The Success of Marvel Movies and Why DC Falls Short

Just before the advent of the 21st century, comic book movies have graced the silver screen: directors and artists possessing commendable qualities have adapted our favourite superheroes to film, resulting in popular works ranging from Batman (1989) to Blade (1998). The year 2000 saw Bryan Singer’s X-Men hit the theatres, spawning a franchise of its own, and 2002 ushered in Raimi’s Spider-Man, but a clear-cut competition between the two comic giants in the realm of film perhaps hadn’t materialized fully until after 2005, when both started churning out quality films of note. In 2005, DC released the first of a series known as “The Dark Knight Trilogy”, Batman films by Christopher Nolan that would eventually become their greatest asset. It could be said that DC had a head start in injecting itself into public consciousness: the only other Marvel film released in that year was 20th Century Fox’s Fantastic Four, which was critically panned despite being a commercial success. Within the next two years the two aforementioned Marvel-owned franchises would find their end after a disastrous third film, leaving Marvel in a seemingly hopeless position of defeat. The relatable characters Marvel had on the table became silly and tacky, and the public had since gone on to appreciate Nolan’s grittier universe that retained the heart of action blockbusters.

However, 2008 came in: and this is where everything began.


Now that the background of comic book movies in the early 21st century is covered, the successes of both comic giants and their respective hits and misses can be analyzed. Throughout this article, success will be defined in three particular ways, two of which may overlap slightly but the third is otherwise clear-cut. The first mode of success that is instantly recognizable and coveted by the two eponymous entertainment companies is profit. A film invested in by a studio should be a box-office success. The second is that of critical success- and is otherwise reflective of cinematic quality: are the characters fleshed out? Are the action set pieces engaging? Does the central conflict cause the audience to be emotionally invested? Finally, of course, there’s audience satisfaction, which is inherently tied to those two definitions of success but are not limited to them.

Let’s fast-forward to 2016

DC’s just released their “ace-in-the-hole”, the critically panned Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice. DC’s Marvel-inversed attempt at taking off in Hollywood, however, spells serious trouble for the studio should they continue to produce movies that are lacking in quality. After the franchise which has earned them the most cash concluded (The Dark Knight) and a couple of moderate hits and box-office bombs, DC has banked everything they’ve got on a title for a film that is sure to make them the money they so desperately need. Two of the studios’ most well known franchises and most acclaimed heroes are at one another’s throats, culminating in a fight between two titanic figures of comic book history. How could that NOT make money?

It did, but this approach: the creation of a film that is flawed and full of plot-holes, hoping that such holes would be filled by future films, is inherently problematic, and more importantly, spells trouble for the studio. Unlike Marvel, who has slowly built its fan base, filmography and earnings step-by-step, with individual movies dedicated to individual characters whilst hoping that they are earning financially, DC’s approach is banked on the continued consumption of their films, which cannot be ensured. They have already utilized the two most financially viable characters they possess, and must now individually recreate the success Marvel has had with their lesser-known characters that allows for the continued creation of films that add to the DC universe. Suicide Squad, though objectively a box-office success, was similarly critically panned by both critics and audiences alike, and is an excellent example of DC’s mistaken approach: by simply grouping characters together into a movie without fleshing out their backstories, the products are cardboard cut-outs that utterly lack depth or nuance.

What, then, is the issue that DC is facing?

Should DC studios continue creating movies that fail to appeal to the general public, it would follow that its fan base would be substantially smaller than that of Marvel, and thus earn less money. Other factors such as word-of-mouth, inadequate marketing and simply the professional standard of films play a large part in the production of financial profit.

It’s fairly easy to see the disparity by comparing films from both studios in 2011.

Marvel, who has only just picked up steam from their unexpected success with Iron Man in 2008, dished out two movies of characters still fairly lacking in recognition in Hollywood. Before Iron Man, the most well-known Marvel characters didn’t belong to the studio, they were Spider-Man (successful till the third) and X-Men (<), yet, by comparing Thor with Green Lantern, it is apparent that Marvel’s approach to the development of their universe is far more feasible.

Thor, a relatively unknown Marvel character to those who don’t regularly read comics, somehow managed to attain a 299.3 million profit, whereas Captain America, an equally obscure character to the mainstream public, scored a 230.6 million profit.

Green Lantern, which is arguably the next most recognisable DC superhero after Superman and Batman, reaped only a meagre 2 million profit. Conversely, Man of Steel received a stunning profit of 443 million, a commendable feat for a standalone film, but once more, DC is utilising its big names to garner cash, which increasingly becomes a problem when their main moneymaking characters have to make way for lesser-known figures.

Two of the Studios' greatest assets go head to head
Two of the Studios’ greatest assets go head to head.

In 2016: Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice earned an estimated 623.3m profit, with an aggregate score of 27% on Rotten Tomatoes, whereas Suicide Squad earned a 570.6m profit with a score of 26. They still are box-office successes, but are severely panned in areas of critical acclaim and audience satisfaction, whereas Civil War earned an estimated 900m profit with a 75% approval and Doctor Strange earned a roughly 479.5m profit with a 91% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Both conglomerates are earning profits, no doubt, but Marvel is enjoying the critical success, audience satisfaction and intricate world-building that feels real and relatable to the viewer.

In DC’s ideal situation, they are able to continue a moneymaking streak through Suicide Squad, all the way till Justice League Part 2 in 2019, which is almost impossible if their films continue to be of a quality seen in BvS. Simply put, there would be no proper incentive to discover these characters individually since we know that they end up altogether in Justice League: part of the allure in watching Thor and Captain America was in finding out, at the very least, the part they play and how they eventually fit into the Avengers. There would be no such incentive with the DC universe. By charting BvS far into the future, what they are hoping for is that we will be intrigued enough by the plot holes and mysteries created within the films to watch these characters’ individual films, and their stories before the Justice League.

Wonder Woman (2017) is attempting to do precisely this: connect us to a character that we’ve already seen, and whilst I have no doubt this will be a box-office success (Wonder Woman is a fairly big name), it’s safe to say that DC’s backtracking approach will not prove successful for them. Justice League (2017) will introduce us to a whole set of characters the audience has not met before: they have only been fed short, 2-minute introductions of their origin stories in BvS.

These plot holes and unclear characters are precisely the aspects that are making their current films so flawed, among other things. In some foolish, cyclical manner, the continued dwindling quality of DC films will no doubt cause a significant part of their current fan base to leave but also will not attract new audiences with lesser known characters such as Cyborg or Shazam.

What can DC do?

As mentioned above, DC can wait it out. It’s current titles seem grabbing enough and perhaps there will be no doubt that Wonder Woman and JL Part 1 will earn massive amounts of profit, but that cannot be ensured nor promised, unless DC does something unthinkable.

Make good films. If there’s anything the public must have learned, it’s that DC needs good directors. Desperately. More than their money, they need creators who know their characters well, can direct and flesh a character out properly, and create a good villain. Before constructing an immersive fictional universe, one must first construct a good film. And with DC’s recent output, they’ve made decent, acceptable films, but nothing good nor amazing. They’ve banked enough on their big names and characters which will become exhaustive in time. They need to start increasing their fan base, show the general populace and audience that they can be trusted to make good films, or at the very least satisfactory ones. Marvel was known to make bad films before, but since Iron Man, their output has ranged between acceptably mediocre yet still enjoyable, to formidable and great, wonderful fun. DC doesn’t have that. It’s most successful franchise owes itself to a good director, Christopher Nolan, and a gritty, dark tone and a second film with an outstanding villain. There’s no telling if such a success can be recreated again, and no answer as to whether or not DC will be able to tide the coming storm: an increasing unreliability to their audience and the diminishing popularity of their main men (or women).

What Next for Comic Book Movies?

It’s perhaps too early to say whether or not Marvel will continue to have the upper hand, as we have seen with Civil War that there is a similar fatigue experienced by moviegoers watching a Marvel movie. David Ehrlich, in his review of Civil War, comments that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is “so immense and self-perpetuating that a plot’s greatest possible conflict is no longer the end of the world, but rather the end of the brand.” This is the problem Marvel is facing now: a feel of repetition, a lack of risk or high stakes (Entertainment platform Cracked posted a video detailing why “Death needs to matter in the Marvel Universe”, whilst on a more technical level, youtube channel Every Frame a Painting expounds on the simplicity of Marvel’s music choices). The industry is experiencing genre fatigue here: the villains become repetitive or boring, lack stakes in the film, or simply act as jumping boards for the heroes themselves, which detracts from their vulnerability. These are the issues that confront Marvel. If DC can achieve success where Marvel has failed, then they might have a chance. However, as mentioned before, if DC continues with their streak with Snyder, their tonal inconsistencies, and bad directors, it’s likely they’ll be cemented in history as constantly second to Marvel’s output.

Works Cited

Ehrlich, David. “Review: ‘Captain America: Civil War’ Shows the Best and Worst of Marvel Movies.” IndieWire. N.p., 27 Apr. 2016. Web. 4 Dec. 2016.

Cracked. “Why Death Needs To Matter in The Marvel Universe.” YouTube. YouTube, 25 Mar. 2015. Web. 6 Dec. 2016.

What do you think? Leave a comment.

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49 Comments

  1. DC needs to market their characters on other mediums like cartoons and videogames. IE In the 90’s Marvel had the x-men cartoon and the x-men videogames both were very successful. Then came the success of all the capcom vs marvel series, to include streetfighter vs x-men. For a lot a kids who grew up in the 90’s, this was our first introduction to comicbooks.

    • jackanapes

      Actually, mediums other than film are where DC is seeing more success than Marvel. On TV they have the Flash, Supergirl, and Arrow, as well as having their own successful animated film series.

  2. Marvel/Disney, whether or not they make a bad film or not, are willing to take risks. I mean, the Guardians of the Galaxy in a standalone movie, if you like them or not, is an insanely ballsy move.

  3. Dyan Bach
    0

    DC’s video games > Marvel’s. Yes, I realize that the only good games DC really has is the Arkham series. I stick by my statement.

  4. there are a couple of points I disagree with you on but I think those would be my ‘inner-fanboy’ ramblings. I really did like BvS and I still don’t understand why the audience are hell-bent on accepting a character only if done their way. Now I think we can all agree that no Marvel movie has a portrayed a villain as fierce as how Shannon did General Zod. That is not my inner-fanboy speaking. That is a fact.

  5. m-cubed

    You know DC’s messed up when Batroc the Leaper was in a live-action film before Black Canary, Nightwing (my personal favorite because personality/humor/thematic relevance/social commentary/intriguing interpersonal relations, I could go on), Starfire, John Stewart/Guy Gardener GL, Hawkwoman, Martian Manhunter, etc., etc., etc. They have sooooo many great characters but stick with the Trinity and mainstream Justice League, and then end up neglecting or perverting the best stories for some semblance of creativity? Combining Death of Superman with TDKR was not a good move creatively. Why pick big/boring Doomsday while Hush, Talon, and Mr. Bloom remain untouched? Why is there a Black Adam movie planned? Why is Cyborg, arguably a character less compelling than most DC characters, getting a solo film (correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think he’s ever had particularly noteworthy story lines)? There are so many good options, the storytelling plan just seems incomprehensible at this point.

    • m-cubed

      I wrote that and then found out like an hour later that DC is planning a Nightwing movie. If they dare destroy my child I will be on the warpath; plan for that if Zack ‘Edgy Grimdark’ Snyder is involved.

  6. People just seem to like the Marvel characters more. And they’re advertised alot more than DC’s.

  7. Lilliam
    0

    Marvel sold their properties to several companies so they’re desperate to produce as much as possible such that they don’t lose the rights.

    marvel studios itself is only a small studios which only produces marvel movies.

    DC’s movies all belong to WB and WB have lots of franchises that are profitable. Lord of the rings, harry potter, sherlock holmes, hangover.

    So they are not in a rush to put out as many superhero movies as possible.

  8. I think DC has done bad films for the better.

  9. Clearly Marvel has more blockbuster movies going for them right now. So, what does DC have to do to be on Marvels level? To me DC is coming out with more bulls**t movies

  10. I say it’s because DC is only putting out a movie a year and Marvel is tossing two to three.

    • m-cubed

      By that logic DC should have objectively better films because there’s more care put into them, which unfortunately is not the case (coming from someone who usually likes DC more). I think they prioritize the wrong things. Marketing for SS was great, but then they neglected…the rest of it. If you look at the CG Behind-the-Scenes for BvS, they put a ton of work into Doomsday’s ‘birth’ scene, but neglected the actual STORY and PLOT (and design of Doomsday for that matter… I don’t care how good your textures are if your monster looks generic/boring). They devote more time to each film, but that doesn’t make them better, even though it should.

  11. Munjeera

    That’s right. Marvel rules!

    • jackanapes

      This is an unhelpful comment that adds nothing to the discussion.

      • Munjeera

        Hi jackanapes,

        Perhaps you could write and submit an article here. Would love to hear your insights on a topic of your choice.

        All the best to you.

  12. sergent
    1

    Marvel’s movies are better because movies are best suited to characters, and Marvel’s characters tend to be more personalized, so there’s more of a story to tell about those characters.

  13. DC needs WB to take a leap of faith. That’s all it needs and bam! and Marvel needs to take a leap of faith on their animation

  14. Bree Keating
    0

    Only DC film I’ve watched in recent times is Green Lantern, which was a let down. But their Batman trilogy (watched the first two, still yet to watch TDKR, don’t shoot me 😛 ) have been a success. Maybe not as popular as the Avenger’s film but still better than being considered a flop. To be honest, I don’t think DC’s problem is having to many flops as some people state, but maybe the fact they don’t have that much material (movie wise) in comparison to Marvel. At the moment I find Marvel dominating the movie scene in comics….as much as I regret saying this, I was hoping DC to bring out a better response to Marvels popularity. TDKR might of helped a bit but they need more in my opinion..

  15. Marvel’s beating DC in movies because, DC is already beating them in comics which is there main thing of those two companies

  16. mjumrah
    1

    DC needs to embrace the fact that they are a comic book company and that their characters will never star in a Citizen Kane quality flick.

    • m-cubed

      They definitely could. Despite the inherent silliness of most comic book characters, many have great depth and themes to explore (Dick Grayson, whom I will never shut up about, is very complex and interesting, despite originally donning a mullet and 80s-style suit. His storyline is the best way I’ve seen the inherent dichotomy of youth and growth explored. I can definitely see an action-art house hybrid film with him in the lead). The problem is that DC (mainly Snyder) is equating the ‘grimdark’ style and ‘edginess’ with depth, along with the basic elements of an Intro-to-Philosophy course. They think heavy-handed Jesus imagery makes a film deep and artistic, while it actually makes it more stupid when unearned and blatantly shoved in. The weird pseudo-Christian narrative Snyder has been forcing is the problem, rather than the source material defying complexity. Take a look at ANAD Moon Knight, Watchmen, TDKR. Even Red Hood Rebirth has some themes going on. Comic books can undoubtedly be deep and complex, just not in the way DC has been forcing it.

  17. DC needs more movies that appeal to younger kids. Not many kids are excited to see Batman as they are to Iron Man, Thor, Avengers, and so on. Why is that? Perhaps because the funny scenes and big explosions. Action packed scenes. Hard to explain. DC is probably better with plots and adding details to their works. Marvel wants explosions, humor, likable characters, and so on.

    • I agree! I think there’s a charisma and level of fun that Ironman/Avengers/Guardians characters bring that DC (so far and on the big screen) has failed to replicate, including in the publicity. Wonderwoman has gotten a bit closer.

  18. Finacial backing from Disney is essential.

    • m-cubed

      Yes, but take a look at BvS’ budget, especially its marketing budget. It’s not as if they aren’t getting a ton from WB.

  19. To me, there is no Marvel vs DC as far as fandom in movies. I want to see good movies from both places. A successful Marvel movie means that DC has incentive to put a movie out. The competitions is good, but they are also in the same industry and also feed off each other.

  20. While, I have not seen any of the films in the current DC universe, I can certainly agree that there needs to be work done to create appeal that not only appeals to DC comic fans but also to movie-goers. This way that these movies can reach the same success as Marvel has done in the past eight years.

  21. skylarjay
    0

    I never really thought about the differences between Marvel and DC in regards to world building. Marvel does extremely well at connecting all of its films into one giant timeline, whereas DC does more stand-alone films. Personally, I get way more excited when I see a Marvel trailer than when I see a DC one.

  22. I’m a fan of both marvel and DC and I believe they both do really well in comics. Personally I get excited for both.

  23. DC just likes to focus on Superman/Batman in movies, sure they branched out with GL and could branch out more with other characters. The problem though is, lots of characters are in comics which not very many know about them whereas while Superman/Batman started in comics, soon after they were also put on screen in movies and tv shows and all that whereas all the other characters have just been shown in comics.

  24. Think of it this way: Marvel and D.C. Comics have always been fighting one another. One group of producers just signed the contract first with what some consider the first real comic world, Marvel. Of course it’s going to seem to have better quality. They have more to work with and a higher fan base to play out too.

    • Matchbox

      Yes, their competition has been going on in their early days, as there would’ve been much talk about plagiarism and whether or not one character was derived from the other. But to simply dismiss Marvel’s success as due to them having first signed a contract with the producers… I cannot agree. If you’ve read carefully the point of the article was to detail that even though both conglomerates have had equal opportunities at appealing to the masses, it was Marvel that came out on top.

      Marvel’s films don’t SEEM to have better quality. They HAVE better quality. And that last excuse just doesn’t cut it.

      Both companies have equal elements to work with: by saying that you’re underplaying DC’s comic universe. Let’s not even talk about the big names, let’s discuss the smaller ones: Teen Titans? Captain Atom? The Spectre? Higher fan base? I’d wager that both conglomerates have had fanbases of similar size for the length of their rivalry. So let’s not use products of Marvel’s hard work as reasons for their success. Let’s give credit where it’s due.

  25. boldlygone
    0

    Agreed–DC is riding on the back of Nolan’s Dark Knight franchise, and is trying to recreate that look and feel in each of the successive movies, Green Lantern being the exception. What audiences are showing though, is that they’d rather have something that’s closer to what Green Lantern attempted to get at–a relatable, fun, character driven movie. That’s what made Marvel’s movies successful. That, and the fact that their movies feel, on the whole, to be fleshed out, well thought out, and made by people that enjoy the characters as much as we do. DC needs to step up its game and stop trying to remake the whole cinematic universe in the image and tone of the failed New 52.

  26. I remember going to watch Avengers in theatres, and the theatre was packed with people of all ages and I have never had so much fun watching a movie in theatres, Marvel won me over that day!

  27. I’ve always enjoyed and respected Marvel’s movies more than DC’s. In every case except The Dark Knight, Marvel’s movies were more broadly appealing, produced more impressively, and had more engaging stories. I think people watching superhero films look more for universal appeal and relatable characters or stories. DC has a harder time with this in my opinion.

  28. I personally like Marvel more than DC, only because I love how they’ve done the MCU (and also Thor). But I think DC needs to stop rebooting Batman and Superman after we’ve already seen two different film series for each characters so recently. I think DC needs to stop trying to compete with Marvel, I personally think that’s their weak spot.

  29. Topical.

    I personally prefer DC to Marvel, simply because the characters are more interesting to me and I read DC as a child.

    Despite this, no one can contest the fact that Marvel has created a far superior cinematic universe (or at least, a more popular one).

    I think DC sell themselves short attempting to mimic Marvel. They simply are not Marvel. Burtons Batman movies were excellent, because they conveyed the goofiness that set DC apart from Marvel.

    • jackanapes

      Looking at Guardians of the Galaxy and Deadpool as well as the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok and Spider-Man: Homecoming, the Marvel universe is far goofier than DC. They are, after all, the publisher of Squirrel Girl.

  30. sophieg
    0

    I think DC’s main issue is that they are not trying to create original concepts for their films. It’s all about taking a Marvel film and placing DC characters in the place of Marvel ones. While I understand they’re based on similar narrative structures, I feel like DC are looking at what Marvel are doing and thinking ‘we need to recreate that’ instead of ‘how do we make a great [Batman], [Superman], [DC] film?’

  31. Absolutely right, DC has dropped the ball as of late but I think its fixable and not entirely down to visionary problems. I think a lot of the problems faced by DC can be fixed with simply tweaks to plot and editting. The characters themselves don’t need too much of a backstory introduction at this point because they are well known already (two franchise have already preceeded both Batman and Superman).
    And DC needs to capitalize on their villians. My opinion is that, out of the two heavy weight champions, DC holds the title of best Rogues Galleries; unforgetable villains such as the Joker were iconic in the comic books before the films, the same cannot be said for Villians such as Loki, who I would argue only became amazing due to the acting prowess of Tom Hiddleston. As for the three DC movies; Man of Steel, Batman Vs Superman and Suicide Squad, I will propose some plot revisions to better improve these films: Man of Steel started out fantastic, it followed Clark Kent finding his powers and then finding himself in the world, that he knows he doesnt belong in. His flaws are that he see people being dicks and assholes, and simply why should he care when they never treated him so nicely. The flaw of the film comes in its second act (I’ve always felt that Producer Christopher Nolan directed the first half and Zack Snyder the second), they swap out beautiful moments of slow character building for powerful fast paced action. It’s true that some sort of action needed to take place but simply it needed to tone down a bit and be a singular act, not a rampage that lasted a good second half of the film. (on a side note: I absolutely forgive the fact that metropolis was destroyed because simply, Superman is a super powered being with almost ultimated strength and so is Zod, its almost unavoidable. It’s like asking a man with a slench hammer to try and make a small dent on a wall, the slench hammer is going to do whatever damage it does once its thrown.)
    As for Batman Vs Superman, the premise was beatiful, have humanity question what Superman is and what his purpose here is and whether he should be allowed here. It adds to the alienated from the last film, and also justifies the destruction of Metropolis and have a wider impact on the character and universe as a whole. Batman having lost people in the battle of metropolis, adds depth and personal mistrust of Superman. Batman, as a character, is very untrusting of everything so naturally he doesnt like superman and sees him as a threat. Now we get to the plot; what needed to happen was for the plot to focus solely on this investigation between these two great men; with stuff like the bombing of the courthouse and everything else happening all around them. At no point should it show Lex Luthor being the mastermind, and never should these two characters (except maybe Batman) think that he is behind it at all. They simply assume one or the other did it, which brings them to blows. Doomsday can get out of the film altogether and let the film be like a spy vs spy film, then comic book troupes of evil bad guy muhahaha!
    Now Suicide Squad. For the most part, this film absolutely nailed the characters (although Deadshot was a little bit too redeemable) the only problem was with the execution of the plot and the scope. What needed to happen was these characters should have just been thrown into the situation, not knowing where they are or what they are doing, and being spoon fed what they needed to do, in order to survive. Then splice the back story throughtout the movie. This leads the audience to discovering who these characters are gradually, rather then in an all-in-one package. It adds to the mystery of the film. Secondly, the scope of the bad guy and blowing up the city was WAY TOO HUGE. I was thinking, why the fuck is Batman and Wonder Woman not coming down on this shit. Condense the plot, so it actually seems like a small scale black ops operation. SUGGESTION: the Joker has taken over an amusement park, and is threatening to kill the judge and everyone there. This gives us the joker, and it gives a dilemma (will Harley betray the team or will she achieve the mission) and its also small scale with a lot at stake, and you can believe that no other superhero gets involved. Another side note: Captain Boomerang has this fantastic moment of, “right the killing bomb device wont kill me anymore so I am out of here cya” and he just walks out. Personally I found that one of the funniest scenes and so true to the character that they set up. It added to the fact that these guys are not heroes, so when he came back for the finally fight, I was absolutely disappointed and the character was utterly ruined.

  32. DC just rushes too much. They realised that Marvel started overtaking them and they freaked out. What they need to realise is that us has taken Marvel 10 years to establish their universe. While I understand they want to start competing as soon as possible what is the point if your movies turn out like crap. You cannot just throw in a crossover film like BvS straight away, particularly when one of your key characters has not been established yet. They have some great material and they are wasting it due to being rushed, I think Suicide Squad is a perfect example of that.

  33. It looks as though early recognition of Wonder Woman is that DC has hit the nail on the head. All we can hope is that they now take the ball and run with it; the acquisition of Geoff Johns to head their film department can not be understated. I wouldn’t say that I’m confident but I’m definitely optimistic.

  34. DeanJr

    Had DC not moved into Marvel’s territory of shared universes they might have stood a chance (at making critically successful films). There isn’t likely to be a better series of comic book movies than the Nolan-Batman films.

  35. No Marvel Studios movie is better than Spider-Man 2 or X-Men: Days of Future Past. You want to see great, artistic quality control in a superhero movie, watch those two movies. That being said, I do respect what Marvel and Kevin Feige has done with their universe. That being said, I also respect WB for taking a gamble with visionary filmmakers – even if they’re not always the most talented. But I can’t stand how small-minded MCU fanboys can be.

  36. Roshield Majette
    0

    It’s the people they cast as there characters/ superheros. Marvel pick stars to fit there hero’s. DC try to make superstars that doesn’t fit the characters. They really missed up with choosing Ben Affleck to play as Batman. Especially after they struck gold with Christian Bale. He wasn’t a superstar until he’s Batman Trilogy. Sometimes less familiar actors make more sense.

  37. I’m not very invested in either the MCU or the DC Universe’s fanbases, and I will admit that I’ve seen plenty more Marvel movies than I have DC movies, but I’d just like to start out by saying that I agree with everything that has been said in this article. I’m just a casual viewer of these movies, so pardon my inaccuracies.

    I loved the Dark Knight trilogy. It was dark and edgy with a great cast and amazing props. Although Joaquin Phoenix played an excellent Joker in the solo movie, Heath Ledger will always be Joker to me, and Christian Bale will always be Batman to me. I also enjoyed Man of Steel, although I’ll say that I enjoyed the Dark Knight movies better because of its story and its memorable character line up. But when I first heard that Ben Affleck was going to play Batman and was just going to show up out of nowhere for a movie with Superman, none of it made sense to me and I vowed to never watch it. I believe that there are several people like me who cannot handle a casting change, which is why DC is going downhill. Ben Affleck has now dropped Batman and I’ve heard they are going with Robert Pattinson, an actor from the disreputable film series, Twilight. Sure, that’ll make things even better for DC! I watched Wonder Woman (and no, not because I’m a woman and I wanted to) and I felt that it was too close to the first Thor movie for my liking, but it did have a similar undertone to Man of Steel that I appreciated.

    And while I’m on the topic of female-starring films, no, I did not like the Captain Marvel film. As a woman, I felt as though I was insulted by the character, then even more in Avenger’s Endgame. She had no emotion, her humour was dry, and she was extremely condescending to the other heroes in Endgame. This is not a role model for women, it is an insult. There are several other women already in the MCU who are better role models than Captain Marvel that Marvel/Disney overlooked in their feminist-targeting marketing, but the newest, most egotistical one is the most praised. Clearly there is an issue here. So, DC fans, you’ll be glad to hear that the MCU has had its downfalls in recent years. To be honest, if I had to choose between Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel, I’d go with Wonder Woman any day.

    What draws me to Marvel films, as I’ve seen it said before, it the casting choices that effectively harmonize the actor with their role. I also love, as mentioned in your article, the build-up of character backstories that gives audiences enough context and time for familiarization to appreciate ensemble films. Audiences feel as though they grow up alongside their favourite heroes and this develops a large, passionate fanbase that led to Endgame’s grand success in Box Offices. I also love the humour, RDJ as Tony Stark will never cease to make me smile. But I do have criticism for Marvel, as you’ve seen already. For example, I’m not fond of the way that the studios have handled Bruce Banner’s arc, I prefer the character as he was in the first Avenger’s film and AOU. I don’t like not having a movie to explain what exactly happened to Hulk between AOU and Ragnarok. I believe that Marvel could have done big things for the character, but they never took the opportunity. Meanwhile, solo films like Doctor Strange and Black Panther give audiences something new and “fresh” to turn our eyes away from the main plotline with the introduction of new, interesting characters. This is why Wonder Woman was successful and BvS was not, there’s no uniqueness, there’s no backstory for Batman, and there’s no attachment towards these characters before they meet. Superman should have had at least another film to build this before jumping straight to Justice League. If Iron Man went from one film to Avengers, it wouldn’t have worked out either.

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