Which franchise-starter is better written in his early films? DCEU Superman or MCU Iron Man? (READ OP)

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GermanX

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Poll Which franchise-starter is better written in his early films? DCEU Superman or MCU Iron Man? (READ OP) (47 votes)

DCEU Superman is better written in Man of Steel (2013), BvS (2016), and Justice League (2017) 15%
MCU Iron Man is better written in Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), and Avengers (2012) 85%

NOTE!!!! Please be fair, the DCEU only had 3 films so far featuring Superman, so for the MCU counterpart ONLY make your considerations with the 1st 3 MCU films that Iron Man was featured in. Meaning only use Iron Man (2008), Iron Man (2010), and Avengers (2012) for comparison.

Later films like Iron Man 3 (2013), Avengers AOU (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), etc should NOT be used for comparison.

There are two rival comic book movie franchises - the officially named Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and the unofficially named DC Extended Universe (DCEU).

Both of them began from a single comic book character solo film. For the MCU it is Iron Man, also known as Tony Stark, played by actor Robert Downey Jr. For the DCEU it is Superman, also known as Clark Kent, played by actor Henry Cavill.

Between these two franchise starting characters, which do you think was better written as a character in their 1st 3 films. Focus on the personality and characterization, whether he is being well-rounded or flat, as well as faithfulness to the source material.

Discuss.

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CyberpunkCop

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This is a hard choice

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deactivated-5c830d4e319e6

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Tony.

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Amonfire1776

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Iron Man...MOS was written beautifully but after that Superman was written poorly...

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the_stegman

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#4 the_stegman  Moderator

MOS.

However, since it wasn't considered to be the start of a shared universe, Iron Man gets a technical win.

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Lone_Wolf_and_Cub

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Iron Man in a stomp. Supes wasn’t even a likable character/written poorly.

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ourmanuel

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Iron Man in a stomp. Supes wasn’t even a likable character/written poorly.

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Richubs

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#7  Edited By Richubs

Iron Man is a much better movie than MoS imo.

Major reason being Tony having a great character arc when compared to Clark, who didn't have an arc.

Tony went from an a$$hole billionaire to a man who is now aware what he is capable of and wants to change to world forever.

Clark was saving people when he was younger and he was saving people by the end. The only choice he made was whether he would go against or with his father's wishes but they don't really show him answering the question he just does things that go against his father's wishes without any big trouble. Plus the character was very sad and gloomy which would've made better sense if Clark was written better.

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deltahuman

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DCEU Superman and it's not even close.

This is gonna be a long post. Excuse me for any inconvenience but I felt the necessity to pen this.

Tony Stark (Iron Man) had been the same eccentric genius billionaire jerk from Iron Man till the end of the Civil War movie. In the first movie, he claims to have learnt what his purpose in life is. He claims to have learnt humility and yet he basically stays the same guy in the subsequent movies. He mocks people, plays with the lives of the whole world by unilaterally creating an Artificially Intelligent Programme and then when the government is on his ass, he signs the accords without thinking about how it would affect other people's lives, just because he feels that the wrongs he did in the past will be erased if he's put in check along with everyone. The only character developmemt Tony has had in the subsequent movies until the Avengers are disbanded in Civil War, is that he learns to accept that he is not in the centre of the universe, that other people exist in the world who are better than him in many aspects.

Superman on the other hand has been beautifully written even if the DCEU as a whole hasn't been accepted by the masses as widely as the MCU. He has had a lot of character development and has incorporated a lot of elements from the situations he has dealt with. His journey is beautiful and inspirational.

Man of Steel tells an incredibly emotional story about a man trying to find his place in the world and having to make choices to decide what kind of man he’s going to be and what world he’s going to choose to be his own. Clark Kent chooses Earth as his home and fulfills both of his fathers’ (Jor-El’s and Jonathan Kent’s) wishes of becoming “a force for good” and giving “the people of Earth an ideal to strive towards”, becoming Superman. He understands that doing good can come at a cost; he kills Zod not because he wants to but because it is the only outcome of an impossible situation – the life of Zod versus the lives of the people of Earth.

In Batman v Superman, The world has not forgotten the collateral damage of the Superman/Zod fight – nor should it. Another lesson of MoS is that there are consequences to our actions, both good and bad. Superman continues to be the force of good wished upon him by his fathers but struggles when the world begins to turn against him – does he continue to help those who need him, or does he hang his cape and focus purely on loving his mother and Lois? As appealing as this second option is, he simply can’t ignore the cries of help from people who have no one else to rely on – he is truly a savior and ignores the hatred thrown at him in order to continue being a beacon of good in the only way he knows how. All the while, he learns of Batman’s increasingly violent (and extremely literal) brand of justice and comes to the same conclusion that Batman came to for him – Batman must end. Not die, but he can no longer continue operating as an arbiter of justice outside of the law, not under Superman’s watch. And thus we have our central conflict. Superman initially avoids fighting Batman, refusing to kill Batman even for such a noble cause as saving his own mother. Perhaps the weight of the death of Zod, the last living Kryptonian, weighs too heavily on his heart – he doesn’t want to kill again, not if he can help it. However, Batman still sees his cause as righteous, so he shows no mercy, going so far as to having Superman within a stroke of death… The fight is averted and they become allies But still Doomsday is too much for them. One last time, Superman saves Lois, the woman he loves, before sacrificing himself for the good of the world he loves. Peace is restored. Good prevails. Superman is dead. He sacrifices himself for the same world, for the same people that doubted his integrity and tried to kill him. First he sacrifices his own people so that humanity can live. Then humanity doubts him and tries to kill him. He ends up sacrificing his own life for the same humanity.

In Justice league, there's not much of him. He appears only by the end of the movie, resurrected and finally having found a place in the world among similar minded powerful allies and friends and having finally accepted his destiny.

There is more character development of Superman in just 2 and a half movie than Iron Man has undergone in all the 7-8 movies he has appeared.

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Glavene

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Iron Man in a stomp. Supes wasn’t even a likable character/written poorly.

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reactor

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If it we're just Man of Steel, it'd get my vote, but I really did not enjoy BvS. Justice League wasn't that great either. By the same token, Iron Man was a great film, Iron Man 2 was horrific, and Avengers was... okay. Kinda boring, but first two viewings were a true experience.

Hence, the early MCU edges out the early DCEU

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deactivated-60957cbcbe0f1

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@deltahuman: man, between this post and the one from the AM trailer, it’s obvious that you are a DCEU guy.

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Lil_Remains

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@ready_4_madness: He let his dad die for a dog. Anyone who does that is an asshole

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buttersdaman000

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Eh....actually hard to say...i'm gonna go with Iron Man since JL was such shit.

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deltahuman

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#15  Edited By deltahuman

@mr_shazam0920:

I don't understand.

Have I ever denied that I prefer DC? Am I not allowed to be a DCEU guy? Doesn't everybody have a preference for a particular object or thing or are you one of those guys who claim to be unbiased and objective in every situation cuz that's pure BS.

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adamTRMM

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Are we comparing the headlining characters or the movies themselves? Characters I guess.

Iron Man has a more consistent and organic story to him. JL was Superman's last chance and in the end it did only worse. As opposed to that, we've seen Stark grow from a selfish jerk first into a hero with those three movies. Sure, IM2 didn't do anything for the character at large, but between IM and Avengers, the best MCU movies, his journey was as integral as it was climactic. Also, an instant classic that took over the world and made Iron Man, and later Marvel as a whole, a global brand.

Superman's journey was shaky from the very beginning. They didn't explore the whole range of his personality because it was supposed to be saved for some kind of later triumphant return whilst his journey is full of obstacles and obstructions, but since that return was sabotaged by BTS shenanigans, the story as a whole was affected. And ended up being not only inconsistent, but also anticlimactic. The ambition was sky-high, but the fall was as grandiose.

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TheInsufferable

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Iron man. MOS Superman had potential, he was similar to earth-one Superman, but it went downhill.

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deactivated-5bc2c7b81b701

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Tony by a mile.

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MarvelandDCfan24

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Ironman though the writing for Tony has gotten dramatically worse at specific points in the MCU to the point where hes just a quip machine and there for jokes

But he up against to most dull, drab, and boring Superman ever created

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jb681131

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@germanx Thoses were not the 3 first movies but:

For Marvel

  1. Iron Man (2008)
  2. The Incredible Hulk (2008)
  3. Iron Man 2 (2010)
  4. Thor (2011)
  5. Captain America (2011)
  6. Avengers (2012)

as for DC it's

  1. Man of Steel (2013)
  2. Batman vs Superman (2016)
  3. Suicid Squad (2016)
  4. Wonder Woman (2017)
  5. Justice League (2017)

So, so far there are 5 DC movies not 3 ! Get your facts right.

Well Iron Man was very good with great acting. Then Hulk, Iron Man 2 and Thor were awfull. Then Captain America was not bad with great acting. And Avangers was awfull as well.

Man of Steel was so so. Batman vs Superman was so so as well. Suicid Squad was bad. Wonder Woman was so so. And Justice League was so so as well.

=> hard to say who's better. DC has no excellent movie, while Marvel as some very awfull movies (Iron Man 2 & Thor 1).

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GermanX

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@jb681131 said:

@germanx Thoses were not the 3 first movies but:

For Marvel

  1. Iron Man (2008)
  2. The Incredible Hulk (2008)
  3. Iron Man 2 (2010)
  4. Thor (2011)
  5. Captain America (2011)
  6. Avengers (2012)

as for DC it's

  1. Man of Steel (2013)
  2. Batman vs Superman (2016)
  3. Suicid Squad (2016)
  4. Wonder Woman (2017)
  5. Justice League (2017)

So, so far there are 5 DC movies not 3 ! Get your facts right.

Well Iron Man was very good with great acting. Then Hulk, Iron Man 2 and Thor were awfull. Then Captain America was not bad with great acting. And Avangers was awfull as well.

Man of Steel was so so. Batman vs Superman was so so as well. Suicid Squad was bad. Wonder Woman was so so. And Justice League was so so as well.

=> hard to say who's better. DC has no excellent movie, while Marvel as some very awfull movies (Iron Man 2 & Thor 1).

Erm... Did you read the thread? I am asking for comparison between the 1st three films that Superman/Iron Man was featured in the DCEU/MCU respectively

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deactivated-60e87a786cc9c

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Iron man.Clear winner.