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Marvel's 'Avengers' Success: What Can DC Comics Learn From It?

Beyond Antares said:
I'm a fan of both Marvel and DC, but I honestly believe that Marvel's most popular characters are more accessible and relatable to audiences.
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I don't know. I mean, yeah, I know where that argument comes from, Marvel's characters tend to be a bit more down-to-earth. But if you look at each case, I don't think the difference is that great.

Is Thor innately more relatable than Green Lantern? I don't think so. Prior to the Thor movie actually working, most people would have said/were saying that this was one of the most difficult characters to adapt.

Captain America is basically a paragon/archetype, with the historical ties and the man-out-of-time element. I don't think that's inherently more interesting than Superman, who is a paragon/archetype with alien ancestry.

Movie-verse Iron Man takes the millionnaire/playbloy/tech genius elements from the comics, but the banter, which everyone now associates with the character, was created by/for RDJ.

So, I don't think there are insurmountable problems here, for the DC characters. Somebody could make some serious cash with Wonder Woman, for example, I think. It's just a matter of getting it right.
 
If they do a JLA I'd have it just feature Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. They're well known characters that don't need much explanation. Then in the sequel they could introduce another couple of character like the Flash and Green Lantern.
 
Enterprise is Great said:
If they do a JLA I'd have it just feature Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. They're well known characters that don't need much explanation. Then in the sequel they could introduce another couple of character like the Flash and Green Lantern.
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I think you need one more at minimum.
I know it's an internal thing and they don't call themselves this when fighting as a trio but when it's just them it's: The Trinity

Need at least one more 4th member for a JLA moniker I think.
 
Harvey said:
Captaindemotion said:
You can have character interplay without separate movies. The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen, Kelly's Heroes, Reservoir Dogs - great action-packed ensembles, where you got to know and care about the characters in the short time they were allotted. We didn't need origin stories for them all.
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True, although each of the movies you've listed features recognizably human characters. We don't need to know the origin story of Charles Bronson in The Magnificent Seven; all we need to know is that his specialty is throwing knives. Most superheroes require a bit more explanation, especially if they're unfamiliar characters to the mass audience (like, say, every DC character that isn't Batman or Superman).

I don't mean to suggest that you necessarily need entire movies of explanation before you can get to the big ensemble piece, but you certainly need more explanation than the kind you get in The Magnificent Seven and the like.
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Point taken. But in the Avengers we got no explanation for how Hawkeye came to have abilities that verged on the superpowered. Black Widow gave her history in a short conversation with another character.

I went to see the movie with a friend who hadn't seen Thor or Captain America and he didn't sit confused about their backstories. I'm sure he's not the only Avengers viewer who hadn't seen all of the previous Marvel movies.

In a JLA movie, I imagine most casual viewers would already be familiar with Batman or Superman's histories, while the others could have their origins outlined very briefly.
 
Captaindemotion said:
Point taken. But in the Avengers we got no explanation for how Hawkeye came to have abilities that verged on the superpowered. Black Widow gave her history in a short conversation with another character.
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It's no coincidence that Hawkeye and Black Widow are the two most human members of the Avengers. They have back stories that the audience can relate to without elaborate explanation.

Of course, the movie works without any of the previous installments. It wouldn't be a blockbuster success if this had been otherwise. But I have a hard time believing that audiences who have missed out on the previous films enjoyed it as much as those who didn't (indeed, while Thor was perfectly comprehensible, I wasn't engaged by his character; Thor is the only movie in the series I haven't seen).
 
^ I think you're probably right re that last point. But ultimately it's all subjective, so it's hard to really say.

The flip side is that, for me, Iron Man 2 was disappointing because, among other things, it was so obviously being used to set up The Avengers.
 
Beyond Antares said:
I'm a fan of both Marvel and DC, but I honestly believe that Marvel's most popular characters are more accessible and relatable to audiences.
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As a member of Joe Q. Public (don't read these comic books, rarely go to comic book movies) I have a hard time relating to any superhero whose name isn't Batman, and beyond the Caped Crusader I have a fondness for Superman's whole Boy Scout Messiah shtick.

Only Marvel films I actually somehow wound up watching were Hulk (the Ang Lee one) and Iron Man. I caught part of the first X-Man movie on the TV, and got bored around twenty minutes in.

Of these, Iron Man had the most 'relatable' character, but that was Robert Downey Jr. when he was being Robert Downey Jr. He's more fun in the first twenty or thirty whatever minutes or so of that movie than after he mans up and becomes a superhero. It felt a lot like Pirates of the Carribbean: A mediocre summer action flick elevated by a lead performance, wasn't really interested in seeing where they were going after that.

Sort of liked those Hellboy movies, but that's possibly because they slap the superhero conventions on a weird fantasy demonology... and those weren't Marvel anyway.

All that said: Should the DC films do something similar? Eh, sure, why not. Maybe the next Batman can meet the new Superman and then you have a movie which has both Batman and Superman. That just feels a little more organic then having Batman and Supermans for their solo film entries and then new versions for their team-up movies. I don't think they need to go beyond that, though, given how attempts to make DC films about characters other than Batman and Superman have floundered. If Wonder Woman's path to the silver screen is third billing in the Bat and Supes Movie, well, it's something, and if that can be used to launch a movie of her own, that's something else.
 
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Kegg said:
Beyond Antares said:
I'm a fan of both Marvel and DC, but I honestly believe that Marvel's most popular characters are more accessible and relatable to audiences.
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As a member of Joe Q. Public (don't read these comic books, rarely go to comic book movies) I have a hard time relating to any superhero whose name isn't Batman, and beyond the Caped Crusader I have a fondness for Superman's whole Boy Scout Messiah shtick.....
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Which sort of backs up what I think, they might call it something else but if Batman is in it then it becomes a Batman film
 
So really DC should do a Worlds Finest movie first is what I keep reading. Then perhaps a JLA movie. Heck they could use a Worlds Finest movie as entry points for other Leaguers I suppose.
 
What about a 2 part JLA movie? The first half could focus on introducing the characters, and showing them facing smaller interconnected threats, like individual members of one of the supervillain groups, which brings everyone together at the end. This then leads into the second movie, which would show them facing their teamed up enemies as their own team.
 
Captain Craig said:
So really DC should do a Worlds Finest movie first is what I keep reading. Then perhaps a JLA movie. Heck they could use a Worlds Finest movie as entry points for other Leaguers I suppose.
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Good thought. Let's expand upon it:

Each Justice League movie would gradually expand the group.

Movie #1: Justice League: World's Finest (Featuring Batman and Superman--end with a teaser involving Wonder Woman)

Movie #2: Justice League: Trinity (Featuring Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman--end with a teaser involving the Flash)

Movie #3: Justice League: Fastest Man Alive (Featuring Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Flash--end with a teaser showing Martian Manhunter)
 
What lesson can Warner Brothers learn from the success of The Avengers when making DC superhero films?

Hire Joss Whedon.
 
There are multiple ways they could do a JLA style movie.

They could copy the Marvel method with multiple stand alone films building to a giant crossover. If they start in the next few years, one idea would be to have Batman in the Nick Fury role, by getting a cameo in the various other films. That way, WB won't feel pressured to push a new Batman series so soon after Nolan finishes his, but they can also keep Batman as a film character alive.

Another idea would be to do it in the reverse order. Do a JLA film and then have different movies spotlighting various characters spin out of that.

Then, there is this:

Captain Craig said:
So really DC should do a Worlds Finest movie first is what I keep reading. Then perhaps a JLA movie. Heck they could use a Worlds Finest movie as entry points for other Leaguers I suppose.
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I had a similar idea a few years back. Build up to a JLA movie with doing a Batman/Superman movie first. Then do a Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman movie. Then conclude with a JLA movie. Maybe you could do a one scene cameo with other characters in earlier entries before introducing them proper in JLA.
 
Sci said:
What lesson can Warner Brothers learn from the success of The Avengers when making DC superhero films?

Hire Joss Whedon.
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Joss hasn't had a single financial success in his whole career till now, I don't think he's the main reason for the Avenger's success.
 
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