Is DC better in comics compared to movies?

Why does DC struggle a bit with live action compared to comics?

Hey, don't get me wrong, I like DC films and stuff such as Wonder Woman, Joker and The Dark Knight are in my top 10 CBMs but is DC more consistently good in comics?

So far, I managed to make a list out the movies that are good or worth a watch, counting also the graphic novels

1. Red

2. MoS

3. BvS

4. History of violence

5. Road to Perdition

6. Mask of Phantasm

7. Lego Batman

8. Batman 1989

9. Batman Forever (I think this film is as good as Hulk 2003, it's actually watchable and not an abomination)

10. Batman Returns

11. Batman Begins

12. The Dark Knight Rises

13. The Dark Knight

14. Superman II

15. Superman 1978

16. Wonder Woman

17. Shazam

18. Aquaman

19. Joker

20. Watchmen

21. V For Vendetta

So, DC movies have been mostly hit and miss like the Star Wars franchise but when they're good, they are in my top 10 CBMs of all time.

I have exactly 10 DC films rated with an 8 or above and the rest between a 7 and a 7.5 for now.

Why they have been kinda inconsistent? I like DC but their comics have been higher quality wise by miles, considering stuff like Watchmen, Red Son, Killing Joke , Lanterns by Johns and the list goes and on and on.

Note: I like both Marvel and DC with probably a small edge to DC overall but in Movies, I think that Marvel has done better and utilized their characters in a better way. This post is not to bash DC, It's just a comparison about their consistency.

I personally think they tried to rush out a cinematic universe akin to Marvel, without enough groundwork for it. If they tried to firstly adapt more notable stories from its solo heroes, then build to team ups like JL etc.. It would have gone differently. In general i really like all the DC movies, but i find the comics far superior to the movies.

@spinach: JL and SS felt extremely rushed and not needed. Shame because I liked MoS, BvS and WW a lot...

While I am not a big fan of all Marvel's movies, their planning and universe was build up well tbh.

IMO Man of Steel, Batman V Superman, Shazam, Batman Returns and Batman Forever are all either mediocre or bad.

In any case,

MCU > DCEU

@wolverinebatmanftw: Yeah, I prefer the MCU by a good margin.

Man of Steel is neither an "underrated masterpiece" neither a "garbage film" in my opinion. It's mostly divisive because Snyder made it a lot punchier than Superman Returns.

Returns is not as good as 1989 but the supporting cats and dark tone makes it watchable imo.

Ofc comics are better than movies

^This^

Original Superman I and II started the whole comic world movies if you think about it. now DC is kinda lagging in the cinema. Mainly because they havent put out a good superman movie since. The other dc movies have all been decent and some really good. Aquaman is awesome...but Marvel is way ahead now. Dc trying to close the gap and are compromising some stuff that marvel didn't have to. Yes DC comics are better than DC movies overall but DC started the comic world kinda too, and were innovative with the original superman movie that matched the comic stories pretty darn good. That movie is still ranked in top hero movies as old as it is.

Batman Mask of the Phantasm and The Dark Knight are better than most comics from both DC and Marvel.

With movies, there's competing artistic visions, profit concerns, and ideological/political agendas ( they love Communist China and want your kids to as well!) to contend with, so it's tough. They're trying to appeal to everyone to make the most bank with both short-term and long-term goals in mind.

I think the comic book industry is similar on a smaller scale. They can get away with more things for better or for worst (the One More Day story of Spider-man selling his marriage to the devil wouldn't fly in movies...and I say wouldn't not won't since I don't know about people nowadays).

I've read comics from the 1930s to 2020, and I think it's there's similar case with movies, where cream rises to the top. The comics might have been more consistent in quality from the 1930s to the 1980s, but not every comic is as good as Watchmen, The Killing Joke, and Red Son.

Currently the crime film genre seems great to me since I used IMDb as a guide to help find the good ones, so there might be hundreds of awful crime films, but I haven't seen them whereas I've seen lousy horror movies as a kid, so the horror genre seems trashy to me overall.

DC's start is very similar to marvels. Marvel started with positivity for iron man and so did DC for mos(screw critics). Both had bad movies early on and both have great. MCU is better in consistency. DC can pick amazing and actors and directors and make masterpieces but they're very rare. Mostly DC films are trash. But now they look like they're back on track with most of their positive reviewed films recently so I am excited because soon it's gonna be a tough competition to MCU.

WB Vs Disney

God Vs iron man

Son of Kryptonian Vs man of iron. (Sorry for the poor copy of the terrible bvs lex 😅

DC has good comics

If the director of the DCAU did the DCEU it'd be perfect

@darkthunder: It's not Warner Bros vs Disney, it's AT&T vs Disney, Warner Bros is owned by AT&T.

OT:

Comics in general, are way better than the movies.

Pretty much what's already been said. By the time the first DCEU film came out back in 2013, MCU had just begun phase 2, and DCEU were playing catch up. If they had just took their time and released one origin film year after year instead of rushing and then made one big team up film, it'd be a different story.

However, some of DC's graphic novel adaptions and standalone films (Joker, Watchmen, A History of Violence, Road to Perdition) put most of Marvel's films to shame.

I actually enjoyed Aquaman and WW but for the rest yeah they're really hit or miss and even if not bad are just bordering it or only decent at best. Nowhere close to the MCU titans though.

What I find odd is that their animated movies are so much better than their live action ones.

Classic Superman 1 and 2 were great.

Batman 89 was a new start to super hero movies.

The issue is that since the early 2000’s, their main stream movies have just been off point and trying to do something different or copy other movies instead of having good plots.

Zach was great at Watchmen, it was his style of movie.

However he is completely wrong for Superman.

Their comics are good but the current storyline is kind of stupid.

Let’s face some facts, comics are dying. All of them. The movies make a much bigger impact on the market and the brand.

Overall the MCU is well trusted, so people give them a chance and some of their garbage movies are kind of looked over.

Overall the DCEU is in more of a what were they thinking area. Not only that but any decent writer or producer should have been able to look at some of the groundwork and said, “yeah, the fans will probably hate that.” Thus their movies are not given much of a chance.

Nolan trilogy shouldn’t be anywhere near this list tbh

DC is wildly inconsistent when it comes to their live action film history. They have the Nolan trilogy, but also Batman Forever and Batman and Robin. They have Wonder Woman, but also BvS. Joker and V For Vendetta, but also Green Lantern and Jonah Hex. And so on and so on. The comics are better.

That said, I would say DC is probably most consistently good in their animation, both films and shows (though there was a dip when they started all the N52 animation; most of those were average at best). You get Mask of the Phantasm, Under the Red Hood, The Dark Knight Returns pt 1 & 2, Wonder Woman, Justice League Doom, etc.

DC movies are either great or terrible. The MCU is pretty mediocre for the most part. I prefer the former approach since it means we might get some masterpieces even if we get a few stinkers in the process.

The MCU's approach obviously makes more sense from a franchise perspective as people like consistency, it's comforting and doesn't invoke or demand much from the audience. Also, it's much harder to shit on a crappy movie then it is to explain WHY you enjoyed a good one.

I agree with what's been said. The DCEU tried to go neck-in-neck with the MCU, pushing films out for the sake of competition rather than taking the time to create truly thought-out and compelling stories and characters.

Not sure, but I'll say this: DC movies have reached some pretty great heights with stuff like Superman II, Batman(1989), V for Vendetta, the Nolan trilogy, Man of Steel and Batman v Superman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and a large number of their animated films. Obviously, they've also had some stinkers, same as Marvel.

In fact, let's recall some of Marvel's movie stinkers that a lot of Marvel/MCU fans like to pretend don't exist: Captain America(1990), Howard the Duck, Fantastic Four(1994), Fantastic Four(2005), Fantastic Four(2015), The Punisher(1989), The Punisher(2004), both Nick Cage Ghost Rider films, Blade II, Blade: Trinity, X-Men: The Last Stand, Spider-Man 3, Daredevil, Elektra, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Iron Man 2, Thor: The Dark World, Ant-Man 2, Captain Marvel... and I could go on.

The point is, both DC and Marvel have had highs and lows with their movies. The DCEU not being as successful as the MCU doesn't change that fact, and this purported enormous struggle that DC/Warner films division have to produce any good movies is a myth created by fanboys, nothing more.

They really should just stick with huge budget animated movies and release them in theaters, become a sort of DCAU like it was on TV just...in theaters. Because animation seems to be where DC shines a lot better, this would also make them stick out compared to the MCU. Don't give me that "animation is for kids" shtick and won't make money either, cause that's a bunch of bull..