The superhero industry has been dominated by two big names and we all know who they are. Name a superhero you know and chances are that it is owned by one of these two companies.
The comic giants, Marvel and DC, have been around for more than a century now. Starting in the early 1900s, both of them have dominated the comics and movie industry for decades now.
This begs the question of which one is better: Marvel or DC?
Start of an era
Marvel and DC started around the 1930s, DC was created five years earlier in 1934 while Marvel was created in 1939.
Both of them started off as comic productions with different names. Marvel was at that time called Timely Comics while DC was called National Allied Publication.
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics had huge ups and downs throughout its time. Started by Martin Goodman in 1939 to get into the booming comics industry, Marvel, known as Timely Comics at that time, issued its first comics in October 1939 called Marvel comics no.1 which featured characters such as Human Torch and most notably Captain America.
During the Golden Age of comics (1938 to 1956), Marvel was best known for Captain America who at that time was mostly portrayed fighting Russians and Japanese. Changing the name from Timely Comics to Atlas Magazine in 1953, Atlas was used as an experiment to bring back their beloved characters such as Captain America back.
In the early 1960s, Atlas was finally renamed Marvel. However, due to bad management in the company, constant change in the company’s ownership, and a decrease in sales, Marvel was deemed bankrupt in 1996. It was in desperate need of money so it took every step it could.
This was when Marvel sold its most notable characters such as Spiderman, Venom and the Fantastic Four to its other rival companies.
The company, however, came out of the situation pretty clean and was finally acquired by its parent company Walt Disney for a whopping $4 billion in 2009.
DC Comics
DC Comics, unlike its counterpart Marvel, never faced bankruptcy but had a similar run as its rival did. It was originally called National Allied Publication when it was first started by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson in 1934. It issued its first comic New Fun #1 in February of 1935 which featured characters such as Jack Woods and Don Nogales.
The characters we normally know DC for such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Flash only joined the rooster of DC characters later around 1940.
DC faced several hurdles during the 1950s which it was able to adapt using diverse storylines. This change in the storyline made them dominate the silver age of comics and leave its rival company Marvel in doing so.
In 1977, it was officially acquired by the Kinney National Service (parent company of Warner Brothers). This acquisition was very beneficial to DC Comics as it allowed them to avoid the risk of getting bankrupt just like their rival company Marvel.
Search for new markets
Marvel and DC knew that the comic industry won’t be the future so both of them went on to new markets. The entry into the animation and movie industry was handled well by both parties.
DC took over the animation industry earlier with the release of Batman: The Animated Series in 1992. Marvel followed shortly with the release of an animated show of Spiderman in 1994.
The movie industry entrance of DC and Marvel is quite confusing. Both of them had an early start in the industry but we look over the modern era of the movieverse. Marvel started its modern-era movie-making with the creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). MCU’s first movie was Iron Man released in 2008.
DC also created a whole different department called DC Extended Universe (DCEU) to create movies. DCEU started with the release of Man of Steel in 2013, a reboot of the original superman series.
The ultimate question- Which one’s better?
So, which ones better? That depends but long story short- Right now, Marvel is much better than DC. And here’s why that’s the case.
Marvel dominates the movie industry
Let’s talk about the movie industry. Out of the top 10 highest-grossing movies – 4 of the highest-grossing movies are produced by the same company. You might’ve already guessed it, it is Marvel.
Marvel is listed 6th in the highest-earning movie production company with the likes of big names such as Walt Disney, Columbia Pictures, and Universal Pictures with half the number of movies produced than they have.
DC, on the other hand, has only a single movie, Aquaman, that made it into the top 30 list. Marvel owns a third of the movie in the top 30 highest grossing movie list.
These stats clearly show that Marvel has been a lot more successful in the movie industry than DC has. Also, the sheer number of movies and TV shows MCU has been able to produce is triple the number of DCEUs.
Marvel took over the TV shows industry
Marvel has been pushing its main aim from cinemas to TV shows. This resulted in an increase in TV shows in recent years. It produced 8 TV shows in just about a year and a half. In comparison, DCEU has only made a single TV show in that time frame.
This low number of products from the DCEU shows that it has not been able to keep up with the boost of its rival company, MCU.
Constant storyline by Marvel
Marvel, since the start of MCU, has been producing movies that are always related to each other. The idea of ending on cliffhangers and adding clips for the future title at the end of each movie called “post-credit scenes” has increased the number of loyal Marvel fanbases. MCU is also producing movies quite often and entertaining its fans with the constant release of new movies and shows keeping the fans happy and the storyline relevant.
DCEU on the other hand rarely produces any movies or shows. Even the ones that were announced and set to release this year were scrapped by the company. This has decreased the number of fans following in the market.
Marvel provides a constant supply of media to consume while DC has been unable to do so.
Connection with the fans
The more of the character is on the screen of the fans the more fans form a bond with them. With more movies and TV shows, Marvel has been able to fully capitalize and help fans create a bond with characters using different backstories.
This is evident in the characters Tony Stark played by Robert Downey Jr. and Captain America played by Chris Evans who is beloved by people all around the world.
More characters, More stories
Don’t get me wrong, DC obviously has more characters than Marvel but Marvel has more characters that have been developed by giving proper time and back story. These types of characters are easy to incorporate into the movies as the production teams do not need to develop an original story.
DC has more characters that have been brought up for small stories and helping their main characters. This has created an abundance of characters in the DC universe that have no real story of their own and have made only small appearances.
The Multiverse Saga
Marvel’s new phase, Phase 5 a.k.a The Multiverse Saga, is another reason DC might not be able to take over Marvel anytime soon. Marvel has already announced the next Endgame of the Marvel Universe with movies already scheduled up to early 2025. With the aspect of the multiverse, Marvel also has gained the freedom to introduce old characters without any setbacks or damage to the storyline.
Marvel will definitely capitalize on all the popularity it has gained throughout the years from the Infinity War and End Game saga and try to make the best out of it.
The takeover in the Comic Market
DC’s only win over Marvel was the comic industry. This, however, changed after the start of the new millennium with Marvel overtaking the market share of the comics from DC and dominating the market for the following 22 years to the present.
For the first quarter of 2022, Marvel still had the whole of the comic industry with about 38.8% share. DC followed the list with about 24.3% market share.
While the debate itself might never finish, taking in the above facts we can argue that Marvel right now is winning over DC in all fields of competition.
Marvel with its decade-long dominance over the comic and movie industry is better than DC.
