There were a lot of announcements this weekend in the battle for our comic book-flavored attention. Marvel had its big Avengers announcements: Ultron cast, Thanos, Guardians sequel, and Ant-Man. DC fired with the reveal of Gal Gadot in her Wonder Woman outfit, as well as the first teaser for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
There are also plenty of TV shows and animated features that tie into the respective cinematic universes. Marvel’s Agents of Shield season 2 had its cast announced, and Agent Carter was formally revealed. There’s even going to be a Guardians of the Galaxy cartoon, not to mention the Netflix original series (that were nowhere in sight at SDCC 2014). DC showed more Gotham information, as well as Arrow season 3 news, Constantine and The Flash.
It’s a great time to be a comic book fan.
But who’s “winning the war”, and is there really even one?
In all respects, Marvel is kicking butt with its cinematic universe. Guardians of the Galaxy is the 10th film in the series, Agents of Shield ties in to the movies heavily, and the Netflix stuff will be side stories and characters that may not normally get the right light in features or broadcast TV. All of this has been planned from the beginning, really.
DC, on the other hand, has only recently kicked off its own cinematic universe, with Man of Steel. It had to wait for the right deals to be signed into place with actors, and the Dark Knight trilogy to run its course. Though it’s technically the first film in the series, Man of Steel only became that when the contracts were all signed. Batman v Superman can be considered the first real film in the series, with Justice League arriving the following year.
It feels rushed, compared to Marvel’s slow, methodical design.
Perhaps it’s DC’s push for realism and darkness in its films. The Dark Knight films were often gruesome, and DC can’t really back away from the atmosphere of those films with its new series. How do you take a series like Batman, which has zero magic or mysticism in it, and shoehorn it into one with aliens (Superman)? And then throw in a god (Wonder Woman)?
Meanwhile, Marvel is content in sprinkling campiness into its titles. Iron Man, Hulk, and Captain America started off as realistic portrayals, only to get surreal part-way through their original features. Thor is a Norse god, and we’re completely fine with that from the beginning — yet we have issues with Wonder Woman.
The methodology is also different, as Marvel typically starts their characters on one-off features before throwing them into the Avengers mix. DC’s second film introduces Batman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, and potentially Aquaman. It’s as if they’re playing catch-up, and far too fast.
Marvel’s TV series all fit into their film universe, and their cartoons fit within their own “spinoff” of that universe. DC has Gotham, Arrow, Constantine and Flash all coming up, with none tied to their movies. It’ll be confusing for fans. Yes, they’re building a world that’s based on character-building and themes rather than characters, but it may be stretching the brand just a little too thin. I’d almost rather have singular stories and series with DC right now instead of mashing everything together.
Fan reaction to Batman V Superman will tell us a lot, but by then Marvel will have already announced Avengers 3 and potentially new projects. Does DC even stand a chance? DC is waging war on Marvel, but Marvel seems to just go out an “do it”.
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