It’s no secret that Joss Whedon is a huge comic book fanboy, and probably several of the Buffy and Angel writers are too. Ben Edlund, who wrote and produced several episodes of Angel and Firefly, Whedon’s other show, is the creator of The Tick. But Whedon himself is currently the writer of Marvel’s Astonishing X-Men comic. There have always been some obvious parallels between the Buffyverse and the X-Men, and I was just thinking of a few. Are there any more that spring to mind?
BUFFY
Whedon said she was based on Kitty Pryde, cute young scrappy chick.
Falls for older brooding guy, a la Jean Grey.
Dies (twice) and comes back, like Jean Grey.
Her last name is Summers, like Scott (Cyclops).
Finds out later in life that she has a sibling, Dawn, like Scott and Alex (Havok) Summers.
WILLOW
Redhead, like Jean Grey.
Powers got out of control, like Jean Grey: Dark Willow/Dark Phoenix. Ended up killing people as a result.
Brilliant and nerdy computer hacker, like Kitty Pryde.
Happens to be Jewish, like Kitty Pryde.
ANGEL
Brooding like Cyclops.
Lived a long time and done a lot of crazy things in his life, like Wolverine.
Has gone through periods of savagery, like Wolverine.
Falls in love with a girl who dies, then has a child with another girl who looks physically similar (Cyclops marrying Madelyne Pryor after Jean’s death, Angel hooking up with Darla long after breaking up with Buffy).
CONNOR
Taken as a baby from his parents, raised in a hellish future where he becomes a fierce warrior, returns fully-grown to the present, like Cable. Only Cable wasn’t so much a pain in the ass.
**GWEN **
This great character from Angel season 4, who I wish we had seen more of, seemed like a combination of Gambit (attacks with kinetic energy charges) and Rogue (can’t make physical contact with anyone, wears sexy long gloves and latex clothing to avoid touching).
FRED
This is a bit of a reach… she’s an inventor, and she was found in Pylea, the hell dimension. At least in the X-Men Evolution cartoon, I believe they found and rescued Forge in an alternate dimension where he had become trapped, and he was also an inventor.
SPIKE and OZ both have the most obvious Wolverine elements to them, to lesser extents than Angel.
GILES fills the mentor/teacher role, a la Professor X, and Giles is an expert on vampires, demons, magic, and the occult, just like Xavier knows his mutants.
SPIKE and GILES also contain obvious elements of John Constantine, the DC Comics character from the Hellblazer comic (and the movie with Keanu Reeves).
SPIKE: Blond British badass with a smarmy charm, he was a punk rocker in the '70s, and has left a trail of bodies in his wake.
GILES: Well-studied British badass, also a tough guy during his misspent youth, now an occultist who would go to any kind of lengths to defend his friends against the forces of darkness. He is quite ruthless, and will kill if he has to, in order to protect others.