One of the biggest stories to come out of the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con was Warner Brothers and DC Comics announcing a new slate of movies taking place in the DC Universe. DC not only is bringing in very recognizable names (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc), but is promoting a far darker approach than Marvel has. People have been reaching out to me on social media asking me what I thought about the slate. It got me thinking, is this is the approach that the fans are wanting? Are fans are getting tired of the predictable nature of the Marvel movies and want alternatives? 7 years ago, Marvel was the fresh face in the industry. Maybe the times are a changing? I feel the D.C. is going to be the new leader in super heroes films going forward. Here are some reasons why.
- Playing the Hits-
We have reached a point now where Marvel is in the Phase 3 roll out where movies like Doctor Strange, Black Panther, and Ant-Man are making it to the big screen. The highlights of Phase 3 are of course Captain America: Civil War, Thor: Ragnarok , and The Avengers : Infinity War. Some of the films are targeting the biggest of comic book fans and the others are meant to be for those of us who are into what we have seen before at the box office. DC is bringing a whole new universe and that universe is extremely dark and appealing to a variety of individuals world wide. Batman, Superman, Wonder Women, and even the Justice League all have universal appeal and that will mean box-office revenue for DC. It seems we have reached a point where Marvel is just playing the classics and DC is playing the hits.
- Originality –
DC seems to be pushing more original concepts towards the screen and pushing the envelope while Marvel is sticking to a safer route. DC is even pushing a movie that based primarily on the villains in the DC Universe ( Suicide Squad). In the first 24 hours since Warner Brothers has released the Suicide Squad trailer, it accumulated 12 million views on Youtube. That is a tremendous amount of interest in a very short amount of time. It’s this type of buzz that will lead to genuine interest at the box office.
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- Actors –
DC is bringing actors with impressive versatility into the DC Universe. Ben Affleck as Batman was at first considered to be nothing short of a monumental screw up, but if you take a second you may see that he actually was the perfect choice to follow Christian Bale. Who better to pull the suave nature of a Bruce Wayne as well the rage that builds inside as he slowly becomes Batman? Ben Affleck brings a lot to the role.
Jared Leto as the Joker in Suicide Squad brings something to the table that hasn’t been seen in a super hero movie since Heath Ledger. His all or nothing method for acting garnered him praise in Dallas Buyers Club and he won the Academy Award. Will Smith, Margot Robbie, and Viola Davis also have signed on to the DC universe. It seems as if DC is investing time in hiring the right actors and is not overly concerned with going after the “bigger names.” This dedication to casting the right actors and actresses will allow DC to produce the type of film product that not only is very true to the comic but has mass appeal as well.
In Conclusion, I am not going to tell you that somehow Marvel will no longer be making tons of money at the box-office. I think people will still check out the latest and greatest from Marvel simply based on what they have seen in the past. There is room for both companies to make films and make a mint at the box office. However, we only have room for one company to be the leader in super hero movies. Marvel is the past and DC is the future.
