If you’re into comic-book movies (and who isn’t these days?), you’ve probably already seen the clever “Hi, I’m a Marvel …” videos (parodying those increasingly annoying Mac/PC commercials) circulating around the Internet. They started a couple of months ago, but have been getting more and more attention lately, what with the release of Spider-Man 3. Anyway, it’s funny stuff.  

But the best humor always carries with it the cold bite of hard truth. To wit: Why is Marvel kicking DC’s butt so thoroughly in the superhero-movie sweepstakes?

Think about it: In the last seven years or so, we’ve had bona fide blockbusters in the X-Men and Spider-Man franchises, and Fantastic Four, which to many experts’ surprise did insanely well two years ago, looks set to extend that winning streak. And that success spurred a tidal wave of Marvel movies, not to mention many other superhero and comics-related films, from Hellboy to Sin City to Constantine. (And that’s not counting graphic-novel adaptations like Road to Perdition and A History of Violence, since most audiences weren’t even aware of the source material.)

Sure, a fair number of the Marvel movies were horrible (Daredevil, The Hulk, Elektra, Ghost Rider), but you could argue that the more product you put out, the better your chances of scoring stinkers (and hits).

Meanwhile, DC, with its pantheon of iconic properties, not to mention the Warner Brothers conglomerate behind it, is woefully underrepresented on the big screen. And of that small handful of movies, only Batman Begins is an unqualified success. Superman Returns was met with a lukewarm reception, and need I even mention Catwoman?

One reason the DC movies haven’t fared as well, on the whole, is the fact that — as the “Hi, I’m a Marvel” videos point out — the Marvel flicks have largely managed to capture the essence of the properties. Even accounting for the fact that comics and movies are different mediums and blah blah blah, it makes sense that the things that make Spider-Man resonate with readers will also resonate with movie audiences.

It’s not as easy as it sounds, for sure — for one thing, most superhero comics have been around for decades, and have morphed with the times, so that the sensibilities of a Stan Lee X-Men comic in the 1960s, a Chris Claremont X-Men comic in the ’80s and a ’90s X-Men comic are vastly different. But the core essence of the characters, the central themes of the books, usually remain more or less the same. And I’d argue that it’s those essentials that have made the X-Men and Spider-Man franchises, whatever their faults, into hits. Contrast that with Superman Returns, which didn’t portray the Man of Steel in a very flattering light — pouting about Lois Lane’s new boyfriend, among other things. (Granted, Superman poses a challenge for lots of writers; it’s not like Bryan Singer and company are the only ones who’ve ever dropped the ball with the character. But that’s a whole other topic.)

Still, getting the characters right isn’t the only thing hobbling DC’s heroes from conquering the multiplex. The long-discussed Wonder Woman project hit a roadblock earlier this year when the suits in charge parted ways with writer-director Joss Whedon; a proposed Flash film is also spinning its wheels. And comic scribe/screenwriter/Blade: Trinity director David Goyer is working on a project allegedly titled Super Max, in which Green Arrow is sent to a prison for supervillains. (A movie based on a comics superhero, in which the main character and his antagonists (neither of whom is very well-known to the non-comic-reading mainstream audience) spend the entire movie out of costume — uh, okay.)There’s no easy answer: It’s not like you can point to one single determining factor here. But it makes you wonder. Superhero movies are obviously a cash cow, and DC’s got some of the biggest, most recognizable icons anywhere — why can’t these things get done, and get done well?

Marvel continues to usher properties to market, and it’s making some intriguing moves along the way: Starting its own film studio; casting respected actors (Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow and Terrence Howard for Iron Man; Edward Norton, Tim Roth and Liv Tyler for the upcoming Hulk movie). Meanwhile, Superman’s stuck in the ’80s, leaving Batman as his publisher’s sole undisputed cinematic success story these days. Marvel’s climbed out of the basement it occupied for years (remember the Dolph Lundgren Punisher or 1994’s never-released Fantastic Four B-movie debacle?), while DC’s august line seems to be digging its own cellar. And it doesn’t look as if things are likely to change anytime soon.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 11th, 2007 at 4:24 pm and is filed under Movies, Comics, Editorial. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.