Marvel and DC Comics have been creating superheroes and fictional gods for as long as one can remember.
The storied rivalry between the two goes back nearly 80 years when they were known, respectively, as Timely Comics and National Alliance Publications. Fans have very different answers when asked which is superior, and the lack of a clear front-runner is further proof that this debate isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies in existence, with Marvel on their heels (having begun in 1939 as Timely Publications). According to 2017 statistics, Marvel and DC Comics shared approximately 70 per cent of the American comic book market combined. That’s a ton of superheroes, villains, and gods.
When we talk about the movies, it can be said that the Marvel characters tend to be based around the personality of an individual, whereas DC, outside of Batman, is not about the character. For sure, DC came up with mind-blowing movies but when it comes to overall revenues, plot building and bringing new characters on-board, the box office numbers state that Marvel is taking the lead.
Marvel has invested a great deal of money and time in building their Universe. Moreover, they connected each film with another movie through their infamous post-credit scenes keeping people wanting more. It was always well planned, organised and smartly directed toward its target audience. DC, however, never had any connections and characters were never focused upon or introduced properly, and lastly, they were changed now and then.
One of the few reasons why Suicide Squad failed was because people were clueless about the characters. Even though DC has better and stronger characters, story arcs and designs, it fails to capitalise on the selling ability of its top characters, even though its trinity is by far the most characters in the world of comics.
As the comic universe dropped two intense trailers recently, DC’s Aquaman and Marvel’s Captain Marvel, we can’t help but wonder who will take the lead.
Watch for yourself and decide:
Captain Marvel:
Brie Larson is playing the first female superhero with the Marvel Universe as seen in the trailer. She is joined by Jude Law, Samuel L Jackson, and Ben Mendelsohn.
Keeping with the 90’s setting, the trailer opens with Captain Marvel–aka Carol Danvers–falling to Earth. Following that we can see flashes of her ‘intergalactic life’ as part of Starforce, and then how she comes to terms with a new life on Earth. Just like every trailer, the dramatic background score doesn’t help in keeping our calm, yet it doesn’t give away too much information about the plot. However, we do see some of her powers as she has the ability to fire photon blasts from her hands, which can be seen in the trailer. She’s also capable of absorbing massive amounts of energy.
Aquaman:
With Justice League out of the way, we knew DC was focused on making the solo Aquaman movie directed by James Wan.
Starring Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Patrick Wilson, Nicole Kidman and Willem Dafoe, Aquaman represents something of a clean slate for the DC Films with an entertaining trailer. Not only that, but it also includes plenty of big-scale action, razzle-dazzle visuals and solid actors maintaining their dignity in the Thor-ish narrative.
Aquaman will hit the theaters on December 21 this year while Captain Marvel will come out on Mar 8, 2019.
