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”

  1. hmmmmm your impressive with your research and i love the comparison, this settles my queries and i too think marvel of late have done way better than DC for all i know and what i see, i love them both and so the competition for all we do is enjoy!!!! lol thanks man

    Reply

    1. Hey Shawn…..glad a superhero movie fan found this page. This page has turned out to be one of my most popular pages….granted when we first wrote the page in 2011…superhero movies did not come out every 2 months like they do now. But that just shows you how popular these movies have become. Marvel has done better….but I think DC is starting to finally get their act together…..thanks for the visit and the comment.

      Reply

  2. Just saw Suicide Squad. I thought it was ok. My biggest issue would be too many new characters to keep up with and Batman and the Joker are barely in the movie. I liked Will Smith in the movie.

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    1. Hey Stein….thanks for the mini-review. I find it shocking that Jared Leto’s Joker is barely in the movie…seems they have been promoting his Joker on us for years now….and now that the movie is here…he is barely in it. Does not make much sense to me. Good to know that Will Smith does well in the movie.

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  3. Pretty cool overall, though. I like that it lets people argue for their favorite movies based on different criteria.

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    1. Hey Emeal…. thanks….glad you were able to sort the stats….it is designed to “rank” them which ever way you want

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  4. I didn’t think Steel was THAT bad, but I was a youngster when it came out so my taste was likely a bit flawed.

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    1. I thought steel was awful but I was already in high school when it came out, in comparison, I thought the movie Meteor Man was good but that came out when I was in middle school. The point is they were both bad but I only thought one was good because I was younger. So yeah your age can definitely make a difference.

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      1. Hey Justin D. I agree with your comment 100%. I read somewhere….probably Roger Ebert….that everytime you re-watch a movie….the movie remains unchanged….but the viewer has changed…and it makes it seem the movie is different. The first time I watched Gone With The Wind I was bored out of my mind…I was even mad that the movie was so long. The last time I watched it….I could appreciate it’s greatness. Thanks for the feedback.

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    2. When I was younger I thought the Disney movie Gus…you know the mule playing football movie was the greatest movie ever. Now that I am older and wiser…I realize it is only the 2nd greatest movie ever made..lol.

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  5. Well for as much as we all love Marvel movies we know and trust the brand. Marvel is always a sure thing while with DC we ask ourselves “Will this be good.” Everybody has high hopes for what DC puts out because we know how well they fair in the DCAU vs MAU.

    The problems with GL for example had nothing to do with the CGI suit but rather a horrible story/script. I wish for the stand alones that they would just make live action versions of the animated features First Flight and WW. After all they are taking the New 52 origin for Diana rather than the traditional sculpt from clay. Which is such a shame. I have a gut feeling that the JL movie is going to be a two part JL War adaptation.

    If that is the case, we’ve seen it already but the big screen adaptation will be epic. Either way BvS suffers from lack of ramp up. I could live without a Bats movie but having a true Man of Steel movie before it’s release would have been better. Others say they should have released the Aquaman Cyborg, Flash, and WW movies before or in between the release of JL to balance things out as well. That would have followed the “phase” model which has brought Marvel to the top of their game.

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    1. Good comment. Maybe Suicide Squad will be the one that turns the tide for DC. Seems it is starting to gain some serious momentum as we get closer it is August release.

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      1. Re-shoots were done to lighten it’s tone. Honestly if it was really dark originally that could have been a huge blunder. But DC always strives for “serious tone”. SS is another one of those that exists as a DCAU movie. Just watch Assault on Arkham. Not knockin’ DC for making these, Just mind the tone of each property. Hal is a joker so Reynolds was fine and I still go to bat for him. Take the tonal shifts from Arrow and Flash as better examples. They need to keep these in mind moving ahead. Moreover I want to see more of that GL Corps. They did such a wonderful production with Oa and the other corps members I want to see what becomes of Strong’s Sinestro. But like I said you can only do so much with $#!+ writing and direction.

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        1. Hey David. I am impressed with your movie knowledge. Good points throughout. I blame Christopher Nolan for the tone. But if you actually look at Batman Begins…..it has a great tone. The Dark Knight is a great movie….but the tone is dark with little humor. The Dark Knight Rises’ tone was the blue print for Man of Steel and BvS…..but with those reshoots…..The Suicide Squad seems to be making a good turn. As for GL Corps….not thinking will ever see Mark Strong’s Sinestro again……the next time Sinestro will be played by someone else…and that storyline will be forgotten….in my humble opinion. Enjoyable movie talk.

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          1. To be blunt I’ve been a videophile since I was about nine. Keeping up with Colider Movie Talk also helps. My movie collection is so diverse it’s kinda crazy. when you have Mystic River, Nightmare Before Christmas then Nightmare on Elm St. all side by side. Not to mention my affinity for Afflec, Comic and Kev Smith films. Being a steelbook hoarder doesn’t help my case either.

          2. Hey David….very cool….I am a Kevin Smith fan myself. Though these days….he seems to get more notice talking about movies or interviewing other film makers. I have checked out a few of Colider Movie Talk’s videos. They give lots of good information about upcoming movies. I have those same movies in my collection as well. I am willing to watch anything….my biggest need…..subtitles….why? Because I walk on my treadmill while watching most of the movies I watch….which is almost 3,000 movies since Jan 2013.

          3. Rest assured Bruce, everything is on DVD/BD. I tend to watch everything with subs just cause I live in a small apartment and don’t like bothering other people with the volume. Even with my anime I watch subs with dubs. I don’t remotely understand people who sell collectors sets to make room on their shelves for the BDs. I’d just condense the complete series into the other set. Better looking slipcases and features at times.

          4. Good to know I am not the only movie fanatic in Hampton Roads. My entire collection is also DVD/BD….with some 3D DB as well. I actually think my setup does the 3D better than what is in theaters. We take requests at our movie website….check out the index…and let me know which actor/actress when need to do a page on. We have over 400 pages….and that number grows about every other day.

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