On November 17th, 2017 D.C. Comics will release its signature ensemble hero movie, The Justice League.
Following the events of Batman v Superman, the trailer depicts Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg, and The Flash going through the typical super hero machinations we’ve come to expect from Hollywood produced comic book movies.
While that recipe has proven to be quite successful for Marvel Comics, there is reason to believe D.C. Comics is in for a rude awakening when it comes to the Justice League and other subsequent movies they have in their proverbial superhero pipeline.
Ironically, until 2008 D.C. had the most success on the big screen with their comic book characters. The Christopher Reeve led Superman movies were immensely popular and the Michael Keaton and Christian Bale Batman movies were well directed and critically acclaimed.
One could very reasonably argue that both Superman and Batman are probably the most popular heroes in the world from a recognition standpoint.
So how on earth is Iron Man and to a lesser extent, Ant Man more valuable on the big screen than Superman or Batman?
When Marvel released Iron Man in 2008 they figured out how to do what had never been done before.
They took an Ant Man sized approach to solve a Super Man sized problem.
By taking the time to individually craft each character’s narrative, Marvel introduced an appreciation for the heroes quirks and idiosyncrasies. So when the Avengers (Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Captain America, etc) were finally brought together you were just as emotionally invested in seeing how they would interact with each other as you were with them saving the world from destruction.
The Justice League, on the other hand, is using the in media res line of storytelling, which throws many of the heroes into the middle of the action without a proper origin story of their own.
On the surface this kind of approach can work great for a typical summer blockbuster movie. But it begs the question of sustainability when trying to release a string of interconnected movies over the course a decade.
You can understand D.C. not wanting to copy Marvel’s strategy verbatim, but as Marvel closes in on their penultimate chapter, with the first of the two part Infinity War Saga premiering next summer, D.C. has to be concerned if it will be able to bring their vast universe of characters to the same pinnacle as its chief rival.
But with a catalog that boasts the most iconic heroes of all time it wouldn’t be hard to imagine D.C. finding its footing on the big screen with its upcoming movies.
However, if the Justice League fails on a Kryptonian scale, Marvel will not only continue to dominate Hollywood but also boast the most popular man of steel on the big screen.
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