Hey there! Are you a fan of darkness, sadness, and every story and characters being the same old thing repeated time after time? Well, maybe you should go read a DC comic. That would be way better than watching one of their movies, that’s for sure. But if you want a likable and relatable character, with endless storylines that bring the world to their feet where even one of their writers (Stan Lee) is a legend, then you should indulge yourself in the world of Marvel. I would like to start by stating that I myself am a fan of all superheroes and villains in general and I love both Marvel and DC. I grew up on them and I know just as much about DC as I do Marvel. But if you ask me which I or the majority of people out there prefer, it’s Marvel without question or hesitation. Still don’t believe me or can’t accept it, ask any average person off the street (not a Marvel or DC fan) and ask them to name as many Marvel or DC characters as possible. Maybe you yourself are this average person. Are you having trouble naming more than the Justice League characters, therefore DC characters? Yep, that’s kinda expected. Good job though if you named the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, and X-Men, which are all teams each with 5+ characters and I’m sure you can name more but you get the point. Marvel is just more preferable and likable to the average person and is huge everywhere you go on the planet. Still don’t agree with me after that simple test or wanna know more? Here’s a little history lesson on why Marvel is more preferable.
Marvel and DC are two behemoths that emerged in the mid to late 1930s and began to flourish in the 1940s in a time where the people of America and the world were in dire need of escape, hope, and inspiration. Both are great companies/franchises with both having entertained us all for generations and generations from toddlers to the elderly in the good and the bad times, through thick and thin, bringing happiness, joy, and smiles to all our faces with their games, comics, and cinema. But in the end I firmly stand with the side that Marvel stands superior and is preferred over DC which should stand for “don’t care” for most people. DC got its start as National Comics where they began to grow as a company to where they are today expanding into also making shows, movies, cartoons, toys, etc. And DC has a great company that I love and enjoy but I am a comic and superhero lover and not your average consumer, and I have many reasons as to why I align with Marvel as the preferred brand. Popular DC characters include Batman, Superman, Wonderwoman, the Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern, the Joker, and Harley Quinn, and yes Batman and Superman are perhaps the two most recognizable superhero characters in the world and of all time, but these are two characters in a universe filled with thousands. And besides the others listed, most people cannot name too many more, much less know what the abilities and backstories of the characters are, Whereas Marvel in large part because of their movies have extremely popular characters and teams that a way larger number and quantity of people know and recognize making Marvel one of the most popular and important companies/franchises in the world with characters like Iron man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, Thanos, Scarlet Witch, Falcon, Black Panther, Loki, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Wolverine, and you can’t forget your friendly neighborhood Spiderman just to name a few being instantly recognizable.
This recognizability is in large part because of the relatability of Marvel’s characters which people just connect to way more then DC’s. DC has an amazing set of both heroes and villains but they aren’t relatable as they’re too overpowered. They are basically gods living amongst men whereas Marvel’s characters are living in a universe filled with gods and other powerful entities. Marvel’s characters have problems and limitations and their characters often face and mirror many of the real world issues we all face today and truly make us believe that what the characters do is what we would do if we were in their same position. No one wants to read a comic or watch a movie about Superman who is going to face foes who in the end really aren’t going to pose a threat to him or stop him or about how Batman can beat just about anybody out there “with prep time” as many people on the DC side like to say. No! People want to read or watch things like how Iron Man’s armors can stand up to just about anybody but have to get constant upgrades and fixes because the armor simply got destroyed in a battle and wasn’t strong enough just like astronauts with their space suits when they need to get constant changes because of damage to the suits or how mutants like the X-men face constant ridicule and prejudice because they are different like many minorities in the world or the LGBTQIA+ community. We relate to Marvel’s stories because we see and face problems similar to those day to day, there are problems in the real world and we don’t always win and get what we want and sometimes just aren’t good enough and Marvel shows us that and does way better than DC at that and because of that the fans gravitate to that. I’m not saying DC’s characters are not relatable, I’m just saying more often so then not they don’t compare to Marvel’s which shows us it is okay to lose and that’s gonna happen from time to time but what’s not okay is to give up. That’s just a simple ethical reason as to why Marvel is more preferable than DC on a personal level but there are also stats and numbers to back my claim up and as we all know, “numbers don’t lie.”
Both DC and Marvel each have their own cinematic universes with DC having put out about 15 movies (just the DCEU) and Marvel 33 (just MCU) so far with both having many more planned to release with both also having many movies that use characters of each respected franchise but are not a part of their cinematic universes but still with those being included. According to boxofficemojo.com DC only has 5 movies in the top 100 highest grossing movies of all time with DC’s highest grossing movie being Aquaman at #30; Marvel having 18 movies in the top 100, four in the top 10 with their highest grossing film being to no surprise Avengers Endgame which currently holds the # 2 spot but held the number one position up until Avatar had a rerelease of their film which got them back to number one. And if not for that, Marvel would still have the highest grossing film of all time and still holds the record for being the highest grossed film of all time released only once. There is clearly a franchise people are more gravitated to and it’s not DC. As for shows, again both companies have their own shows both live action and animated and I’ll give it to DC here–they know how to make shows and in this realm it is a lot closer with DC’s best work being their animated shows with a couple of popular live action tv shows like The Flash and we can’t forget about the Batman show from the 60s. But these shows were at their peak years back and have since decreased in popularity and fan’s interest whereas Marvel’s shows have began to grow more and more and in some cases are more popular than their movies which is a huge feat after hearing about the successes of the movies with their shows on Disney+. Consider Loki, the Falcon and Winter Soldier, Wandavision, and X-men 97 that have fans excited, predicting, clamoring, and craving as to what happens next.
But wait! There’s more. The toy realm is still very close with both being extremely popular amongst kids and adults with both having many iconic and collectable items mostly action figures so there I cannot give a decisive winner to which toys people prefer but I can definitely say Marvel is not losing. Finally comic events/storylines: who wins there? Whose do people prefer? Marvel, that’s what they prefer. Yes, DC has amazing comics, stories, and events with some of their biggest being the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Death of Superman, or the Flashpoint events which are all very interesting and I recommend them to al,l but common Marvel is the god of iconic events and comics like Age of Apocalypse, House of M, Days of Future Past, Inhumans vs X-men, Avengers vs X-men, Age of Ultron, Civil War, Civil War ll, Ragnarok, World War Hulk, Old man Logan, Spider-verse, Secret Invasion, Secret Wars, Galactus, and the Infinity Wars. Sorry, but yeah, there’s no comparison there. Marvel takes the cake both for the real real comic book and superhero fans but also the casuals. Let’s just say there is a reason why the DCEU hired a Marvel director in James Gunn to reboot and build their universe. Marvel is a part of Disney the biggest company in the world and it is there for a reason. They’re the preferred franchise and by the looks of it aren’t going to slow down any time soon and will continue to take over the world. In the end both companies are behemoths that made our childhoods, but one is superior and more loved by the people of earth and the name of that company is Marvel and like famous Marvel writer and legend Stan Lee said, “nuff said,” this argument is over and quite frankly should have never been started.