Marvel Movies vs DC Movies

Want to know the best Marvel Movies and DC Movies?  How about the worst Marvel Movies and DC Movies?  Curious about Marvel Movies and DC Movies’ box office grosses or which Marvel Movies and DC Movies picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Marvel Movies and DC Movies got the best reviews from critics and audiences…how about which ones got the worst reviews? Well, you have come to the right place…. because we have all of that information.

As a kid I remember always hearing about which comic book company was the best.   Many of my friends were in the DC comic camp. Batman, Superman, Flash, Green Lantern and of course the classic Saturday morning cartoon, Justice League of America (1973-1986), were the strengths of their argument. My favorite superhero was Spider-Man, who was and still is one of Marvel comics most popular superheroes….so that put me in the less crowded camp of Marvel. As an adult the same argument seems to be still being asked…only now it is which comic company is bringing the best superhero movies to the big screen.

This Marvel Movies vs DC Movies page will look at the DC/Marvel movies that have released in theaters and will be ranked by box office grosses, critical reception and award recognition. Also included in this page are 10 possibly interesting facts about DC/Marvel comics and movies. Finally, there is a Marvel Movies vs DC Movies section that compares each companies’ average results.

Christopher Reeve's Superman is still standing tall in the rankings almost 40 years later.
Christopher Reeve’s Superman is still standing tall in the rankings almost 40 years later.

Marvel Movies vs DC Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (0 to 5 stars) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards. (Main stat table follows)

Marvel Movies vs DC Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table

The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.

  • Sort Marvel Movies vs DC Movies by either Marvel or DC.
  • Sort Marvel Movies vs DC Movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost
  • Sort Marvel Movies vs DC Movies by adjusted worldwide box office grosses using current movie ticket cost
  • Sort Marvel Movies vs DC Movies by worldwide yearly box office rank
  • Sort Marvel Movies vs DC Movies how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Marvel Movie and DC Movie received.
  • Sort Marvel Movies vs DC Movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score.  UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
2014's Guardians of the Galaxy...yet another smash for Marvel Movies
2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy…yet another smash for Marvel Movies

Possibly Interesting Facts About Marvel Movies vs DC Movies

1. DC (Detective Comics) was formed in 1934. Marvel Comics was formed in 1939. Currently these two companies have a 80% share of the comic book market.

2. DC’s first big successes were when they introduced Superman in 1938 and Batman in 1939. Marvel’s first big successes were the introductions of the Fantastic Four in 1961, Spiderman in 1962 and the X-Men in 1963.

3. DC’s first superhero big screen adaptation was 1966’s Batman the Movie starring Adam West as Batman. Marvel’s first big screen movie was 1986’s Howard the Duck which was produced by George Lucas.

4. DC had the first big successes on the big screen. The Superman franchise that started in 1978 and their Batman franchise that started in 1989 became some of the biggest box office hits of all-time.. Marvel had to wait until 2002’s Spiderman before they got to experience the massive box office success that DC had been receiving.

5. Since 2002…..Marvel has become the king of the superhero box office…..although DC has the successful Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy in their corner….Marvel can boast the Iron Man franchise, The Avengers franchise, the Captain America franchise, the Thor franchise and X-Men franchise.

6. Only two superhero movie have been nominated for a Best Picture Oscar® nomination (Joker & Black Panther)……..there have been two superhero movies that have earned Worst Picture of the year awards…..1986’s Howard the Duck and 2004’s Catwoman.

7. Want to know how big Marvel movies have become? The Disney company bought the rights of the Marvel movies and other Marvel properties for 4.4 billion dollars in 2009.

Heath Ledger in DC's The Dark Knight (2008)
Heath Ledger in DC’s The Dark Knight (2008)
Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences. 
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160 thoughts on “Marvel Movies vs DC Movies”

  2. Okay, this list still isn’t complete. Even if one doesn’t count non-superhero films (like RED, Men in Black, A History of Violence and Road to Perdition) and discounts movie serials (and there were several) wasn’t there still a theatrical feature length Superman film in 1950 or 1951 to introduce the TV series? I am pretty sure there was and I distinctly remember showing the animated Batman: Mask of Phantasm for a few weeks when I ran a dollar theater in the ’90s.

    Reply

    1. Hey Michael….thanks for the suggestions. I have heard nothing about a 1950s Superman movie……but I will do some research on that and see what I can find. As for the animated movies I decided not include them……due to being animated and having limited theaters all box office runs. Thanks for checking out our Marvel/DC page.

      Reply

      1. Doctor strange has 617milionplus worldwide at the box office while suicide squad has 782milionwide
        Isaw at boxofficemojo

        Reply

  3. Hey Anomymous…..Iron Man 1 was good….Iron Man 2 was mess…..while Iron Man 3 rebounded nicely. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the superhero movie universe.

    Reply

  4. I know I am in minority in here. But my personal favourite superhero movies are The Amazing Spiderman, The Dark Knight Rises and Iron man 3. I didn’t like The Avengers and Civil War. I felt AOU and TWS were better films than those two.

    Reply

    1. Hey anonymous…..good Top 3……wouldn’t be my Top 3…. but I respect your list. Good comments today….all of them were greatly appreciated.

      Reply

  5. Marvel and DC cotrol 80% of the comic market, worldwide including manga and manwha and manhua? I own literally thousands of comics, only a fraction of which are not from Europe or East Asia, so I find that kinda hard to believe, not to mention that it probably ignores online comic revenue completely.
    I know that Franco-Belgian comics don’t sell all that well, but that’s obvious, after all they are the best comics in the world and the best art is always underappreciated ^-^

    p.s.
    Roger Leloup for President!

    Reply

    1. Hey boar. Thanks for the comment and the background information on comic books. Sounds like you have an awesome collection. My collection is about 50 comics from the 1970s sitting somewhere in my mom’s house. Thanks for checking out our Marvel Vs D.C. page.

      Reply

      1. Awesome collection… I guess one could say that, one could also say my family owns a big house (former farm house) with a big attic and we are to cheap to ever throw anything away.

        Claiming ownership of thousands (I was having one thousand and a few hundred in mind not several thousands), was counting everything in the attic, including these of my Brother and even the 60s and 70s stuff of my father, not all of which is actually all that great^-^

        Anyway I wasn’t really giving background information as much as making a fast confused and ill though out comment that I can top now after being even more tired.

        Reply

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