A man by the name of Art Spiegelman once said, “Comics are a gateway drug to literacy.” Anyone who has ever picked up a comic remembers the curiosity of turning the first page, the addictive feeling of being pulled into that particular world, and especially the anticipation of finding the next comic of the series. Those positive feelings have spurred the comic book industry from paper to movies; however, the two most commonly known are Marvel and DC, but one has a certain pizzazz. These two businesses are heavily debated all over the world and they will always be in competition with one another; be that as it may, Marvel has an outstanding superiority to DC.
One must realize that Marvel has as many clichés as DC in their books. Take a look at "Batman" and "Ironman"; they are basically the same person on the outside looking in except everyone knows that Tony Stark is a superhero. Both of them are rich with deceased parents, and they both have an on hand best friend, i.e. Jarvis and Alfred. Batman, however, is perpetually angered at the world, and he is acting like a teenager with all the angst and sadness. Per contra, exploring the vastness of his intelligence, Tony Stark runs a successful company and has no shame in asking for help from those around him. Marvel took Batman and made him an interesting person that is not only fun to be around but devastatingly intelligent.
With that being said, one starts to assume Marvel just steals ideas and reuse the same material, but that is not the case at all. Marvel superheroes have varying backgrounds; they have many people of color, strong women, and so much more. In contrast, the majority of DC superheroes are white men with daddy issues and white women that are over sexualized. Incorporating these various backgrounds into the writing during the time period must have been difficult; Marvel started up in 1939, and women and minorities weren’t commonly regarded as strong or intelligent. As time has progressed, people have started noticing how women are intelligent and minorities are capable; Marvel comics have been very progressive in terms of civil liberties. Comics DC put out still have yet to include a minority, and that anti-progressivism will be what burns out the company.
Anti-progressivism is not the only thing DC needs to worry about; they need to address the fact that times are changing, and movie production is a thing that the fan bases want and need in this day and age. Most of the movies they have put out thus far have been box office flops; it is not funny anymore. The only watchable movies they have produced in the past 40 years are ones about Batman, but one can only watch so many Batman movies before they become predictable. With Marvel throwing out box office booms left and right, DC does not stand a chance at catching up.
While, yes, the franchises do have their similarities, Marvel has so much more character than DC; the Marvel Universe gives their characters real world problems that make their superhuman powers understandable. One must comprehend that, while these powers may not come unto them in real life, the characters' powers determine who they are as a hero. DC's characters lack the relatable feeling Marvel's characters dish out in handfuls, and that's why Marvel is a superior franchise.
