Marvel vs. DC

DC and Marvel comics have been rivals since the 40s. These days, the rivalry continues on the silver screen. DC owns titles such as Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. They work under the Warner Brothers production banner developing movies around their characters. WB recently announced they are moving the DC Comics division from New York to their Burbank, CA lot. WB figured that if DC is going to try and rival Marvel’s upcoming schedule, they need a better communication channel with their production entity. Marvel has five huge projects in development (Thor, The Avengers, Captain America, X-Men: First Class, Spiderman 4) while DC Comics only has two (Superman 2 and Batman 3).

Marvel was bought for upwards of $4 billion by Disney in 2009. With the backing of Disney, Marvel will have loads of new opportunities. One exciting advantage of having the support of a media juggernaut like Disney is the licensing opportunities of using the comic characters in other ways than movies. For example, Disney can use them to make new theme park attractions. DC Comics, on the other hand, is part of the bigger Time Warner family. And although Time Warner will surely provide them with movie and television licenses, they’re not involved in several different areas of business like Disney.

In an effort to trim the fat from the old regime, DC fired three of its top executives: Richard Bruning (SVP and Creative Director), Cherly Rubin (SVP of Management) and Steve Rotterdam (SVP of Marketing and Sales). They want to start fresh when they move to LA.

Also, it was just announced that Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) will direct the new Superman reboot. Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Inception) is producing under his Syncopy Production banner. Snyder directed Watchmen and Nolan helmed The Dark Knight, two DC comic releases. If they can keep big names like Snyder and Nolan in the DC family, they may be able to develop and release more huge titles in the future. Their next big release – The Green Lantern starring Ryan Reynolds – is due out in June 2011.