Marvel and DC. Two of the greatest companies ever created. Since the release of
Superman in 1978, Comic Book Movies have become a regular Hollywood trend. All through the 80's and 90's, Batman and Superman were the only CBM's being produced, until Marvel sold off the rights to some of their characters to get them out of Bankrupcy. New Line Cinema's
Blade was released in 1998 to critical acclaim from critics and fans alike, and the future looked bright for Comic Book Movies.
After the critical and commercial failure
Batman and Robin was released, it looked like the
Batman franchise had been killed for good. DC were struggling to get new movies off the ground with many
Batman and
Superman movies in development but eventually scrapped. Meanwhile, Marvel were doing great with Sony making hit
Spider-Man movies, Fox making
X-Men and
Fantastic Four movies and many other projects in development with the different studios. Then Christopher Nolan was hired to direct a new
Batman movie titled
Batman Begins. When it was released in 2005, things changed. People saw CBM's differently. DC finally had something to rival Marvel. It was a critical and commercial success and a sequel was soon in production going by the name of
The Dark Knight.
We all know the story of TDK, Heath Ledger was cast as The Joker much to the bashing and dismay of basically everybody, he died of a drug overdose 6 months before the movie's release, he delivered a brilliant performance, the movie went on to win Oscars, it grossed a billion dollars and it changed CBM's forever. This is when Nolan became more well-known in Hollywood and was soon on producers Director wishlist everywhere. Around the same time, Marvel released the acclaimed
Iron Man and the not-so-well-recieved
The Incredible Hulk. To geeks delight, Marvel had found a way to connect all of their upcoming movies in the lead-up to a big superhero team up movie, based on the comic of the same name:
The Avengers. And it all started in
Iron Man, with a post-credits-scene featuring a certain Director of S.H.I.E.L.D talking to Tony Stark about a project called
The Avengers Initiative.
To some fans,
The Avengers is Marvel's chance to produce something similar to
Batman Begins and
The Dark Knight. All of Marvel Studios movies have generally been classed as 'cookie-cutter' or average. And they are probably right, but
The Avengers is their chance to change that and make their movies more successful and slash doubts that some fans have. Also released next year is the conclusion to Nolan's
Batman trilogy,
The Dark Knight Rises. Many people have voiced their concerns about the movie, mainly about the costumes of the two villains:
Bane and
Catwoman. Because of the release of both these movies, the members of Comic Book Movie have been split into two groups: Marvel and DC. Or better known as, Nolanites and Marvel Fanboys. There has been a war between the two sides for months on end and there seems to be no clear winner. A recent poll conducted by
RorMachine about what the 'Best CBM of all time' was indicated that there were more Marvel fans than Nolanites on the website, but there still isn't a clear winner.
Finally I ask, which side are you on? Bear in mind that when you answer the first poll, you are voting for which company produces the best movies, Animated Movies, Video Games and of course your personal favourite!
This is for which movie you WANT to emerge victorious next year, all logic aside.
This may feel a bit unnecessary, but it's all to decide which side is truly the best, in the members of CBM's opinion.
Thanks to
Jolt17 for the image!