Summary
- All Marvel superheroes are celebrities, which can cause distractions and hinder their crime-fighting duties because of their fame.
- Secret identities are rarer in the Marvel Universe than they are in the DC Universe, leading to widespread recognition and admiration from the public.
- The lack of anonymity for Marvel heroes can complicate their ability to effectively do their job.
On paper, Daredevil and Star-Lord could not be further apart from each other. One is a deadly serious lawyer turned priest protecting Hell’s Kitchen, the other is a snarky, quip-happy Guardian of the Galaxy. Most readers would assume that no two heroes could be any more different than Matt Murdock and Peter Quill are. However, they have at least one trait in common that’s shared throughout the Marvel Universe.
Peter exposes the similarity he has with Daredevil and all Marvel heroes in 2017’s Star-Lord #3 by Chip Zdarsky, Kris Anka, Matthew Wilson, and VC’s Cory Petit. Star-Lord describes it best as Daredevil’s “biggest weakness – broad daylight on a sidewalk!” He’s referring to the fact that superheroes like Daredevil can’t walk down the street without drawing a crowd and getting distracted by fans who recognize them.
This is actually an issue that plagues the entire Marvel Universe and all its heroes.
All of Marvel’s Superheroes are Celebrities
And It’s Becoming a Problem
In this self-titled miniseries, Star-Lord’s spaceship has crash-landed in New York City during a period when the Guardians of the Galaxy have disbanded. While there, he’s on planetary probation following a barroom brawl and is a prime suspect when bank robbery money goes missing, at least in the eyes of Daredevil. The Man Without Fear ambushes and interrogates Peter about his potential involvement. That is, he tries to interrogate Peter until a mob of fans bombards Daredevil asking for autographs, giving Quill time to escape.
It’s a harmless moment, as readers know that Peter had nothing to do with the missing funds. But hypothetically, if he did have something to do with it, then Daredevil would have lost a real perp, all because he’s a famous superhero. This is something that all Marvel superheroes have to deal with in some shape or form. Superheroes are widely recognized and beloved (for the most part, unless they’re mutants) in the Marvel Universe, and this problem is even worse for the superheroes who lack secret identities.
The Biggest Difference Between Marvel and DC Superheroes
Marvel Heroes Lack Secret Identities and are Celebrities
This is actually one of the major differences between DC and Marvel Comics. While DC heroes maintain secrecy with their identities and tend to be shunned as vigilantes, Marvel heroes are beloved by the masses and, as a result, most can safely masquerade without secret identities. Everyone knows Tony Stark is Iron Man and everyone knows Steve Rogers is one of the Captains America. At this point, it’s practically impossible to still have a secret identity under the Marvel banner.
The lack of secret identities only increases the level to which Marvel heroes have become celebrities. Not only that, being so widely known and recognized by everyone has become a problem for heroes, even before this Daredevil moment. For example, Iron Man knows he shouldn’t have gone public with his secret identity because it’s caused more bad than good for him. While everyone enjoys attention and admiration, as Star-Lord points out, it’s clearly stopping Marvel superheroes like Daredevil from doing their job.
