Over the past few years, we have seen an explosion of comic book universes coming to the big and small screens. It has been a treat for fans and newcomers alike given how few opportunities where created in the previous century, a few superman movies, some old batman and wonder woman series etc. Now, the two main comic contenders in the public eye stand face to face, readying an avalanche on content to build upon what has already been done in the first 14 years of the 21st century. Welcome to VGBM as we take a look back at how far we've come and open the debate on Marvel's and DC's cinematic universes.
Our focus will naturally be on the live action versions since they are what most can identify with. Apart from the rather popular original Superman movies with Christopher Reeves and the first two Batman movies with Michael Keaton, in the beginning DC based movies lacked continuity. The British made Supergirl film from 1984 was loosely related to the Superman films, especially with the appearance of Jimmy Olsen. But it was the only that hinted to a shared universe at that time. My main remark is that with all that was happening at the time, it made little sense that Kal-El remained completely uninvolved.
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| Supergirl |
There is no way to approach this subject without mentioning Smallville. This is the show that "showed" DC the potential within their own stories to truly branch out into a new medium with a continuous storyline inspired to varied degrees by the books. At 218 total episodes it has the feat of being THE longest running comic book based television series in existence as far as today. Unless I am mistaken. Smallville also tried to dabble with the idea of the Justice League and the Justice Society during the course of the story. During the ten seasons of the show, Oliver Queen, aka Green Arrow, became one of the most important and constant ally of Clark. His popularity with the audience made him even more an evident candidate for his own spin-off. Personally, him and their version of the Flash, were my favorite secondary characters.
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| Smallville |
Just like the Batman movie reboot brought more viewers and fans by being more grounded in reality, so it seemed the decision was taken to bring on a new similar take on Oliver Queen. All this to point out that on the small screen DC related shows seem to rule. I like the fact that they are linking them like they are with Flash, future Atom, Arrow.
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| Flash and Arrow |
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| Atom |
On the other hand, Marvel understood early enough the importance of a single coherent universe within which their characters evolve. I'm rather sure they have kicked themselves several times for having given away the X-Men and Spider-man franchises. Mutants have been part of the Avengers for quite some time. Our very popular Wolverine being a pretty big part of many Avenger stories. The big screen has the possibility of engaging a larger audience worldwide, which is why their Cinematic Universe took so well. Making Agents of Shield a continuity of one of their main movies was a master stroke. It doesn't ensure absolutely that people will watch the show, it means though that those who are paying attention will try to catch up with what's going on. The fall mid-season finale of Agents of shield (AoS)? Awesome! You may not have watched it, but when a certain movie comes out you'll hear your friends saying "Holy crap! They actually hinted this in that show", and it's at that point you'll go back and binge watch what you missed out on.
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| Agents of SHIELD |
Anyone who reads the comics can also see how Spidey returning to the fold is a big move. We had the Guardians of the Galaxy movie and……
…………………………………………...... Spoiler Alert................................………………….
a very prominent figure in classic Spidey life has become a Guardian him/herself, as of issue 14 of volume 3! Do you see where this is going? Instead of banking hard with big long series, I think they will keep creating shows in support(underlined) to their movies, much like Agent Carter fleshes out what happens after the end of First Avenger or how AoS fits in between MCU movies, all the while including cameos or appearances from big contenders like Nick Fury himself! DC is attempting to catch up with consolidating its universe with the Man of Steel Superman rebooted, followed soon with Dawn of Justice. Will they succeed? Yes and no. There are fans for each kind of story, and fans of both universes. Competition means better offerings for us, the audience. Each company will try to win us over and in the end we are the true winners!
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| Release timetable for the next super heroes movies (Marvel and DC) |
Dates shown are prone to change, since Marvel has now secured the presence of Spider-Man in their MCU. Hit up the comments and let us know what you think about this clash of Titans.
