Every alternate movie these days is a superhero movie from the Marvel or DC universe. The rivalry goes way back to the late ’50s and early ’60s. Both the companies boast a huge roster of superheroes with rich storylines. Let’s dig deeper and explore all the aspects of the Marvel vs DC rivalry.
History Of The Marvel vs DC Rivalry
Detective Comics aka DC comics was a part of National Allied Publications but soon became a separate entity. In 1934 DC comics release the Superman comic giving birth to one of the most iconic heroes. The name was also changed to National comics but people still stuck to the name DC comics so much so that they had to rename themselves to DC comics.
In 1939 Timely Comics started publishing comics and that marked the genesis of famous Captain America, Human Torch, and many other heroes. The company changed its name to Atlas comics as well before settling on Marvel Comics in the ’60s.
Both Marvel and DC are stories of Individuals in extraordinary situations who came out winning and became heroes. With the world going through and getting over World War I and II such stories resonated with people a lot which lead to the rise of comic books centered on superheroes.
Theme Of Marvel And DC Comics, Movies And Shows
While people often refer to DC as dark it’s not that simple. DC follows the strategy of putting God-like figures in a regular human’s shoes. They try to display the problems of these god-like creatures and how more power brings in bigger problems like Superman and Wonderwoman. On the contrary, Marvel puts shows what happens when ordinary people get into extraordinary situations and how they come out of it like Iron Man and Hawkeye.
Both of them have tried different formats as well with Batman and Thor being the most successful examples for DC and Marvel.
While Marvel comics try to make things realistic they also give priority to humor. DC sticks to being realistic and maybe that I why some of the storylines take a dark turn as well.
The Marvel movies focus a bit more on comedy than the scripts and it seems to work well for them. The animated and the live-action DC movies stick to the dark theme of the comics. The fans expect DC to be dark which is why the studios and the directs try to make these stories more dark and realistic.
Similar Heroes In Marvel And DC
Even though both Marvel and DC boast a huge roster of superheroes there have been many instances where of plagiarism and copying. One of the most notable was when DC made a hero with super strength and flying and named it Captain Marvel. Soon after that Marvel comics filed a case after which DC changed the name of the hero to Shazam. Marvel after that made a superhero very similar to the one with similar powers and named her Captain Marvel. Hawkeye and Green Arrow, Flash and QuickSilver, and Deadpool and Deathstroke are some of the most famous examples of Marvel or DC copying from each other.
Marvel And DC Movies
The 1951 Superman movie was the first movie based on a comic book superhero after which there was a Batman and Robin movie as well in the ‘60’s. The Christopher Reeves Superman movie was the one that made a big name for the Superhero genre. After that, there was a Michael Keaton Batman movie as well which was very acclaimed. On the Contrary 1976’s Howard, the duck was the first marvel movie but the wait for a good Marvel movie was long. X-men released in 2000 was the first successful Marvel movie that kicked off the whole X-men franchise after which Spiderman followed.
Since the 2000’s it has been a frenzy of superhero movies with the X-men franchise, Spiderman trilogy, Nolan’s Batman, and the whole MCU and DCEU. While DCEU might be receiving mixed reviews the animated roster of DC has become a fan favorite with the latest hit being the Batman Long Halloween.
Multiple TV shows based on the DC characters are running on the CW network and all of them are a part of the DCTV universe or the Arrowverse. Marvel has also entered the TV show game with multiple shows on Disney+ but there were amazing Marvel shows before that as well like the Marvel Netflix shows and Agents of Shield.
There is no official rivalry between DC and Marvel but the fans keep poking the other community. Both Marvel and DC are producing great movies, shows, and comics and will continue to do so. Fans should be happy that their favorite characters are being portrayed in a great way with very intriguing storylines.
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