Since the fateful day in 2008 when Iron Man hit theaters, Marvel has enjoyed an almost uncontested reign as the king of comic book movies. In an age when superheroes were everywhere at the movie theater, Marvel was the studio that best understood how to bring them to life and make even people who had never read a comic book in their lives care about them.
All of that reached what felt like a pretty natural climax with 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, which became one of the biggest movies in the history of forever and capped off more than a decade of sprawling storytelling. Even as Endgame retired several of the franchise’s core heroes, Marvel seemed determined to keep things going.
The results over the last six years have been less than pretty. Despite experiencing some successes, Marvel has faced significantly more failures compared to earlier periods, creating an opportunity for other franchises to flourish.
DC was caught flat-footed when Marvel first came out of the gate. They had Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies, but other than that, Warner Bros. simply didn’t have a good way to compete. Their first attempt was the DC Extended Universe, which launched with 2013’s Man of Steel and was a brief commercial success but was never as critically beloved as its Marvel alternative. Even more crucially, these movies never felt like they were genuine phenomena in quite the same way Marvel was.
So, while Marvel continues the cinematic universe it started in 2008, DC is launching a new one this year. James Gunn’s Superman is the first entry in that new universe, and it’s also the first time I wondered whether Marvel might really be in trouble. While the numbers were close, Superman outgrossed Marvel’s Fantastic Four: First Steps during its first weekend, and for the first time in more than a decade, DC might have the edge when it comes to word of mouth. Here’s why DC could represent the future of comic book storytelling:
DC is ready to embrace the silliness of its project
Part of the Marvel movies’ tremendous success has come from the way they manage to delicately balance two conflicting impulses in superhero storytelling. The first was toward telling stories that were real, grounded, and tactile. The second was to embrace the silliness inherent in superhero stories and use that to make the movies fun and colorful.
Marvel essentially struck a balance, creating a universe populated by witty characters who donned the right costumes while also being aware of the humor in their situations. That wry, knowing attitude helped the movies do all the comic book stuff even as they also assured audiences that they knew it was a little bit nerdy. It’s a tone that delivered tremendous results, but one that also began to wear thin after more than a decade.
By contrast, Superman leaned all the way into the silly side. It’s a movie filled with color where most scenes are set during the day, and one where every character feels both like a real person and like they were pulled from a comic. There’s much less winking at the audience and much more earnest exploration of why people are drawn toward comic books to begin with. It’s a signal that DC is not just going to try to do the Marvel thing. They’re building a universe their own way, and that should be fascinating to watch.
They are building out from the middle
Marvel was doing something that had never been done before, and as a result, they started small. A few heroes, then a few more, until the universe felt massive and you were amazed that all of these characters could fit in a single movie together.
By contrast, DC seems to know that we’re all a little tired of origin stories. Instead, Superman drops us right in the middle of the action and trusts us to understand that superheroes have been around for a while. Crucially, while he’s the most powerful superhero, Superman is not fighting bad guys on his own. Instead, he’s dealing with the complexity of working with other people from the beginning in a universe where no one has any questions about what superheroes are.
This approach feels much more like jumping right into a comic book where your favorite heroes are all right there. Some of them might not be present, but on the whole, the impression is one of a universe that is stuffed with both life and activity.
In addition to avoiding the traps of origin stories, this approach also meets superhero fans where they are. We no longer need our hands to be held. We can simply dive in with only a little bit of intro text to orient us to what’s going on.
They are casting well, but aren’t casting stars
This might seem like a small thing, but it speaks to the project of the DCU that Superman is filled with great actors who are not major movie stars. If they keep making these movies, they will eventually become stars. That’s part of the problem that Marvel is dealing with now.
When you’re trying to build a universe in which heroes can appear in multiple properties, you have to have great actors who can work in multiple tones and genres. You need actors who aren’t going to try to take all your money for every appearance they put in.
DC is trying to build a world that doesn’t leave you wondering why Superman isn’t on screen any time the world is ending, and part of that is making sure that Superman does show up, at least sometimes.
DC wants you to believe in these movies
Perhaps most importantly, DC seems like a sincere attempt to remind people why they like these movies to begin with. As the lore of Marvel gets more and more convoluted, DC could be building a new way forward, one that could make it a sincere, sweet, candy-colored alternative to the multiverse that Marvel has introduced.
