| Genre: | Reality super heroes |
| Creator: | Stan Lee Bruce Nash |
| Director: | Rick Telles |
| Presenter: | Stan Lee |
| Judges: | Stan Lee |
| Narrated: | Stan Lee |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 2 |
| Num Episodes: | 14 |
| Runtime: | 60 minutes |
| Network: | Sci Fi |
Who Wants to Be a Superhero? was a superhero genre reality TV series broadcast on the Sci Fi Channel produced by Nash Entertainment and POW! Entertainment. The show was created by Stan Lee and Nash Entertainment.[1] A junior version of the show was broadcast on BBC Two/CBBC in the UK.
Potential contestants auditioned as their super hero selves. The final 10 selected were then placed in common quarters. The contestants were then tested for super hero traits.[2] Lee was the only judge and would instruct the eliminated contestant: “Turn in your costume”.[3] He also mentored the contestants and made appearances, primarily on TV screens, on a giant plasma at the top of a tower block, monitor resting in the middle of a pile of trash or on individually issued "communicators".[2] Winner's character concept would be the star of a Stan Lee scripted Dark Horse comic book and of a TV movie for the Sci Fi (SyFy) Channel.[1] [4]
Stan Lee and Bruce Nash developed the concept.[3] In 2004, MTV was considering televising the show, even holding the regional auditions. The show moved to the Sci Fi Channel two years later[5] with the pitch well-received when they were told that Stan would judge.[3]
The show was renewed for a second season with hints of another country might get a junior version of the show.[6] Jarrett Crippen, aka the Defuser, won the second season.[7]
At the Los Angeles 2004 auditions, Matthew Atherton applied as Knightbeam, powered from artificial light. Atherton reapplied as Feedback and was originally selected as an alternative.[5]
Some filmed challenges were cut from the show.[5] The first challenge (1a) was from Rotiart, a plant from Lee, who talked to the contestants to find out who was there for the right reasons. The next challenge (1b) was to discreetly change into costume and then race to a finish line, with a secret part being to help a lost little girl.
The three finalists had their potential comic book cover shown to them. Then they had the challenge of getting school children to vote for them after telling them their origin story. Fat Momma won the children's vote. The next challenge was to track down Dark Enforcer at Universal CityWalk via planned clues with Major Victory winning. Fat Momma wanted to quit, as she felt Feedback deserved it more, but was convinced to stick it out by the other two. Major Victory was then eliminated.[8]
Feedback won the first season over Fat Momma.[5] The top three, winner Feedback, runners-up Fat Momma and Major Victory, were made into action figures by Shocker Toys released along with the season two's figures.[9] Feedback appeared in the 2007 Sci Fi channel film Mega Snake.[10]
Key:
| Superhero[11] | Secret Identity[12] | Concept | 1a | 1b | 2a | 2b | 3a | 3b | 4a | 4b | 5 | 6 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feedback ♂ | Matthew Atherton Software engineer 34 years old Las Cruces, New Mexico | Absorb powers from video game characters/generate a feedback field that disrupts electronics within 15 feet/computer genius | IN | IN | IN | NOM | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | WIN | |
| Fat Momma ♀ | Nell Wilson Online sales specialist/single mother 42 years old Los Angeles, California | Grows to 5X her normal size when angry/eating a doughnut activates other powers | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | NOM | NOM | IN | IN | OUT | |
| Major Victory ♂ | Chris Watters Disc jockey 38 years old San Francisco, California | Super strength/flight/super jump/survive without air/super vision/manipulate sound waves | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | NOM | NOM | OUT | ||
| Lemuria ♀ | Tonatzin Mondragon Property manager/artist/sculptor 30 years old Los Angeles, California | Shoot lasers/shoot fireballs/levitation/drain energy from people, animals, and plants/throw orbs of solar energy | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |||
| Creature ♀ | Tonya Kay Automobile mechanic 25 years old Coldwater, Michigan | Can heal others with fruit and raw foods/shoot fire beams/magical bullwhip/throws knives with unerring precision | NOM | IN | NOM | IN | IN | IN | OUT | ||||
| Ty'Veculus ♂ | E. Quincy Sloan Fire captain 34 years old Bakersfield, California | Super strength/super speed/fire resistannce/lie detection | IN | IN | IN | NOM | IN | OUT | |||||
| Monkey Woman ♀ | Mary Votava Real estate investor 28 years old Seattle, Washington | Skills of a monkey/talk to monkeys/high-tech weapons disguised as bananas/bamboo staff | IN | NOM | IN | IN | OUT | ||||||
| The Iron Enforcer ♂ | Steel Chambers Bodyguard 35 years old Brooklyn, New York | Densest bone structure of any human/death punch/various high-tech weapons | NOM | NOM | NOM | OUT | |||||||
| Cell Phone Girl ♀ | Chelsea Weld Interior designer 22 years old La Crescenta, California | Teleport from one cell phone to another/eyes can take digital photos/mentally download information from a computer/use cell phone waves to move objects and shoot laser beams | IN | IN | OUT | ||||||||
| Nitro G ♂ | Darren Passarello College student/filmmaker 19 years old Staten Island, New York | Super strength/super speed/flight/energy manipulation | IN | OUT | |||||||||
| Levity ♂ | Tobias Trost Toy designer/animator 32 years old Lakeside, Montana | Force shields/aerokinesis | OUT | ||||||||||
| Rotiart ♂ | Jonathan Finestone Business owner 27 years old Los Angeles, California | Spy cameras | plant/spy for Lee, not a true contestant | ||||||||||
Two or three villains, Dr. Dark and Bee Sting,[13] were used in this season and there was an overarching story line.[6] In addition to the first season rewards of a Stan Lee written comic book published by Dark Horse and a Sci Fi Original movie appearance, the winning character would also get a Shocker Toys action figure.[14]
Jarrett Crippen's character was originally named Take Down, but as that name was trademarked by a wrestler, Stan Lee chose "The Defuser" after discussing his job as a police detective.[15] Crippen finished filming for his character's movie appearance by January 15, 2009. The movie, Lightning Strikes, also starred Kevin Sorbo.[16]
Key:A plus sign indicates that the hero was singled out for praise by Lee in that episode.
| Superhero | Secret Identity | Concept | 1 | 2 | 3a | 3b | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Defuser ♂ | Jarret Crippen Police detective Austin, Texas | Use non-lethal weapons/body can function at 110%/super strength/super speed/enhanced reflexes/super hearing/night vision | IN | IN | IN | IN | NOM | NOM | IN | NOM | WIN | |
| Hygena ♀ | Melody Mooney Homemaker Sherman Oaks, California | Use a magic necklace to turn cleaning tools into weapons | IN+ | IN+ | IN+ | IN | NOM | NOM | NOM | NOM | OUT | |
| Hyper-Strike ♂ | John Stork Circus performer Plainfield, Vermont/Chicago, Illinois | Martial arts expert/super strength/enhanced durability/enhanced agility/can manipulate own qi | IN | IN | IN | NOM | IN | IN+ | NOM | NOM | OUT | |
| Parthenon ♂ | Dan Williams College professor Orlando, Florida | Super strength/invulnerability/flight/force-field generation/sonic blast/illusion creation | IN+ | IN | IN+ | IN | IN+ | IN | OUT | |||
| Whip-Snap ♀ | Paula Thomas Security officer Dallas, Texas/Los Angeles, California | Expert at using a whip/increased flexibility/decomposing touch/absorbs strength from the Earth | IN+ | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | ||||
| Basura ♀ | Aja de Coudreaux Artist Oakland, California | Use magic to turn trash into weapons/communicate with insects | IN+ | IN | NOM | NOM | OUT | |||||
| Ms. Limelight ♀ | Trisha Paytas Barista Byron, Illinois/Los Angeles, California | Absorb the powers and skills of action stars from movies/fantastic swimmer/sense people's weaknesses/use a mirror to temporarily blind foes | NOM | NOM | NOM | OUT | ||||||
| Mr. Mitzvah ♂ | Ivan "Sir Ivan" Wilzig Multi-millionaire Miami, Florida/New York City | Star of David paddle that can deflect any attack/super strength/flight/night vision/super senses | NOM | NOM | OUT | |||||||
| Mindset ♂ | Phillip Allen Cashier Coral Springs, Florida | Super intelligence/telekinesis/time travel/indestructible armor/sense danger/excellent problem solver | IN | OUT | ||||||||
| Braid ♀ | Crystal Clark Homemaker/Former CIA Bloomington, Illinois | Use hair extensions as a zip line/shape-shifting/super smell/can change into her costume using a prism stone | OUT |
In the UK version, 13 children competed in superhero persona; it was broadcast on CBBC.