Let's just get this out the way: I'm not talking about the comics. Argument could be made Marvel and DC are equally as bad in that respect, so we're not talking about those. No, what we're talking about today is their Cinematic Universe. I trust we can all guess what brought this on: The Joker reveal. And don't get me wrong: I'm neutral about the Joker's design. I want to see what he does before I judge. The 'Damaged' tat is the only thing that really throws me. But it got me thinking: Why does DC invite controversy?
It's not a matter of them simply BEING controversial, as in you can't do their movies WITHOUT being controversial, you can't do what they're doing without stirring up controversy, you can. But they aren't. They're never (or at least rarely) taking the easy route, the obvious decision, the fan pleaser. Instead, they do quite the opposite, as evidence, I'll present a comparison on the respective controversies of the two big competitors: DC and Marvel. Note these are not representative of my opinions, simply what I've observed. The list may be incomplete or omit things as a result of that.
DC
- Man of Steel (All of it, not going into detail over each little thing that caused controversy)
- Batman v. Superman (Before Man of Steel 2 or a new Batman movie)
- The Justice League in Batman v. Superman
- Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman
- Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor
- Khal Drogo as Aquaman
- Ben Affleck as Batman
- Will Smith as Deadshot
- Suicide Squad before Justice League
- Tattooed Joker
- General Tone
Marvel
- The Mandarin
- Tony Stark making Ultron
- Hank Pym not being Antman
- Ultron saying 'Omelettes'
- General Tone
Marvel's had some controversy, but rarely anything as early as casting announcements. And generally when they show off a character, reaction tends to be favorable. Yet with DC, every step they make seems to generate waves of controversy. Arguments, fights, what have you, it seems they can barely mutter a word without being told they're wrong. So the question is: Are they doing this on purpose? Are they INTENTIONALLY going out of their way to stir s*** up? And if so, for what reason? Just to generate press and get news out there? To differentiate themselves from the comic-on-camera style of Marvel?
Or is this all completely by accident? Are they just trying to make good movies and all of this completely takes them by surprise?
Why does DC invite controversy?
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