Hell, the comics publishers themselves don’t care that much. And pretty much everything is subject to retcon, anyway. I’m guessing that everything I ever knew about pretty much every superhero in both major publishing houses has completely changed by now (20-30 years later). Not just new stuff happening to them, but the old stuff completely changing. DC has had something like FOUR Crises in that time, all of which rearranged their whole (multi/uni)verse. Marvel has had a couple of whole-universe reboots, as well. I still have no idea where this “Star Girl” character in DC came from…
As someone who ran in circles with major comic book fans without myself ever really being into them I can say unequivocally that yes, fans almost always overestimate familiarity by the general public.
I think most Americans would know the very basics of Superman’s origin–rocketed from the doomed planet Krypton–because it has been repeated so often and in so many media. A much smaller but still significant number would know the basics of Batman’s origin–saw his parents’ murdered as a child and consequently went batshit rather than getting therapy. A still smaller group would know Spider-Man & Iron Man’s origins because of the recent movies. Beyond that I doubt most people know comic book characters’ origins, because the most famous characters–Wonder Woman & the Hulk, say–have multiple versions.
All I know is that I’m a casual fan of Spider-Man and I am sick to death of his origin story.
Between the few comics I’ve read, the multiple cartoon shows that have been on, the movies, whatever, I feel like I’ve heard that story 900,000 times.
Because of that, I’m pretty sure that if this forthcoming reboot of the Spider-Man franchise includes his origin, I am going to simply walk out of the theater. Young Spider-Man is boring anyway. Older, adult Spider-Man is far more interesting but the movies/cartoons never get that far because they focus on the origin story then tread water.
I appreciated that the Hulk reboot a few years ago didn’t rehash the origin so soon after the previous Hulk (though it did change the origin in the 12 seconds they spent on it), and I hope to high heaven they do the same with Spidey.
Superman is a special circumstance because of how long-running and ubiquitous he is. If anybody doesn’t at least know he’s from Krypton, they must have a social phobia or something.
I forsee a problem coming in that a lot of the comic book movies coming soon are all minor characters (green lantern, captain america, thor, etc) who, like Iron Man, the general public isnt familiar with, so all these movies are going to be a barrage of origin.
I don’t know anything about the later reboots etc but originally there was a recurring almost repetitive theme that ran through .
The hulk, Fantastic Four, Spiderman and Daredevil + radioactivity of some kind.
I guess it was partly convenience, partly cold war/atomic bomb paranoia
Most of the 60s Marvel heroes owe their power to radiation; the exceptions would be Thor, Iron Man, Janet van Dyne, & Henry Pym. (I think Stephen Strange was intrduced in the early 70s.) It was a definite and conscious theme.
Stargirl (one word) is the heir to 2 different legacies - the Star Spangled Kid (her introduction in Stars and STRIPE - where, incidentally, she rejected the name Stargirl when a friend suggested it - had her swipe Pemberton’s belt in a bid to piss off her stepdad, Pat Dugan, FKA, Stripesy, SSK’s sidekick), and Starman (after spending time with the JSA, during the Robinson/Johns issues, and maturing significantly, Jack Knight, upon retiring, handed the Cosmic Rod over to her). While she still wears Sylvester’s belt, it looks like most people (including Geoff Johns, who created her) forget about it, and she pretty much just uses the Rod.
She chiefly shows in JSA (JSA All-Stars, currently), since the cancellation of Stars and STRIPE. (STRIPE, FTR, being a piloted robot Pat built, and used to keep an eye on her for a while. He’s mostly retired, now.)
As a non-comic person…
Superman - Sure. Outerspace (Krypton), lands in the heartland (Nebraska? Kansas?), etc.
Spider-Man - Radioactive spider bite. Heck, it was the first panel of the Sunday comic every single week.
Batman - You know, had you caught me cold I’m not sure I could have answered it. I could pick it out of a multiple choice or something but I’d have had to dredge my mind for it. I think because he’s not “super”, I never worried so much – he’s a guy with a shit-ton of cash who fights crime.
Hulk - Army blast in the desert, too many gamma rays
Iron Man - Prior to the movie, no clue. Actually, I have no idea of his “original” origin, assuming it didn’t involve Muslim terrorists.
X-Men - Beats me. They’re mutants.
Wolverine - Prior to the movie, not a clue. Hell, I’d have guessed that he was born with metal bones or something.
Capt. America - I’m assuming he was an Army experiment only because I know he was fighting the Axis powers in WWII.
Wonder Woman - Amazonian queen. No clue how this translated to a star spangled bathing suit and invisible jet.
Fantastic Four - Prior to film, not a clue. Actually, I barely remember the film but recall it was some outer space radiation thingie.
Aqua Man - Nope. I assume he’s like the prince of Atlantis or something. In other words, he was born Aqua Man.
Thor - He has an origin besides being Thor?
Silver Surfer - I had no clue this guy was even non-terrestial prior to the terrible, terrible film. I’d have been happier not knowing.
Daredevil - Never saw the film. I’ve gathere dthat he’s blind and guess he’s just one well trained blind guy
Green Lantern(s) - I’ve gathered there’s been more than one and there’s a ring involved. That’s it.
Anyone I didn’t list - Not a clue.
The movie was actually pretty faithful to the comic-book here; the setting was just transposed from Southeast Asia to Afghanistan.
For quite a long time Wolverine had no canonical origin story. They took the bare bones of the comic for the movie, and made explicit the Sabretooth connection.
Again, multiple versions.
Yeah; in the comics they had to explain how he was thousands of years old as a god and yet had a mortal identity. It basically boils down to “Odin is a dick.” Which is pretty faithful to the Eddas, except that Odin’s an even bigger dick according to Snorri Sturlson.
They basically just filmed the comic story.
No Stephen (Dr) Strange first appeared in 1963.
Okay. I thought of looking it up, but I’m incredibly freaking lazy. 
Anyway, my point was that, for early 60s’ Marvel, radiation was magic.
Daredevil: Bitten by a radioactive truck
Animal Man: Bitten by a radioactive UFO, which is weird, because he’s not even a Marvel character
Sandman: Sucker-punched by an Aleister Crowley-type, stuck in a bottle for 70 years
I’m the opposite. The origin stories are pretty much the most potentially interesting parts of super hero mythos to me. Not so much how they gain their powers but how they get used to their powers. What they decide to do with their powers and why. I’d rather see that done a thousand times than see super hero #17 fight bad guy #64 for the 10th time. Which is pretty much what most of the super hero movies have ended up being after the origin was done and over with.
For fun, here’s as much as I know, as a nerd who picks up a lot by hanging out with other nerds, but doesn’t actually read comic books:
DC:
Superman: On the distant planet Krypton, scientist Jor-El and his wife Lara know that the planet’s about to blow up. Jor-El has an experimental rocket he’s been working on, but it’s not big enough to carry even a single adult. They put their baby son Kal-El into the rocket, which flies to Earth. It lands in the fields of farmers John and Martha Kent, who adopt the baby and name him Clark, and give him a good American upbringing. When he grows up, he moves to the big city, and fights for Truth, Justice, and the American Way wearing a costume made from the indestructible baby blankets he was wrapped in.
Assorted other members of the Superman family: Like Kal-El, they’re each also the Last Survivor of Krypton, even though it doesn’t make any sense to have more than one last survivor. Among this number are a dog (Krypto) and several large-breasted women, some of whom are closely related to Kal-El.
Batman: As a child, Bruce Wayne saw his (very rich) parents murdered by a petty mugger, on the way back from the theater (watching a Zorro movie, in at least some versions). Bent on avenging their deaths, and inspired by the movie he saw, he puts himself through intensive training and uses that training and the resources from his family’s wealth to become the World’s Greatest Detective and to fight crime. The bat motif is a psychological ploy to frighten criminals.
Robin: Dick Grayson, the son of a family of circus performers who are murdered before his eyes. Bruce Wayne adopts the boy, and trains him to be his partner. Batman apparently decides he likes having a sidekick, and ends up having several other Robins, who eventually either break off to act as heroes in their own right, or get horribly killed. Batman is apparently undisturbed by the manifestly dangerous environment he draws all these children into.
Batgirl: Barbara Gordon, daughter of the Gotham city police commissioner, apparently decides of her own free will to take on that dangerous lifestyle herself, even though her dad is still alive and well. It doesn’t end up well for her, either, eventually becoming paraplegic from a spinal injury.
Wonder Woman: A princess of the Amazons, a tribe of women on some lost island somewhere, all of whom have powers granted by the Olympian gods. An American test pilot crashes on the island, she falls in love with him, and comes back to America to be with him and to be a superhero. Being royal, she’s a cut above the typical Amazon, but any of them are in basically her league.
Aquaman: A prince of the sunken city of Atlantis, populated by underwater people, all of whom have powers. I don’t know why he came to associate with dry-land people, unless he likes being abducted and rescued by the rest of them or something. Being royal, he’s a cut above the typical Atlantean, but any of them are in basically his league.
The Flash (I): Wally West, a chemist, is standing next to a shelf of chemicals when lightning strikes the shelf, spilling chemicals all over him. The combined effects of the lightning and the chemicals turns him into the Fastest Man Alive. It’s later retconned that he, along with all the other super-speedsters in the DC universe, draws his powers from a connection to a phenomenon known as the “speed force”.
The Flash (II): Barry Allen, a kid growing up in a universe where the adventures of Wally West are recounted in comic books, is reading about West’s origin story and thinking about how cool that would be, when a bolt of lightning strikes a shelfful of chemicals that conveniently just happens to be right next to him, and the same thing happens to him. It’s later retconned that this “accident” was arranged by some pan-dimensional being, and the various Flashes can somehow use their super-speed powers to travel between the worlds.
Green Lantern (I): Alan Scott is a railroad conductor who finds a magical green railway lantern, uses it to avert a railway disaster, and swears an oath to use its powers for good. He makes a ring out of the magical material in the core of the lantern, which gives him the power to do anything as long as it’s green, except that it’s powerless against wood.
Green Lantern (II, III, IV, MMCXDLVIII, etc.): A race of beings known as the Guardians of Oa, shamelessly stolen from the Arisians of Doc Smith’s Lensman books, maintain a sort of galactic police force. One individual from every sector of space is given a power ring linked to the Oan energy batteries, which grants the wearer of the ring powers commensurate with their willpower (except against anything yellow). The first individual so chosen from Earth’s sector is test pilot Hal Jordan, though between reserve members, replacements, honorary members, and the like, quite a few more than the stipulated “one per sector” Green Lanterns end up coming from Earth. It’s later retconned that the magical lamp Alan Scott found was an Oan artifact, so he’s sort of a member of the Green Lantern Corps as well.
Martian Manhunter: Just like Superman, except J’on J’onze is the last son of Mars, not some far-off planet nobody cares about, and in addition to all of Superman’s powers, he can also change shape and use telepathy, and isn’t that way cool? Oh, yeah, except his weakness is fire, not Kryptonite.
The Legion of Superheroes: A Galactic conglomerate of kids, no more than one from each world, each of which is required to demonstrate some sort of super-power (no matter how lame) to join. Despite this, most of them don’t actually have super-powers, just some ability that every single member of their race has.
Marvel:
[spoiler]
Spider-Man: Teenage Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider, and so gains the strength and wall-climbing ability of a spider. Meanwhile, he’s also cooked up something in a home chemistry set and a mechanical sprayer that let him shoot super-strong strands of web hundreds of feet long. He at first attempts to use these powers for his own gain, until he slacks off on catching a criminal who goes on to kill his beloved uncle Ben. Ben has the distinction of being the only character in any comic book to ever stay dead, and his death teaches young Peter that with great power comes great responsibility.
The X-Men: They’re all mutants. Nothing in particular caused their powers; they were just born with them, and they manifest some time around puberty. For some reason, this makes them hated and feared by the public, as opposed to all the other superheroes running around, whom they love. Professor Charles Xavier (AKA Professor X) and Magneto founded a school for mutants, to learn to control their powers and use them productively, before splitting paths on the best way to get normal humans to accept mutants: By subjugating and conquering them, as Magneto proposes, or by not doing that, as suggested by Prof. X.
Wolverine: Born an unspecified time ago in unspecified circumstances. Well, scratch that: Both have been specified so many times that nobody, Wolverine included, has any clue which is the real truth. In any event, has always had the mutant power of being able to heal from almost any wound, as well as to extrude bony claws from the backs of his hands. Was recruited into a secret military project of the Canadian government, which fused the indestructible metal adamantium into his bones and claws, making him even more indestructible, a process that he was only able to survive because of his mutant healing. After some time with a team of Canadian super-heroes and a lot of angst, he eventually joins up with the X-men.
Captain America: Steve Rogers is a scrawny kid, labeled 4-F, who is nonetheless very patriotic and wants to serve his country in the military during World War II. He volunteers to take an experimental super-soldier serum, which elevates him to the top of human capability, or possibly a little beyond, in every regard (strength, speed, intelligence, etc.). Meanwhile, a metallurgist working on an attempt at indestructible tank armor falls asleep in the lab and accidentally succeeds. Nobody knows how he did it, or what the composition of the metal is, other than that it contains iron and a mysterious substance called vibranium. The metal is not only indestructible, but it harmlessly absorbs all the kinetic energy and momentum of anything striking it, and the only specimen of it is painted and given to Captain America for use as a shield. Later efforts to replicate the shield material eventually lead to the development of adamantium, which is equally indestructible but lacks the energy-absorbing properties, and later efforts to replicate the super-soldier serum end up directly or indirectly leading to the origin of many other superheroes and villains. After WWII, Rogers somehow gets frozen in an iceberg, but survives because of the effects of the serum, and is eventually thawed in the modern world (i.e., about five-ten years ago, whenever that is) and forms the Avengers, a team of Earth’s mightiest heroes. There’s also a black Captain America around somewhere, who fills in for Rogers on occasion, and who resulted from early tests of the risky serum on African-Americans, reminiscent of the Tuskegee Experiments.
Iron Man: Industrialist and weapons manufacturer Tony Stark is kidnapped in a war zone (originally Vietnam, but gets updated every few years when there’s a new war) and forced to make weapons. Instead, he makes a crude suit of powered armor and blasts his way out of the cave where he’s imprisoned. Once back in the West, he decides that the whole business of weapons only he controls, so they won’t fall into the wrong hands, is a good idea, and makes a succession of ever-better suits with which to fight crime, terrorists, etc.
The Incredible Hulk: Bruce Banner is a scientist working for the US military, when he gets caught in the blast of a gamma bomb. The radiation turns him into a green beast whenever he gets angry. This also has the effect of him growing much larger and ripping out of all of his clothes, except for his pants, which mysteriously just turn purple instead.
The Fantastic Four: Super-scientist Reed Richards, along with his fiancee Sue Storm, her brother Johnny Storm, and family friend Ben Grimm, are flying in an experimental spacecraft Richards built, when they’re hit with a burst of cosmic rays. The rays give Richards the ability to stretch his body to extremes, Sue the ability to turn invisible and to project forcefields, Johnny the ability to turn into a living flame and to fly, and Grimm a super hard, rocky skin and extreme strength.
The Silver Surfer: Chosen by the nigh-omniscient world-devourer Galacticus to be his herald and to wield the Power Cosmic, but decides instead that he’ll try to work to stop Galacticus from eating the worlds of sentient beings.
Daredevil: Suffered some sort of accident (probably involving radioactive waste) which burned out his eyes, but left all of his other senses (including the more abstract ones like a sense of balance) enhanced to such extreme levels that he can read by smelling the patterns of ink on a page, or some such nonsense, so he’s not really blind after all, either.
The Sub-Mariner: See Aquaman, under the DC section. It’s the same story.
Thor: He’s a god.
[/spoiler]I’ve probably missed a few in there, but I think that pretty well covers the main ones.
Chronos, you got your Flashes reversed, and Aquaman is actually half-human…his father was a lighthouse-keeper who fell in love with an Atlantean who got washed ashore in a storm.
Non comic book person? I couldn’t have named more than 4 of these characters without prompting.
Yup… I know Superman, Batman (not Robin), and Spiderman. Other than that I had no clue other than they were born that way.
I just realized I must be a much bigger comic book fan than you all are. There are several that I read as a kid that you didn’t mention.
Archie
Veronica
Betty
Jughead
Reggie
Donald
Hughey
Louie
Dewey
Daisey
I can’t say I know the origins though other than some were the products of midwest people having sex and others were the result of some eggs being hatched. (I’m sure some real life comic book guy will be here shortly to let me know that Archie wasn’t from the midwest… “worst post ever!”).
Superman’s origin story is a trope in itself. “Rocketed to Earth as an infant from an alien planet” has by parody become embedded so deeply in the superhero meme that there are probably people who have heard of it who couldn’t tell you it originated with Superman. Second place would have to be “Irradiated from a nuclear test blast”- common enough that one wag quipped “nobody died from being nuked in the 60s”, and it was how Radioactive Man got that lightning bolt embedded in his head.
Who’s the guy who turns from weedy to hero by saying “Shazam!” ? I know there’s a superhero called Shazam, but I think that’s a different guy. Or maybe they are the same, I don’t know.
I grew up with British comics, so I am more familiar with their heroes and icons.
If those were the worst mistakes I made, then I did better than I was expecting. On the other hand, I could tell you a fair amount about the origins of Captain Clarinet/Argonaut, Moonshadow, Suzy Fusion, Guardian Angel, 84, etc.