With the full gambit of Super Hero movies getting ready to come out over the next three years, which universe will win out, DC or Marvel? Regardless of which side of the equation each of us ends up being for there will only be one winner. So what are the arguments?
VS.
Right now the hype for the Marvel movies is reaching a crescendo as Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger is set to hit theaters in May and July of 2011. Of course that is followed up with the mother of all Marvel movies, The Avengers in 2012. On top of that the Marvel universe stays busy with X-Men: First Class, Wolverine 2, Ghost Rider 2 and the reboot of the Spiderman franchise. On the surface it is easy to see why Marvel comic fans are so excited, but there are some facts that may in the end give DC the edge. First and foremost is all of the different movie studios that own rights to very important central figures in the Marvel universe. You won't see the Fantastic Four or any X-Man on screen with any Avenger due to Sony and Fox owning those characters.
An even bigger blow could be the villains that won't be available between the franchises. You won't be seeing Dr. Doom fighting Iron Man any time soon. In the end it hurts the product that Marvel is trying to put onto the screen. What always appealed to me about the Marvel universe was that everyone existed in one Earth. Over the years in the comics we have seen the X-Men joining forces with the Avengers, or the Avengers having to deal with rogue mutants, or the Hulk simply smashing everyone. I always felt it gave an epic feel to all the heroes in Marvel that each individual character's actions could also affect the story-lines of other characters. With the movie rights being divided between the other movie studios that one central vision of one unique universe that they all exist in, is in danger. The story-lines divided across the different movie studios in the end could be the achilles heel to the Marvel movies.
With all the excitement surrounding Marvel right now it is easy to forget that one of the most successful movies of all time was Batman: The Dark Knight.
It was that rare movie that everyone, comic fans or not, went to see. That movie was really the crowning achievement for comic book movies to date and is the feather in DC's cap. Setting a bar that high is hard to follow up on but that is what they are going to attempt in 2012 when the third film of the series, The Dark Knight Rises, will complete the trilogy. DC deserves credit for hiring the right producer and director to truly capture the essence of Batman, the gritty feeling of his city, and his psychotic villains. They should get some kudos as well for their early efforts at getting movies made depicting their characters and really setting the early stages for movies based off of comic books.
The first two Supermans, with Christopher Reeves, had fantastic story-lines with both his origin and of course General Zod in the second one. Despite the special effects limitations the stories were at least true to character and were descent representations of the Man of Steel that readers of the comics recognized. Ten years later they made the first Batman, that I still love to watch, with Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson as the Joker. Why? Because the story was well thought out and it was true to character. However, DC has also been plagued by absolutely terrible movies like Superman 3 and 4, Batman and Robin, and Batman Forever. Even 2006's Superman Returns had some serious flaws, despite Kevin Spacey's brilliant portrayal of Lex Luthor.
Now, as 2011 approaches and Green Lantern is set to come out and rumors are flying of a Flash and Wonder Woman movie in the works, what type of DC movie are we going to get? The brilliantly made well thought out Batman movies that Christopher Nolan directed, or the terrible stories that has plagued many of their films? I still have nightmares about George Clooney being Batman. How many bad lines can be actually be in one movie? (Batman and Robin) Honestly, Green Lantern is a tough call for me. The images, pictures, and rumors on the story that are swirling on the internet have only added to my growing unease that it won't be any good. I even have my concerns about Ryan Reynolds being Hal Jordan.
I grow more worried daily that in the end Green Lantern will be another urinal cake of a movie. I hope I am wrong but I guess we shall see.
In the end Marvel may be trying the impossible by getting all their movies to live in one cinematic universe with the glaring exceptions being the characters they no longer own. That in itself could be the problem. However, at least they are trying to put an extreme emphasis on making sure the movies accurately tell the story of their characters and show them in a believable, albeit over the top fashion. The reality is that if Marvel fails in their overall vision for the characters they will take down all their movies at one time not just one. For DC we all hope that they have learned from Christopher Nolan's portrayal of Batman and will make a realistic depiction of their iconic superheroes. By the time 2013 comes and goes a victor shall be named in the comic movie wars. When the dust settles I just hope mediocrity doesn't reign supreme. - GD