In the ten years since the release of Iron Man back in 2008, Marvel Studios has enjoyed enormous, unprecedented success with its Cinematic Universe, both in terms of critical acclaim and box office (it’s the highest grossing franchise in history, with over $14 billion in receipts).
DC on the other hand hasn’t had the easiest of rides at Warner Bros., with the studio’s attempts to launch its own Extended Universe fairing well enough at the box office, but coming in for a heavy amount of criticism (Wonder Woman aside), and the behind-the-scenes drama often overshadowing and detracting from the movies themselves.
Speaking to Yahoo! Movies, comic book writer Mark Millar has been speaking about the two superhero titans, during which he shared his thoughts as to why Marvel has fared better on the big screen:
“I think it’s really simple, the characters aren’t cinematic, and I say this as a massive DC fan who much prefers their characters to Marvel’s,” said Millar. “Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are some of my favourites, but I think these characters, with the exception of Batman, they aren’t based around their secret identity; they are based around their super power. Whereas the Marvel characters tend to be based around the personality of Matt Murdock or Peter Parker, or the individual X-Men, it’s all about the character. DC, outside of Batman, is not about the character. With Batman, you can understand him and you can worry about him but someone like Green Lantern, he has this ring that allows him to create 3D physical manifestations and green plasma with the thoughts in his head but he’s allergic to the color yellow! How do you make a movie with that? In 1952, that made perfect sense, but now the audience have no idea what that’s all about.”
“People will slam me for this, but I think the evidence is there,” he continued. “We’ve seen great directors, great writers and great actors, tonnes of money thrown at them, but these films aren’t working. I think they are all too far away from when they were created. Something feels a little old about them, kids look at these characters and they don’t feel that cool. Even Superman, I love Superman, but he belongs to an America that doesn’t exist anymore. He represents 20th Century America, and I think he peaked then.”
What do you make of Millar’s comments? Do you agree with his criticisms of DC’s roster, and has that contributed to the DCEU’s difficult start? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…
Originally published February 25, 2018. Updated February 26, 2018.
