DC Is Good At This, Marvel Is Good At That

Some debates never die. In the world of superheroes and comic books, debates are immortalized. Whether it’s the school yard or an office hosting podcasts, the superhero genre is home to a plethora of endless debates. One does reign the highest however; who is better, Marvel or DC? That question comes up so many times with fiery passion, coming from both sides. Until a reoccurring consensus is agreed upon. For many years, the answer to that question is, DC is better at comic books, video games, and animation while Marvel is better at movies. There has been some merit to that answer but has lost some of its flare over the years. It still held true but the intensity did simmer down. But, it seems that agreement – DC is better at games, comic books, and animation while Marvel is better at movies – is about to get intense once again.

It’s no secret that Marvel has found success with movies. Over the last twenty years, when Marvel is mentioned, the first thing that is thought of are the movies. Then maybe the comic books, video games, and animation will follow. In that span, when DC was mentioned, movies, maybe outside of The Dark Knight, were not immediately thought of due to the quality trailing a bit behind Marvel. But when it comes to dedicated comic book fans, DC wasn’t necessarily out of the picture. DC still had projects in that span that still had them in the fight. Perhaps the biggest ones were the Arkham games. Which holds water to that answer of DC being good in nearly everything while Marvel is better at film. Marvel had a lock on films from the first Iron Man to the latest (of time of writing) in Fantastic Four: First Steps. Those movies proved that Marvel led the way in film. Although DC had solid movies in that span, the movie title still went to Marvel. In that same span though DC still made waves elsewhere, particularly in video games and comic books. Fan favorite, almost overnight success, the Court of Owls were a recipient of DC’s success in those platforms. In any era during Marvel’s and DC’s friendly rivalry, it was this time period where the wide spread agreement was highlighted well.

But over the last couple of years, that has kind of simmered down a bit. Marvel kind of stumbled with movies and their qualities did play a part in quieting down that agreement. DC also slowed down on animation and video games which added to that mix. For a while, that consensus lost some merit because the argument for it started to fade out a bit. But it seems like that is about to change.

Marvel just grabbed the attention once again and slapped it on their movies. One of the most anticipated movies of this year belongs to Marvel. Avengers: Doomsday is set to premiere on December 18^th and given the tagline at the end of the most recent trailer, it appears the MCU is firmly planting their banner on that day, in front of the other anticipated movie sharing the same date. But this Avenger movie is the one film that many fans have been wanting. The MCU has stumbled time to time post Endgame, something the franchise and fanbase weren’t too familiar with. There were a few hits during that stretch but it feels as if Avengers: Doomsday will reset everything. Grab then hold that energy, that excitement that the MCU once monopolized. The movie will be huge because it’s coming off as Marvel’s return to form and in addition this will be the MCU’s first, very first time, where the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and the Avengers are in the same movie. That alone is worth price of admission. It’s long overdue. And just recently, a new Ghost Rider movie was announced at this year’s San Diego Comic with Ryan Gosling taking on the role. This is a character that many fans wanted to see again on the big screen and wanted Ryan Gosling to play that character. The stars aligned and that builds up hype. With the future looking bright, Marvel has reignited the consensus that they own the movie side of the comic book genre.

And DC has held up their end on the actual comic book side. For over a year, fans are siding with DC when it comes to the books for one reason in particular. The Absolute Universe is a bold, extreme, but desolate version of the DC universe. At the same time, heroes and villains of this universe are dialed up to eleven but stripped down in a way. But the writing, the designs, the stakes, the character arcs, the changes of characters and their mythos have fans locked in. And the three heroes leading that charge, are of course the Trinity; Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Batman, as usual, seems to be stealing some spotlight from the others but the reviews and praise for the other two are still high and positive. Each issue of Absolute Batman instantly builds up intense anticipation with an Absolute version of a classic villain. The main one of course being Absolute Joker. When it comes to Superman, each issue continues to double down Superman’s good nature. Odds are presently stacked against him yet he continues to be that famous beacon of hope in a world of absolute evil. Wonder Woman is seeing many drastic, but welcomed changes as well. New weapons are brought into her arsenal including a size altering sword which fans connect to some anime flare. And even her lasso has received an Absolute treatment. Instead of just one, several have been introduced. Each with a different ability. But the redesigns alone have fans interested. There has rarely been a miss when it comes to designs. And once they do appear, fans are wide jawed and open eyed and look forward to how those interpretations of the characters will be narratively used. And a huge event in the absolute Universe is on the horizon. The team up of superheroes. It won’t necessarily be the Justice League since that team does technically exist in the universe but it’s made up of villains. So, fans will have to wait to see what the team of superheroes will be called in this universe. And this was not the only event happening in the DC universe that had fans talking. DC released DC KO which saw a handful of characters fighting each other in a tournament. And once fans saw that The Joker and Red Hood will be fighting each other, they were excited and anticipating a proper rematch. This event also saw how each Robin – Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake and Damien Wayne – would look like if they became Batman. That also was a temporary hot point of conversation. But DC was able to bring praise back to comic books, specifically for themselves. With all the success and interest, DC is once again proving they are the better at comic books.

There will always be two sides of comic books, even though the genre is much more than the big two. But fans are always going to defend why Batman is better. Why Iron Man is better. Why Superman is stronger. Why Hulk is stronger. The real winner in all of this, are the fans. Fans are able to benefit and enjoy both sides. School yards to offices are going to have their arguments about who wins in a fight. But it is such a nice thing that, for the most part, it is a common agreement that Marvel is better at movies, while DC is good at the other forms of storytelling. It allows both to reign high.