A new cold war for the golden age of comic book films/TV has broken out in the public view. I’ve been looking to express my thoughts on this new arms race for quite some time and even though some substantial time has paced since the announcement of the DC and Marvel feature film slates, I feel now is a good time to come out of the woodwork as I sense the beginning of the competitive spirit between these two superhero powerhouses rising to a fever pitch. With Marvel’s announcement of the cooperative deal for the Spiderman franchise and with DC beginning to market the never before seen big screen versions of its Justice League members such as Aquaman, we can say we’ve reached the next stage in this arm’s race. I’ll be writing several short editorials over time on this DC/Marvel Cold War as I highlight specific aspects of it.
With the revelation that DC will be introducing Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Marvel forged forward in a frenzy to create Captain America: Civil War and even struck a deal with Sony to allegedly include Spiderman in the movie. What has Marvel so worked up with the competition that they are throwing everything into the Captain America threequel? While Marvel struck Hollywood gold first with the MCU, DC has concentrated its efforts more on television and arguably surpassed Marvel with their plethora of DC based television shows airing or soon to be airing. What’s next for both companies in the television space?
I’ll start to hypothesize and throw out conspiracy theories for your enjoyment in subsequent editorials on different aspects of this battle of wits. Until then, enjoy what we’ll be getting from both DC and Marvel. The next editorial will explore the ensemble casts for each company and the jockeying for position we’ve seen along with what it means for the future of ensemble casts.