# Superheroes who just couln't be replaced **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 23, 2004, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-just-coulnt-be-replaced/261042 "2004-08-23T03:12:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-just-coulnt-be-replaced/261042/41 "2004-08-24T12:36:36Z")
Doesn’t matter who’s in the tights, so long as they bring enough Hostess Brand Fruit Pies to the fights. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-just-coulnt-be-replaced/261042/42 "2004-08-24T19:35:49Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > Doesn’t matter who’s in the tights, > so long as they bring enough > Hostess Brand Fruit Pies to the fights. They surely don’t have _real fruit filling_ in every bite? ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-just-coulnt-be-replaced/261042/43 "2004-08-24T22:59:58Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > And if we’re counting Super-Soldier Serum spinoffs, don’t forget Nuke from **Daredevil.** A little more info on [our man Nuke](http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/darenuke.htm)…and a cite of another comic that said: > [@](#): > > In Spider-Man/X-Factor #1. Various lab guys are talking about Shadowforce and an unnamed lab guy says “yes, but the nuke protocols” and then gets cut off. When Spider-man downloads the information on Project: Homegrown he discovers that they are trying to create designer superheroes using fragmentary data and incomplete records from Captain America’s Super-Soldier Serum, the Fantastic Four’s space flight, the Gamma bomb explosion that created the Hulk and “more”. While Spidey doesn’t actually say that the nuke protocols were a part of it, as they obviously had access to that information it would be logical to assume they had used it in the creation of Shadowforce. So, at least _some_ villains have tried to recreate the “origins” of super-powered heroes. However…it’s possible that Nuke himself wasn’t the result of the _same_ super-soldier process used to create Cap, but merely a test subject of a different line of research under the same program. And [here’s a Marvel Super-Soldier FAQ](http://www.medinnus.com/winghead/ssf.html) that gives a fairly good listing of a lot of the super-soldiers (and super heroes and villains, and other related parties) who seem to have received varients (obtained through espionage, partial notes, back-engineering, etc.) of the “Rebirth” process. NOT included, however, are all the members of the pre-Steve Rogers program, which was carried out only on black soldiers—Most of whom ended up dying. (The only survivor, Isaiah Bradley—who eventually suffered brain damage, although his rate of aging seems to have been greatly slowed down, possibly even halted—even fathered a [son who later manifested super-soldier abilities.](http://marvelbook.topcities.com/jklm/justice2.htm)) All told, I think we have a small freakin’ _platoon_ of super-soldiers in the Marvel universe by now. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-just-coulnt-be-replaced/261042/44 "2004-08-24T23:12:35Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > What about that Dibney guy? Doesn’t he have essentially the same power? And don’t even think about trying to replace Ralph Dibney. Nobody but Ralph could be Elongated Man. Hey, some of us just like butter pecan. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-just-coulnt-be-replaced/261042/45 "2004-08-25T11:51:00Z")
I believe it was John Stuart Mills who said: “If there was no Matter-Eater Lad, it would be necessary to invent him” or words to that effect. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-just-coulnt-be-replaced/261042.md?page=2)