Season five’s villain, Glory, was a god banished to Earth from her home dimension, where she remained for years, hidden amongst the populace in the body of a mortal (sound familiar?). She was placed into the body of a young boy, Ben, created specifically to be her host. However, over the years, as Ben reached his twenties and Glory’s strength became too great to be contained, she began to take control of his body. From that point on, she started to amass an army of minions and embark on her search for the Key (spoilers: that was hidden in human form too!).

Now, what about Thor? Well, in Marvel’s original universe, the Norse god himself had been banished from Asgard to Earth, where he was placed inside the body of Donald Blake, a crippled medical student chosen by Odin. Blake went on to become a doctor (just like Ben), and eventually had to share his body with Thor. They since became separate entities … a luxury Ben never got to experience.

Clearly, Glory and Thor are very different – while Thor was banished because of his cockiness and self-centred attitude, he learns humility, yet Glory remains selfish until her final moments. It’s great that, just over a decade after having his own version of Thor on his show, Whedon got to play with the real thing.

OZ / Werewolf AKA Bruce Banner / The Hulk

Seth Green’s Oz remains one of the coolest characters in Buffy, yet probably speaks the fewest lines of any of the main cast. As a mild-mannered, intelligent guitarist, Oz entered the show as a love interest for Willow in series two, but was soon revealed to be a werewolf. For a couple of years, Oz would have to lock himself away during the full moon, until he learned to control it in season four. However, upon learning that Willow, his great love, was now in a relationship with another woman, he became angry. And you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry …

Oz being a mild-mannered guy with a wild beast raging inside him? Learning to master the beast but struggling to keep his temper in check? It’s Bruce Banner, right? Again, this warped duality was a great dynamic, and proved that if you’re going to take influence from anything else, pick the best stuff. Oz was a rich, engaging everyman character – not a super-genius like Banner – and the amount of growth and change he experienced on the show was fascinating.

Willow Rosenberg goes dark AKA Jean Grey / Dark Phoenix