Marvel and DC are the two oldest and two most popular comic book publishers in the world. While the two companies have thousands of characters, it's only natural that some ideas seem to be extremely similar to something the other company had published already.
For example, Bucky Barnes and Dick Grayson were sidekick characters introduced within months of each other. The most well-known copy, however, is The Flash and Quicksilver. But how much are these two actually alike?
10 Same: They both have super speed
This is obviously the defining factor that pits these two against each other. While the original Flash was introduced in 1940, Barry Allen proved to be much more popular, as he ushered in the Silver Age of comics and made super speed look like the coolest power ever. The Flash is often seen to be able to run faster than light, and that's on a slow day.
Eight years later, X-Men fans were introduced to Pietro Maximoff, a character wearing a lightning uniform with the ability to run at superhuman speeds. However, Quicksilver doesn't even come close to even the slower DC speedsters. With a top speed of about Mach 5, Pietro isn't even one of the fastest Marvel characters, much less as fast as The Flash.
9 Different: Quicksilver was a mutant and Barry's powers came from an accident
While reading an old issue of The Flash from the 1940s, forensic scientist Barry Allen thinks about how cool it would be to move at superhuman speeds. While reviewing his mother's cold case late at night, Barry is struck by lightning and thrown into his lab of chemicals. When he goes outside, he easily outraces a car, and realizes he has powers. He names himself The Flash, and the rest is history.
Quicksilver was originally introduced as a mutant. In the Marvel Universe, mutants are people born with special abilities through a genetic trait called the x-gene. Quicksilver's powers came into formation as he was stealing food and managed to speed away quickly. However, this has been altered many times, and currently, Marvel is saying Quicksilver received his abilities through genetic testing.
8 Same: They’re both twins
As a major part of the MCU, Wanda Maximoff is extremely well known around the world as the Scarlet Witch. Pietro's twin sister, Wanda has an assortment of abilities due to her power to manipulate and warp reality to her will. She's an extremely powerful member of the X-Men and The Avengers.
Barry's twin is much less known. On May 13th, Nora Allen gave birth to two boys, and Charlene Thawne suffered a miscarriage. The doctor switched the babies out and presented the second child as the Thawnes and told the Allens only one baby had survived. Malcolm Thawne would return as the supervillain Cobalt Blue.
7 Different: Quicksilver has served as a villain, antihero, and hero, where Flash is a hero at heart
As a founding member, Barry has been and always will be a member of the Justice League. His sense of right and wrong and his determination to bring people to justice will always ensure that he will fight on the side of the angels. Even in Elseworlds stories where heroes are evil, like Injustice, Barry is still good.
Quicksilver, not so much. He and his sister were first introduced as an X-Men villain, serving under his "father" Magneto as a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The two managed to reform, and they joined the Avengers alongside Captain America and Hawkeye. However, Quicksilver switches sides almost as fast as he can run, and he doesn't stay a hero or a villain long before he switches back.
6 Same: Both of their abilities allow them to do much more than run fast
Due to the CW series, the multiple ways Flash uses his powers is pretty much common knowledge at this point. He can throw lightning, steal speed, vibrate his molecules to phase through objects, and of course, time travel.
While Quicksilver is able to do some of those things as well, he's got a few unique powers of his own. For some reason, Pietro's superhuman speed also grants him slightly subhuman strength, being able to life 1,000 pounds. He also has molecular destabilization, where he can take an object and shake it so hard it's molecules break, causing the object to fall apart.
5 Different: The Speed Force
Introduced in Mark Waid's run on the character, the Speed Force is an extra-dimensional field of energy generated by Barry Allen that every speedster in the DCU taps into. The aura the Speed Force provides to each hero is an explanation of how the Flashes break the laws of physics, such as not completely destroying anyone they carry or only creating sonic booms when they want to.
Quicksilver does not have the Speed Force or anything like it. Marvel has never actually provided an explanation of the real dangers of his powers like DC has.
4 Same: Both have a WWII Speedster to look up to
Jay Garrick is extremely well known among Flash fans. After inhaling hard water vapor, Jay became The Flash, one of the most prominent superheroes of the 1940s and an important member of the Justice Society of America. Jay used to reside on Earth 2 with the other JSA members, and his first encounter with Barry was the introduction to the DC Multiverse.
When he was bitten by a snake, Robert Frank's father delivered a transfusion to his son using the blood of a mongoose. Somehow, this granted him superpowers. He joins WWII superhero groups such as the Invaders, the Liberty Legion, and the All-Winners Squad. He believed himself to be the father of the Maximoffs, but this turned out to be untrue.
3 Different: Flash is a legacy hero
Barry Allen is one of the multiple figures who have taken on the mantle of The Flash. Jay was his predecessor, and when Barry died in Crisis on Infinite Earths, Wally West, who was Kid Flash at the time, took over for his late uncle.
Wally would not be the last Flash, however, as Bart Allen, Barry's grandson from the future, eventually became the Scarlet Speedster, and there are tons more down the family tree who keep up the tradition. Quicksilver is just Quicksilver, no one before him, no one after him. He's done.
2 Same: Neither of their names is original
As mentioned before, Barry Allen was inspired by the original Flash to become a superhero. while Quicksilver may be a Marvel character, National Comics had a hero named Quicksilver long before Pietro or even Barry were on the scene.
He was an extremely minor character who was just known as Max. However, Mark Waid decided to reintroduce the character, and Max Mercury became the Zen Master of Speed, the first who knew of the Speed Force, and Bart Allen's mentor.
1 Different: The Flash doesn’t have father issues
Barry's dad was arrested for a crime he didn't commit, but at least he knew who his dad was. The parentage of the Maximoff twins has been a common mystery throughout the Marvel Universe. For the longest time, it was believed that the mutant Magneto was their father, and this is the most accepted truth to people who aren't really into comics.
The Whizzer believed he was their parents, and unfortunately took that thought to his grave. Turns out, their birth parents are Django and Marya Maximoff, the two adults who raised them. It's only a matter of time before Marvel changes it again though.