“Stop! Stop! He’s already dead!” If you needed a GIF from The Simpsons to sum up the current level of competition between comic book rivals Marvel and DC, then that one seems wholly appropriate. Especially since as of this weekend, Avengers: Infinity War has managed to drum up $664 million at the domestic box office.
Now, not that everything in life has to be a competition, but comparatively, DC’s Justice League only raked in $657.9 million…worldwide. Oh dear. Can we stop the beating now?
If we’re talking about the US box office alone, the DC superhero pic earned a mere $229 million there, which Avengers: Infinity War managed to trounce in its first three days in theaters. Perhaps we’re being too tough on Justice League though, as the aforementioned Marvel movie is a true box office phenomenon.
After all, Infinity War is the culmination of ten years worth of storytelling over a whopping 18 films with plenty more still to come. Justice League, on the other hand, was only the fifth movie in the Extended Universe, which has been riddled with production issues, firings and hirings and personal tragedy. And that’s just scratching the surface.
That being said, Wonder Woman 1984 and Aquaman are both creating some major excitement in the comic book movie world right now and seem to be in safe hands with Patty Jenkins and James Wan, respectively. Perhaps less of a certain money-maker though is Shazam!, which arrives in 2019 and is likely largely unknown to the non-hardcore comic book fan. Being a glass-half empty person, it’s difficult to imagine DC reversing their fortunes at this point, but in all seriousness, here’s hoping.
