I was watching some Marvel movies the other day and there something hit me that never him me before. Most Marvel heroes kill. Now I didn’t grow up a Marvel fan. I love Marvel, their characters, movies, and universe but I grew up watching DC movies and cartoons. I would watch Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, and Justice League. I grew up knowing that DC heroes don’t kill and yet Marvel heroes do which leads me to this point: Is not killing major trait in a hero? I’m going to look at both the Marvel and DC side.
Marvel
Most of the heroes from Marvel kill. We see Iron Man kill his villains in the live action movies and kill terrorists. In just about every X-Men movie we see members of the X-Men kill. Heroes like Wolverine, the Punisher, and Deadpool kill everything in sight. In the comics, Elektra kills. In the
Avengers movie, we see Hawkeye kill. Also in the
Avengers we know Black Widow has a shady history and we saw her kill in
Iron Man 2. We see the Hulk destroy and most likely kill US soldiers whenever they go after Hulk. The only exception I could give is Captain America because he is a soldier and became a hero during a time of war unlike most Marvel heroes. Sure back in WWII Cap was a hero, but in today’s world can we still consider him a soldier? It is likely he got a discharge but he’s still fighting. Why do these heroes feel the need to kill? Being a hero you’re suppose to save and protect as much life as you can. I do not hate Marvel heroes. They get the job done but must you bend the rules in order to get the job done?
The only big Marvel hero we see not kill is Spider-Man. Spider-Man is Marvel’s biggest hero. After Batman & Superman, most people know Spider-Man. What makes Spidey different from other heroes from Marvel? Could it be the fact that basically Spider-Man is just a kid? Most of the superheroes we know are grown men and women in their late 20s to late 30s. Spider-Man is seen as a teenager. Most teenagers are seen as sidekicks but Spidey becomes his own man while being a teen. Another factor could be the tragedy in Spidey’s life. We see Peter Parker grow up without his parents and lose his uncle. The only real point one could make that Spidey has killed is the controversial death of Gwen Stacy in the comics. Since that event fans along with Spidey has question; Was it the Goblin who killed Gwen or Spidey’s web that killed Gwen. After Gwen’s death we see Spider-Man mourning. Spider-Man is the only hero who gets crap thrown in his life so many times and him still keep his morals. Maybe the factor of him being a kid is why he doesn’t kill.
DC
The one thing most DC characters have in common is that they do not kill. We all know Batman’s rules. No guns, no killing. A lesson he follows and has taught to his sidekicks. Also Superman does not kill. We see Superman save people’s lives no matter whose it is. Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and the rest don’t kill either. The only heroes we see kill, if we can call him a hero is Jason Todd but for the most part that’s it. No matter whom it is DC heroes don’t kill. For example, in the video game
Batman: Arkham City, people have said the reason Batman is sad is that the Joker is dead. That is not the case. Batman doesn’t care if Joker’s dead, Batman is more depressed over the fact he couldn’t save a life. There have been times they have and in those times it has proven fatal to that hero. In the book
The Death of Superman, Superman realizes the only way to end the fight with Doomsday is to kill him. Superman does kill him (for the time being) but at the same time, after that battle Superman also dies. If was a win-lose type of situation. Superman knew he would die in how he would kill Doomsday and he still decided to go off that plan. In the comics, we see Batman attempting to kill Darkseid. The bullet didn’t kill Darkseid. As Batman shot Darkseid, Darkseid shot Batman with his Omega Sanction killing Batman. Batman went against a vow his has taken for years to try to end a conflict and paid the ultimate price.
As I said before, this is not to stab at Marvel and their heroes. It’s an article about a main difference with Marvel’s heroes and DC’s heroes. It seems Marvel’s heroes aren’t afraid to cross the line as much as DC’s heroes but at the same time is Marvel’s way as effective as DC’s? Both sides have heroes that have been victorious in battle. Do you believe a hero needs to cross that line in order to save the day? Leave a comment.