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MCU vs. DCEU: Why DC Movies Are More Important Than Marvel Movies

They're more than just movies. *Spoilers ahead*

By Diminutive ComicistPublished 7 years ago 7 min read
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Source: ilovehdwallpapers.com

Nine years and 15 movies into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC Films have sought to cash in on this idea. So far they have released four movies in an effort to move forward with their own ideas of a shared universe. To say they’ve gotten off to a rocky start would be an understatement, and comparing them to Marvel Studios only highlights this claim. Specifically, all but the most recent film in the DC Extended Universe have garnered harsh criticism from both fans and critics, while Marvel, who’ve earned criticism as well, have been accepted as the studio putting out great movies. Despite the flak, however, DC Films has already made more money with their first four films than Marvel Studios made with their first five. This is with Wonder Woman still in theaters.

Realism vs. Entertainment

Many have voiced their beliefs of a critical bias against DC Films. While there are many who would refute this claim, one thing is clear. A huge factor in the critical success of Marvel films is their focus on entertainment. What I mean is that they put more emphasis on the audience enjoying the film than on the actual quality of the film and this contributes to their critical reception. I am not saying that Marvel Studios makes bad movies. They don’t. But the fact that Marvel movies are glorious spectacles that are fun to watch makes it easy for fans and critics to overlook their technical drawbacks, such as the trend of rushed characterization, noticeable plot holes, and forgettable, low-stakes action. DC’s highly criticized habit of “humorless” storytelling results in movies that are much heavier, more involved, and more thought-provoking than their lighthearted and funny competition. This makes it much harder for them to hide their weaknesses behind a shower of positive feelings. Yet, I daresay that for this reason, DCEU movies so far have been more meaningful and memorable than the majority of MCU films.

Now, that’s not to say that the DCEU doesn’t have its many problems or that creative decisions made by Warner Bros. and DC Films aren’t to blame—they certainly do and they certainly are. This was evidenced right at the start with the decision to make Man of Steel the kickoff film for the DCEU. Man of Steel was quite a decent movie and didn’t deserve a lot of the hate it got, but the movie was way too polarizing and divisive to be an effective start of a shared universe. In comparison, Marvel’s Iron Man was a smash hit and is to this day one of the best films of the MCU. Choosing Man of Steel as the first of many DC films in a shared universe was setting the DCEU up for mixed reviews and fan reaction very early on.

A lot of the hate directed at Man of Steel came from those that disliked Superman being associated with a darker, grittier tone, as well as the scene where Superman kills General Zod (even though Superman has killed Zod on screen before, in the much more lighthearted Superman II). These things paired with a heavy, dull filter and a runtime that was longer than it needed to be made it a drag for a lot of people. However, as a film taken solely on its own without comparing it to other Superman stories, it is still quite a spectacle that balances allegory, dry humor, high-stakes conflict, and real-world applications surprisingly well. The course of the movie is the most realistic adaptation of Superman to date in terms of how the world would react to Superman if he were real and the internal struggle of a being who knows he’s a godlike alien yet feels like a human after being raised like one.

This element of realism is what binds the DCEU together, from Man of Steel through to Wonder Woman. The plot of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, overstuffed as it was, stemmed from the very real issue of how divided the world was when it came to facing the implications of Superman’s existence. Suicide Squad, amid its many, many (did I say many?) hitches, dealt with the future of national security alongside the rise of super-powered beings in the wake of Superman’s apparent death. Wonder Woman told the struggle of a woman adapting to a foreign world and coming to terms with the moral complexities of mankind long before and shortly after the events of Batman v. Superman.

A World Like Ours

Themes like these are important to have in films with as much influence as comic book films have been having recently. In today’s political and social climate, posing poignant questions that have relevant applications provides the opportunity to show the public how best to deal with certain issues. What is obvious to me is that this is something that movie makers at Warner Bros. and DC Films understand, but it is frankly something that those at Marvel Studios never quite grasped. Their movies are fun and generally better paced, but it took 13 movies for the MCU to address the fact that the actions of powerful and influential beings might have serious consequences in Captain America: Civil War. This is even more shocking when one realizes that every single MCU film sports a fair amount of collateral damage (most even have the tendency to crack jokes in the midst of death and destruction). Ideally, this should have been addressed shortly after the destruction of New York City in Marvel’s The Avengers. Yet it wasn’t until seven movies later that it became an issue in-universe. Marvel has missed many opportunities to address either big or small real-world issues, which has resulted in more and more flat characters and low-stakes plots over time. The MCU is more concerned with their stories and characters on a surface level than with the far-reaching implications the events of their stories would have in-universe.

This isn’t exactly surprising considering how many people watch movies or shows in an effort to get away from reality and all its problems. Why watch something dark and realistic when one can get all of that just by watching the news? Focusing on positive entertainment value is an intelligent moneymaking tactic because it reels in viewers with this mentality as well as those who don’t necessarily mind the grittier tones. Most people like a good, fun movie. But what happens after the movie is over? We all go back to dealing with our lives in a world a bit grittier and more complicated than a Marvel film. We go back to dealing with corrupt politics. We go back to dealing with the threat of foreign and domestic terrorism. We go back to dealing with the disconnect between peoples of different generations, races, ethnicities, religions and socioeconomic classes. These are things that we don’t see in the MCU, but do see in the DCEU.

Man of Steel and Wonder Woman both deal with powerful non-humans adapting to humanity and vice-versa. This has implications of problems like discrimination against immigrants, xenophobia and the perception of “the other.” Batman v. Superman and Suicide Squad address the threat of terrorism and how far governments are willing to go in the name of national and global security. Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman both address the effects of reckless warfare and the prevention of collateral damage. Batman v. Superman and Wonder Woman both deal with that it feels like to lose faith in people when all you see is how horrible we can be to each other, yet still finding a way to restore that faith. The world needs movies like these to present models we can emulate. We need them to show us what it looks like to grow, become better, and strive towards a better world.

Wonder Woman shows that this can be done well, and provides a template for the MCU to go this route. Although very much a DCEU movie in terms of style (darker color palettes, brutal CGI-heavy action sequences, and deep underlying messages), Wonder Woman is the most Marvel-like film of the DCEU so far, for better and worse. For better, it offers funny, lighthearted moments throughout the film and is thoroughly entertaining. For worse, it is sometimes too easygoing and hasty to be completely believable. Marvel similarities aside, Wonder Woman also presents positive underlying commentary on important topics like racism, xenophobia, and feminism while also being a good, fun movie. DC Films releasing a female-led film was a statement on its own, and something Marvel Studios has yet to do in its 15-movie run. Wonder Woman, and by extension the DCEU, shows that it is possible and profitable to make a good superhero movie that asks the hard questions and shows an ideal toward which to strive in our world. Marvel Studios doesn’t need to worry about money at this point, but following DC’s lead would undoubtedly make them more of it and result in even better movies. Marvel Studios has done very well, but they still have some catching up to do.

entertainmentmoviepop culturesuperheroes
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Diminutive Comicist

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