Comic book movies: Marvel vanquishes DC

All the discussion of The Avengers got me to thinking about the Justice League and what a great movie that could be. That, in turn, got me to thinking about how Marvel Studios did a great job taking ownership of its characters and turning them into a gold mine.

I'm not sure how younger kids view the current crop of comic book heroes, but judging on merchandise I see at Walmart, it seems like Marvel is kicking DC's ass.

The Nolan Batman franchise is the cream of the comic book movie crop, but beyond that, DC has yet to really gain traction in the film industry.

Superman Returns bombed. Green Lantern got lukewarm reviews. They haven't gotten a Wonder Woman franchise off the ground. I haven't heard any word of the Flash getting a movie, or Green Arrow or Aquaman. Watchmen was probably a little too niche to ever hope to become a major franchise (it grossed only $107m domestically and $185m worldwide).

Can DC turn things around and compete with Marvel, or is DC stuck only with rebooting Batman and Superman every few years? If DC can compete with Marvel, what's the best way to do it? Follow the Marvel model and start its own studio and begin building toward a Justice League movie, or will that seem too unoriginal?

 

"Superman Returns" didn't bomb -- it did just about the same worldwide B.O. as "Batman Begins," which was hailed as a smashing success, and got very good reviews when it was released.

It "bombed" only in regard to the ridiculous pre-release hype, in which some WB ding-a-lings fantasized it would be the biggest smash of all time.

"Returns" is commonly cited as a failure because of its massive budget, which included all the sunk costs for the abortive Superman movie projects which foundered between the end of the Donner-Reeve franchise (1987) and 2006, including the preposterous Tim Burton abominations. After seeing how Burton had, eventually, steered Batman into the ground, WTF were they thinking allowing him to get his fingers into another major franchise? Happily somebody woke up before the film was actually made, which would have killed off the character once and for all.

 

Marvel's got Disney behind it now. They know how to milk and support a franchise.

Marvel's characters were always more interesting anyway.

 

This.

 

Burton didn't run Batman into the ground, that was Joel Schumacher.

Understood about the worldwide gross of Superman Returns, but consider that it was so bad it couldn't support a franchise reboot. It scored a 76% fresh rating on RottenTomatoes, so the reviews were mixed. And don't forget, The Fantastic Four made more money than Batman Begins, too, and that got a 27% rotten rating.

 

FWIW - I think they are working on a Watchmen prequel

 

The problem DC has is that, outside of the Nolan Batman series, the first attempts at rebooting most of these characters to current times flopped.

I enjoyed Superman but, ultimately, it suffered from an awful storyline. So, Lex Luther wants to single-handidly ... make more land? That's the best you've got?

Green Lantern was an abortion of a movie but, as with Superman, it wasn't the choice in lead actor (I thought Ryan Reynolds was great in this), it was another unexciting, awful script.

The best thing DC could do is wait a couple of years and start over from scratch. I'd cut Nolan a blank check to make a fourth movie that plants the seed for a Justice League movie much like Iron Man did and then reboot Superman completely with a dark origin story similar to Begins that introduces either Green Lantern or Wonder Woman at the end.

From there, I'd relaunch both of those franchises and the Fantastic Four and start setting up a real Justice League all-star flick.

All told, it would take probably 10 years to do it right and it would pale in comparison to what Marvel's done but, right now, DC looks dreadful compared to their comic book counterparts.

 

Agreed. There is a good reason DC keeps rebooting its comic book universe and Marvel, for the most part, has not. Sure, Marvel added the Ultimate line, but that was in addition to its primary continuity, not in place of it.

 

Fantastic Four is Marvel, not DC.

 

Not sure about movies, but they are doing Watchmen comic book prequels.

 

Whoops. My bad. I thought they were DC given the style of movies we've gotten from that franchise. Scratch that part and substitute it with Flash.

 

There's a first time for everything. That's why I know you'll one day say something intelligent.