When it comes to rip off characters, the majority of comic loving fans will probably say Deadpool takes the cake. Now that may be true, but with the steps taken to differentiate the two, they've both really grown in their own right.
Deathstroke created in 1980 by DC, came ten years before Deadpool. Marvel is credited with the steal, but Marvel has also done a great job giving Deadpool a lighter, funnier attitude than the gruff, more serious, Deathstroke. They're both assassins, have anti hero/villain tendencies, and have almost identical costumes, mainly excluding color.
Deadpool, the "Merc With a Mouth," will break the fourth wall, annoy the crap out of his comrades, and is a smart ass who can kick some ass. Deathstroke, The Terminator is, at times, more of a super villain. He has super human strength and probably wouldn't take any of Deadpool's jokes. Even their names are close with Deathstroke's "Slade" Wilson and Deadpool's "Wade" Wilson. They both have healing powers, use essentially the same arsenal, and will change sides if it suits them. One of the main differences between the two lay under their masks. Deathstroke is much better looking and Deadpool is horribly disfigured.
So, yes, Marvel saw a character they thought was cool and made their own, but they did a great job reinventing him and made sure his personality was specific to the character. There are a lot of similarities, but nearly just as many differences. There is one more thing the two might be having in common as well, a movie of their own as both have been in the works.
What do you think? Are these two too much alike or are they both badass enough it doesn't even matter?
The comic industry is full of these things. Superman and Hyperion, Batman and Moon Knight, Apocalypse and Darkseid, Jean Gray and Little Orphan Annie. I see nothing wrong with the trend really, the mining of archetypes is, after all, the basis of comics, needs to look only as far as what SHAZAM stands for. Solomon Hercules, Apollo, Zeues....
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