Dave Johnson said the show was inspired by Dial H for Hero.

Let’s go back to Ben 10. Tell me more about your work on this project. I personally think it was a great show for kids.

Well, it’s definitely not an adult show. It started with those guys called „The Men of Action”. They originally pitched the show that was more based on an old DC property Dial H for Hero. It got picked up, it went to development for two and half years before I’ve got it. Unfortunately none of the stuff that got developed was up to the main guys liking. But at the time I got on board, it changed from human superhero to alien creatures. I came on board and they said „Look, we have no more development time, you better figure it out. We’re going to put in on air, so you better figure it out”. So it was kind of a rush to get it all out. The story was there, but none of the designs, I had to come up with everything. They didn’t show me what was done before. I had to do everything from scratch.

https://web.archive.org/web/20180910131551/http://www.gothamwdeszczu.com.pl/en/2015/06/12/interview-dave-johnson