With The Amazing Spiderman 2 hitting the theaters this month, Marvel, the major comics company seems to be far ahead in injecting its universe in the theaters than its major rival, DC Comics. However, that does not mean DC is completely lost. A closer look on both sides shows that DC does have its chances for a comeback.

▲ A depiction of Iron Man, a popular character of the Marvel Universe. Provided by therpf.com

▲ Superman, as shown in Man of Steel. Acted by Henry Cavill Provided by www.wallpapershd1080p.com

Putting aside the franchise duds, including Daredevil and Ghost Rider, Marvel has absolutely dominated the box office with its critical and commercial successes, Iron Man (2008), X-Men: First Class (2011), The Avengers (2012), and several more. Generating over 5 billion dollars in revenue from its films, Marvel is blasting through with hit after hit and leaving its mark on the history of comic-based films.

Additionally, Marvel has already travelled far in unraveling its comic book universe on the silver screen. With major players, including Thor, Iron Man, and Spiderman already appearing on-screen, Marvel is past the introductory stage of its production and on to displaying popular comic book story lines and connecting different movies to create the full Marvel Universe. Indeed, Marvel’s first attempt at a major shared universe and superhero team, The Avengers, proved to be a magnificent success, bombarding the box office and awing comic nerds and casual moviegoers alike. 

Several easter eggs and post-credit scenes in The Avengers series hint at the following story arc that Marvel has already prepared. The appearance of Thanos, a popular supervillain in the Marvel Universe, in the after credit scenes of The Avengers, Infinity Gauntlet, a main motif that drives the plot, as an easter egg in Thor (2011), and The Collector, another popular supervillain, in the after credit scenes of Thor: The Dark World (2013) points to the Infinity Gauntlet Story Arc, one of the most wide-scale, spectacular, and fantastical story lines in the original comics. 

On the other hand, DC has seen much less progress on its journey to enter filmdom. Though finding success with The Dark Knight (2008) and its ensuing series, commonly acknowledged as the best comic-based films ever produced till now, the major comics company has failed to effectively hit a mark on the silver screen, disappointing fans and critics alike with the less-than-satisfactory rendition of popular comic book characters Superman and Green Lantern in the films Man of Steel (2013) and Green Lantern (2011).

DC also seems to be falling behind Marvel in the development of its shared universe. On a move to introduce its widely renowned superhero team, Justice League, in the films, DC has launched films to promote relevant characters, including Batman, Superman, and the Green Lantern. However, not only did a majority of these films meet with critical censure and public dissatisfaction, DC has still not released any films featuring other major components of the team: Flash, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, or Cyborg.

In a state when DC has not yet established a firm base of individual superheroes to screen a shared universe, the public announcement to release a film based on the Justice League in 2017 seems to be a hasty move to keep up with Marvel. While a still untitled project featuring a shared universe of Superman and Batman are being prepared for release in 2016, it is still unclear whether DC will set a proper base for the grander universe, arcs, and schemes of the original comics. 

The disparity between the cinematic achievements of the two major comic companies can be partly explained by the inherent differences in the atmosphere and style between Marvel and DC characters. Marvel characters tend to be distinctively more earthly. This does not mean that they are more realistic, as the characters, ranging from gods to artificially enhanced super humans, certainly do embody fantastical elements. However, the trait that renders Marvel characters more human and relatable is that they face mundane difficulties ranging from alcoholism, bullying, to anger issues—Iron Man, Spiderman, and the Hulk, respectively.

So in parallel to its characters, Marvel films tend to be more focused on entertainment, with much more casual themes, a lighter and more jovial atmosphere, and witty dialogue. Marvel has, from the start, decided to consistently stick to elements of fun and fantasy. The plot circles around the superheroes and their conquests, and the audience sees much less of ordinary people and society than the fantasy worlds of the heroes. While fans of the original series may weep the loss of the more serious themes in the comics, the mass audience has welcomed the screening of a casual, simple superhero film, and Marvel has reaped its benefits.

The characters from DC, then, are much more idealistic and beyond human. In fact, each character symbolizes an underlying sentiment—Superman, unyielding purity and good, and Batman, true justice and civic responsibility. DC characters represent and embody abstract ideals, staying above the mundane and worldly. As such, the characters are from the beginning intended to be beyond the ordinary. Green Lantern has the strongest weapon in the universe, Superman is nearly indestructible, and Flash can move so quickly that time almost stops. Even by comic book standards, DC superheroes possess immense power.

So then, from its character premise, DC faced the trouble of having to choose between fantasy and seriousness. The profound themes and ideals of freedom, justice, and vengeance embodied in DC characters would not fit well in a heightened reality of fantasy. As a result, to fit these abstract themes and character traits on the screen, DC has sacrificed much of the original comics’ fantasies and instead created a world more resembling reality. The company’s films hold a much more serious attitude, and keen viewers will realize that DC films tend to highlight ordinary society, the society that parallels the one outside the film.

However, DC cannot dismiss the fantasy elements of its films altogether, as these are the most defining traits of the heroes to mass audiences. This attempt to fuse supernatural features of the heroes with heavier themes and realism has become the task for DC to solve in order to further successfully enter the film industry. Now with Marvel already planning to release Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Ant Man (2015), and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) in the near future, it seems like the company’s momentum is not likely to stop any time soon, and DC may very well stay at the tail of Marvel.  

With that said, DC does show its potential. It has yet to unfold many of its major characters on screen, The Dark Knight was the greatest success of any superhero film, and it boasts a loyal audience of fans. Though Marvel is certainly in the lead for now, DC may very well take over the reins with time. Marvel won round one, but now it is time for round two.