Before anyone wants to jump in and fanboy it up about their love/hate for either all things DC or Marvel, people should understand that this panel had pretty much nothing to do with which company was better or worse than the other. Sure, there was some good-natured joking and elbows thrown about the panelists’ favorite company, but the main focus was on how the two have handled what is being produced in the movie and TV realms.
I don’t think it’s a stretch for all of us to agree that Marvel has absolutely nailed their movie franchises and completely dominates DC in this area. And we’re not talking about what is being doing over at Sony and Fox with Spider-Man or the X-Men, respectively. Marvel Studios has done a fantastic job at creating a living and cohesive universe where all the best of their superheroes get to play and provide us with breathtaking stories. Sure, Iron Man used to be a C-Level character, at best, but with his trilogy of movies and “The Avengers”, he (along with Robert Downey Jr.) is now pretty much the go-to character for when Marvel wants to rake in truckloads of money, and it was only through the intelligent way that studio handled his franchise.
Of course, DC has had wins at the box office. Nolan’s “Batman” trilogy was both critically and commercially successful, and “Man of Steel” made a ton of money and was a great movie (despite fanboy grumbling). The biggest question facing them now is where do they take their characters from here, and how are they going to cohesively meld them together for an upcoming Justice League movie?
One thing DC has done an excellent job with, though, is their TV series and animated movies. Whether people want to admit it or not, “Arrow” is a hit, and their upcoming “Gotham” looks to have a lot of promise. DC knows how to handle the events of their stories on the small screen, and it would behoove them to take note of what they have accomplished and try to apply it on their big screen adaptations.
Marvel could learn a few lessons for “Agents of SHIELD”, a series that I absolutely love but fully admit has had a lot of problems and needs to better intertwine with the bigger Marvel universe. They’re starting to get it now, but it was a long and slow burn to get to where the show is today.
All in all, it was an excellent and really fun panel, so please check out the audio below and let us know what side you weigh in on!