The reason the stories are similar is attributable to Homer. You might assert that there is a pre-existing human need for gestalt, but I come from Harold Bloom'

The reason the stories are similar is attributable to Homer. You might assert that there is a pre-existing human need for gestalt, but I come from Harold Bloom's school of thinking on the subject, thinking myself that it is literature that articulates, in its most salient respects, the nature of this need. Our understanding of it is based on literature, and the Marvel movies are based on that cultural heritage, however the results may vary. I actually have no information as to the popularity of Homer's work relative to other works at that time. I suppose I have fairly strong intuitions as to its popularity after antiquity, but its popularity at that point seems to cut against your argument somewhat. There were certainly stories that dominated Homer's societal saturation after the fall of the Greek empire, and some of those survived, some not.