The two heavyweights of comics, Marvel and DC, have been battling it out for decades to entice readers to their comics and most people have a preference, for example when I was younger it was always Marvel for me, especially Spider-man and Thor, who seemed more engrossing than Superman or Batman. But now there is a bigger battle raging in the movie world and it's only going to get bigger. This is great news for comic book film fans like myself as with every new film the bar is being raised to exciting levels.
Let's take a look at where we are now. Marvel have taken a lead on DC over the last few years with their plan of releasing films in a phase system. Phase 1 kicked off with Iron Man, (2008), which was a huge success financially and gave the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) the start they needed. Marvel followed that up with The Incredible Hulk (2008) which didn't prove as popular with the fans. However, Marvel marched on without blinking to release Iron Man 2 (2010) which once again hit the spot and made Robert Downey Jr. a true idol to all the Marvel fans. Next up was Thor (2011) directed by Kenneth Branagh and introducing an unknown actor Chris Hemsworth to play the god of thunder to great effect. Captain America: The first Avenger (2011) Starred Chris Evans who had already been involved with Marvel by playing Johnny Storm in The Fantastic Four films. Phase 1 culminated in The Avengers (2012) which joined all the heroes together to fight the evil Loki, the main villain in Thor. The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon, went on to become the third biggest hit in movie history at the box office. So Marvel's plan worked perfectly and MCU was in the excellent hands of Kevin Feige the President of Marvel Studios and producer of the hit films that have now grossed $8.3 billion worldwide.
Phase 2, which began with Iron Man 3 (2013) then Thor: The Dark World (2013) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) has already assured Marvel of continuing success and that was guaranteed by this Summers blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy, which was a huge gamble for Marvel as it featured characters that were only truly known by the readers of the comics, but it has so far grossed $652.7 million and this is before a DVD and Blu Ray release, so expect that figure to rise.
Phase 2 will end with another ensemble film in 2015 Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Phase 3 is already in preparation with Ant-Man (2015), which was going to be directed by Brit Edgar Wright, but due to differences he decided to drop out. Phase 3 will also include Captain America 3, Doctor Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy 2
So to say that the future of Marvel is bright is definitely and understatement.
Let's take a look at the progress of DC which has not enjoyed the same level as success as their rivals. The problem, I believe, is that DC didn't have the leadership or vision that Marvel had, and through a couple of under performing films Superman Returns (2006) and Green Lantern (2011) didn't look likely to compete at the box office with Marvel. But all that changed big style with the release of Zach Snyder's Man of Steel (2013) This dark and gritty retelling of the Superman origin seemed to strike a cord with the fans earning close to $700 million. Then came the huge news that the sequel would see the two of DC's main characters battling it out in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) with Ben Affleck cast as Batman. This announcement pushed the fans way over the edge with excitement. In the Dawn of Justice there will be more DC favourites including Wonder Woman and Aquaman, who will surely get their own origin films, this is all leading up to their own DC ensemble movie Justice League.
So there we have it the fight to control the Super Hero Universe is well and truly set up to be as good as the films themselves. Who will come out on top? Who will be left licking their wounds? We will have to wait and see, but it's proving to be exciting as each studio releases tit bits to tease the fans and make sure their in a frenzy by the time the movies come out. At the moment Marvel have the lead and they look likely to remain ahead but you never know what will happen. The next few years of movie releases will be crucial to the outcome.
As Stan Lee would say at the end of his comics ''Nuff said''
Miles Dunton.
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