Marvel and DC are some of the most popular superhero franchises which often brings up the question, which is better? Both the Marvel and DC universes started out as comics in the late 30s to early 40s. Marvel was founded by San Lee, who also helped out and made appearances in many of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies, and the founder of DC was Major Malcom Wheeler-Nicholas.
Some of the most popular and notable Marvel characters include Iron Man, Spider-Man and Captain America while DC has icons like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.
While both franchises are fairly recognized, most people consider Marvel to be more popular. This is due to the well received MCU movies and Marvel’s cinematic presence. In the box office, Marvel movies dominate in overall revenue.
“I think the Marvel universe is more planned out and I think there’s more Marvel comics to go off of for the movies,” said freshman Hailey Culbert.
While MCU performs better in movies, historically DC has performed better in animated movies and TV shows such as
“Justice League,” “Teen Titans” and “Batman: The Animated Series.” What the argument really comes down to is which universe has better characters?
“I think DC has a lot of well-known characters,” said freshman Lexa Acheampong.
Both universes have plenty of beloved characters but they seem to have one key difference. DC superheroes are commonly characterized as aspirational or being almost ‘untouchable.’ They seem to reach a status that seems unreal which goes with the stories taking place in Metropolis and Gotham City. Individuals agree that Marvel in comparison seems to have more ‘human’ characters that people can relate to. Most of the heroes seem more grounded in the reality of New York which viewers really appreciate.
With iconic heroes comes an equal match of amazing villains which DC seems to do really well. While Marvel does have some good villains, a lot of them can feel temporary. In DC’s case there’s a whole cast of villains that are much more recognizable to people. Characters like the Joker, Harley Quinn and Lex Luthor are just as complex and noticeable as the Marvel and DC superheroes.
Judging the franchises off of the characters means there can be more than one answer to which is better. While Marvel does an amazing job of connecting their heroes with their audience, for DC it’s their complex villain characters that shine through. Overall Marvel does a better job of making relatable characters and lasting stories.
