Marvel vs DC
Ah, the age-old question… Marvel vs DC
Do you like super heroes? Have you enjoyed the buckets of super hero movies that have been released over the past two decades? Do you have a favorite movie or character?
What about franchise? Which do you prefer: Marvel or DC?
Before we answer that question, however, I want to talk about the first X-Men movie and the first Spiderman movie.
But, Jenelle, Why?!
Well, I’ll get to that.
Arguably, the first Spiderman trilogy is campy, corny, and ridiculous… especially the third movie in the trilogy. And X-Men… just keeps getting worse with every new movie they release.
But I think they require a little bit of defense, just for a moment.
I grew up on a lot of 90s cartoons. When it came to super heroes, Spiderman was always my favorite, followed closely by X-Men and Batman.
So when the first X-Men movie came out in 2000, of course I went to see it. Sitting in the theater, it brought back all the nostalgia of getting up early on Saturday morning so I could catch the newest episode (or even a rerun). Even though they didn’t get everything right (coughRoguecough) it still managed to capture the feel of those Saturday morning cartoons and bring them to life on the big screen.
When Spiderman came out in 2002, it did the same thing all over again. No, Toby MacGuire wasn’t exactly MY Spiderman (because 90s cartoon Spiderman is in college, has a stable part-time job, and has already pretty much managed to figure out how to balance life and super-hero-ing… something that live-action Spidey just can’t seem to do even though his life pretty much depends upon it always). But he brought Spiderman to life.
Why bother pointing this out?
Because these two trilogies paved the way for all the super hero movies we’ve had since.
Remember, the last big super hero movie we had pre-X-Men was Batman and Robin. (And while I kind of love that movie with all it’s campy-ness and one liners, I fully admit that it’s pretty awful). Could Batman and Robin have ushered in the era that brought us Avengers 1 or Infinity War/Endgame? I think not.
X-Men and Spiderman proved that comic book super heroes appeal to audiences, that they sell tickets.
And then Batman Begins (2005) proved that you could make a “serious” super hero movie, and that fans would take it seriously and even LOVE the more serious nature of the genre. Which I think paved the way even more for the first Iron Man movie when it aired in 2008.
Without these first explorations into the genre, I don’t believe the 12 years and 23 movies of the MCU would have happened. Not in the same way. Perhaps not at all.
So which is my favorite? Marvel or DC?
Well, that’s a little difficult to say. There are several important components to consider.
The Heroes
Batman
DC has a pretty huge edge here, in that it is the home of my all-time favorite super hero of ever. Batman is my favorite. I love the tragic back story, the tortured hero, his absolute devotion to the city of Gotham, the fact that he actually has no super powers at all (unless you count the ability to take a punch a super power). I also love that he’s a serious character, regardless of which role he’s playing. Unlike Tony Stark, Bruce Wayne is a very serious person, a brilliant businessman, and compassionate to his fellow man. He is the same person whichever suit he’s wearing.
(Admittedly, the same can be said of Tony Stark, but the person he is in either costume is far less appealing and has far more obnoxious ego… and I actually quite like Tony, I just don’t like him as much as Bruce).
Spiderman
My second-favorite super hero, however, is from Marvel. I love the quippy snark of Spiderman, the absolute selflessness, his dedication to do what is right, even if the whole world is against him, and his absolute lack of ego. The fact that he is able to quietly work for the man who is determined to pin the ills of all the world at Spiderman’s door, without retort and without growing weary of doing good has always been an inspiration to me.
Thor
Of the MCU, Thor is probably my favorite of the main heroes (Hawkeye is my FAVORITE, but I admit he’s more of a supporting hero, not having his own movie or anything, though I am quite looking forward to the Hawkeye tv series that is supposedly releasing later this year… it’s about the only phase 4 Marvel thing I’m actually interested in, and only cautiously interested, that that…) but I’m supposed to be talking about Thor.
Thor is just so dear. Even when he’s all arrogant and needs to learn a lesson in the first movie, he’s still eminently likable. I didn’t know much about this character until the movies came out (I wasn’t all that well-versed in the Avengers hero team prior to the movies) but I love Thor rather a lot.
A few years back, we decided to watch “the Thor arc.” Starting with Thor 1, we watched only the movies that had Thor in them in chronological order… and… it was pretty crazy how much more depth we discovered in the movies (even in Thor 2 and Avengers: Age of Ultron) watching the movies and paying close attention to a single character’s story-line. I want to go do the same thing with Iron Man and Cap next.
Television
Justice League/Justice League Unlimited
If you haven’t seen these cartoon series, I highly recommend them. They are worth it JUST for Batman - he really pulls out his dry sense of humor in these two series, but the rest of the characters are good, too.
Spiderman / Ultimate Spiderman
As I already mentioned earlier, the 90s Spiderman was my favorite super hero cartoon as a kid.
But Ultimate Spiderman was really fun, as well. Geared towards a younger audience, in this iteration of the character, Spiderman gets recruited by Nick Fury into SHIELD and is given his own team of teenage superheroes to coordinate with.
Batman
I always loved Batman as well. We didn’t always get a good signal for the channel this show was on, and it tended to be on at a time when the sun was glaring through the windows that faced the TV… but it says a lot that we kids were willing to watch this show through the static and the fact that we couldn’t see it very well because of the glare anyway.
Young Justice
This extremely fabulous show about the proteges of the main Justice League heroes is way up there on the favorites list.
Smallville
While Superman has never been my favorite super hero (it’s hard to relate to someone who is “practically perfect in every way” AND invincible) I LOVED the show Smallville. Beginning with a young Clark Kent who hasn’t acquired all of his powers yet, and adding in that Smallville itself is fairly covered in “meteors” (Kryptonite) that fell from the sky the same day that Martha and Jonathan Kent found Clark in a field… definitely made Clark into a more believably vulnerable character. Also, the cast puts in a stunning performance. Tom Welling will always be, to me, the quintessential Superman. I’d love to get to see him reprise that role in a Justice League type movie.
The Movies
If I had to put my top 10 favorite super hero movies in order, they might look something like this:
Batman Begins
Avengers 1
Thor
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Guardians of the Galaxy
Ant Man
Spiderman: Homecoming
Aquaman
That list might look a little different depending on the day. Sometimes Avengers: Age of Ultron makes the list instead of Aquaman, mostly because of Hawkeye. But this is generally the list. Also… really? I have been terribly lax about reviewing super hero movies, apparently. Though I did talk about some of the movies rather more at length in the MCU Tag a while back, so you can read more of my fan-girling there if you’d like.
The DC movie universe has not managed to hold together quite so admirably as the MCU has. While it is clear that they tried (maybe are still trying?) to stitch together the sort of success that Marvel has enjoyed, it simply isn’t working. It’s not that it can’t work… but the team writing the scripts and directing the movies doesn’t seem to be all on the same page, the way the MCU crew has been. And while I appreciate that the DC movies seem to have been written for an audience that is ALREADY fans (understanding, perhaps, that there have already been quite a few Batman and Superman origin stories told), versus the MCU being written for people who had no prior clue who the Avengers were (and this works well for me, seeing as how I am one of those people who knew the backstories of the DC heroes but not those of the Marvel ones) it still just hasn’t been able to come together in quite the same sort of way. I keep hoping for it… for things to fall together and turn into something like a live action version of the Justice League cartoons… but while I’ve enjoyed several of the movies on their own merits others have fallen very flat. Or they’ve been a weird choice to focus on (Suicide Squad, for example).
The Verdict
Well… I don’t know that I can say it better than Starlord did.
I just really like them both. And despite the fact that I’ve never read a single comic book in my life (something about the visual format of comic books give me a splitting headache) I really like super heroes. I like the idea of them, and I’ve highly enjoyed the various movies that have come out over the past 20 years. I haven’t loved all of them (X-3 was such a disaster, and I kinda hated Civil War) but by and large, they have been an enjoyable pastime.
Bit of both, really. Looking at the lists, you’d think that Marvel would be the obvious choice for winner. But… if I’m honest, the balance is pretty even. Marvel might have MORE heroes and movies that I love… but DC has Batman. And that counts for extra.
That was a ridiculously long blog post to type up just so that I could say “both.” eheheh But I hope it was enjoyable to read anyway.
Which do you prefer, Marvel or DC?
What is your favorite (or top several favorite) super hero movies?
Do you enjoy super hero movies or cartoons? Which super hero is your favorite? If you could have a super power, what would it be?