One of the biggest debates which has been continuing in the comic book world, right from the time the shared cinematic universes were born, is the rivalry between fans of DC and Marvel. The two comic book publishers rival each other for sales, but, their competition is generally healthy, and it leads them both to come up with fresh ideas. However, there are some fans who take this rivalry to undesirable levels.
A lot of iconic supporters might not remember that on a number of occasions, the two giants have merged to create incredible crossovers. While things are too complicated for this to happen in the present scenario, there is at least one comic book veteran who wishes to see it.
Once the iconic Stan Lee was asked about the chances of a cross-company movie. He initially sounded skeptical and referred to the good old days when the comic book properties (on the big screen level) weren’t as intricately involved in licensing issues. Yet, the legendary comic creator had sounded optimistic while he stated:
“Well, you know, that would really be terrific. We did a Spider-Man vs. Superman comic book years ago — a big, giant-sized book which sold really well, and I had Spider-Man win. I don’t think there will ever be a movie like that only because of the lawyers and the businessmen and the contracts. They’d never be able to figure out who gets what and whose name comes first…but if they ever could do it, man, I think everybody would want to see that.”
The modern day history of the two cinematic universes doesn’t appear primed for a crossover. Marvel started building MCU, the role model for all shared universes today, back in 2008. Although WB could have launched their DC plans much earlier, the poor performance of Superman Returns, and the apparently solo style of Christopher Nolan helmed Dark Knights Trilogy didn’t create a base for DCEU.
However, history has precedence for a collaboration between the two rivals. They had co-published a version of The Wizard of Oz in 1975, and never shut the doors on future exchanges. There was a Spider-Man/Superman crossover battle in 1976, and it is just one of the examples. The comic book publishers also created a mega-crossover in 1996, when they had a four-issue run of Marvel Vs. DC (or you may call it DC Vs. Marvel). They even created a non-canon merger in the same year by publishing the Amalgam run which had merged Justice League with X-Men, and Superman as well as Captain America (Super-Soldier) and others. The most recent superhero crossover happened during the 2003 team-up between Justice League and Avengers.
We must remember here that merging comic books is a different ball game, but, bringing together two cinematic universes is far more complex. As of now, Marvel and Disney are battling to regain the rights of all their characters. Further, the DCEU has failed to get going barring the exception of Wonder Woman. Among the various legal issues and copyrights, the prospects of a joint MCU/DCEU project are negligible.
However, even though legal complexities exist, it would be foolish for Disney and WB to not give a thought to such a potentially rewarding crossover. They had previously teamed up from 1988 to 1993 to handle international distribution. While it is not going to be easy to create a mashup of the iconic superhero movie, but, there might be some kind of a competition between the two teams (as witnessed in the 2003 comic book crossover mini-series). This would get the fierce fans from the two sides going and also countless moviegoers. In the words of Stan Lee, it would be akin to creating a movie that “everybody would want to see.”