The age old feud between Marvel and DC has been around since the comic book juggernauts began competing with each other for book sales. Now things have moved to the silver screen, with competing shared universes battling for box office dominance. DC had a hit with Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman, but the DCEU has also been full of missteps. Meanwhile, the MCU has continued gaining speed, with Avengers: Infinity War bringing together the universe's heroes in a record breaking blockbuster. Writers Chris Markus and Stephen McFeely crafted Infinity War's story together, after writing all three of the Captain America films and Thor: The Dark World. The duo was recently asked what they would do to fix the DCEU on the Fatman on Batman podcast, and both seemed to know where to start. Markus pitched first, saying:
I might put Batman and Superman and everybody else, I mean Wonder Woman is doing fine, aside for a second. Go through the vast world and go, 'That guy' or 'That girl,' and go, 'Let's just make a really good movie and not a universe and see what happens.' There's a lot of spaghetti being thrown at the wall.'
Chris Markus' comments to make sense, given how the DCEU has fast tracked into existence. After the release of Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, DC got into the shared universe game officially with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Rather than slowly introducing characters, DC threw together ensemble projects that helped create the world at a much higher speed. Unfortunately, most of the films seem weighed down by exposition and characters, and therefore don't do their iconic characters justice.
This problem is likely why Wonder Woman was such a breath of fresh air. Patty Jenkins told a contained story, and took a snapshot the title character's long life. Having it set in the past (as Wonder Woman 2 will also do) allowed the story to function outside of the overall universe. The stakes felt high, and provided a deep look into Diana Prince's psyche.
Stephen McFeely seemed to echo his writing partner's concerns during their recent interview with Kevin Smith on his podcast Fatman on Batman. Rather than crafting big ensemble projects, McFeely encourages DC to keep it simple, and just make one great movie, based on one character. As he said,
My familiarity with the DC universe is not that great but I can just say, strategically, 'Make one,' To quote Justice League, 'Save one person.'
Despite Stephen McFeely claiming he wasn't that familiar with the DC Extended Universe, it was definitely easy for him to whip out that line of dialogue from Justice League. When the team was going into their first battle, Batman gave The Flash the simple advice: just save one person. Now the acclaimed Marvel writers are challenging their competitor to do just that: make one killer movie.
You can catch Avengers: Infinity War in theaters now. DC will have their next chance at a great movie with James Wan's Aquaman on December 21st. In the meantime, check out our 2018 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
