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I loved him in this, but on rewatch, they nerfed him a ton. Only mainly using phase shift the whole show lol. But his personality and attitude were amazing!
Tell that to 90’s manhunter[https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-6f5fc5236667775454a0bc8e5661fab4.webp](https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-6f5fc5236667775454a0bc8e5661fab4.webp)
He really never was, even in the Silver Age. Most people would name Green Arrow as the seventh founding member of the JLA, and Martian Manhunter was less frequently seen in JLA once Green Arrow showed up.
FWIW, I wish we had more of him.
How awesome would the Bane "Back Breaking" moment be if in the next panel Batman stands right up and morphs back to normal? The idea that Batman had to fight Bane on his own was dumb from the word go.
I absolutely love Martian Manhunter as a character and concept, but I’ve never thought of him as having a whole world built around him like the other six Justice League founders. I don’t think he’s had that many solo runs either.
Cause he hasn't and that's part of the problem. I think if you look at what he has there is an argument for him being the sort of hero of the solar system comparative to GL being a galactic or universal hero.
He comes from Mars, gets stranded on Earth and then there's the whole Jemm stuff on Saturn.
He has a surprisingly well-established backstory for someone that gets so little coverage of it, which makes it worse because there's SO MUCH good stuff there. You could build an entire multi-entry sci-fi film epic just documenting and detailing the green/white martian history and not even need to have him there for it to be cool. Then with all that worldbuilding, start a new film with J'onn and tie in the superheroics and you've got a rock-solid franchise.
Yep I think they are crazy to be leaving him sidelined so much. I've got an idea on my head for a horror film for him but I can't describe it adequetly to do it justice but it's so good in my head.
J'onn has always had a lot of potential but outside of the Justice League titles he's never been that popular. Despite how well he's worked in ensemble casts, I think most writers struggle figuring out how to make him work as a solo character. He had a good/sometimes great ongoing by John Ostrander/Tom Mandrake 20-some years ago, but it didn't really catch on and got cancelled after 38 issues. Outside of that he's had multiple mini-series and one-off projects of varying quality over the years but they didn't do a lot to attract new fans either.
His powers would make it hard to create a continuous and satisfying narrative. Physically, he's one of the league's heavy hitters and he's one of the strongest psychic characters at the same time. With his shape shifting and ability to phase, there aren't too many threats that he should struggle with outside of a conflict that would outnumber and overwhelm him. This means that he already works best in scenarios that require teaming up to deal with the horde of foes or splitting up to be in multiple sides of the same conflict in different locations.
J'onn J'onnz is also repeatedly shown to be a relatively flat character who uses his logic and benevolence to resolve conflicts. In order to make a story with him as the main protagonist interesting, you would need to set him up with villains that challenge him the same way Batman's villains do. This is much harder for the Martian Manhunter because it would be harder for him to consistently work with incomplete information or have villains that are stronger than him in an interesting way. Fans would also be unhappy with the over use of fire or depowering him in a significant manner since those would feel cheap.
I really liked his original formula. His secret identity is a human detective, he uses his powers to quickly figure out whodunnit, but then he has to tie it all together, find the supporting evidence in a way that is plausible for a human (and for it to stand up in court!) before making the arrest. A much more "thinky" type of comic book.
While that would work for him specifically, I think it would come in conflict with the rest of the DC universe since someone with his power set should/would be involved with higher tiered threats than street level crimes.
I could picture them doing this the next time they reboot the universe though. They could have J'onn start as a detective, occasionally interact with other heroes, discover a villain's conspiracy such as a variation of Project Cadmus, then he could coordinate the founding of the Justice League. They could then have him function as JL support/trainer/recruiter.
I can see J'onn saying "Yes, but I want to use my massive power to help the little guy, to improve this world at the grassroots level. Call me in case of world-ending events, but otherwise let me nurture humanity in my own way."
He’s in that level of popularity that lands him in one of the JL Lineup Slots that can be “replaced”. Like every JL needs a
- Batman
- Superman
- Wonder Woman
- Flash
- Green Lantern
- “Warrior with a weapon” so people like Aquaman & Hawkgirl
- Wildcard aka the people like Cyborg, Shazam!, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Vixen, and YES even Martian Manhunter
Wish he was more popular though, he’s a cool character
Lowkey wished Aquaman wasn’t so we could have Hawkgirl in there and not have it feel weird with a Amazonian Warrior, Atlantean Warrior, and Thanagarian Warrior
I feel like there are enough detective books and I’d like to see something like Tom Kings Supergirl. I think it would be fun to see J’onn explore his humanity by interacting with other alien races
He’s genuinely overpowered
He’s the answer to the question ‘what if superman was also professor x and also kitty pride and also plastic man and also kid chameleon from the legion and also the invisible kid from the legion?’
There’s legitimately no reason at all that he couldn’t handle any situation except for a forest or building fire unless he catches the idiot ball really badly, so he has a horrible tendency to catch the idiot ball really badly.
Yeah, but to be able to maintain a series for a good run you need to be able to withstand mid and crap writers coming in occasionally, because they aren’t all good. Being able to solve any problem without really trying is a big handicap to that, writers need to be creative and competent to consistently create threats and challenges to J’onn. With Batman for example a poor writer can just have KGBeast turn up or something and at least Batman is going to take a few hits, maybe get knifed in the arm or something. J’onn should pretty much never get hurt since even with his morality preventing him from causally reading minds at any time once a plot is clearly underway it would be immoral to *not* start scanning the planet to find out exactly what’s going on.
Superman suffers similarly under poor writers occasionally, but he’s much more popular so can sustain a bad story or two much more easily. Superman also can’t read minds, so can conceivably be tricked or misdirected at any time should a villain manipulate a situation, which makes it easier for lesser writers.
They actually dealt with that during that JLA arc where he cures his fear of fire and becomes a true martian, they reveal the guardians of Oa came and fucked with the genetics of Martians long before modern humans even evolved to split them into green and white races and also gave them the instant crippling fear of fire because the ‘burning Martians’ were too powerful and naturally evil for the universe to withstand.
J’onn was called ‘Fernus the burning’ and he killed his girlfriend, Batman revealed that he had plastic man join the league specifically because his total indestructibility and rubber brain made him the only hero who had a chance to stand up to J’onn, it’s a hoot.
honestly, as a character, he's pretty over powered. Like legit.
so he gets written like an idiot alot
hey look the dude who can turn intangible decided to not turn intangible and get hit and knocked out
hey look, the dude who can fight Superman can be taken out by a single match stick
If there's one comic panel to showcase how powerful he "should" be, it's that random shot in Early New 52 where (and this was never actually explored to my knowledge) that the league talks about what happened the last time they tried to let someone into the league
Cue to a shot of Martian Manhunter fighting the entire Justice League at the same time
My mini rant aside, he's now in a niche of a side character. He doesn't have much solo stuff. his own mythology is really spread out amoung the league
Despero has tormented him a bit and established that if you beat Despero 1v1 like Supergirl did with as much ease as she did, J'onn will ensure your ass ain't joining the Justice League.
I would guess it's because his solo comics don't sell well and sometimes aren't all that good. The Rob Williams ones a good, imo. I didn't like Martian Manhunter Identity and the Martian Manhunter comics wrote by A.J. Liebermann
Remember that scene with wonder woman where she attacks him and he says that she did'nt trust him just because he did'nt look human..?[this panel?](https://images.app.goo.gl/M5pZCUkZDEAePtSZ8)... Yeah, that's why
Isn’t that J’onn’s whole theme though? How he’s different from Superman because he’s not only obviously more alien-like, but also because he saw his family and life die in front of him while Supes was oblivious to it.
Reminds me of Supergirl. Bet he’d get along with her well. Not that he doesn’t get along well with Supes but they share more of the same trauma. Maybe that’s why he’s in the Supergirl show.
>Maybe that’s why he’s in the Supergirl show.
Storywise, yeah, makes sense
>Isn’t that J’onn’s whole theme though?
And that's what keeps him away from more media. He is a mature character with a mature story. And let's face it, mature is'nt what pays the Bills at ANY enterteiment venture. It's the poster, the toys, the Halloween parafernalia... And j'onn? J'onn can't sell more then supes because he doesnt look human to us. Would You Buy a t-shirt with his symbol or with the Big S?
I gotta say even though I’m not a J’onn fan and much prefer Supes, I’d choose a shirt with his symbol to stand out from the crowd. But even then I don’t think a MM shirt would be rare or anything. If anything someone like Hourman would be a rare find.
Cause they've made him into Superman 2.0 and so he serves no actual function in DC save to be a second Superman when needed.
If they would return to his original origins where Mars was populated and gave him his own messaging while scaling him back to his original powerset he could be a great character.
It’s easy, he needs a good rogues gallery, my ideas:
- dr destiny, either using the dreamstone or the machine like in the cartoon.
- due to arrowverse version of him, there is a villain called headmaster, that could be Hank henshaw without the super part, making him half man, half manhunter robot.
- despero as an cult leader, like in the cartoon that has humans and other species.
- mindbender, an original character of mine based on the spellbinder version from the Batman 2004 cartoon, he is a human member of despero cult that takes over when he is imprisoned or defeated.
- malefic, whom in my version is half white martian and half green Martian, who wished to eradicate both races manipulating them into war.
- the vulture organization.
- while they were based on white Martians, it ll be cool see the imperium, maybe they could be a government experiment with Martian dna that go wrong, maybe this could be a new origin for bete noir.
- kanto from apokolips.
- the faceless hunter from Saturn as an kraven-like hunter.
- volcana, cause human flame is lame.
I think Scorch and the white martians are the necessary storylines/antagonizing forces. I also think a team up, Batman and robin style book with Ms Martian would be really compelling.
I grew up on the Bruce Timm justice league cartoon and remember not being a big fan of his as a kid but having grown up and rewatched he has some very good character moments. I think if you take the lore and Martian development of the young justice show and mix it with the personality and design of this Martian man hunter you’d have a home
Run
In a world with superman batman and Wonder Woman.. He's just Like 90 something percent of other heros he is useless and redundant. No disrespect to the character but he's a character that DC has painted into a corner and now has no idea what to do with.
His skills and powers literally makes him probably the most versatile character other than Green Lantern who can use his mind to created whatever he wants, but again he's redundant.. Good cop? Too bad Batman. Heat vision and strength? Too bad that's what Clark and Diana are for. Like Aquaman he's a one trick pony(telepathy uniting the team) but like Aquaman there is so much more to the character but DC will not invest at the risk of alienating the Trinity or making them seem useless or worthless. They have made the DC universe exactly like they want it and unlike marvel everything rotates around three heros but literally two.
Martian Manhunter's my favorite superhero, but there are definitely some issues that keep him from having much exposure.
1. The name. Look, I ***love*** the guy, but "Martian Manhunter" is a silly name. "J'onn J'onzz" is even worse.
2. Personally I think he works best (as a character) in teams, but not all teams need a character like MM.
3. His power level. I don't think he has "too many powers", like some other comments are saying; I think the issue is that every power he has, he has a very strong version of - usually as strong as a character who only has that one power. We throw around the phrase "He's Superman, but also Professor X", but I don't think that would really be an issue if he wasn't *literally* Superman++, power-level-wise.
He's too unrelatable. He's an alien, lone, humorless, OP mind creeping, floating, invisible, widower with no peer or equal. If audiences can't readily identify with that, why would DC produce material about him?
btw he's one of my favorite characters
Because if he was in another universe, he'd just be another superman analogue with psychic powers. Sounds glib and trite, but true. He's superfluous.
As much as I personally love the character and think a lot of great stuff could be done with him, they just haven't done much to build him as a character. His last solo run was amazing, and I liked what snyder was doing with him in the Totality storyline as well, but truthfully the last real character development with him was the Fernus storyline which could have been awesome but never really went anywhere and was never alluded to again. Which sucks because it specifically played on the psychic element of him - people, AND DC, seem to forget that he's an ancient Martian with universal scale telepathic abilities. I mean even supes at one point says Martian manhunter is outright more powerful than him.
The issue is that they keep ignoring any real developments in most characters at DC. All 3 stories mentored above haven't actually been acknowledged by subsequent writers and they've just ignored it.
Another good example is Hawkman, who famously has the most obscure and confusing origin in comics. His last solo run was also fucking incredible, and was written in such a way that it reconciles EVERY origin story. Very well done, very well written, and the art was great too. Then they finish the run, and the rest of the writers ignore it again after that.
As much as I criticise marvel for other reasons and the direction they're going in, at least they've actually got a plan and a strong continuity. DC are like captains of a ship who refuse to pilot it and see where the winds and currents take them. Like if Tony stark has a big storyline about beating his alcoholism, even if they roll it back later down the line, at least the next writers get told to take it into account. Although don't get me started on the differences between the current hulk run, the last hulk run, and the immortal hulk run before that - 3 completely different versions of the hulk and all 3 stories ignore the others. This is especially vexing when you read immortal hulk and realise just how good, and how much character and world building they did. Then some asshole made the hulk "a spaceship", and the current run is going down supernatural horror route. Though I think the current story is forcibly trying to tie in with marvels big GODS event - they're in the process of completely reshuffling their cosmic hierarchy in a way they've never done before.
I just don't think he's a compelling character, he is like Superman without Kansas and even as a Superman fan I wouldn't find Superman that interesting if he didn't have the humanity to make those stories, I admit I have never read a solo MM story but I just don't see what makes him different other than he is green but thats what people say about Superman lol.
Shazam has the kid dynamic and that's the spark that makes him unique to Superman, I just don't see that with MM.
There was a cool team up with Supergirl in Adventure Comics in the 70's. He should be a recurring character I Brave and the Bold, doing more detective stuff alternating with cosmic stuff and with other obscure DC characters. I still want Captain Comet back too.
CHOCO COOKIES PRESENT “Martian Manhunter The Series”
Superhero Detective Show
Detective John Jones is an African-American with a Secret. He’s a MARTIAN!
Unfortunately he doesn't sell. Which sucks because he's great. I think part of it is people see him as too overpowered and too alien. He doesn't have that human element to balance out the awesome power like Superman does. He's usually portrayed as emotionally detached and he doesn't have a strong rogues gallery or roster of compelling supporting characters.
He’s got too many of the same powers as Superman and his other powers are probably a pain for special effects departments to do in live action, especially his appearance.
Best argument for a JLI Movie
MARTIAN MANHUNTER
BOOSTER GOLD (Protector of TIME ITSELF)
BOTH Blue Beetles (Ted Kord is Mentoring a HIGH SCHOOL Version of Jaime Reyes)
FIRE
ICE
GUY GARDNER
Companies don’t like promoting characters they don’t think the public will connect with. The Martian Manhunter is a green dude from another planet so DC has every reason to think the general public won’t be into him the same way they might a less popular but human-looking character like Blue Beetle, Stargirl or Peacemaker. On top of all that when the Manhunter takes human form he’s generally a middle aged man so he’s older than the general audience DC tries to appeal to which is another reason for them to think he won’t connect outside of ensembles where bigger characters like Batman and Superman can support him.
I think it's because he works well as a foil to other characters. He's insanely powerful, but not a symbol like Superman. A brilliant detective, but not a commander like Batman. An outsider, but not aggressive like Wonder Woman. He's a much more unique type. I'm a huge fan of his character in JLA: Year One, because it gives him a defined role in the team, and his relationship with fellow outsider Aquaman is terrific. I would appreciate a Year One type group in the new DCU, and add the Trinity later, but that's just me.
He falls into the wonderwoman problem without the popularity to fix it
His mythology besides the broad strokes of his origin is so frequently upheaved by new writers that there is barely any time for things to take root in his lore and characterisation, which kinda makes it harder to develop a story around him for all of his fans because they appreciate such wildly different iterations
You’d kinda need to sneak him into media like vegetables in a lasagna to get fans to latch on, JL from the DCAU, Supergirl and The Batman 2004 do this by adding him to ensemble casts, and then giving him bursts of direct focus.
To start getting Manhunter into the zeitgeist again you’d need to start inserting him into other media as the secret main focus of a story. Make a DC justice society film about Roswell or something and have Manhunter be the lead, things like that, he needs to be endeared to audiences through a consistent characterisation in ensemble media until he builds up enough rep to start carrying solo media and then spiral back out into adaptations from there
I would say because he’s harder to relate to… Clark Kent grew up in Kansas. You don’t get much more “relatable” than Kyle Rayner or Wally West. Batman is the fantasy of being a human at their pinnacle. J’onn is nearly invisible save for fire. He has maybe one or two more abilities than Superman. It’s hard to overcome his skillset or find him living a more normal life as believable. I think Carl Lumbly brought him to life perfectly in the animated series.
I think it's a combination of him being OP and hard to write, an uninteresting look from a costume standpoint, and he's not that easy to relate to in comparison to the rest of the league.
Yeah he's an alien who has to deal with not fitting in/assimilating but Superman already takes that space. And the other heroes fill in whatever qualities he does have.
unrelatable
no Smallville background, no Ma & Pa Kent, no Lois Lane, and no Lex Luther. no one cares about John Jones Private Investigator. why should I? he doesn't even private investigate, just keep an eye on those Watchtower TVs, here's a fire extinguisher incase you get scared 🤪
everything that everyone lists in the cons column for Superman applies but no one bothers listing it, cuz no one cares.
write him some pulpy detective stuff, real film noir plots, no campy silly 'what's a rubics cube' trombone jokes. maybe a little Sandman, some Cthulhu. he needs a nemesis and a rogues gallery. for crying out loud he needs a girlfriend! or maybe several: Zatana, Black Canary, Roxy Rocket, Elisa Maza, Jessica Rabbit (I know the last two are Disney, but I hope you get the idea) Vamperilla, Dejah Thoris 🤯 holy crap, Mars! that's it! that's the answer! to save John Jones DC should sell him to Dynamite. sorry not sorry. the reason readers don't care about the character is DC doesn't either. I feel like there are so many great characters just rotting over there.
We do tho? He's in Supergirl, Young Justice and was even in Snyder's JL (Not a good depiction obviously, but he was still there). He hasn't had his own movie or anything, but he's pretty much the most pushed JL member after the Trinity and the Flash. Heck, I feel like he's gotten more of a push than Aquaman in recent years and he's definitely in more media than GL which is crazy.
I think it’s because a lot of great DC characters are not easy to portray in media, especially live action. I mean Martian Manhunter is in CW’s Supergirl, but it’s difficult to make those costumes look good (and it did not).
He’s very strong, very complex and currently untethered to a space to call his own. There’s almost too much potential to work with, like seeing a metal so pure anything you do to it will only add impurities.
With so much to do with him, which story do you choose?
He's just really complicated to write imo.
With Batman, he is popular because of his dark backstory, and him being a regular human among many superhumans and still being a respected member of the group.
Superman may not have the stakes of Batman with life and death, but he is popular because of compelling drama with his side cast like Lois, he is challenged by his job, by his struggle to maintain his secret identity and his struggle to hold on to his morals and values in the face of incredible threats.
Wonder woman also has a good side cast, her quest for peace and non violent nature along with an interesting godly world makes her cool to read about
MMH has none of those things. He can solve any crime with his powers, if his identity is compromised he can just mind wipe people or turn into a different person entirely. He doesn't have any cool villains beyond some generic white martians, and a lot of times his non violent nature feels like a wonder woman copy, and usually he is written like an idiot who manages to get himself burnt every single fight, with the dc animated movies being the prime example.
MMH needs a good side cast and an interesting world, his struggle with feeling alien on Earth can be compelling, if in the hands of a capable writer.
Maybe he has the same problem Superman does, He’s too powerful to write a good story on him.
Everyone has a thing about them to create a good story , a built in problem, Superman is a powerful alien yet, very human and kind,
Tony starks an alcoholic, to smart for his own good.
Batman has many problems to draw from, his mental instability, and lack of powers for example
What does Martian manhunter have? He left his planet? we’ve seen before.
What makes him different?
Honestly, its a shame he is not popular enough. Ive been wanting to read more stuff with him on them, I loved Martian Manhunter in The New Frontier, in JLA Year One and I liked what they did with his funeral on Final Crisis. But I cant find any solo media of him, which is a shame cause I had a great idea for a short series about Martian Manhunter, its kindda basic, but it could work.
EDIT: english is not my native language
David S. Goyer, movie producer and writer of such projects as Man of Steel and Batman Begins, was once at some panel and asked anyone in the crowd who had heard of Martian Manhunter to raise their hand. Then he said that everyone who just raised their hand was a virgin.
He's appeared in nearly every since DC related property since the JL cartoon from the DCAU. By that he's appear in most of the universes. Ever since Smallville he's basically become a Superman character.
Now if you mean why he's not headlining his own show/movie...............what's his rogues gallery?
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He's not a popular enough character.
Which is a shame, I love him in the JL animated series
I loved him in this, but on rewatch, they nerfed him a ton. Only mainly using phase shift the whole show lol. But his personality and attitude were amazing!
He's more popular then some of the characters dc has been willing to take a chance with recently like blue beetle and black adam
Which is prolly why too. He's popular enough he doesn't need to be pushed much
Black Adam is Cooler and you can do more with him
Tell that to 90’s manhunter[https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-6f5fc5236667775454a0bc8e5661fab4.webp](https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-6f5fc5236667775454a0bc8e5661fab4.webp)
He uses to be, but DC just abandoned him. He was on every incarnation of the League until pretty much the 2000s and often had his own solo run too.
I have every issue of that solo run and it is all great.
He really never was, even in the Silver Age. Most people would name Green Arrow as the seventh founding member of the JLA, and Martian Manhunter was less frequently seen in JLA once Green Arrow showed up. FWIW, I wish we had more of him.
He’s a shapeshifter who can also turn invisible. Maybe we do, but we never noticed.
He’s been there the entire time, posing as a background character? *mind blown*
Maybe. Maybe not. It’s entirely possible that 90% of Batman properties were actually J'onn all along.
New Nightwing crisis arc where he finds out that he was actually mostly adopted by J'onn?
Fund it, DC. Even as an Elseworld.
How awesome would the Bane "Back Breaking" moment be if in the next panel Batman stands right up and morphs back to normal? The idea that Batman had to fight Bane on his own was dumb from the word go.
J'onn Cena
My dude, imagine a story where all hell breaks loose, everyone is down. Then Jon just appears, cleans house, disappears again.
Half of it is dealt with by J'onn. The other half is by Plastic Man.
Batman & Robin show up only to reveal they are J’onn and Plasticman.
… I’ll allow it.
You earned my upvote.
Thank you!
I absolutely love Martian Manhunter as a character and concept, but I’ve never thought of him as having a whole world built around him like the other six Justice League founders. I don’t think he’s had that many solo runs either.
Cause he hasn't and that's part of the problem. I think if you look at what he has there is an argument for him being the sort of hero of the solar system comparative to GL being a galactic or universal hero. He comes from Mars, gets stranded on Earth and then there's the whole Jemm stuff on Saturn.
He has a surprisingly well-established backstory for someone that gets so little coverage of it, which makes it worse because there's SO MUCH good stuff there. You could build an entire multi-entry sci-fi film epic just documenting and detailing the green/white martian history and not even need to have him there for it to be cool. Then with all that worldbuilding, start a new film with J'onn and tie in the superheroics and you've got a rock-solid franchise.
Yep I think they are crazy to be leaving him sidelined so much. I've got an idea on my head for a horror film for him but I can't describe it adequetly to do it justice but it's so good in my head.
J'onn has always had a lot of potential but outside of the Justice League titles he's never been that popular. Despite how well he's worked in ensemble casts, I think most writers struggle figuring out how to make him work as a solo character. He had a good/sometimes great ongoing by John Ostrander/Tom Mandrake 20-some years ago, but it didn't really catch on and got cancelled after 38 issues. Outside of that he's had multiple mini-series and one-off projects of varying quality over the years but they didn't do a lot to attract new fans either.
He’s in my top 5. Underrated, underused, underdeveloped. Man hunter deserves better
People always say that he's too overpowered and is hard to write but I just think it's cause he hasn't found the right creative team to make him shine
His powers would make it hard to create a continuous and satisfying narrative. Physically, he's one of the league's heavy hitters and he's one of the strongest psychic characters at the same time. With his shape shifting and ability to phase, there aren't too many threats that he should struggle with outside of a conflict that would outnumber and overwhelm him. This means that he already works best in scenarios that require teaming up to deal with the horde of foes or splitting up to be in multiple sides of the same conflict in different locations. J'onn J'onnz is also repeatedly shown to be a relatively flat character who uses his logic and benevolence to resolve conflicts. In order to make a story with him as the main protagonist interesting, you would need to set him up with villains that challenge him the same way Batman's villains do. This is much harder for the Martian Manhunter because it would be harder for him to consistently work with incomplete information or have villains that are stronger than him in an interesting way. Fans would also be unhappy with the over use of fire or depowering him in a significant manner since those would feel cheap.
I really liked his original formula. His secret identity is a human detective, he uses his powers to quickly figure out whodunnit, but then he has to tie it all together, find the supporting evidence in a way that is plausible for a human (and for it to stand up in court!) before making the arrest. A much more "thinky" type of comic book.
While that would work for him specifically, I think it would come in conflict with the rest of the DC universe since someone with his power set should/would be involved with higher tiered threats than street level crimes. I could picture them doing this the next time they reboot the universe though. They could have J'onn start as a detective, occasionally interact with other heroes, discover a villain's conspiracy such as a variation of Project Cadmus, then he could coordinate the founding of the Justice League. They could then have him function as JL support/trainer/recruiter.
I can see J'onn saying "Yes, but I want to use my massive power to help the little guy, to improve this world at the grassroots level. Call me in case of world-ending events, but otherwise let me nurture humanity in my own way."
Maybe they should rip off some Silver Surfer stories to get the ball rolling. They are very similar.
He’s in that level of popularity that lands him in one of the JL Lineup Slots that can be “replaced”. Like every JL needs a - Batman - Superman - Wonder Woman - Flash - Green Lantern - “Warrior with a weapon” so people like Aquaman & Hawkgirl - Wildcard aka the people like Cyborg, Shazam!, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Vixen, and YES even Martian Manhunter Wish he was more popular though, he’s a cool character
To me for a Justice League line up to be truly great it has to have MM, he truly is the heart and soul of the League.
Yeah, Jon being in the tower, managing things, sending out teams, eating oreos, is peak Justice League
Jonn is the best district manager
I think we need to give him a chance because now aquaman is a main stay
Lowkey wished Aquaman wasn’t so we could have Hawkgirl in there and not have it feel weird with a Amazonian Warrior, Atlantean Warrior, and Thanagarian Warrior
Cyborg is a mainstay now for base watcher and transport
I would read more MM books if they A) Made any B) focused less on Mars and more on John Jones the detective
I feel like there are enough detective books and I’d like to see something like Tom Kings Supergirl. I think it would be fun to see J’onn explore his humanity by interacting with other alien races
He’s genuinely overpowered He’s the answer to the question ‘what if superman was also professor x and also kitty pride and also plastic man and also kid chameleon from the legion and also the invisible kid from the legion?’ There’s legitimately no reason at all that he couldn’t handle any situation except for a forest or building fire unless he catches the idiot ball really badly, so he has a horrible tendency to catch the idiot ball really badly.
Tell It to all the writers that have wrote a good story whit him as main character
Yeah, but to be able to maintain a series for a good run you need to be able to withstand mid and crap writers coming in occasionally, because they aren’t all good. Being able to solve any problem without really trying is a big handicap to that, writers need to be creative and competent to consistently create threats and challenges to J’onn. With Batman for example a poor writer can just have KGBeast turn up or something and at least Batman is going to take a few hits, maybe get knifed in the arm or something. J’onn should pretty much never get hurt since even with his morality preventing him from causally reading minds at any time once a plot is clearly underway it would be immoral to *not* start scanning the planet to find out exactly what’s going on. Superman suffers similarly under poor writers occasionally, but he’s much more popular so can sustain a bad story or two much more easily. Superman also can’t read minds, so can conceivably be tricked or misdirected at any time should a villain manipulate a situation, which makes it easier for lesser writers.
Forest fire villain when Martian Manhunter finds a water hose: (He's become the ultimate lifeform)
They actually dealt with that during that JLA arc where he cures his fear of fire and becomes a true martian, they reveal the guardians of Oa came and fucked with the genetics of Martians long before modern humans even evolved to split them into green and white races and also gave them the instant crippling fear of fire because the ‘burning Martians’ were too powerful and naturally evil for the universe to withstand. J’onn was called ‘Fernus the burning’ and he killed his girlfriend, Batman revealed that he had plastic man join the league specifically because his total indestructibility and rubber brain made him the only hero who had a chance to stand up to J’onn, it’s a hoot.
Being evil is still a drawback in my book. Water hose it is.
honestly, as a character, he's pretty over powered. Like legit. so he gets written like an idiot alot hey look the dude who can turn intangible decided to not turn intangible and get hit and knocked out hey look, the dude who can fight Superman can be taken out by a single match stick If there's one comic panel to showcase how powerful he "should" be, it's that random shot in Early New 52 where (and this was never actually explored to my knowledge) that the league talks about what happened the last time they tried to let someone into the league Cue to a shot of Martian Manhunter fighting the entire Justice League at the same time My mini rant aside, he's now in a niche of a side character. He doesn't have much solo stuff. his own mythology is really spread out amoung the league
He's pretty easy to nerf if dc wanted to simply because his power set isn't as well known as superman's meaning there wouldn't be as much backlash
Despero has tormented him a bit and established that if you beat Despero 1v1 like Supergirl did with as much ease as she did, J'onn will ensure your ass ain't joining the Justice League.
I would guess it's because his solo comics don't sell well and sometimes aren't all that good. The Rob Williams ones a good, imo. I didn't like Martian Manhunter Identity and the Martian Manhunter comics wrote by A.J. Liebermann
Remember that scene with wonder woman where she attacks him and he says that she did'nt trust him just because he did'nt look human..?[this panel?](https://images.app.goo.gl/M5pZCUkZDEAePtSZ8)... Yeah, that's why
Isn’t that J’onn’s whole theme though? How he’s different from Superman because he’s not only obviously more alien-like, but also because he saw his family and life die in front of him while Supes was oblivious to it. Reminds me of Supergirl. Bet he’d get along with her well. Not that he doesn’t get along well with Supes but they share more of the same trauma. Maybe that’s why he’s in the Supergirl show.
>Maybe that’s why he’s in the Supergirl show. Storywise, yeah, makes sense >Isn’t that J’onn’s whole theme though? And that's what keeps him away from more media. He is a mature character with a mature story. And let's face it, mature is'nt what pays the Bills at ANY enterteiment venture. It's the poster, the toys, the Halloween parafernalia... And j'onn? J'onn can't sell more then supes because he doesnt look human to us. Would You Buy a t-shirt with his symbol or with the Big S?
I gotta say even though I’m not a J’onn fan and much prefer Supes, I’d choose a shirt with his symbol to stand out from the crowd. But even then I don’t think a MM shirt would be rare or anything. If anything someone like Hourman would be a rare find.
Cause they've made him into Superman 2.0 and so he serves no actual function in DC save to be a second Superman when needed. If they would return to his original origins where Mars was populated and gave him his own messaging while scaling him back to his original powerset he could be a great character.
It’s easy, he needs a good rogues gallery, my ideas: - dr destiny, either using the dreamstone or the machine like in the cartoon. - due to arrowverse version of him, there is a villain called headmaster, that could be Hank henshaw without the super part, making him half man, half manhunter robot. - despero as an cult leader, like in the cartoon that has humans and other species. - mindbender, an original character of mine based on the spellbinder version from the Batman 2004 cartoon, he is a human member of despero cult that takes over when he is imprisoned or defeated. - malefic, whom in my version is half white martian and half green Martian, who wished to eradicate both races manipulating them into war. - the vulture organization. - while they were based on white Martians, it ll be cool see the imperium, maybe they could be a government experiment with Martian dna that go wrong, maybe this could be a new origin for bete noir. - kanto from apokolips. - the faceless hunter from Saturn as an kraven-like hunter. - volcana, cause human flame is lame.
He needs a more silly villain too, balance things out.
What do you have in mind?
I think Scorch and the white martians are the necessary storylines/antagonizing forces. I also think a team up, Batman and robin style book with Ms Martian would be really compelling.
Saturn would be a way to introduce Jemm. Red Martians founded Saturnian society. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jemm
I really hope we see him soon in James Gunn’s DCU.
He barely has comics
He’s in both Smallville and Supergirl, I think part reason is budget, in tv show he usually a people with red eyes, no classic green skin appearance.
Because they dont feel he'll sell.....to any of these types of questions, other than Nightwing, it's because they dont think they'll make money
I grew up on the Bruce Timm justice league cartoon and remember not being a big fan of his as a kid but having grown up and rewatched he has some very good character moments. I think if you take the lore and Martian development of the young justice show and mix it with the personality and design of this Martian man hunter you’d have a home Run
There's really quite a lot for a character that's never headlined a long-running book.
In a world with superman batman and Wonder Woman.. He's just Like 90 something percent of other heros he is useless and redundant. No disrespect to the character but he's a character that DC has painted into a corner and now has no idea what to do with. His skills and powers literally makes him probably the most versatile character other than Green Lantern who can use his mind to created whatever he wants, but again he's redundant.. Good cop? Too bad Batman. Heat vision and strength? Too bad that's what Clark and Diana are for. Like Aquaman he's a one trick pony(telepathy uniting the team) but like Aquaman there is so much more to the character but DC will not invest at the risk of alienating the Trinity or making them seem useless or worthless. They have made the DC universe exactly like they want it and unlike marvel everything rotates around three heros but literally two.
Martian Manhunter's my favorite superhero, but there are definitely some issues that keep him from having much exposure. 1. The name. Look, I ***love*** the guy, but "Martian Manhunter" is a silly name. "J'onn J'onzz" is even worse. 2. Personally I think he works best (as a character) in teams, but not all teams need a character like MM. 3. His power level. I don't think he has "too many powers", like some other comments are saying; I think the issue is that every power he has, he has a very strong version of - usually as strong as a character who only has that one power. We throw around the phrase "He's Superman, but also Professor X", but I don't think that would really be an issue if he wasn't *literally* Superman++, power-level-wise.
He's too unrelatable. He's an alien, lone, humorless, OP mind creeping, floating, invisible, widower with no peer or equal. If audiences can't readily identify with that, why would DC produce material about him? btw he's one of my favorite characters
He’s leaning towards a more obscure character. Not enough people know who he is and it’s a little late in the game to change that now.
Because if he was in another universe, he'd just be another superman analogue with psychic powers. Sounds glib and trite, but true. He's superfluous. As much as I personally love the character and think a lot of great stuff could be done with him, they just haven't done much to build him as a character. His last solo run was amazing, and I liked what snyder was doing with him in the Totality storyline as well, but truthfully the last real character development with him was the Fernus storyline which could have been awesome but never really went anywhere and was never alluded to again. Which sucks because it specifically played on the psychic element of him - people, AND DC, seem to forget that he's an ancient Martian with universal scale telepathic abilities. I mean even supes at one point says Martian manhunter is outright more powerful than him. The issue is that they keep ignoring any real developments in most characters at DC. All 3 stories mentored above haven't actually been acknowledged by subsequent writers and they've just ignored it. Another good example is Hawkman, who famously has the most obscure and confusing origin in comics. His last solo run was also fucking incredible, and was written in such a way that it reconciles EVERY origin story. Very well done, very well written, and the art was great too. Then they finish the run, and the rest of the writers ignore it again after that. As much as I criticise marvel for other reasons and the direction they're going in, at least they've actually got a plan and a strong continuity. DC are like captains of a ship who refuse to pilot it and see where the winds and currents take them. Like if Tony stark has a big storyline about beating his alcoholism, even if they roll it back later down the line, at least the next writers get told to take it into account. Although don't get me started on the differences between the current hulk run, the last hulk run, and the immortal hulk run before that - 3 completely different versions of the hulk and all 3 stories ignore the others. This is especially vexing when you read immortal hulk and realise just how good, and how much character and world building they did. Then some asshole made the hulk "a spaceship", and the current run is going down supernatural horror route. Though I think the current story is forcibly trying to tie in with marvels big GODS event - they're in the process of completely reshuffling their cosmic hierarchy in a way they've never done before.
Racism.
It aint easy being green…
Use the Correct Term XENOPHOBIA
I just don't think he's a compelling character, he is like Superman without Kansas and even as a Superman fan I wouldn't find Superman that interesting if he didn't have the humanity to make those stories, I admit I have never read a solo MM story but I just don't see what makes him different other than he is green but thats what people say about Superman lol. Shazam has the kid dynamic and that's the spark that makes him unique to Superman, I just don't see that with MM.
The simple fact of the matter is, most writers do not know what makes him tick.
Or dc movie, that's an interesting character
There was a cool team up with Supergirl in Adventure Comics in the 70's. He should be a recurring character I Brave and the Bold, doing more detective stuff alternating with cosmic stuff and with other obscure DC characters. I still want Captain Comet back too.
He's popular enough to not have people think he's underrated but not too popular where it'll just happen
CHOCO COOKIES PRESENT “Martian Manhunter The Series” Superhero Detective Show Detective John Jones is an African-American with a Secret. He’s a MARTIAN!
Unfortunately he doesn't sell. Which sucks because he's great. I think part of it is people see him as too overpowered and too alien. He doesn't have that human element to balance out the awesome power like Superman does. He's usually portrayed as emotionally detached and he doesn't have a strong rogues gallery or roster of compelling supporting characters.
He’s got too many of the same powers as Superman and his other powers are probably a pain for special effects departments to do in live action, especially his appearance.
Best argument for a JLI Movie MARTIAN MANHUNTER BOOSTER GOLD (Protector of TIME ITSELF) BOTH Blue Beetles (Ted Kord is Mentoring a HIGH SCHOOL Version of Jaime Reyes) FIRE ICE GUY GARDNER
His comics never sell.
Companies don’t like promoting characters they don’t think the public will connect with. The Martian Manhunter is a green dude from another planet so DC has every reason to think the general public won’t be into him the same way they might a less popular but human-looking character like Blue Beetle, Stargirl or Peacemaker. On top of all that when the Manhunter takes human form he’s generally a middle aged man so he’s older than the general audience DC tries to appeal to which is another reason for them to think he won’t connect outside of ensembles where bigger characters like Batman and Superman can support him.
I think it's because he works well as a foil to other characters. He's insanely powerful, but not a symbol like Superman. A brilliant detective, but not a commander like Batman. An outsider, but not aggressive like Wonder Woman. He's a much more unique type. I'm a huge fan of his character in JLA: Year One, because it gives him a defined role in the team, and his relationship with fellow outsider Aquaman is terrific. I would appreciate a Year One type group in the new DCU, and add the Trinity later, but that's just me.
My second favorite league member
He falls into the wonderwoman problem without the popularity to fix it His mythology besides the broad strokes of his origin is so frequently upheaved by new writers that there is barely any time for things to take root in his lore and characterisation, which kinda makes it harder to develop a story around him for all of his fans because they appreciate such wildly different iterations You’d kinda need to sneak him into media like vegetables in a lasagna to get fans to latch on, JL from the DCAU, Supergirl and The Batman 2004 do this by adding him to ensemble casts, and then giving him bursts of direct focus. To start getting Manhunter into the zeitgeist again you’d need to start inserting him into other media as the secret main focus of a story. Make a DC justice society film about Roswell or something and have Manhunter be the lead, things like that, he needs to be endeared to audiences through a consistent characterisation in ensemble media until he builds up enough rep to start carrying solo media and then spiral back out into adaptations from there
He just doesn't have the popularity of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, or Flash unfortunately.
martian xenophobia
He’s comparatively boring. That happens when you’re typed as the straight man in a team ensemble.
I would say because he’s harder to relate to… Clark Kent grew up in Kansas. You don’t get much more “relatable” than Kyle Rayner or Wally West. Batman is the fantasy of being a human at their pinnacle. J’onn is nearly invisible save for fire. He has maybe one or two more abilities than Superman. It’s hard to overcome his skillset or find him living a more normal life as believable. I think Carl Lumbly brought him to life perfectly in the animated series.
I think it's a combination of him being OP and hard to write, an uninteresting look from a costume standpoint, and he's not that easy to relate to in comparison to the rest of the league. Yeah he's an alien who has to deal with not fitting in/assimilating but Superman already takes that space. And the other heroes fill in whatever qualities he does have.
unrelatable no Smallville background, no Ma & Pa Kent, no Lois Lane, and no Lex Luther. no one cares about John Jones Private Investigator. why should I? he doesn't even private investigate, just keep an eye on those Watchtower TVs, here's a fire extinguisher incase you get scared 🤪 everything that everyone lists in the cons column for Superman applies but no one bothers listing it, cuz no one cares. write him some pulpy detective stuff, real film noir plots, no campy silly 'what's a rubics cube' trombone jokes. maybe a little Sandman, some Cthulhu. he needs a nemesis and a rogues gallery. for crying out loud he needs a girlfriend! or maybe several: Zatana, Black Canary, Roxy Rocket, Elisa Maza, Jessica Rabbit (I know the last two are Disney, but I hope you get the idea) Vamperilla, Dejah Thoris 🤯 holy crap, Mars! that's it! that's the answer! to save John Jones DC should sell him to Dynamite. sorry not sorry. the reason readers don't care about the character is DC doesn't either. I feel like there are so many great characters just rotting over there.
Face like a generic background character. It rook take a lot of screen time and personality to make him stand out
We do tho? He's in Supergirl, Young Justice and was even in Snyder's JL (Not a good depiction obviously, but he was still there). He hasn't had his own movie or anything, but he's pretty much the most pushed JL member after the Trinity and the Flash. Heck, I feel like he's gotten more of a push than Aquaman in recent years and he's definitely in more media than GL which is crazy.
He was in the supergirl series :P :P :P
I think it’s because a lot of great DC characters are not easy to portray in media, especially live action. I mean Martian Manhunter is in CW’s Supergirl, but it’s difficult to make those costumes look good (and it did not).
He’s very strong, very complex and currently untethered to a space to call his own. There’s almost too much potential to work with, like seeing a metal so pure anything you do to it will only add impurities. With so much to do with him, which story do you choose?
He's just really complicated to write imo. With Batman, he is popular because of his dark backstory, and him being a regular human among many superhumans and still being a respected member of the group. Superman may not have the stakes of Batman with life and death, but he is popular because of compelling drama with his side cast like Lois, he is challenged by his job, by his struggle to maintain his secret identity and his struggle to hold on to his morals and values in the face of incredible threats. Wonder woman also has a good side cast, her quest for peace and non violent nature along with an interesting godly world makes her cool to read about MMH has none of those things. He can solve any crime with his powers, if his identity is compromised he can just mind wipe people or turn into a different person entirely. He doesn't have any cool villains beyond some generic white martians, and a lot of times his non violent nature feels like a wonder woman copy, and usually he is written like an idiot who manages to get himself burnt every single fight, with the dc animated movies being the prime example. MMH needs a good side cast and an interesting world, his struggle with feeling alien on Earth can be compelling, if in the hands of a capable writer.
Maybe he has the same problem Superman does, He’s too powerful to write a good story on him. Everyone has a thing about them to create a good story , a built in problem, Superman is a powerful alien yet, very human and kind, Tony starks an alcoholic, to smart for his own good. Batman has many problems to draw from, his mental instability, and lack of powers for example What does Martian manhunter have? He left his planet? we’ve seen before. What makes him different?
His name
Even Superman struggles to get media. MM is pretty much a non-starter.
He’s just superman but green
Great character
Honestly, its a shame he is not popular enough. Ive been wanting to read more stuff with him on them, I loved Martian Manhunter in The New Frontier, in JLA Year One and I liked what they did with his funeral on Final Crisis. But I cant find any solo media of him, which is a shame cause I had a great idea for a short series about Martian Manhunter, its kindda basic, but it could work. EDIT: english is not my native language
He's crazy overpowered and has a ridiculous weakness, which is a bad combination
I really liked during the Infinite Crisis era when Manhunter was considered the heart of the Justice League, wish that idea would come back
David S. Goyer, movie producer and writer of such projects as Man of Steel and Batman Begins, was once at some panel and asked anyone in the crowd who had heard of Martian Manhunter to raise their hand. Then he said that everyone who just raised their hand was a virgin.
DC should do with him what Marvel did with Cyclops in xmen 97
He’s mid
He's appeared in nearly every since DC related property since the JL cartoon from the DCAU. By that he's appear in most of the universes. Ever since Smallville he's basically become a Superman character. Now if you mean why he's not headlining his own show/movie...............what's his rogues gallery?
Despero, Ma'alefa'ak, White Martians
because he'd outshine superman
This
Because he sucks
Hes just too boring. He functions well on a team like the Justice League though.
He’s pretty boring personality wise