The Comic Book Wars

I'm not a huge comic nerd.  I never collected them as a kid and outside of Batman and the Saturday morning cartoon versions of X-Men and Spider-Man, that was the extent of my exposure to the world of mainstream comics.  I don't really have a dog in the hunt of 'who's better, Marvel or DC' but the Marvel v DC battle is taking interesting turns and while Marvel's movies are chewing up the box office, DC has long had a more stable, reliable product on the small screen and that's where Marvel is starting to make inroads.

This morning's announcement that Marvel was teaming with Netflix for 4 new shows and a miniseries based on The Defenders was another shot across DC's bow.   DC's announcement that they were planning to spinoff a Flash television show from Arrow, their current hit entrenched on the CW marks another interesting turn as well.  The risks remain the same:  over exposure.  Marvel learned quickly t spend the money on actors, directors and script and do what they had to do to get the product right- because anything less than excellent would be pandering to their fanbase and the comic fanbase is anything but stupid.   I don't think I can think of a Marvel misstep yet and they're willing to take risks as well, which is unusual to me.

DC had Smallville for ten seasons, a breakout hit in Arrow last season and is gearing up for a small screen version of Flash.  There are rumors swirling that this new Batman v Superman clash will involve Nightwing and possibly Wonder Woman- whether those turn out to be true or not, I don't know- but nothing Marvel has (at least that I can think of) will top comic fans desire to see a slugfest between the Man of Steel and the Caped Crusader.  Advantage:  DC

Buuuuuuut, Marvel thinks outside the box.  Which gives them an edge-  Agents of SHIELD, while it started slow is starting to pick up some steam and if upcoming episodes provide an epilogue to the events of Thor: The Dark World, then that's something unseen in entertainment.  Marvel isn't just making movies- they're trying to take their sprawling comic book universe and bring it off the page and into live entertainment.  That's ballsy.  Advantage: Marvel.

DC could have moved towards a similar template that Marvel used to build-up to the Avengers movie but Green Lantern was a huge miss for them- one that's going to look very very foolish indeed if Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy kicks ass next year.  (If they can make a movie with a tree and a rocket slinging raccoon and do it well, then wow.   Sky could really be the limit.)   But DC also has something in their back pocket that Marvel doesn't have: Wonder Woman.  They should throw a metric fuckton of money at it, get the script, director they want and yes, I think Gina Torres would be perfect, but that's just me.  (And yes, Wonder Woman can work:  lookee here! They just need the balls to go out and make it.)

It's interesting to say the least.  Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me that while Marvel is more willing to think big and outside the box, DC has the comic book heroes that resonate more strongly in the cultural zeitgeist:  Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman- that's a big trifecta that I'm not sure Marvel can touch...  yet.

But hey, Hollywood seems to have learned that good scripts, the right actors and the right directors can make them a load of cash when it comes to the world of comic books and they don't seem to be in any hurry to stop making them.  And if you enjoy stuff like this (and I admit, I do) then it's one of those rare moments where everyone wins.