Sorry Nerds (And Snyder-Heads), but the MCU Is Crushing The DCU
If DC wants to truly differentiate themselves, they need to stop being a follower and start acting like a leader
I recently watched The Flash, which I really enjoyed. The only thing I wasn’t crazy about was Michael Keaton’s Batman showing up (and later George Clooney’s). Didn’t Marvel do the exact same thing in Spiderman: No Way Home, with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield?
I also recently watched Blue Beetle, which I also generally liked. The only thing I didn’t care for was the suit, which looked really familiar. Minus the color, it’s nearly identical to the one worn by Yellowjacket (the villain from the first Ant Man movie). It’s also quite similar to the “Iron Spider suit” made by Tony Stark, complete with talking female AI.
In other words, the DCU is “borrowing” from the MCU left and right. Plot devices. Storylines. Costumes. What’s next, a spin-off featuring a sentient bush and a talking badger?
I know some of you are probably saying this is all James Gunn’s fault, but you couldn’t be more wrong
Batman Vs. Superman and the first Suicide Squad were pretty much universally panned.
Black Adam had a lot of potential but never really came together.
And my apologies to Henry Cavill and Jason Momoa — both of whom rule — but Man of Steel and Aquaman weren’t much better.
Even the much lauded Snyder cut of Justice League was just…okay. Mainly it was overlong, overly complicated and a bit of a snoozer.
While they’re not all clunkers — Birds of Prey, Shazam 1 and Suicide Squad 2 were all pretty good — the only truly great DC movies over the past decade+ were the Nolan Batmans, the first Wonder Woman, and Joker.
So, on average, that’s like 25% good vs. 75% not-so-good. That’s an F no matter how you slice it.
Now let’s look at Marvel over the same period
It’s basically the opposite scenario. While DC only had like 4–5 good films over the past 10+ years, Marvel only had 4-5 bad ones.
Here are those films:
Morbius
No comment necessary.
Thor: Dark World and Thor: Love and Thunder
I personally didn’t hate Dark World but I don’t know anyone who liked it. And Love & Thunder was such a disappointment it basically eradicated all the goodwill Taika Waititi gained after Ragnarok.
Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
A lot of choices were made in this movie, none of them good.
Eternals
Confusing, unnecessary, practically zero relevance to the rest of the MCU.
You could also maybe include Black Widow, although I still think it eeks out a “good” rating.
As to the rest, all the Avengers movies are good-to-great, as are all the Captain Americas, Guardians and Spider Mans (live action and animated). Iron Man 1 and Thor: Ragnarok are awesome, and Iron Man 2 and 3, along with Ant Man 1 and 2, are all solidly entertaining.
So again, it’s basically the opposite of DC: 75% good-to-great vs. 25% not-so-great. That’s still only a C. But a C is a heck of a lot better than an F.
DC needs to get their act together
To do that, they need to drop the multi-verse, drop the AI suits, and come up with their own ideas.
In short, they need to stop being a follower, and start acting like a leader.
Is James Gunn the right man for the job? Who knows. But looking at the last few things he’s done — Guardians 3, Suicide Squad 2, and Peacemaker — he’s definitely not the worst person they could have picked. Everything he makes is original, funny and emotional, and, Quentin Tarantino aside, no one else knows how to make better use of a soundtrack.
I for one have high hopes, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. The good news is that there’s pretty much only one direction they can go from here.
Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments!
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