10 Heroes and Heroines Who Made Success on TV and Paved the Way for Marvel and DC Characters

Before Thor, Captain America, Black Panther, Iron Man and Scarlet Witch hit the big screen, at a time when Spider-Man was only a comic book character, other heroes dominated TV, such as the Six Million Man Dollars, the Bionic Woman and Zorro. They and several others, including early versions of Wonder Woman, Hulk and Batman, starred in highly successful series. Certainly, they were the great idols of our parents (and maybe even our grandparents) between the 1950s and 1980s.

In this post, the awesome.club features a list of the great TV heroes of the past, explaining what each show was about. Now, it will be easy to understand why the productions were watched by so many people around the world.

An astronaut suffers a terrible accident during an experimental flight. So that his life can be saved, a government agency replaces his legs, right arm and left eye with cybernetic devices. And so is born The Six Million Dollar Man, title that refers to the amount spent on the application of technologies within a secret project called “Bionics”.

The changes give the character superpowers, such as running at speeds of over 97 km/h and having zoom and infrared vision in one of his eyes, in addition to having the strength of an excavator in his bionic arm. And he wore all of his superhuman traits to his work as an undercover agent for the OSI (something like the Department of Scientific Intelligence).

The series had 5 seasons, broadcast from 1973 to 1978. The success was so great that, later, 3 films were produced with the participation of the original characters. Based on a 1972 novel titled Cyborg, the role was the most relevant in the career of actor Steve Austin. To this day, there are those who remember the bionic noise that the public heard when the character used his powers, as well as the slow motion scenes when he ran.

In the last chapter of the second season of The Six Million Dollar Man, the story of Jaime Sommers, an ex-girlfriend of Steve’s, is shown, who has an accident while jumping with a parachute and dies after rejecting the idea of ​​receiving a bionic implant. The public, however, did not like the plot at all, sending several complaints to the TV station. The fanfare was so much that the writers resurrected the character at the beginning of the third season. The good receptivity on the part of the viewers made the character, lived by the actress Lindsay Wagner, win her own series.

The Bionic Woman had a hearing that allowed her to hear sounds emitted at low volumes, at frequencies imperceptible to other people, and even over long distances. She also had extreme strength in her left arm and legs that made her run at over 90 km/h. Like the Six Million Dollar Man, the Bionic Woman was dedicated to spy missions for the OSI, using the guise of a high school teacher.

The series ran from 1976 to 1978, gaining a legion of fans. In 2007, a remake that tried to maintain the base of the original program, but bringing technological updates. However, the production was canceled after 8 episodes, in the face of low ratings.

Many young people today know the character from DC films, starring Gal Gadot, but between 1975 and 1979, what existed was a TV series starring Lynda Carter. The production had a lot of positive repercussions around the world, making the heroine an icon of the feminist movement.

The series told the story of Diana, princess of the Amazons of Themyscira, an island isolated from the rest of the world where warrior and strong women lived. With bracelets capable of deflecting bullets and a golden lasso that forced people to obey and tell the truth, Wonder Woman left her home aboard an invisible plane in order to use her powers to do good to people.

The soundtrack and the character’s ability to change costumes just by turning her body successively are among the things fans of the series remember to this day. A curiosity about the production: the first season is set in World War II, while the second and third take place in the 1970s.

“In the middle of the night, when the full moon shines, the knight known as Zorro appears.” These were the first verses of the original soundtrack of the series that was a resounding success among millions of young people and children. The production was admired by so many generations that, despite being shot in 1957 by Walt Disney in black and white, it was remastered in color in 1992.

The plot is set in 1820, when Los Angeles was still part of the Spanish crown. The hero was Diego de la Vega (played by Guy Williams), a wealthy man, intelligent and skilled in the use of the sword. He disguised himself with a black mask, cape and hat to fight against the oppression imposed on the poorest by the rulers. He was always accompanied by his friend, Bernardo, his horse, Tornado, and Sergeant Garcia, a kind, sympathetic and incorruptible royal soldier.

The character is based on a work of fiction from 1919, but only gained worldwide repercussions with the TV series. In cinema, 2 films were produced with the character: Zorro’s Mask (1998), and The Legend of Zorro (2005), both starring Antonio Banderas.

The show, broadcast from 1972 to 1975, revolves around Kwai Chang Caine, a Shaolin monk who, at the end of the 19th century, heads to the isolated American West in search of his half-brother. On his way, he comes across different enemies, facing them all with martial arts prowess. To make friends, he teaches his philosophy of life: Buddhism.

The protagonist was played by David Carradine, who 30 years later would again feel the taste of stardom when he lived the villain of the films. Kill Bill, by Quentin Tarantino. Among the actors invited to participate in the series were some names that, years later, would emerge in Hollywood, such as Harrison Ford and a young woman named Jodie Foster.

A film was shot in 1986 as a sequel to the series. There was yet another TV show (1993-1997), always with Carradine playing Caine. The hero popularized catchphrases such as “walk more than Kung fu”, in reference to the main character’s long walks, and “little cricket”, to speak of someone with martial arts skills. This was the nickname of the monk during his childhood, mentioned in several flashbacks from the program.

Three women leave the force to work as private detectives at an agency owned by a man known as Charlie. This is the premise of the production that brought together everything: crime, drama, fights and the beauty of the “panthers”, interpreted in the original production by Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith. Charlie’s face was always a mystery, as he only communicated through a loudspeaker.

Each episode had the same structure: it started with a crime, then the “panthers” were informed by the boss about the mission to be carried out and, applying a lot of creativity and an extreme ability to go unnoticed, they reached the objective.

The TV series had 5 seasons, aired between 1976 and 1981, making a huge success. Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu played the characters in theaters in 2 films. In addition, a third feature will be released in 2019, this one with Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska.

batman needs no introduction, but few people remember the television version of the 1960s, which combined the character’s classic adventures with elements of pop culture at the time, such as rock and twist, the famous choreography that the protagonist danced and which became one of the symbols of the TV show.

Played by Adam West, Bruce Wayne lacked the muscles and svelte silhouette that would later be shown on film. The technological resources available in the hero’s utility belt also fell short of those that appear in the remakes. The same goes for the “Batmobile”. However, the charisma of the characters and the content of the episodes started what was called “Batmania”.

Several classic villains also appeared in the series such as Joker, Penguin, Riddler and Catwoman. Robin, the main character’s faithful companion, also had an important role. The program was also known for the cameos of famous people who appeared in the production at that time, not to mention the opening soundtrack.

The challenge of doing Hulk in the late 1970s, without the special effects that are common today, it did not scare the makers of this series. The plot was not far removed from the classic character immortalized in comic books: a scientist who receives a large amount of gamma rays in his body starts to transform into a green creature endowed with extraordinary strength whenever he gets angry.

To make the transformation process more realistic, the work of 2 actors was required: one without so many muscles (Bill Bixby), who played Bruce Banner, and a bodybuilder (Lou Ferrigno), who gave life to the Hulk. Arnold Schwarzenegger auditioned for the lead role after the transformations, but producers thought he was too short for the job.

The program had 82 episodes, broadcast over 5 seasons, achieving good audience numbers. After the production was canceled, 3 TV movies were shot with the original cast. And from 2003 onwards, we had the chance to watch new feature films about the character, resulting from his inclusion in the Marvel Cinematographic Universe, with the interpretation of Mark Ruffalo.

You don’t always need superpowers or lots of money to become a superhero, and MacGyver is proof of that. The protagonist, who gave the program its name, was played by Richard Dean Anderson. He was a secret agent with a very peculiar quality: he had great intelligence and broad technical knowledge that allowed him to solve any problem using creativity.

The character’s main weapon, in addition to his brain, was a Swiss army knife, used to turn anything he had in his hands into devices necessary for the success of the mission.

The series had 7 seasons, being broadcast from 1985 to 1992. In 2016, a remake with a younger MacGyver. The fourth season will begin in 2020.

Baptized in Brazil as The Super Machine, It is like Knight Rider in the United States, this series had as protagonist KITT, a car equipped with an innovative artificial intelligence…