Many have heard the big names of comic book entertainment: Marvel and DC. Both are trying to be the kingpin of the comic world, but Marvel has been much more successful with multiple of their movies holding record box office earnings. This rivalry was in place long before the movies came out, and started with the comics.
Their movie rivalry began with the hit Marvel movie “Blade,” which is about a half-man, half-vampire. With “Blade” being such a success, it funded more movies, most importantly “Iron Man.” This is the movie that put the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) on the map.
Due to the financial worth and popularity of the MCU, Warner Brothers tried to make their version with the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). “Man of Steel” was the DCEU’s kick-starter, and fans liked it, but some thought it may have been too dark for the hopeful Superman. After that, the DCEU went straight to “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” without having a solo Batman film first. Then “Wonder Woman” came out and was received well by the fans because it represented her character very accurately. When “Justice League” came out, fans started to see that the DCEU was starting to crumble due to “Justice League” having two different directors, making it seem weird and unfinished. Scenes were cut and characters were forgotten like Martian Manhunter. “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” fixes most of these problems but its long run time dampened its initial reception.
Thankfully, Marvel was doing well, releasing hit after hit like “Thor: Ragnarok,” “Black Panther,” “Avengers: Infinity War,” and their box-office success, “Avengers Endgame.” These movies were hits because they were the movies leading up to the end of the saga.
One of the things that made the Infinity Saga so special was that it led up to a villain. The actor Jonathan Majors, who was set to play the upcoming villain Kang, was arrested for assault and harassment. This canceled the project entirely, with Marvel switching the main villain to Doctor Doom, who is to be played by Robert Downey JR.
DC was doing even worse with “Wonder Woman 1984,” “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” and “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” with each movie receiving either mediocre or bad reviews. DC’s 2023 release, “The Flash.” caused even more issues for the company. The problems with this movie stemmed from the production using dead actors with horrible CGI, a controversial actor for The Flash, and (spoiler warning) killing off Michael Keaton’s Batman. At the same time, some diamonds did emerge from the rubble on both sides, like “The Batman,” “Shang-Chi,” “Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” and all the Spiderman movies that have come out recently. The 2024 release, “Deadpool & Wolverine,” was one of the most well received movies to come out in recent times.
Ryan Reynolds, the actor and producer for Deadpool, made sure that the fans got what they wanted with many jokes and cameos. This movie gave us Gambit, Elektra, Blade, X-23, and The Human Torch, all on the big screen!
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Just recently, James Gunn was brought to rebuild DC and give it a firmer foundation with his movies. Gunn is responsible for the “Guardians of The Galaxy” trilogy and the newest “Suicide Squad” that many fans love. Gunn has set up many new things to come that look very promising, like “Superman,” “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow,” and “The Brave And The Bold.”
On the TV show side of things, the first comic book live-action show to spawn this new age was “Arrow,” which started its comic universe with CW (CBS and Warner Bros) shows like “Flash,” “Supergirl,” and “Legends of Tomorrow.” “Daredevil,” which was a phenomenal show that peaked at 195 million views, was received so well by fans, that the character is going to be continued into the multiverse saga. There were other Netflix shows like “Luke Cage,” “Iron Fist,” “Jessica Jones,” and “The Punisher,” but they were not as well received as “Daredevil.”
Marvel continued these types of live-action shows without Netflix. They started releasing them on Disney Plus, with their first being “WandaVision.” Fans ended up loving these types of projects and wanted more, this enticed Marvel to give fans shows like “Loki,” “Hawkeye,” “Moon Knight,” and so much more.
Straying away from Marvel and DC, other companies are trying to make a name for themselves. One of the more popular ones is Prime Video with projects like “The Boys” and “Invincible.” These shows can be very dark at times, but have much to offer. They make a name for themselves with their grittiness and by branching off to other comic book companies. Dynamite Entertainment had “The Boys” and Images Comics owned “Invincible,” with both having new seasons coming, not to mention the rumored Spawn movie set to release this year.
With this much in store for comic book entertainment, it’s hard not to feel hyped for it all. There’s a new person in charge at DC to give the fans more quality over quantity, and more exciting movies planned for the fans. It may seem like a lot but because of that, it gives something to almost everyone.
