Current Events > Why are the Marvel superheroes more popular than the DC ones?

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It seems like Batman is the only one that is widely loved. Superman used to be popular but is not anymore (so it seems to me).

Im not just talking about being widely known, Im talking about being LOVED by people, where you know lots of people love this superhero and the character gets its own movies, shows and video games. Marvel has way more.

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The Marvel movies and new 52 didnt help dc any. Superman I think started to slip because people view him as too powerful and too boring

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DC heroes are too perfect. Marvel heroes are more flawed and interesting as characters

Movies.

All due to movies.

Very few people read superhero ccomics. In fact i betcha 90% of Marvel fans right now don't even read the comics. They're only with Marvel due to the MCU.

DC failed in their movies way too much. They only succeeded in the Dark Kinght, which was what brought Batman back to relevance, alongside the Arkham games. Superman is only still well-known (albeit not actually well-loved) due to his long history and heritage as the first superhero created

Because DC has the main characters are Gods problem. Thus if you look at it from an outsider, most of the Justice League have very similar power sets. The best part about DC is not the powers it's the very human side of each of the characters, but you have to actually get INTO DC to experience it. Furthermore, Marvel's ability sets tend to be more interesting for a lot of their characters because they're often themed. Superman's powers are literally just a hodge podge of powers, like some child made an original character.

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MCU has better movies.

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Zikten posted...

DC heroes are too perfect. Marvel heroes are more flawed and interesting as characters

Batman is very flawed. Man is about as mentally derranged as his rogues gallery. Hell riddler is a more normal person by comparison. He's just a eccentic criminal with a major ego regarding his intelligence where as batman has some severe hangups

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DC didn't allow anyone to smile until Shazam.

Because Batman is all you need and he takes up most of the attention. Especially since he'll make way more powerful heroes and villains look stupid.

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Because SJW pandering.

Punitive posted...

Because SJW pandering.

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mooreandrew58 posted...

Batman is very flawed. Man is about as mentally derranged as his rogues gallery. Hell riddler is a more normal person by comparison. He's just a eccentic criminal with a major ego regarding his intelligence where as batman has some severe hangups

lol very flawed? He's a detective, apparently world's biggest genius, world's biggest strategist, world's best martial artists and knows every move ever, world's richest.

Batman is practically the same as Superman, only overpowered in terms of all human potential.
Wealth, strength, intelligence. He has all 3 attributes.

the only flaw to Batman is his stupid parents death backstory which is rather dumb in today's context given almost all the DC and Marvel superheroes have dead parents too.

Don't know why Batman is the only one so stupidly haunted by his parent's death. Like you don't see Spider-man whimpering about his uncle and in fact he already gets over it past the first chapter. Iron Man parents dead, he just moves on. Wonder Woman parents dead, she just moves on. Like come on, it's f***ing stupid.

Mackorov posted...

lol very flawed? He's a detective, apparently world's biggest genius, world's biggest strategist, world's best martial artists and knows every move ever, world's richest.

Batman is practically the same as Superman, only overpowered in terms of all human potential.
Wealth, strength, intelligence. He has all 3 attributes.

He also has a penchant for dragging ten year olds into gun fights. Wont kill but traumatic injury is fine. Wont trust his best friends and even formulates plans to beat them on the regular. So bad in injustice he installed a virus in cyborg mere days after meeting him, that screams extreme paranoia. Has a tendency of falling in love with criminals one an assassin despite his major disdain for murder. And will go out of his way to save the life of a man with a kill count in the 1000s. No not refuse to kill him but actually save him.

Batman is fucked up in the head and im sure i missed some points

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AdviceMan posted...

Because DC has the main characters are Gods problem. Thus if you look at it from an outsider, most of the Justice League have very similar power sets. The best part about DC is not the powers it's the very human side of each of the characters, but you have to actually get INTO DC to experience it. Furthermore, Marvel's ability sets tend to be more interesting for a lot of their characters because they're often themed. Superman's powers are literally just a hodge podge of powers, like some child made an original character.

That's also a piece of the problem but you could argue Marvle characters are pretty OP too. What Marvel does better is injecting common sense into their characters, something DC lacked because superheroes was a very foreign concept back then.

Eg. Iron Man is just rich Batman with more common sense so as to use tech instead of punching people.

Zikten posted...

DC heroes are too perfect. Marvel heroes are more flawed and interesting as characters

This right here. Of the DC characters, Batman does well because he is incredibly flawed. I typically do not like DC in general, but Batman is one character I have no problems diving into learning more about. Characters like Superman are 'perfect' and are not very interesting as a result. So Superman can blow up the universe if he wanted? How does that make him fighting anyone an interesting story?

I actually kind of enjoyed the Justice League movie up until the point that Superman 'helped.' The 'team' was not perfect up until that point and actually had struggles they faced.

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mooreandrew58 posted...

He also has a penchant for dragging ten year olds into gun fights. Wont kill but traumatic injury is fine. Wont trust his best friends and even formulates plans to beat them on the regular. So bad in injustice he installed a virus in cyborg mere days after meeting him, that screams extreme paranoia. Has a tendency of falling in love with criminals one an assassin despite his major disdain for murder. And will go out of his way to save the life of a man with a kill count in the 1000s. No not refuse to kill him but actually save him.

Batman is fucked up in the head and im sure i missed some points

I find Batman actually the worst superhero creation ever. It's the perfect example of what happens when you take a very cheesy 1939 fictional character meant for little children's entertainment and then try transforming him into a darker adult-appeal character to fit a modern context.

Characteristics like...

• Not killing villians when legal systems allow capital punishment in many countries anyway
• Dumb inside-out underwear and a stupid cape that serves only as a tactical disadv.
• Punching and kicking people when he has gadgets that can do the job better
• Still a manchild affected by his parents' death while weeping in a large ass mansion with tons of money and women

Comic writers over the years tried changing Batman but had to still retain his core character. The problem with this however, is that it's his very core character (made in outdated 1939) that NEEDS to be changed the most.

At the same time, DC cannot just create a new superhero to replace Batman because of marketing purposes. The popularity of Batman was already established so it's better to just keep capitalising on that.

At a surface level, Marvel is a little more family friendly, while DC is darker all around. DC is probably at its most memorable when it goes into its more disturbing elements, characters at their most vulnerable, and the more deconstructive aspects. That's not to say Marvel can't do any of that, just when they do... it tends to feel more gimmicky than not.

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Mackorov posted...

That's also a piece of the problem but you could argue Marvle characters are pretty OP too. What Marvel does better is injecting common sense into their characters, something DC lacked because superheroes was a very foreign concept back then.

Eg. Iron Man is just rich Batman with more common sense so as to use tech instead of punching people.

Iron Man has personality disorders, addictions, etc. Yes, he is essentially Batman, but he has his own problems he faces.

Characters like the Hulk are essentially all powerful too - but they have struggles as well. It has nothing to do with how 'powerful' a character is, it's how 'flawed' they are as individuals. Almost every Marvel hero has severe flaws in their character that the reader/viewer can either relate to or understand.

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Mackorov posted...

I find Batman actually the worst superhero creation ever. It's the perfect example of what happens when you take a very cheesy 1939 fictional character meant for little children's entertainment and then try transforming him into a darker adult-appeal character to fit a modern context.

Characteristics like...

* Not killing villians when legal systems allow capital punishment in many countries anyway
* Dumb inside-out underwear and a stupid cape that serves only as a tactical disadv.
* Punching and kicking people when he has gadgets that can do the job better
* Still a manchild affected by his parents' death while weeping in a large ass mansion with tons of money and women

Comic writers over the years tried changing Batman but had to still retain his core character. The problem with this however, is that it's his very core character (made in outdated 1939) that NEEDS to be changed the most.

At the same time, DC cannot just create a new superhero to replace Batman because of marketing purposes. The popularity of Batman was already established so it's better to just keep capitalising on that.

same applies to pretty much every popular superhero today honestly. Marvel characters make more sense because Kirby and Stan Lee only made their characters much later on and were able to build upon and fix the dumbness DC characters suffered from.

In what world is any Marvel character more popular than Superman? People who don't even read comics or watch movies know who Superman is.

His status as a pop culture icon outweighs the entire Marvel universe.

I don't think they are. Superman and Batman are probably the most mass produced highest selling superheroes ever. People like to root for the underdog.

FridgeBeard posted...

At a surface level, Marvel is a little more family friendly, while DC is darker all around. DC is probably at its most memorable when it goes into its more disturbing elements, characters at their most vulnerable, and the more deconstructive aspects. That's not to say Marvel can't do any of that, just when they do... it tends to feel more gimmicky than not.

Marvel and DC are both family-friendly. That's the very genesis of these two comic pioneers.

They created characters meant to appeal to children. Not adults. Thus, the illogic like sparing villians alive, non-intervention by military and politics, buildings self-regenerating and whatnot, America-centricness, wearing bright stupid flashy outfits etc...

Now what happens when you take these early 1900s superheroes meant for children and adapt them to a modern-context? A lot, a lot of stupid senseless stuff that's what. Nowadays we dismiss it as a 'nah, it's a superhero thing'. More like, 'nah, it's outdated 1900 trash being forced into today's context'

Mackorov posted...

I find Batman actually the worst superhero creation ever. It's the perfect example of what happens when you take a very cheesy 1939 fictional character meant for little children's entertainment and then try transforming him into a darker adult-appeal character to fit a modern context.

Characteristics like...

* Not killing villians when legal systems allow capital punishment in many countries anyway
* Dumb inside-out underwear and a stupid cape that serves only as a tactical disadv.
* Punching and kicking people when he has gadgets that can do the job better
* Still a manchild affected by his parents' death while weeping in a large ass mansion with tons of money and women

Comic writers over the years tried changing Batman but had to still retain his core character. The problem with this however, is that it's his very core character (made in outdated 1939) that NEEDS to be changed the most.

At the same time, DC cannot just create a new superhero to replace Batman because of marketing purposes. The popularity of Batman was already established so it's better to just keep capitalising on that.

The cape does have some uses. Short gliding flame proof iirc can deflect some things like throwing knives I think.

The punching and kicking I feel was explained best by captain atom when fighting supes in injustice. He brings up they both have powers yet they elect to pummel each other with fists. Why? Cause it feels good.

The man child thing you bring up his his weakness. He has I assume ptsd regarding his parents death and if someone is in the know they can use it against him. Alfred did in the bet i mentioned and the effect was while batman was momentarily triggered a group of street thugs where able to beat the living shit out of him.

The underwear thing i agree on. Glad they got rid of it. Dont like it in general but with superman I can at least rationalize krytonians just had a different sense of fashion

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mooreandrew58 posted...

The cape does have some uses. Short gliding flame proof iirc can deflect some things like throwing knives I think.

The punching and kicking I feel was explained best by captain atom when fighting supes in injustice. He brings up they both have powers yet they elect to pummel each other with fists. Why? Cause it feels good.

The man child thing you bring up his his weakness. He has I assume ptsd regarding his parents death and if someone is in the know they can use it against him. Alfred did in the bet i mentioned and the effect was while batman was momentarily triggered a group of street thugs where able to beat the living shit out of him.

The underwear thing i agree on. Glad they got rid of it. Dont like it in general but with superman I can at least rationalize krytonians just had a different sense of fashion

No, the beginning Batman concept had none of these. Batman was just a stupid vigilanete jumping across rooftopss and plowing criminals in the face. The only reason he's called Batman is cos of his stupid bat outfit.

Here's an excerpt of how the creation of Batman came about:
Collaborator Bill Finger recalled that "Kane had an idea for a character called 'Batman,' and he'd like me to see the drawings. I went over to Kane's, and he had drawn a character who looked very much like Superman with kind of ... reddish tights, I believe, with boots ... no gloves, no gauntlets ... with a small domino mask, swinging on a rope. He had two stiff wings that were sticking out, looking like bat wings. And under it was a big sign ... BATMAN".
....
Finger suggested giving the character a cowl instead of a simple domino mask, a cape instead of wings, and gloves; he also recommended removing the red sections from the original costume

Bob Kane is still credited as creator of Batman even though the Batman he came up with was actually the most uninspiring unoriginal piece of fictional s**** ever created. Literally a ripoff from Superman.

It's like taking a scribbly child's drawing then trying to make it look cool and stuff over the decades. Sure you can do that. But the core essence of that child's drawing remains: dumb and stupid.

Most DC heroes are super lame, like Booster Gold

The Dark Knight has grossed more than all the spiderman movies. I agree Batman and Superman are somewhat overdone at this point where it's changed. Spiderman is still your friendly neighborhood spiderman but even that is getting out of hand with all the knockoffs. They milked Batman to death. So now it's spiderman. There hasn't been a ton done with Batman recently because it's all been done. Batman and Superman are still more popular. It's just people wanting to be different who make it seem like it's not and they are loud.

Mackorov posted...

No, the beginning Batman concept had none of these. Batman was just a stupid vigilanete jumping across rooftopss and plowing criminals in the face. The only reason he's called Batman is cos of his stupid bat outfit.

Here's an excerpt of how the creation of Batman came about:
Collaborator Bill Finger recalled that "Kane had an idea for a character called 'Batman,' and he'd like me to see the drawings. I went over to Kane's, and he had drawn a character who looked very much like Superman with kind of ... reddish tights, I believe, with boots ... no gloves, no gauntlets ... with a small domino mask, swinging on a rope. He had two stiff wings that were sticking out, looking like bat wings. And under it was a big sign ... BATMAN".
....
Finger suggested giving the character a cowl instead of a simple domino mask, a cape instead of wings, and gloves; he also recommended removing the red sections from the original costume

Bob Kane is still credited as creator of Batman even though the Batman he came up with was actually the most uninspiring unoriginal piece of fictional s**** ever created. Literally a ripoff from Superman.

It's like taking a scribbly child's drawing then trying to make it look cool and stuff over the decades. Sure you can do that. But the core essence of that child's drawing remains: dumb and stupid.

Oh well you didnt make it clear you where only talking about the old batman when referencing his characteristics.

Characters evolve though. Thats how they stay relevant.

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kg88222 posted...

The Dark Knight has grossed more than all the spiderman movies. I agree Batman and Superman are somewhat overdone at this point where it's changed. Spiderman is still your friendly neighborhood spiderman but even that is getting out of hand with all the knockoffs. They milked Batman to death. So now it's spiderman. There hasn't been a ton done with Batman recently because it's all been done.

They'll keep milking and they'll keep milking for the next centuries and beyond. This is the familiarity bias and advantage fictional works receive by being the first mover into a new industry.

It's why the same old superheroees keep dominating the main screen and any other new subsequent superheroes created can almost never break into the same stardom. Publishers don't dare take the risk. Once they have a successful cash cow, they're gonna try keep it forever no matter what.

Deadpool is probably the only exception but the comic writers such as Rob Liefield and Fabian Nicieza had to push Marvel hard to finally be allowed to be given a title Deadpool comic series.

mooreandrew58 posted...

Oh well you didnt make it clear you where only talking about the old batman when referencing his characteristics.

Characters evolve though. Thats how they stay relevant.

but there's a limit to how much you can evolve an existing character. How much can you change before the character no longer becomes the same self he was created as centuries ago?
The reason comic writers can't change batman too much is because of conservatism opposition. They will receive backlash from diehard nostalgic fans who think they'll be ruinining the character.

At the same time, they cannot just create a brand new superhero relevant to modern times since it's well, brand new. Too hard to market, publishers wont want take the risk, no one would be interested. For the comic writer, it's also easier to re-adapt an existing character because they wont need to go through the process of idea creation and whatnot. People are unoriginal who knew

It's the old familiarity bias time and time again. Why do you think we keep having the same CoD games every year? Why does Ubisoft keep slapping Assassin's Creed titles onto their games when it's no longer anything about Assassin's Creed?
Because of branding.

Imagine if Ubisoft called "Assassin's Creed Valhalla" as "Valhalla" or "Vikings". Or if Activision titled "Call of Duty Black Ops" as "Black Ops"?

Not as many people would buy it that's for sure

Mackorov posted...

They'll keep milking and they'll keep milking for the next centuries and beyond. This is the familiarity bias and advantage fictional works receive by being the first mover into a new industry.

It's why the same old superheroees keep dominating the main screen and any other new subsequent superheroes created can almost never break into the same stardom. Publishers don't dare take the risk. Once they have a successful cash cow, they're gonna try keep it forever no matter what.

Deadpool is probably the only exception but the comic writers such as Rob Liefield and Fabian Nicieza had to push Marvel hard to finally be allowed to be given a title Deadpool comic series.

Deadpool is not the only one. Iron man was no where near as popular or well known before the movies. Gurdians of the galaxies even I hadnt heard of. Shazam was kinda obscure. Hell deadpool had more popularity than all of those before the movies.

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But these characters are still really old concepts.

Look at how old Tony Stark's father must be if he was already present as an adult in the 1940s during Captain America's time. It makes no sense.

Me and my roommate discuss this a lot actually; and this is what we came up with:

Marvel likes to have "grounded" stories where the heroes arent always revered and so they have a more "real" feeling. Not everyone loves them, and they have to deal with that.

DC likes to tell "Epics" like old folk lore; the only people that dont like the heroes are villains or psychos. No one but Lex Luther fears Superman, Batman is a legend, etc.. heroes don't have to deal with the fall out of their actions; they're TOO fantastic. It takes away from the reality because it's to unbelievable.

In short: Marvel has more suspense, DC has "Flying brick who's only weakness is a green rock that's so rare it's not really a threat". Or; DC relies far to much on PIS/Plot Armor, Marvel has to deal with almost 80 years of lore and BS to make it good instead of rebooting every 5 years.

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Because yal let your kids watch trends. Show them some iconic comic books and let them explore from there.

mooreandrew58 posted...

Deadpool is not the only one. Iron man was no where near as popular or well known before the movies. Gurdians of the galaxies even I hadnt heard of. Shazam was kinda obscure. Hell deadpool had more popularity than all of those before the movies.

Shazam was obscure to modern people. At one time he was more popular than Superman though. The whole reason DC bought the character was to bury him for decades so he wouldn't compete with Superman. In the 40s, Shazam or as he was known at the time, Captain Marvel, was the most popular super hero

I think it's because Marvel has capitalised on television, movies and video games better in the last 30 years with a larger variety of characters. That's about it really.

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Mackorov posted...

Movies.

All due to movies.

Very few people read superhero ccomics. In fact i betcha 90% of Marvel fans right now don't even read the comics. They're only with Marvel due to the MCU.

DC failed in their movies way too much. They only succeeded in the Dark Kinght, which was what brought Batman back to relevance, alongside the Arkham games. Superman is only still well-known (albeit not actually well-loved) due to his long history and heritage as the first superhero created

This is the reason. Any other explanation, especially those that criticize the nature of the DC characters themselves, is going to be from ignorance due to the fact that very few people read comics and very few people are aware that writers and artists move between the two companies frequently, bringing their ideas with them.

Fuck, I'm pretty sure that less than 10% of people that see the movies read the comics given that comic book sales have been at an all time low in recent years.

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Zikten posted...

Shazam was obscure to modern people. At one time he was more popular than Superman though. The whole reason DC bought the character was to bury him for decades so he wouldn't compete with Superman. In the 40s, Shazam or as he was known at the time, Captain Marvel, was the most popular super hero

Im aware. Shazam is actually one of my favorites. Woulda never knew about him till tbe movies if it wasnt for mk vs dc then injustice. Injustice is what got me to look more into him as he became my main

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Darmik posted...

I think it's because Marvel has capitalised on television, movies and video games better in the last 30 years with a larger variety of characters. That's about it really.

People wanna break it down in ten thousand different ways which can be fun for discussion but this is basically it

Marvel just did better by licensing out their characters then eventually getting them back and making good movies

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topic reminded me of this batman drawing I made a while ago



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Because DC has boring heroes with even worse rogue galleries. DC has great stuff but it's generally not their superhero stuff.