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In looking back on the films of both DC and Marvel, something occurred to me that I really hadn't thought about before. One of the things I feel has hurt DC's film universe and helped Marvel's is the overall approach to the films going back decades even.
All of the Marvel films, even those made outside of Marvel studios, are very similar in tone and feel like they are part of the same universe, going all the way back to Blade and the first X-Men film. Of course, little things like Stan Lee's cameos don't hurt because they give all the Marvel films a sense of unity.
When you compare DC's films the same way, there is no such continuity. Batman has had three radically different incarnations, from the weirdly gothic versions of Tim Burton, to the over the top toyetic and silly Schumacher films, to Nolan's uber-serious Dark Knight trilogy...there is no constant.
If you look at Spider-Man for instance, yes there are differences between Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland, but they still feel like the same character. The same cannot be said of Batman or Superman. Brandon Routh did a great job of capturing that same Christopher Reeve feeling, but once you get to Henry Cavill, it's not just a different guy wearing the suit...the character seems fundamentally changed, almost unfamiliar.
I also feel that the fictional locations of DC continue to cause problems. New York is New York, and whether you're watching X-Men (2001), Spider-Man 2, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, or Avengers, it feels like the same place. The Batman films have presented us with three very different versions of Gotham City...a polluted gothic, an over the top surreal landscape of giant statues and impossible architecture, and a completely realistic city.
In the end, all the Marvel movies, whether produced by Marvel studios or not, feel like one cohesive collection of films within a shared universe, while the DC films all seem like unrelated solo efforts.
All of the Marvel films, even those made outside of Marvel studios, are very similar in tone and feel like they are part of the same universe, going all the way back to Blade and the first X-Men film. Of course, little things like Stan Lee's cameos don't hurt because they give all the Marvel films a sense of unity.
When you compare DC's films the same way, there is no such continuity. Batman has had three radically different incarnations, from the weirdly gothic versions of Tim Burton, to the over the top toyetic and silly Schumacher films, to Nolan's uber-serious Dark Knight trilogy...there is no constant.
If you look at Spider-Man for instance, yes there are differences between Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland, but they still feel like the same character. The same cannot be said of Batman or Superman. Brandon Routh did a great job of capturing that same Christopher Reeve feeling, but once you get to Henry Cavill, it's not just a different guy wearing the suit...the character seems fundamentally changed, almost unfamiliar.
I also feel that the fictional locations of DC continue to cause problems. New York is New York, and whether you're watching X-Men (2001), Spider-Man 2, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, or Avengers, it feels like the same place. The Batman films have presented us with three very different versions of Gotham City...a polluted gothic, an over the top surreal landscape of giant statues and impossible architecture, and a completely realistic city.
In the end, all the Marvel movies, whether produced by Marvel studios or not, feel like one cohesive collection of films within a shared universe, while the DC films all seem like unrelated solo efforts.