As a long time reader of this website, and their its comment section below, I know that every opinion has already been said. But hey, maybe I've got something new. Now time for the portion of this that is certain to causes flame wars below. The question a lot of the time is "Marvel or DC?" That is not as easy a question as it seems. My answer for example is, it's complicated.
I grew up in the era of Bruce Timm ruling the small screen with Batman TAS, followed by Justice League and Teen Titans. On the other side of the aisle we had the 90s X-Men series appeasing mutant and marvel fans alike for years. I personally was always a fan of Bruce Timm's work, and I still am today. Does that make me a DC fanboy? No.
Since growing out of Saturday Morning Cartoons, we move to the big screen. Early on we had Blade, Raimi's Spider-Man, and more Batman movies than anyone needed, just to name a few. Of those, Blade was easily the one I gravitated towards the most.
While Raimi's Spider-Man had good moments, Alfred Molina, Willam Defoe and JK Simmons to be specific, it left a lot to be desired. What it lacked was a hero that people can look up to and root for. Tobey Macguire was more whiney and played the victim too often for him to be someone who kids can say “I wanna be him when I grow up!”
As for the Batman movies, each one had its problems but overall, I found its attempts to be campy to be over eager, and the serious tone to miss the mark, as well as a ton of major plot holes in every movie. From a mayoral candidate biting off the opponents nose, to infamous BatCard, there were far too many problems within this era of the Worlds Greatest Dectective.
Although I enjoyed the Blade movies more than the others, they fell victim to a time where CGI was treated as a new toy that everyone wanted to put in their movies, not matter how unnecessary. The acting also got more stale as the trilogy moved forward, ending with Ryan Reynolds first attempt at being part of a CBM, which didn't start well, by facing off with a professional wrestler in HHH. Does this forgiving view make me a Marvel Fanboy? No.
Getting into the newer era of CBMs we have had Fox's many X-men movies and Fant4stic, Sony's Amazing (Not Really) Spider-Man, Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, Marvel and Disney's MCU, and of course Snyder's Man of Steel Universe.
The X-Men movies have had the flaws with continuity and directorial choices but to their credit, helped to found this CBM movement. Hugh Jackman has led the way with his great although deviant portrayal, but then again commitment to the source material has always waxed and waned. Despite having what seems like the same villain every movie, these movies have touched on some of the X-Men’s largest comic book storylines.
I'm going to avoid the next two franchises with such a wide berth you would think they were radioactive. No honorable mention to Marvels first family and whoever Andrew Garfield was supposed to be playing.
Now we arrive at the next portion that will piss half of you off, The Nolan Trilogy. I thoroughly enjoyed these films for what they are, films. I thought Heath Ledger was amazing, Gary Oldman was great throughout. My problem comes when I want to call them top comic book movies. For me, there must be strong ties to source material other than the name of a character alone. I didn't get that for most of these movies, most of these characters felt like brand new characters with a happy coincidence of something sharing the same traits. We had Bane, who was a mercenary and former member of the League of ASSASSINS (not Shadows). After those two, they fall off for a main member of Batman's rouges gallery. I also have my issues with Heath Ledger's joker, but that's for another time.
Then we have the highest grossing franchise of all time, the MCU. I have enjoyed these movies since day one (literally Iron Man on opening day). I am not a purist who believes that Marvel has done everything correctly, we all know that's not true. They stretched the universe far too thin by adding the likes of Agents of Shield and Agent Carter. Agent Carter among others suffered due to the sexist marketing prowess of Ike Perlmuter. The main thing I give them credit for is continuity, they have managed to have a plethora of actors and directors on the same page (apart from Edward Norton and Terrence Howard), thanks to Kevin Feige. Their casting has been great in my opinion, leading the way has been RDJ and the three Chris'. We will have to see what this next wave can do with the spotlight, but if Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther portrayal is any indication, I'm excited for the next step in this journey.
Finally we have the youngest of this new wave, the Snyderverse. With Man of Steel starting it off in 2013, it was not off to a great start with a Superman with what felt like no concern for human. I have enjoyed Henry Cavill, my problem comes with direction, Zack Snyder tried to make up for the sins of Superman Returns. His direction forced Superman into a spiteful and rage fueled alien discordant with the Superman that I've come to love whose adoption into his human world defines him. To my own personal shock (as I was against this casting since day one) I have faith in this universe, and that lies Batfleck. He has a love for the character we haven't seen in awhile. Although BvS was problem filled, his relationship with Jeremy Irons' Alfred was a promising moment in an otherwise insane attempt at Snyder's vision of The Dark Knight Returns meets The Death of Superman. With Geoff Johns looking like the new leader of this universe and Affleck on to direct the solo outing, I feel like we are in for some real competition between Disney and WB.
This has been my first attempt at an editorial here, thank you for letting me share my CBM thoughts with you guys and gals, Let the flames burn bright and please let me know what you guys think down below in the usual place.