A billionaire playboy. America’s golden child. A science experiment gone perfectly wrong.
From the surface, all heroes look the same. The wealthy and brilliant Tony Starke seems to be a replica of Bruce Wayne, Superman and Captain America could be twins with their Boy Scout mannerisms, and both The Flash and The Hulk obtained powers greater than they could have ever imagined with one laboratory accident. Marvel and Detective Comics seem to mirror other’s heroes and powers, but each character’s conflicts and battles vary greatly between the two publishing companies. Now these super humans are fighting a much stronger battle: number one slot at the box office.
Marvel. The masterminds behind heroes such as the Invincible Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and the Amazing Spider-Man and who have been leaders in comic entertainment since the Golden-Age have recently been dominating the movie industry. Marvel is releasing its groundbreaking movie crossover masterpiece in phases. Phase One has been famously nicknamed ‘Avengers Assemble’ and ended with the completion of The Avengers. Phase Two begins this May with Iron Man 3 and will incorporate, in order, Thor 2: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers 2, and is completing with Ant-Man in November of 2015. All of Phase Three has yet to be announced but have no fear, they will be mind-blowing.
Many people are unfamiliar with the Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy, but rest assured movie goers, their story is quite spectacular. In the comics, Dr. Hank Pym, Ant-Man, is a biochemist trying to create a size-altering formula. When it goes awry he has to create a device to communicate with insects to help. He was an original founder of the Avengers (Hawkeye, Black Widow, and even Captain America were not) and should have been in the first Avengers movie. The Guardians of the Galaxy are a futuristic team of alien superheroes protecting the universe. They’re like the Avengers in space. They are likely to join Ant-Man and team up with the Avengers in the next movie.
Following the current trend of movies, The Wolverine will be released this summer in July 26, 2013. The infamous Jean Grey, who was ‘killed’ in the final installment of the X-Men trilogy, will play a major part in the new movie. While it is not included in the Avenger’s phases, it does look like Wolverine, if not other mutants, will be a part the Avengers in the future. With Iron Man 3 and The Wolverine both coming out this summer, Marvel looks like it will defeat DC comics in the box office once again.
Let us not forget about the Detective Comic’s movie mystique. The Dark Knight trilogy ended last year with the spectacular release of The Dark Knight Rises and DC will continue its movie spectacles this summer with Man of Steel. The Dark Knight Trilogy, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and the Dark Knight Rises, have been DC’s most successful movie franchise to date. With the end of The Dark Knight Rises, one would have to wonder if Robin would have his own movies as well or which Robin he would be. If DC continues the Man of Steel into a trilogy, they might contend with the movies Marvel is releasing in the box office.
With Marvel’s The Avengers blowing up at an exponential rate, one should start to wonder if DC will continue their movie magic with The Justice League. They would need to reboot a couple of their less popular releases, such as Green Lantern, to connect the heroes correctly and maybe install a few movies to introduce pivotal members of the Justice League such as The Flash or Wonder Woman, but it is without a doubt a great possibility. With equally amazing heroes and villains, the Justice League could continue to make movies that would compete with The Avengers. However, DC has a lot of road to make up before they could compete with the crossover movie series of the decade.
So, when it truly comes down to the life-long question, Marvel or DC, it seems to end with a draw. You can’t compare apples to oranges, or a hero’s deeds to a villain’s transgressions. Although, for now, Marvel is in the lead with the amount of movies, DC doesn’t seem too far behind.
