Marvel vs. DC Editorial: Celebrities Should Stop Adding Gasoline to an Already Heated Debate



Marvel vs. DC.

It's been a debate for decades between comic book readers and now it is a heated debate between moviegoers. What should be seen as playful banter between fans has become a mainstream debate as those involved with these films in Hollywood are now trashing talking which is better and this has elevated this heated debate to its highest levels ever.

For any fan of both Marvel and DC, it's hard to take sides. Marvel does better in some areas while DC does better in others. But when it comes to movies, the scale is one-sided in the eyes of many because Marvel Studios has had of huge string of blockbuster films in a row over the past few years. DC Films have had their success but have been met with more criticism than Marvel. But Marvel Studios is not without their own issues as the most popular one to talk about is how the studio cannot build-up and develop villains who are not named Loki.

The unfortunate part of today's version of this debate is that it's starting to get volatile on Twitter and Facebook. Name-calling, bullying and straight-up hate can be found in pretty much every corner of these social media platforms. The hate has gotten so bad where critics, reviewers, writers and bloggers have felt the wrath of this hate to a point where they need to address it because they've been accused of favoritism, bias or of even being paid-off by a studio. Here's is an example from John Campea, who created and hosts several YouTube programs for Collider.




And here's a prologue by Forbes writer Mark Hughes for his CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR review.

"I’ve been accused repeatedly and falsely in recent weeks of being 'biased' in favor of Zack Snyder and DC Comics, of being 'paid' to give good reviews and defend Batman v Superman, and all sorts of other ignorant, rude nonsense. I take my work and my work ethics very seriously, and so I’m not amused when some angry and resentful person makes false, absurd, uninformed accusations of that sort simply because I (gasp!) dare to like a movie they dislike."

Those who are being this hateful need to take a step back and rethink their accusations because no studio would want to risk the chance of being publicly disgraced and ratted out for paying off any critic, reviewer or writer when perceived reviews are too good, or scathingly bad. This needs to stop but it won't until those who work on these films stop trashing talking the competition.


On the DC side, AQUAMAN actor Jason Momoa has signed autographs including the phrase "F**k Marvel." Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who will be Black Adam in SHAZAM!, most recently took the stage of the MTV Movie Awards to embody his former WWE persona to call out Marvel actors. And it doesn't stop there because MAN OF STEEL, BATMAN V. SUPERMAN and JUSTICE LEAGUE director Zack Snyder even took a shot at Marvel.

"But I feel like Batman and Superman are transcendent of superhero movies in a way, because they’re Batman and Superman. They’re not just, like, the flavor of the week Ant-Man – not to be mean, but whatever it is."

Which was then defended and thrown back at Snyder by Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier actor Sebastian Stan.

"I would say we’re still making something very original in our own way. I mean, the Russos are coming in and taking something people are used to and they’re shaping it up and changing it in a very different way. They’re not trying to mimic a better Christopher Nolan movie or something like that."

And this wasn't the first time Marvel actors haven't been nice when it comes to DC movies. Falcon actor Anthony Mackie has made some snide remarks about MAN OF STEEL and this past February, at Wizard World Cleveland, Brock Rumlow / Crossbones actor Frank Grillo was spouting some flames at BATMAN V. SUPERMAN.

These are only a few examples of celebrities smack-talking the other studio, but it shows that it definitely happens on both sides of the coin.

The point of all of this is to say that the debates are getting too heated lately and some fans may see this as a means to increase their own personal hate for one side or the other. The intentions of these celebrities most likely were to have some fun banter back-and-forth. But in actuality it's turning into the equivalent of throwing gasoline on a burning fire. And if celebrities don't also take a step back from this kind of talk then matters could get worse.

In the end, everyone needs to realize that these harsh words of hate might actually hurt the bottom line, which is the box office performance of a film. And as Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said perfectly back in 2013...

…as I’ve always said, if [comic book movies] are all good, the more the merrier. It’s a bad thing for us when one of them is not well received. If we have a good movie, and [Warner Bros. / DC Films] have a good movie, it only helps us. So let’s all calm down."

Well said.