Clash of the Comic Titans: The Great Debate of Marvel Vs DC

Why is there such a divide between these two camps? Why, exactly, do we even have a Marvel vs DC debate? Why does it feel like you have to choose a side and pledge your allegiance like we’re having a — pardon the pun — Civil War?

All great blood feuds throughout time. Rivalries sparked and fueled for various reasons, including fortune, power, respect and, of course, the age-old debate of “would you rather be able to fly like Superman, or spin webs like Spider-Man?” And if you don’t think the DC-Marvel divide is deep and the rivalry is scorching, then you haven’t read a movie review for either franchise in the last three years. Believe me, fists have been thrown. Blood has been shed. The battle is real, and it is raging.

Smash, Boom, Pow: The Comic Movie Cash Cow

The general consensus among critics at the moment is Marvel is crushing it with crowd-pleasing smash hits like “Captain America: Civil War” and “Deadpool,” while DC is struggling to find its niche with “Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Suicide Squad.” Financially, however, the story is quite different. While DC’s movies aren’t getting the same level of critical love as Marvel’s efforts, both brands are pulling in big receipts at the box office.

In March, “Batman vs Superman” racked up $166 million on its opening weekend, while “Suicide Squad” smashed August opening weekend records by taking in $133 million, according to Box Office Mojo. By comparison, Marvel’s 2016 efforts have included a $179 million opening weekend from “Civil War” in May and a $132 million debut from “Deadpool” back in February. Long story short, superhero movies are making BIG bucks these days, regardless of which comic company stamps its name on them.

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When judging the successes and shortcomings of the movie franchises, it’s easy to look solely at box office hauls and Rotten Tomatoes scores. The amount of buzz a movie generates, along with the money it brings in, can make or break a studio’s big tentpole efforts. While big-name stars playing iconic characters is usually enough to ensure sparkling numbers on opening weekend, negative reviews from the critics can lead to sharp declines in follow-up business. A steep drop off at the box office can wreak havoc on the bottom line of a big-budget movie, devastating its future plans since a film’s financial success usually dictates how much time, money and effort studios are willing to put into the franchise going forward.

The Great Divide

Look past the reviews and the ticket sales, however, and you will get to the heart of the Marvel-DC feud, the very reason this debate has burst out of your local comic shop and into the front and center of pop culture: the diehard fans.

After all, the fans are the ones spending their money at the theater. They are the ones spreading the word of mouth to their friends. The self-proclaimed nerds and geeks of the world are the ones hitting up message boards to praise or bash what they’re watching. And no matter how mainstream Captain America gets, no matter how often you see Batman references in your everyday life, movies based on comic books are, and always will be, driven by the loyal fans of Marvel and DC.

But why is there such a divide between these two camps? Why, exactly, do we even have a Marvel vs DC debate? Why does it feel like you have to choose a side and pledge your allegiance like we’re having a — pardon the pun — Civil War? The answer, I believe, goes much deeper than whether you prefer Wonder Woman to Harley Quinn. It’s more complicated than if you gravitate towards the hilarity of Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool or to the grim seriousness of Ben Affleck’s Batman.

Stand By Your Brand

So why can’t fans just get along? Why can’t they just enjoy the movies for what they are instead of drawing constant comparisons to other franchises? Why does it feel like Marvel’s loyalists ridiculously eager to dismiss anything DC churns out? What makes DC diehards predispose Marvel’s films as silly and pandering? The answer is simple: human nature.

We, as humans, love dichotomy. Everything about us comes in pairs: black-white, up-down, good-evil. We are always forced to pick a side, and most of the time, do so willingly. We like to get behind something, support a cause, look at our choices and say “that’s MY favorite.” Every single thing in our world is driven by competition: our politics, our religion, our schooling. It’s so much easier to pick a side and rally behind it than drift to the middle ground and settle for shades of grey. These same principles hold true for fans of comics. We wave our Marvel flags and talk about how great Spider-Man was in “Civil War.” Or we get firmly in the corner of Affleck and claim he’s the best Bruce Wayne ever. It’s our competing nature that leads us to be Team Marvel or Team DC. This isn’t about enjoying a movie, it’s about our team being better than the other team and letting them know about it. Loudly.

Don’t think for one second that DC and Marvel don’t know the benefits of stirring the pot by making people choose sides. Conflict breeds controversy and controversy creates cash. So when you’ve chosen your side and announced your loyalty to one brand, what’s the logical next step for DC or Marvel to take? Simple: make you choose sides WITHIN the brand. This year, Marvel fans had to decide if they were Team Captain America or Team Iron Man. Likewise, DC followers had the tough decision of backing Superman or Batman in their ultimate showdown.The comic companies reward their loyalists by giving them another choice to make, knowing that the money will come flowing in regardless of which side people stand on. Again, dichotomy generates loyalty. You’re going to show up opening night decked out in your Batman shirt and perhaps heckle anyone wearing the classic Superman “S” on their chest. But guess what? The tags on both those shirts are branded with the DC logo and your Batman money is going the same place as their Superman money.

A Revival of Epic Proportions

By any measure, right now is the greatest time to be a fan of comic book culture. A new superhero movie is released every few months and they’re about another 20 shows on cable and Netflix dedicated to various comics or graphic novels. At the moment, it’s pretty safe to say there is no hotter property on the planet than superheroes. Every time it starts to feel like the genre has been done to death, something new and exciting — like “Deadpool” for example — comes along to give the industry a shot in the arm and a new direction to head in. It’s amazing to think the genre was on life support just a little more than a decade ago when stinkers like Affleck’s “Daredevil” and director Joel Schumacher’s “Batman and Robin” were so hokey and absurd that even the most ardent comic book fans turned away in droves. The 2000s were a bleak time for legions of fans who grew up in the 1990s with cartoons of their favorite characters like Spider-Man, the X-Men and Batman. Those shows compressed the action and excitement of the comics into 22-minute animated adventures and helped turn a new generation onto the worlds of DC and Marvel.

Worried that comic films weren’t a sure bet at the box office, Marvel sold off the movie rights to certain franchises and watched from the side as Sony’s Spider-Man and Fox’s X-Men did their best to keep superheroes in the public’s eye. While those franchises generated good amounts of money at the box office, there was still the general feeling that comics just weren’t cool anymore. This stigma proved hard to shake despite the fact Marvel and DC were still printing some quality material at the time. Studios kept dumping comic-related movies into theaters, including some real duds that did nobody any favors. It’s hard to say for sure if horrible movies like 2004’s “Hulk” and the Jennifer Garner-led “Elektra” caused a drastic decline in comic book sales, but they certainly didn’t do much to captivate a wide audience or sway the opinions of the naysayers.

That all changed in 2008 when Robert Downey, Jr suited up in the Iron Man armor, kicking off the Marvel Cinematic Universe and breathing new life into the stagnant genre. At the same time, DC was riding high with the popularity of Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” franchise and the amazing portrayal of The Joker by Heath Ledger. Suddenly, comics were back at the forefront of the pop culture universe.

Downey, Jr was able to appease longtime fans by harnessing the eclectic nature of Tony Stark, while Ledger’s psychotic take on The Joker was simply one of the best acting performances of all-time, comic book movie or otherwise. “Iron Man” and “The Dark Knight” would set the tone and mood for the next decade of comic book cinema, as Marvel leaned on its colorful, larger-than-life superheroes while DC opted for a more serious, somber approach. The opposing directions each company was heading provided the perfect opportunity for fans to pick which path they wanted to follow: the more light-hearted, fantastical world of Marvel, or the hyper-intense, gritty DC universe. Once you got on board with your camp, the proverbial line in the sand was drawn.

Muddying the Bigger Picture

At this stage of the game, most comic book fans will go see anything Marvel or DC brings to the big screen. In the months leading up to “Suicide Squad’s” release, Marvel fans came out of the woodwork to take shots at the film. “‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ ripoff,” they said. “Nothing but a quick cash-in by DC,” they cried. “It will suck just like ‘Batman vs Superman’” they argued. But guess what? The same people spewing the hate still showed up on opening night and paid for a ticket, even if they considered it a “hate watch.” When you go into a movie hoping it fails, chances are you’re going to find reasons to pick it apart. Let’s be honest, “Suicide Squad” isn’t a great movie, but it’s not as tragically terrible as some Marvel fans will lead you to believe. By dismissing the movie before seeing it, nothing short of it being an all-time classic would be enough to sway some people’s opinions. The Tweets and Facebook statuses started to flood in:
“Suicide Squad is so bad. (How bad is it?) Suicide Squad is so bad that the worst thing Jared Leto could mail someone is tickets.”
“After the Suicide Squad reviews, I’m glad we can all finally move onto being hopelessly optimistic about the Wonder Woman movie”
“Film critics: As with every movie, all I want to know is if Suicide Squad is better or worse than City of Angels w/ Nicolas Cage & Meg Ryan!”
From an objective standpoint, it’s becomes extremely hard to tell if the movie really is an abomination, or if the negativity shot off by Marvel fans is just the result of extreme brand loyalty. The only way to really make the decision is to ignore what everyone is saying, watch the movie and come to your own conclusion.

Remember the Past, Fight for the Future

Both Marvel and DC plan to release movies and expand their respective cinematic universes for the next decade and probably longer. This debate isn’t going away anytime soon. Every time a trailer hits YouTube, there’s going to be 10,000 glowing comments and just as many negative ones. This is the nature of a beast created by our love for duality in this world. Sure, you will have fans who just enjoy the ride and watch from afar as the DC-Marvel flame wars light up social media. But those people are in the vast minority. The majority of people will let everyone know with 140 characters why that trailer sucked or ruled. The general consensus will remain that since the Internet provides everyone with a soapbox to stand on, there’s just no fun in watching from the sidelines when there’s a battle happening before your eyes. Sadly, we are left to box office returns and personal opinions to settle these debates since there’s no chance we will ever see The Justice League battle The Avengers on the big screen. Rest assured, however, that these wars will continue to be waged in proxy from behind the screens of smartphones and laptops by the enthusiastic fans who pull no digital punches while defending their brand of choice.

While the DC-Marvel cinematic rivalry is in its infancy, we must remember the flames were stoked nearly 80 years ago when Marvel (then known as Timely Comics) burst onto the scene to challenge DC for supremacy in the world of funny books. Through the years, the war has seen as many ups and downs as it has twists and turns. For those on the fence, the ones who straddle the line and just enjoy what each company puts before them, it will be fascinating to see how it all plays out. For those who stand firmly in one corner or the other, the fight continues with no end in sight. We have reached the digital age of a war started nearly eight decades ago. As we move forward, all we can hope is DC and Marvel both continue to give us something to fight for.