The Marvel vs DC rivalry feels kind of Over

[Fridays]

I used to remember when there was an on going rivalry and fan boy war between the two series battling things out. However in the last few years I kind of feel the rivalry has died down or fans don't really care or get too tensed anymore about liking Marvel over DC or liking DC over Marvel. A few reasons to this change could be:

1. Saturated comic book content. There ware now so many movies and tv shows of Marvel and DC that it became too much to start comparing.

It has become more about a marvel show getting compared to another marvel show than a DC show. For example Wandavision vs Loki made more sense to compare in story than Wandavision vs Batwoman that are female led super-heroes tv series.

2. DC did not need a cinematic universe anymore while the MCU universe grew stale. Some comic fans wanted DC not to bother with a cinematic universe and go in a different direction. I feel this was the outcome of 2016 Captain America: Civil War and Dawn of Justice and the Whedon JL film that failed.

3. It became cool in Hollywood to hate comic book films and this could have bonded fans from both sides, who just want to defend a genre they like.

4. Some fans are all grown up and don't spend emotion on comic book arguments.

5. Debating something less saturated. It could be possible that some comic book fans have moved on to other genres like fantasy. Right now I am sure there will be more reddit threads of Ring of Power vs House of Dragon to The Batman vs Dr Strange: MOM in 2022

Either way, I am glad it is kind of over or no longer a big thing. Not too long ago in the early days of the DCEU, MCU fans always took happiness in talking about DCEU bad rotten tomatoes scores,, while saying MCU has never had a rotten movie.

In 2022 I hardly see Marvel or DC fans talking about rotten tomatoes or fans from both sides super invested in a potential film flop from the rival's side. Black Adam and Black Panther 2 are out in less than a month apart and it looks like comic book fans just want to have fun and are not pitting both against the other.

Exactly 10 years ago. The Avengers 2012 vs The Dark knight Rises thing was so bad the editors of rotten tomatoes had to shut down the site because Nolan/DC fans were threatening them after TDKR scores dropped below Avengers while marvel fans were quick to dismiss TDKR as not been as inventive as Avengers.

I don't see this kind of toxic behaviour anymore in the genre at large and it is a nice space now.

[80sbaby]

The actual reason is because the race was ran and Marvel basically won. Now both companies are competing with themselves. Marvel against it's past success and WB/DC against it's past failures.

Some fans are still trying to make comparisons but it's kind of silly at this point.

[HollowSage]

The actual reason is because the race was ran and Marvel basically won. Now both companies are competing with themselves. Marvel against it's past success and WB/DC against it's past failures.

Some fans are still trying to make comparisons but it's kind of silly at this point.

Got it in one.

[Omega Alpha]

The actual reason is because the race was ran and Marvel basically won. Now both companies are competing with themselves. Marvel against it's past success and WB/DC against it's past failures.

Some fans are still trying to make comparisons but it's kind of silly at this point.

Yes, in hindsight Marvel won the race when they hired Kevin Feige. Now it's main problem is that Thor 4 was a little too heavy on jokes and Blade was delayed, while DC's problem is that they're betting all their chips on Ezra Miller not being a threat to society.

[Scott Taylor]

Because it was never a race to begin with, no awards to be given out, no medals, no losing or winning in the Thunderdome. Just a couple of companies making movies and trying to be profitable at it. And the people who seemed to care about that, as if they somehow were to gain anything from it, have moved on.

[Rincewind]

On the publishing side, Marvel is protected under the Disney finances. DC is going through yet another round of layoffs. Its parent company is saddled with debt and trying to cut costs everywhere.

I'm an omnibus collector, and it's clear that:

1. Marvel is pumping out volumes with multiple announcements every month
2. DC is releasing a fraction of that with no announcements, due to the fact that their collections department is cut to the bone.

[FFJamie94]

Honestly, the Marvel/DC rivalry only really felt fueled by a handful of fans in a specific period of time.
But I think the reason why Marvel is more popular DC in relation to the cinematic side of things is actually something rather simple, Marvel's misses weren't as big as DC's.
Don't get me wrong, the first Thor film sucks and the first Avengers hasn't aged well in relation to other movies in this franchise, but you built a solid foundation with the original Iron Man, and that first Avengers movie was something we hadn't seen on the big screen.

I wouldn't call DC's attempts an absolute failure either. The very fact that characters like Shazam and Peacemaker are actually known by People is telling us that they are doing something right.
It's just that Man of Steel should have been the biggest movie since Iron Man, but it failed to deliver.
I think rushing a cinematic Universe didn't help matters either, nor was rebooting Batman so soon after the Dark Knight trilogy (and considering how beloved those movies are, releasing Batman v Superman just a few years after The Dark Knight Rises must have stung People as well.

Even going as far back to the pre MCU days, Marvel hit the ground running with Successful Spider-Man and X-Men movies, and even when their movies weren't a success (Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider) People still remember them.
I don't see much of a retrospective look at Superman Returns, nor do People fondly remember Green Lantern or Jonah Hex. Yes there was V for Vendetta and Watchmen, but (at least at the time of release), those movies were only associated with DC through publishing. They weren't seen as part of the greater DC Universe.

I think DC (and Warner) has a problem with casting. It's more bad luck on their part, but casting Miller was probably the choice that backfired on them the most. It's an issue we couldn't forsee as just a few years ago, they were a somewhat beloved actor.

Marvel's biggest issue is that they both think they are untouchable, yet there isn't really much direction to go after Secret War. They were already limited with Endgame, and I think it kind of shows with more recent outings that they are just throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks.
Out of everything I've seen in Phrase 4, Spider-Man was the best just because it felt like a Spider-Man movie.
Wandavision was great until the last few episodes, Falcon/Winter Soldier was fine, but rather bland and Loki started off slow but ended on a pretty high note.
Thor 4 is the only Phrase 4 movie which I felt was terrible, and it kind of says to me that Marvel threw all their best ideas out too early.

Put it this way, Marvel is going to suffer from fatigue and DC can't afford to make a big blockbuster.

[DrNewGod]

I offer no vote because I disagree with the premise. There are segments of Marvel and DC fandom that will never give up arguing about who is better.

[hyped78]

Marvel has the Disney juggernaut behind it, so competing against them right now is close to impossible.

The MCU clearly outperformed the DCU but now it has become stale, so I agree that the MCU is more competing against itself and its high expectations.

In terms of comic book sales, Marvel is also clearly outperforming DC (data is Q1 2022 but only includes store market segment sales):
https://www.statista.com/statistics/...-market-share/

[BeastieRunner]

The actual reason is because the race was ran and Marvel basically won. Now both companies are competing with themselves. Marvel against it's past success and WB/DC against it's past failures.

Some fans are still trying to make comparisons but it's kind of silly at this point.

Pack it in, folks.

/ Thread

[Username taken]

The actual reason is because the race was ran and Marvel basically won. Now both companies are competing with themselves. Marvel against it's past success and WB/DC against it's past failures.

Some fans are still trying to make comparisons but it's kind of silly at this point.

This pretty much sums up the situation.

[Captain Nostalgia]

As a DC fan, I think it's because Marvel won the two major fronts that matter.

Comic Books

Today Marvel, still has a diverse amount of strong selling characters & teams they can rely on for sales, while DC pretty much relies on Batman for its survival.

There is an argument being made, that DC pretty much screwed up the IP's of their other top selling heroes through repeated failed experiments or attempted replacements. I can't comment on the validity of this statement....however....

20 years ago DC titles in the top 25 to 50 were not predominately Batman titles, today the opposite is true.

Movies:

From the get go Disney was way ahead of Warner Bros, in putting out top quality superhero movies when the genre was at the peak of its popularity.

Despite the success of the Dark Knight, the Warner Bros executives were clueless, putting out commercialized garbage like Batman vs Superman. They finally clued in a year later with Wonder Woman, but by then, the popularity of super hero movies were in its latter peak.

TV & Animation

This is arguably where DC won. They were way ahead of Marvel with quality produced shows like Smallville and Arrow.

Warner Brothers in my opinion has arguably the best animation department in North America, they've killed it with their movies, shows and short showcase videos.

Unfortunately animation has been on the decline since the cancellation of Saturday morning cartoons, and for whatever reason, animation has never been able to break into mainstream culture like it has in Japan.

[Username taken]

As a DC fan, I think it's because Marvel won the two major fronts that matter.

Comic Books

Today Marvel, still has a diverse amount of strong selling characters & teams they can rely on for sales, while DC pretty much relies on Batman for its survival.

There is an argument being made, that DC pretty much screwed up the IP's of their other top selling heroes through repeated failed experiments or attempted replacements. I can't comment on the validity of this statement....however....

20 years ago DC titles in the top 25 to 50 were not predominately Batman titles, today the opposite is true.

Movies:

From the get go Disney was way ahead of Warner Bros, in putting out top quality superhero movies when the genre was at the peak of its popularity.

Despite the success of the Dark Knight, the Warner Bros executives were clueless, putting out commercialized garbage like Batman vs Superman. They finally clued in a year later with Wonder Woman, but by then, the popularity of super hero movies were in its latter peak.

TV & Animation

This is arguably where DC won. They were way ahead of Marvel with quality produced shows like Smallville and Arrow.

Warner Brothers in my opinion has arguably the best animation department in North America, they've killed it with their movies, shows and short showcase videos.

Unfortunately animation has been on the decline since the cancellation of Saturday morning cartoons, and for whatever reason, animation has never been able to break into mainstream culture like it has in Japan.

Yep.

Although I will say it’s really scary days for WB animation with what the Discovery guys are doing.

I don’t know what their long term plan is but it doesn’t look good at the moment.