Epic Characters vs. The Other Guys

Last night before D&D, one of the players was talking about superhero video games, and how one doesn't want to play Superman's trainee, one wants to play Superman.

That may be true, particularly in video games (did you actually put Magma in your party in X-Men Legends?), but I'm not sure it's totally accurate.

In roleplaying games especially, both can be fun.  Sometimes you want to play the Fellowship with all the power and responsibility that entails, and sometimes you just want to play, say, David Wong and John Cheese.

Then again, these guys also lend themselves to different playstyles.  The Justice League is more likely to get railroaded into some grandiose plot, but the Mystery Men are more likely to chew on the scenery and muck around in the sandbox.  It's likely that some groups naturally tend more toward one over the other based on personal preference.