Cuti said that his inspirations included the Golden Age of Comics superhero Plastic Man, such that he wanted to create a similarly fun and whimsical character. Cuti also admired Albert Einstein and his formula E=mc2. He conceived a character who was caught in a factory explosion and became an energy being that could take any form of matter. When he shared this idea with artist Joe Staton, Staton felt the origin was too similar to that of Charlton's Captain Atom and the atomic-accident origins that had often been used by Marvel Comics writer-editor Stan Lee. Inspired by the works of Arthur C. Clarke, Cuti created a new origin that made E-Man a packet of sentient energy created as a star went nova.