At the end of this week, we will see yet another Marvel Cinematic Universe movie coming into theaters. I know several people who are die-hard fans of both DC and Marvel comics and this has led to a lot of comparing of these franchise's movie and television ventures. I am not somebody who grew up reading comic books, but I did grow up watching the superhero movies that came out. After some deliberation I believe that I've figured out where DC and Marvel are strongest in their entertainment factors.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is a huge, in-depth universe. Every movie ties into something greater which will ultimately lead to the movie "Avengers: Infinity War" and beyond. The television shows that they have, such as "Agents of Shield" and "Agent Carter" are also used to set up bigger things that appear in their movies.
The result is that, though you can watch any of these as solo films or shows, to get the full effect of what Marvel has planned you need to watch everything they have come out with. Marvel's plan started back in 2008 with "Iron Man" which means you would have to watch everything they have released in the subsequent eight years in order to get the full idea. Marvel has also extended their reach to Netflix with shows like "Daredevil" and "Jessica Jones." DC, on the other hand, does not have quite the same depth as Marvel, but they are working toward it.
DC Comics has the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) which, sadly for the fans of Christian Bale's movies with DC, does not include the "Dark Knight" trilogy. The DCEU starts with "Man of Steel" and now includes "Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice". There are nine more films in total predicted for the DCEU at this moment, the last ones to be released in 2020. However what I believe is DC's real strength is, much to my extreme disappointment, not part of the DCEU and that is their television shows.
On The CW alone we have "Arrow," "The Flash," and DC's "Legends of Tomorrow." Then you can also add in CBS with "Supergirl" and Fox with "Gotham." These television shows started with "Arrow," which is wrapping up season four now and has grown steadily since then. Both "The Flash" and "DC's Legends of Tomorrow" were able to use "Arrow" to introduce their characters before the airing of their first episodes, allowing fans to learn about the characters ahead of time.
There was also a cross-network crossover between "The Flash" and "Supergirl" this season. However, there are some things that groups of people believe DC did wrong. Several people I know that watch these shows were as upset as I was to learn that Grant Gustin would not be playing the Flash in the DCEU movies, though we hold out hope that DC will pull an "Infinite Earths" and give Gustin his chance. They have several well-known, well-established actors they can pull from television if they ever need to. So, though Marvel probably has the stronger hold in theaters for several years to come, I think DC will have a firm grasp on superhero television shows for just as long.
