The DC & Marvel Fandom Disparity

Studio issues, and meddling aside, how has Marvel, seemingly gotten it right? A lot of this is subjective. However, as noted earlier, DC has such a long and rich history, specifically in the visual medium, that fans draw from. Marvel’s is not as robust. Sure you had Spidey Super Stories airing on PBS in the mid 1970’s, followed quickly by The Amazing Spider-Man on CBS, and what might be the most well-known, historically, The Incredible Hulk that also ran on CBS from 1977 through 1982. Beyond that, there isn’t all that much. We all remember the X-Men cartoon that ran on Fox from 1992 through 1997. I remember racing home from school to get my daily dose. One could argue this show is what gave us 2000’s X-Men. There is a history of Marvel animated programing that dates back to the 1960’s, but it never reached the popularity, or more importantly, the pop-culture zeitgeist of DC’s entries to the medium at the time. 

This history, or perceived lack thereof, has given Marvel Studios a competitive advantage. They took what should have been a weakness and turned it into a strength – with minimal frame of reference (unlike years of Superman or Batman stories told in a variety of formats) fans had a much lower expectation regarding how the characters should be represented. Marvel fans have waited so long to see their favorite characters on screen. This is with the exception of a few guest appearances on Hulk in the 70’s, we haven’t seen Hulk and Iron Man on screen together, or Hulk and Thor, or Hulk and Captain America. The Made-for-TV movies that came out in this time frame were all stand-alones that told a single heroes story, if even nodding to other characters. However, that existed so long ago that many of today’s moviegoers/fans didn’t see it or weren’t even alive at that time. But there was no Marvel Cinematic Universe. In steps Kevin Feige.

With the game-changing success of 2008’s Iron Man, Feige was able to put in to motion his plan to see “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” on screen together, and he, and Marvel Studios haven’t slowed down since. Despite some bumps in the road, specifically the aforementioned creative committee, they have been able to do what they want, and tell the story how they want to tell them. Interestingly, what has led us to where we are now with Marvel Studios, is the fact that when they began, and still in large part to this day, they have done this without their “most popular characters”, specifically the X-Men and Fantastic Four, who belong to Fox, and Spider-Man, who at the time belonged solely to Sony. Marvel and Sony have since struck a deal, obviously, to bring the web-slinger into the MCU fold, but when Marvel Studios stood up, they only had the rights to what were, at the time, considered second and third tier characters. This was the result of Marvel staving off bankruptcy in the 1990’s by selling off the film rights to their characters to any studio that would buy them. 

That is why 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger was a joint Paramount/Marvel Studios production. Same goes for 2011’s Thor. When Disney bought Marvel in 2009, Disney and Marvel Studios went to work to “buy back” intellectual properties that had been sold off a decade and a half prior. But this perceived handicap (not having their “most popular” characters) is why we have what we have today. It’s why we got Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014. It is why we are less than three months away from Doctor Strange. It is why we are getting Black Panther and Captain Marvel in the not so distant future.

The unified entity that is Marvel Studios has allowed this to happen, and created a cohesive narrative that has encapsulated audiences. Think I’m wrong? Ant-Man still made half a billion dollars at the global box office without breaking a sweat. There is so much good-will, and trust that Marvel Studios has cultivated over the years that liberties are given to them that are not given to DC. Sure there were some grumblings about Tony Stark creating Ultron, and not Hank Pym. Some will raise the point that there aren’t any “real” stakes in Marvel Studios films, and a legitimate argument could be made for that statement. There are even misgivings about the lack of strength and development of Marvel’s villains – although I think there is a reason, narratively, for this and he is big, purple, and doesn’t like to stand up (if you attended SDCC and the Hall H panel you’ll get that, if not, hopefully they release the short film on what Thor was doing during Captain America: Civil War). Speaking of, there were massive changes made to the narrative of Civil War; but the fans still came out to the tune of $1.15 billion world-wide, and by and large it was beloved by fans and critics alike. 

Marvel fans are just so happy to see the characters they love on screen, that they accept the creative changes. They accept that Captain America won’t wear “pirate boots” and a fish-scale like upper uniform and protruding wings on the helmet (though an homage to this uniform was paid when Captain America was on his USO tour in The First Avenger). I can detail many more changes to the comic origins, but the point is, Marvel Studios has developed the credibility and the trust to tell the stories the way they want to tell them. In interviews, Kevin Feige will straight up tell you that they change things sometimes, but they do it to fit the story, and that it will all make sense. The fans, while some purists will still grumble, accept that and can’t wait to see what’s in store.