum he leaves behind. Even while alive, Marvelous Man fills the superhero role of being a symbol and a figurehead more than an actual person.

Knight Hawk

As the second in command of the Guardians Of Justice, Knight Hawk is an obvious parody of Batman, as a caped crusader with a lair known as the Hawk’s Nest and an array of fancy technology at his disposal. He mainly follows Batman’s traits of being a mastermind and a vigilante, though he’s distinctly more of a villain than Batman. He also parodies a storyline from Justice League, where Batman investigates his colleagues to learn their secrets.

The Speed

There are plenty of speedster characters in comics, like Makkari from Eternals or X-Men’s Quicksilver, but The Speed is most definitely a parody of DC’s The Flash. Much like The Flash, her powers come from her using a cosmic force, known as “the Fast Force,” and she too has a speedster arch-nemesis named Motion Blur. She also frequently mimics Flash’s role as a more relatable character on the superhero team.

Awesome Man

Awesome Man is based on, as he’s introduced stuffing his face with tacos. He’s a parody of Shazam, with his child-like attitude, and his introduction references this — the narration explains that he knows a magic word which gives him the power of seven gods, a clear reference both to Shazam’s opponents, the seven deadly sins, and to the word “shazam” itself.

King Tsunami

Introduced as the “overlord of the oceans,” King Tsunami is the Guardians Of Justice version of Aquaman. He even comes complete with a trident and an obligatory joke about talking to fish. Tsunami, much like Golden Goddess, has a troubled history with the other Guardians.

Golden Goddess

Golden Goddess, as the “princess of the god realm,” is based on Wonder Woman. She takes on the role of an otherworldly god-like being with magical powers. Like several other characters, she has a surprisingly messy past, at least for a god.

Blue Scream

Blue Scream, as his name implies, has a powerful sonic scream as his main weapon – a less common superpower that he shares with the X-Men’s Banshee and DC’s Black Canary. He’s entangled in a relationship with Black Bow, and they both turn out to get up to some rather sordid behavior in their spare time. True to his superpower of using his voice, he’s quick to crack under pressure and tell everything.

Black Bow

Black Bow, as an expert marksman, is the Hawkeye (Marvel) or Green Arrow (DC) of the group. Seemingly excitable and quirky, she and Blue Scream engage in some dubious behavior when they think the others aren’t looking.

Little Wing

Introduced as Knight Hawk’s adopted protegé, Little Wing is a far more lethal version of Batman’s Robin. Unlike Robin, however, he appears to have some superpowers of his own, and he uses them in a particularly brutal way. There’s more to him than meets the eye.

Red Talon

Red Talon is Knight Hawk’s earlier adopted sidekick, with a tendency towards violence. Red Talon has the traits of a few antiheroes, blending the vigilante violence of Marvel’s Punisher with Peacemaker’s carefree attitude. Being a former child sidekick, he also contains more than a little bit of Nightwing influence.

Logan Lockwood

Very much the Lex Luthor of Guardians Of Justice, Lockwood is a megalomaniacal billionaire with a vendetta against Marvelous Man. He’s responsible for making the Caltronite bullet known as “godkiller,” which kills Marvelous Man. His long hair, rather than bald head, feels like a reference to the appearance of Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Mr. Smiles

Batman has an iconic list of villains, so it’s no surprise that his most famous nemesis is parodied in Guardians Of Justice. Mr. Smiles is definitely based on the Joker, with his unsettling laugh and his penchant for the grotesque. While his early introduction makes him seem fairly straightforward, he’s not quite what he appears to be.

Scottish Skull

Scottish Skull is a relatively minor villain, but he’s noteworthy for who he references. While he bears a resemblance to the Batman villain Black Mask, he’s certainly a reference to the Black Mask who appears in Birds Of Prey. The name Scottish Skull is referring to actor Ewan McGregor, with the actor’s Scottish heritage.

Doctor Ravencroft

His name may be a reference to Marvel’s Ravencroft institute, as seen in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, but Doctor Ravencroft is most likely a parody of Dr Fu Manchu. In the comics, Fu Manchu is the father and arch-nemesis of Shang-Chi. He hasn’t appeared in the MCU, but the character Xu Wenwu is partially based on him. However, while Marvel replaced Fu Manchu in Shang-Chi And The Ten Rings, sidestepping any lingering racist “yellow peril” stereotypes, Doctor Ravencroft’s appearance in Guardians Of Justice, as an outdated caricature, feels rather uncomfortable to watch.

Mind Master

Mind Master’s villainous power is, as his name suggests, mind control. He’s most likely a reference to the X-Men’s Professor X, specifically the younger version of him, as played by James McAvoy in X-Men: First Class.

Galacron

Galacron is introduced fairly early as the evil cosmic titan who destroyed Marvelous Man’s home planet of Caltron, though he isn’t named until the final episode of Guardians Of Justice. His immense appearance and role as a destroyer of planets immediately calls to mind the Marvel villain Galactus. Amusing though, the television-like object where his head should be is obviously a reference to Krang from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The Guardians Of Justice is a vibrant and chaotic story. Aimed at fans of superhero media, or possibly people who’re burnt out with it, its unusual pacing and confusing storyline may account for its low audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. All the same, while mileage may vary according to audience viewer preferences, it’s certainly a unique experience.

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