In the comic book world, DC and Marvel are the two main behemoths that are dominating the industry. Although there are some comics that have gained some fans, DC and Marvel are the most well-known franchises in the world of comics. This is why many people pit them against each other. The comparisons are hard to avoid.
The journey of Zack Snyder's Justice League is interesting in its own right. Warner Bros wanted to copy Marvel's formula and make the DCEU more light-hearted with Justice League. As most people know, that plan backfired.
In an interview with The New York Times, Snyder revealed that his vision to differentiate DC from Marvel didn't have a lot of support. The director revealed that the bad critical reception, aka the bad reviews of Batman v Superman caused the shift in Warner Bros' confidence in Snyder. He said, "There was definitely a shift in confidence that they had, and I think that kept multiplying as we went along. They had this giant I.P. [intellectual property] and their confidence in my point of view had eroded."
Due to a family tragedy, Snyder had to step away from the project. WB didn't waste time hiring Joss Whedon who made major rewrites and reshoots for the film. This left many of Snyder's footage left to the cutting room.
Snyder said that Marvel has already nailed what they are good a which is a popular action-comedy with a heart. However, he said that DC is different as it delves into mythology at an epic level.
Snyder said, "Marvel is doing something else. They're doing, at the highest level, this popular action-comedy with a heart. And they have that nailed. An effort to duplicate that is insanity because they're so good at it. What DC had was mythology at an epic level, and we were going to take them on this amazing journey. Frankly, I was the only one saying that."
Back in 2008, there the two comic giants released films for their respective characters who have something in common: they are both rich. Marvel's Iron Man and DC's The Dark Knight were both released in 2008. Although at that time not many fans took a deep dive into comparing the films, the two movies have shown the contrast between the two franchises. Marvel is light-hearted and DC is dark.
Although DC's Green Lantern starring Ryan Reynolds is quite light-hearted, people have started seeing that DC and Marvel are differentiated by how their movies are perceived.
In 2013, Man of Steel starring Henry Cavill was directed by Zack Snyder. The following years led to the release of Captain America, specifically Captain America: Civil War which showed the division among the Avengers, most specifically Iron Man and Captain America. Just like Iron man and The Dark Knight, Captain America: The Civil War and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice were released in 2016.
This only further increased the comparison between the two. There were a lot of bad reviews about Batman v Superman. However, after the Batman v Superman Ultimate Edition was released, some reviews became favorable with the film. In fact, after the Joker was released, some fans clamored that DC will stay with its "dark tone." DC is good at making standalone films and even Shazam proved that being light-hearted in DC still works, as long as the character and the plot calls for it.
Zack Snyder's Justice League is releasing in a few hours on HBO Max in the United States. Other countries can access the film through HBO Go and other HBO platforms.
Related: Ryan Reynolds Says He'll Finally Watch Green Lantern Before Seeing Justice League Snyder Cut
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