Everywhere you go these days, there are superheroes. In movies, on t-shirts, around theme park rides. They're and fill a sort of vacuum in American culture for mythology. It's very tempting take all sorts of stuff from American pop-culture and medievalize it, but I think superheroes would have a distinct advantage. First is that after a collapse of civilization, comic books would be the most accessible. Television and motion pictures would simply not be consumed as much, as no device to play them. People would still be able to use books, in theory. However, after a generation or so, the literacy rates would drop. Comics, at least those that would physically withstand the stresses of the time, are low-tech but visual enough. While most folklore takes decades, even centuries to codify, having reached millions of people at one point kind of evens that out.
I rated comic book superheroes by four factors: Recognition, (How broad an audience did they reach?) Seniority, (How long have they been around?) Iconography, (How easy would a character be recognized using the most basic of artwork?), and of course, Non-Modern Elements. The conceit I'm using is that the more a character uses elements that are explicitly tied to modern elements, then more you have to kind of "plug in", and the more of a chance that character has to have stuff "plugged in". So someone with a lot of technology and operating by a modern civic code might not translate as well. I've basically just referenced characters with live action movies and TV Shows. For the record, I haven't included Thor. He would obviously have a place in the new Medieval world--certainly in Germanic Europe and likely in America as well. (And many Marvel characters probably get a boost by being connected with him)
Ant-Man
Recognition: 2
Seniority: 2
Iconography: 2
Non-Industrial Ties: 1
Total: 7
Probably a higher score than he would have had a month ago, Ant-Man is nonetheless a relatively obscure and extremely sci-fi heavy character. Maybe if the Wasp was more prominent one could draw fairy parallels, (Although keep in mind the tiny, winged fairy was a Victorian thing) but you'll find I'm not going to be doing a lot of stuff like "Scientist=Wizard" or "Reporter=Herald" type stuff. The guys who will endure don't need to have heavy reverse engineering like that.
Batman
Recognition: 4
Seniority: 4
Iconography: 4
Non-Industrial Ties: 3
Total: 15
Batman is not only one of the most recognizable characters in all of fiction, but he does have certain trappings that would fit in well with the medieval world. Not only is there the sobriquet "The Dark Knight", but his secret identity is relatively less modern. (There would be no "Wayne Enterprises, by Bruce Wayne is old money, and the crusader pretending to be a fop is common in works like "The Scarlet Pimpernal" and "Zorro" which, while not medieval, are relatively low tech settings) Batman's largest problem is his jurisdiction--medieval cities were smaller in sized and geography, so "Gotham" would probably have to be expanded as a realm.
Blade
Recognition: 3
Seniority: 2
Iconography: 1
Non-Industrial Ties: 3
Total: 9
Marvel's first big screen success, and one of the most famous vampire killers in fiction, he may be weirdly perfect as a folklore hero, but kind of outside the "superhero" genre, should it endure as a genre.
Captain America
Recognition: 3
Seniority: 4
Iconography: 4
Non-Industrial Ties: 3
Total: 14
While not usually counted in the absolute top superheroes, and possessing a sci-fi origin, Captain America has what is arguably one of the less high-tech costumes, (chain mail and cavalier boots) and his main thing is a shield--can't get anymore medieval than that. Interestingly, his being draped in patriotic imagery means he may be the most celebrated hero in parts of the Non-Demoninational world, but lesso in places that have completely cut their ties with the US.
Daredevil
Recognition: 2
Seniority: 3
Iconography: 3
Non-Industrial Ties: 2
Total: 10
Daredevil has recently become popular due to Netflix, but what's more niche and tech age than that? In general he's a more urbancentric character than even Batman is. However I threw him an extra point because I can imagine stories about someone using devil armor, and of course there will be stories about a blind fighter in American mythology--it's jus a question of them being the same character.
Dr. Strange
Recognition: 2
Seniority: 3
Iconography: 2
Non-Industrial Ties: 4
Total: 11
Doc's feature film debut hasn't happened yet, but that could raise his profile tremendously. A secondary character in the industrial age, should the Marvel universe remain an enduring epic saga ("The Matter of New York") as Marvel's most explicitly sorcererous character, his stock could definitely rise.
Fantastic Four
Recognition: 2
Seniority: 3
Icongraphy: 2
Non-Industrial Ties: 1
Total 8
By definition, an extremely space age comic. With the recent movie likely to head to the bottom of the DVD barrel, we can probably expect the F.F. to get buried in the culture.
Flash
Recognition: 3
Seniority: 3
Iconography: 3
Non-Industrial Ties: 2
Total: 11
The idea of "the fastest man alive" is something that would endure in medieval folklore, but the Flash is also one of the more sci-fi characters. In fact, his inaugurating the silver age of comics is a large part of why superheroes are more of a science fiction thing. It's possible he may find himself conflated with "Flash Gordon", the way various "Wills" and "John's" were for Robin Hood.
Ghost Rider
Recognition: 2
Seniority: 2
Iconography: 3
Non-Industrial Ties: 3
Total: 8
Flaming skulls are flaming skulls, and he is an outright supernatural character. But one tied with biking culture. However, it's tempting to notch him up in recognition due to the song (Which had nothing to do with the Marvel character) with "Riders in the sky".
Green Arrow
Recognition: 2
Seniority: 4
Iconography: 2
Non-Industrial Ties: 3
Total: 11
In a lot of ways, Green Lantern would fit in great with a Medieval version of America, since he's basically just a somewhat more modern Robin Hood. But that leads to the question of whether he's redundant, as Robin Hood himself is already rather popular with Americans.
Green Lantern
Recognition: 2
Seniority: 3
Iconography: 3
Non-Industrial Ties: 2
Total: 10
Green Lantern is such a space-agey character, but I cut him some slack because magic rings and lanterns are a staple of folklore. But I think his best chance of endurance is, as always, based strictly on the rising tide of superhero popularity.
Hellboy:
Recognition: 2
Seniority: 1
Iconography: 2
Non-Industrial Ties: 4
Total: 7
The character's never really been in a blockbuster movie, and while possessing a distinctive look, how many readers are going to see Hellboy as Hellboy, and not say, just another picture of Lucifer, He may be too blasphemous for the medieval world, anyway.
Hulk
Recognition: 4
Seniority: 3
Iconography: 3
Non-Industrial Ties: 2
Total: 12
It's unsure the medieval peasant will know what "gamma rays", but it should be sad that, while very squarely n the world of technology and science, the Hulk's origin is the least consistent across media. The idea of a man being cursed to turn into a monster whenever he gets angry is a primal eniugh story.
Iron Man
Recognition: 3
Seniority: 3
Iconography: 2
Non-Industrial Ties: 2
Total: 10
Although the breakout star of Marvel proper's characters, wisdom has it he became more popular as technology became more widespread, so one must figure the reverse is true. Still, his overall design is not so t"tech" looking it's not too hard to imagine Tony building a suit of armor not unlike this one--no major contraptions, just very, very strong.
Punisher
Recognition: 2
Seniority: 2
Iconography: 2
Non-Industrial Ties: 2
Total: 8
One could imagine the fictional Frank Castle getting along quite well in the Medieval setting. Put him in an army and watch the kill count pile up. But the Punisher of print and screen rarely uses melee weaponry, he uses guns. Likewise, the general hook of the Punisher's premise is about how his behavior clashes with a more civilized society. A Punisher that doesn't have that conflict isn't that interesting. Though it should be said, he's a very popular character with a lot of our enlisted soldiers.
Spawn
Recognition: 2
Seniority: 1
Iconography: 3
Non-Industrial Ties: 3
Total: 9
Was very tempted to give him a "one" for recognition, but that number should only go to characters who haven't made the media jump yet. He was briefly a very successful character in the world of comics, and managed to make it to the big screen before many iconic characters did. But he's faded largely in the consciousness. The story of Spawn could be translated to the medieval world--in fact, there actually is a Medieval Spawn.
Spider-Man
Recognition: 4
Seniority: 3
Iconography: 4
Non-Industrial Ties: 3
Total: 14
One hand, Peter Parker's photographer job can't even even be given anything close to a medieival equivalent. However, the surrealist of his look, his being an orphan raised by an elderly couple, and his tendency to fight things like "goblins" and "vampires" makes him a little more fitted to this world than he first appears. One note, I don't particulalry like it when people gve Spider-Man knight's armor. That's not how it works--Spidey should be more of a scaramouche figure.
Superman
Recognition: 4
Seniority: 4
Iconography: 2
Non-Industrial Ties: 1
Total: 11
The superhero, but so many things about him are so flagrantly modern. The technocratic home-world. The spaceship. That his emblem is a letter, and that his secret identity involves glasses--everything sbout Superman is high tech and modern. It wouldn't be surprising to see Superman kind of dismantled and absorbed by characters like Captain America and Dr. Strange.
Wolverine
Recognition: 3
Seniority: 2
Iconography: 3
Non-Industrial Ties: 2
Total: 10
On the one hand, Wolverine's origin is very sci-fi centric. On the other, he's probably the superhero nost fits the sword and sorcery model of the "barbarian". I don't know how big he would be in the states, but I can imagine him being a huge figure in Canada.
Wonder Woman
Recognition: 4
Seniority: 4
Iconography: 3
Non-Industrial Ties: 3
Total: 14
Interesting Wonder Woman has (probably in response to Xena; Warrior Princess) adopted more classical Classical accouterments--usually having a sword and shield onhand while having dumped the flying plane. Perhaps the one thing that would be most at odds with medieval America is the feminists aspects of the character--but whatever the climate of the continent, the Secretarial zone might find it all pretty cool.
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