Blog: #06 Marvel vs. DC

Every year there is a plethora of superhero movies released, enough to satisfy even the biggest of geeks, and it seems with each passing film I get asked, at least once, do I prefer Marvel or DC? It’s never specified what category, so I always recite the same tired response: ‘I prefer DC’s characters but Marvel’s films.’

While it may be a rehearsed answer, it is true. From a child I’ve always been a huge fan of The Flash despite him not getting much TV/film time (and me not being a comic book fan), and I always attribute this due to his ability being speed; as a kid I always prided myself on my running (not so much anymore). And DC have Superman, another favourite of mine, and Batman is alright (I always enjoy his films more so than his character, but Batman & Robin ruined the Batman character for me for many years). Meanwhile even in today’s golden age for Marvel cinema, I still don’t feel like I love their characters: friends of mine know I hate Captain America, Iron Man and Thor, to me, are a bit so-so and Hulk only seems to work in ensembles. And this became a fine response, especially considering the sheer amount of satisfactory Marvel films being pumped out compared to the few-and-far-between DC films, which were normally terrible. But the more I got to thinking about it, the more I became curious: do I prefer Marvel films or DC’s?

Now, this seems like an obvious straight forward answer: Supergirl, Superman IV, Batman & Robin, The Green Lantern and Justice League (among many others) are terrible films. But so are all the Fantastic Four films, and the Hulk films, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Captain America (the 1990 version and 2011), and the Amazing Spider-Man films. And while DC may have some of the worst, I also feel they have some of the best: Superman, Batman (1989), The Dark Knight and its trilogy buddies and the recent Wonder Woman. The only way to really know which company have made the better films is to watch them all, surely, and work out an average based on the score issued to them all. So that’s what I’m doing.

In the 79 days leading up to Avengers: Infinity War I will be posting daily reviews of all 79 films under the Marvel and DC banners. [Note: this is only for theatrical films except for 1990’s Captain America (which only gathered a small internation theatrical release but had always intended on being theatrical) and 1994’s The Fantastic Four (which, again, was intended to be theatrically released but other issues bogged it down).] This is easily the biggest challenge I’ve ever undertaken (especially considering I have a full-time job and superhero films usually run about two hours each), and I may not even stick to it! (although I fully intend on watching them all even if my reviews do end up being a few days late . . .) but by the end of it I can have a definitive answer to which company’s films I truly prefer: Marvel or DC’s.