The Dumbest Marvel vs. DC Breakdown You Will Ever Read

Marvel or DC?

It’s a common icebreaker question amongst nerds. Unfortunately, I’m very talented at overthinking even the most basic icebreaker questions.

Honestly, I’m not a great person to ask, at least if you want a profound answer. I am that stereotypical fan who has only seen the movies, possesses very little comic lore knowledge and will give a movie five stars if I even remotely had a good time. (Film bros hate to see me coming.)

So I decided to write the dumbest Marvel vs. DC analysis you will ever read. I’ll unpack the strengths and weakness that I see in each franchise, and, if you read until the end, you’ll even find out which one I prefer. (You will be completely unsurprised if you know me.)

But first! A disclaimer. I have watched way more Marvel than I have DC. Mainly because Marvel has more projects in its repertoire. DC also tends to have more mature projects, and no matter how brave I tell myself I am, I am unfortunately rather squeamish. However, I do watch critiques and commentaries on both, so I know my way around both franchises fairly well. (In my humble opinion.)

Marvel is more light-hearted and DC is more dark and gritty.

Each franchise has projects that do both. DC’s most recent Superman film leaned more towards the light-hearted side, and Marvel’s The Punisher leans more towards the dark and gritty side.

But typically, Marvel cracks jokes a mile a minute, while DC serves up gritty landscapes and conflicted heroes.

In my personal opinion, we can easily downplay those more light-hearted stories. I might easily assume that a darker story might hit harder and matter more. But something I’ve been realizing over the past year (and that I will probably write a blog post about soon) is that light-hearted and comforting stories can have just as big an impact as a deeper, darker one.

Both stories have positive impact. It all depends on which approach you need right now.

Marvel’s heroes feel more down to earth, while DC’s heroes feel very deep and broody.

DC is emo like that.

Marvel heroes, despite their larger-than-life powers, remain very grounded. They seem like people we could run across in our everyday lives. They’re very relatable. To quote the Spider-Verse movies, “Anyone can wear the mask.”

DC, on the other hand, presents conflicted characters. Their moral questions and dilemmas are relatable, but the characters feel a little further away from my reality. Characters like Batman and Superman may not feel as grounded or every-day, but they ask challenging questions that we might not consider otherwise.

Marvel can feel a little more flimsy, while DC can feel pretentious.

Marvel puts out a LOT of content. For a while, they were putting out so many projects that those projects never had enough time to become something truly great. And since they use a more light-hearted tone, the projects can feel like scattered action scenes with jokes peppered in between. A popcorn film, if you will.

On the other hand, DC films can feel pretentious. One might even say, for the film bros. Honest confession and hot take? I didn’t enjoy the Christopher Nolan Batman movies all that much. And I hate that I didn’t, because they are brilliant movies. But the darker elements mired me down, and when I watch a movie after a long day at work, I’m not going to slog through a movie I didn’t enjoy just because it got award nominations.

Marvel is more accessible, while DC is more mature.

Again, Marvel has R-rated projects, and DC has more accessible projects. I watched Daredevil and The Lego Batman Movie within the past week. It can be done.

However, as a general rule, Marvel’s R-rated projects are a much smaller percentage of their filmography than DC. Because of my sensitivities, I have to research DC projects before I know whether I can watch them. On the other hand, when Marvel drops a movie, I can say with about 90% certainty that I can go to theaters without fear.

And this isn’t just about ratings. Because of all the other elements I’ve mentioned above, even when DC puts out a more family-friendly project, it feels more mature. I mean, except for The Lego Batman Movie. 

And finally, Marvel encourages, while DC challenges. But they both inspire.  

When I finished Spider-Man: Brand New Day, I left feeling seen and understood. I felt comforted and encouraged to go back to my everyday grown-up life.

When I finished the newest Superman movie, I left challenged to become a better, kinder person.

Ultimately, while I may prefer one approach over another, neither of these approaches are wrong. They are two ways to present the same ideas, reaching two different groups of people. And sometimes those two groups overlap.

And the most important point . . .

Marvel has Spider-Man. DC doesn’t.

Yeah. If you haven’t guessed, I am a Marvel girlie all the way.

That being said, I have enjoyed several DC projects, especially lately, and I’m very interested to see where the James Gunn DC Universe goes.

Which do you prefer—Marvel or DC? Why? What was the last superhero movie you watched? Did you enjoy me? Give me all the details in the comments below!

​Hi, I’m Rachel! I write young adult fantasy. I write the novels I needed growing up—the novels I still need. Novels for the weird little girls and the women they’re becoming.

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