Marvel vs DC: Who Are the Real Heroes Here?

The best rivalry in the cinema since Star Wars & Star Trek. Well, that is if some people even call it a rivalry.

The first age of superheroes on the big screen arguably broke out with Richard Donner's "Superman" from 1978. That is nearly 30 years ago from today when DC comics owned the Hollywood superhero market all the way until around the mid-2000s while delivering a line of successful titles, most notably Tim Burton's and Christopher Nolan's "Batman" film series. DC comics had its commercial reign until they became steadily overshadowed once Marvel rose to prominence as well in the mid-2000s. The "Spiderman" trilogy is a classic one. "X-Men" has been a franchise on the rise since 2000, and we certainly cannot forget about "Iron Man", the progenitor of all Marvel films that exist today. At this point in time, Marvel Studios has established preeminence and success over the superhero category of the world's film industry. They have clearly detailed their work so far with extreme care and vision, and having now set a standard for the superhero genre, DC Films seems to be getting their own feet back into the race.

If we evaluate both Marvel and DC purely according to the comics, the level of popularity of their characters is more or less even, although the competition may favor DC in some cases. Let's try listing out the most well-known superheroes on the spot, from both franchises. For Marvel, it would have to be Spiderman, Wolverine and Hulk. For DC, it would have to be Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Flash. Now, fans may have vastly polarizing opinions about these characters, but if I were to ask my mother who had never opened an American comic book in her life to think of two superheroes from the top of her head, I can say with great confidence that they will be Superman and Batman at the forefront. In other words, DC possesses two of the greatest cultural icons of the world, and this is their greatest advantage when it comes to creating any form of media such as comic books, merchandise, TV episodes, and the topic of concern, films. But what is up with the struggle with DC films today, despite the priceless ingredients?

DC Films' latest installment "Justice League" was a huge letdown. Despite having some world famous superheroes joining forces just like in the comics and on TV, it was incredibly rushed, a stark contrast from "The Avengers". Aside from Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman who had their standalone appearances prior to "Justice League", the Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg were forced to introduce themselves with extremely limited screen-time. That is exactly half of the Justice League team that the audience did not have the chance to be acquainted with, which is why this crossover event probably did not excite the audience as much as "The Avengers". It should be noted that DC Films probably wanted to go down a different route and not seem like a carbon copy of Marvel Studios. In other words, "Justice League" could have succeeded on the spot if it was not constrained by a Warner Bros. mandate to keep the runtime under 2 hours and if the director position did not experience so much chaos. What was supposed to be the most important installment of DC Films' first phase of entering the superhero business turned out to be a box office bomb. And it is not often that an ambitious blockbuster title that features some of the world most famous characters loses a bout with the audience's interests. In such case, the fingers have to pointed towards no other places than the production strategy of the studio, and one glaring element is DC Films' very own director-driven mandate.

Whereas the operation of Marvel Studios is mostly overseen by a single top-dog producer Kevin Feige, DC Films allocates more creative control to the directors, which is by contrast, called the "director-driven mandate" approach. Currently, the drawback of DC Films' approach is that it involves a plentiful number of trial and error testings in order to shape the DC Cinematic Universe (DCCU). There are numerous instances of directors stepping down over "artistic differences" and having to choose a suitable script within a pool of several, which are conflicts that solo films for Wonder Woman, the Flash and Aquaman had to face in particular. Even between "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" and "Justice League", there were heavy contrasts in tone and theme, indicating that the road to defining DCCU has been directionless. However, this approach that accentuates a variety of directors' styles can ultimately trump Marvel Studios in terms of superhero diversity, if executed properly. If the unusually quirky "Thor: Ragnarok" flipped its script from its more serious predecessors, then the upcoming playful "The Flash" solo film can find its way between Snyder's darker films such as "Man of Steel" and "Batman v Superman".

Evidently, Kevin Feige is a credible figure in the film industry at this point, but it is not far-fetched to say that most Marvel installments feel too similar to each other. While the chances that the audience will lose interest going forward may be slim to none, the efforts to capture the inherent diversity of comic books is going to dilute itself. As a result, DC Films may be better positioned for the future in terms of making each installment feel unique, mostly due to their director-driven mandate. But of course, the logistics behind the development and production itself is a whole different set of variables. And things can get messy in a snap if directors keep traversing each other's films without a prominent face like Kevin Feige to keep the franchise together.

Personally, I don't agree with the order of titles that DC is following. In other words, and as mentioned before, it doesn't make sense to deliver "Justice League" in a rush without exploring the characters' backstory first, a key shortcoming as to why it didn't garner enough interest from the audience. The greatest asset that DC Films has currently is the immense flexibility of their comic book characters, because DC characters inherently have much better backstories than Marvel. Using Batman for example, his background is quite self-explanatory, yet one that is still compelling to this day. Additionally, what ultimately forms Batman's identity is his villains, and that is a whole distinct category in itself: The Joker, Bane, Catwoman, Two-Face, Riddler, Harley Quinn, Scarecrow, The Penguin, Deathstroke, you name it. With this much material, one ought to think using Marvel's strategy would probably be the best: developing each characters separately and finally coalescing them together to fight greater evils. Doing it in the reverse is a welcoming idea too, but as the situation shows now, it is resulting in a slow start. Nevertheless, once DC Films draws enough momentum and get their "director-drive mandate" sorted out, I have no doubt that the rivalry will be evened out. DC or Marvel fan alike, you can despise the execution of the filmmaking. But to prove "social superiority" with a sheep mentality over some fictional characters is both petty and toxic for this art that we collectively call "films". As I myself prefer DC over Marvel any day, it is a vague future indeed for DCCU. All we can hope for at this point is that their upcoming titles "Aquaman", "Shazam!" and "Wonder Woman 1984" bode for an auspicious stride towards a second wave of superheroes at Hollywood. In the end, it bears emphasizing that DC and Marvel are different, but as they have coexisted wonderfully as comics books, they can coexist wonderfully as films too.

Well, different enough.