By Matthew Ambrose
Correspondent
In the world of comic books, the company with the most daring, exciting ideas usually warrants greater publicity. In 1960, DC Comics first debuted “The Justice League of America,” a new team consisting of beloved, pre-existing DC superheroes. In 1963, Marvel Comics debuted “The Avengers,” a new team consisting of beloved, pre-existing Marvel superheroes.
Marvel and DC have the longest and most famous rivalry in superhero comics history. Over the past two decades, Marvel has been on top thanks to the sweeping success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is an interconnected series of movies featuring overlapping characters and storylines based on Marvel Comics.
DC has been struggling to compete with the MCU for years, but recently the tide seems to be shifting. Popular culture may be growing tired of Marvel, while DC is on the precipice of a promising new universe, conveniently called the DCU.
Prior to the release of “Iron Man” in 2008, Marvel and DC had fairly equal influence in the comic book world. That was until the MCU changed things. Unlike previous comic book superhero movies, the MCU appealed to mass audiences. This was in large part because of the layered storytelling — including the iconic post-credit scenes — and beloved characters who quickly became household names.
Unfortunately, those two traits that used to make the MCU so entertaining are the very areas in which it currently lacks. Recent post-credit scenes set up concepts and mysteries that will likely never be explored, including in “Eternals,” “Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness” and “Shang-Chi.” On top of that, Marvel spent an entire “Ant-Man” movie and two seasons of “Loki” setting up the next Avengers-level threat in the form of Kang the Conqueror, a character who they promptly dropped in 2023.
As for characters, they’ve got plenty, but you probably don’t care about any of them. Aside from a couple of standout hits like Kamala Khan from “Ms. Marvel” or Jimmy Woo from “WandaVision,” none of the characters from Phase Four or beyond have received half the praise of any original Avenger.
Due to its confusing long-term plan and a lack of interesting heroes, the MCU has lost many fans over the past four years, and may be approaching its end. Meanwhile, the opposite seems to be happening at DC.
For years after “Iron Man,” Zac Snyder tried to outcompete the MCU with his dark, gritty take on the DC universe. However, his movies failed to ever match the hype of their Marvel counterparts. The only ones that even compared were “Wonder Woman,” directed by Patty Jenkins instead of Snyder, and “Shazam!” which, let’s face it, is practically an MCU film. It was clear that Snyder’s vision was not working.
In 2022, DC decided to change its leadership and instated James Gunn as its new CEO. Gunn had experience with DC, having written and directed “The Suicide Squad” and its spinoff “Peacemaker” in 2021 — the two best projects to come out of DC since “The Dark Knight,” in my opinion. He also had experience with the MCU, as he wrote and directed all three “Guardians of the Galaxy” films.
Gunn declared the official start of his new DCU to be the animated TV series “Creature Commandos,” which just debuted on Max in December. Like Gunn’s previous two projects, it received high critical praise and attracted many fans. Next up is “Superman,” which comes out this July, and based on the trailer, carries that typical Gunn charm.
It’s hard to say for sure if Gunn will pull off what Synder never could. He is already facing some criticism for reusing the same gimmick several times; “Guardians,” “Suicide Squad” and “Peacemaker” are all goofy, absurdist comedy-dramas about a gang of eccentric misfits saving the world or galaxy.
Is it possible that, instead of truly redefining their approach, DC has just traded in the excessive slow motion and CGI mustaches for funky soundtracks and talking rodents?
In addition, there may still be hope for Marvel. The long-anticipated “Fantastic Four: First Steps” comes out this July, one week after “Superman,” and could reignite the MCU’s popularity if it does well. If it does poorly, though, we may have to kiss the MCU goodbye for good.
In a perfect world, Marvel and DC would both make incredible movies. However, as it stands, Marvel is spiraling downward while DC is finally moving up. It is likely only a matter of time before a “Justice League” movie garners the same hype that “Avengers: Endgame” once had.
Or, everyone will stop caring about superhero movies all together due to the oversaturation of it all. Like I said, only time will tell.
