Superhero Comics Are Being Hurt by the Movies They Inspire

San Diego Comic-Con revealed a batch of large news, peculiarly arsenic it pertains to Marvel. With the announcement of Robert Downey Jr. stepping successful to play Doctor Doom successful the adjacent Avengers movie, here’s a question: what the heck is this going to bash to the comics?

The narration betwixt superhero comics and their expanded media hasn’t ever been even-sided. At best, movies, shows, and games gully upon (and decently credit) the root worldly successful satisfying ways that don’t consciousness similar a much costly retread. But excessively often these days, it tin consciousness similar comics and characters are introduced with the anticipation that they travel to live-action oregon animation successful 2 oregon 3 years.

It’s a occupation that extends beyond the Big Two, but they run successful this abstraction the most. In DC’s case, it usually releases a tie-in comic acceptable successful the movie’s universe, oregon conscionable marque a quality look more like their metallic surface counterpart. These are good compromises, since they theoretically invitation movie viewers to cheque retired comics and don’t interfere with the mainline books too much.

© Pepe Larraz/Marvel

And past you person Marvel, which fundamentally dove headfirst into the synergy crippled and ne'er truly got out. If there’s a large movie connected the horizon, you tin stake there’ll beryllium a miniseries, comic publication arc, oregon full-on lawsuit with a akin premise. Think Civil War II, the later Spider-Verse comics, and whatever’s store for Doctor Doom successful 2025: each done to drawback the attraction of non-fans oregon punctual readers of the large movie that’s coming retired successful the outpouring oregon summer. (As if they could ever truly forget.)

Bigger changes hap connected a quality level: Spider-Gwen’s present a full-timer successful the main Marvel universe, and she’ll soon header a TVA comic. Ms. Marvel is simply a mutant, portion the X-Men person near Krakoa down and returned to the “hated and feared” ngo connection that’ll thrust their movie. Hell, Marvel willingly burned Marvel vs. Capcom and the Fantastic Four to spite Fox.

Some moves marque sense, oregon were executed good capable to marque you hide the intent. But astatine their worst, they punctual you however exhausting it tin beryllium for corporations to prioritize marque uniformity during their large transmedia pushes. Alternate beingness takes connected these characters tin lone bash truthful overmuch successful livening up Marvel oregon DC erstwhile the publishers dainty comics arsenic trial kitchens for aboriginal movies oregon games that tin past intersect with the comics erstwhile needed. And it tin pb to diminished returns to spot a quality oregon comic tally with a neat hook and cognize successful the backmost of your caput they’re a creator’s favored task for the large screen.

What’s absorbing to spot is who DC and Marvel take to loosen that marque synergy grip on. For immoderate reason, Marvel seems to beryllium perfectly good with letting Venom beryllium immoderate the hellhole helium wants: successful the comics, he’s astir to beryllium successful the Venom War event portion Tom Hardy’s doing queer-coded slapstick successful the movies, and 1 of his 2 video crippled versions is simply a completely antithetic person. Meanwhile, DC has been contented with letting Todd Phillips halfway Joker and Harley Quinn successful a brace of prestige movies that don’t person involvement successful bringing overmuch implicit from the comics. That some publishers fto this hap with characters truthful intimately linked with their idiosyncratic aureate geese says something, but it’s unclear what. Either they’re consenting to marque exceptions erstwhile possible, oregon possibly they conscionable fig these 2 characters are efficaciously bulletproof for immoderate reason.

© Warner Bros./DC

Earlier successful the summer, I rewatched aged episodes of X-Men: Evolution and Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, and it felt similar a enactment of caller air. Before superheroes became specified a large outfit, shows similar these didn’t person to interest astir aligning with the movies. Sure, they borrowed storylines and designs from the comics, but they were healthier without cinematic universes breathing down their necks. Again, overmuch of this is simply a Marvel issue: aft Spectacular Spider-Man ended, overmuch of its animated output during the 2010s did its champion to lucifer the MCU, either from the leap oregon aboriginal down the line. Those shows had their fans, but they were arguably hamstrung compared to their predecessor shows, and it says thing that X-Men ’97 and newer DC bid similar Batman: Caped Crusader and My Adventures with Superman excel erstwhile doing their ain thing.

Disney and WB privation audiences to person a wide thought of who their superheroes are and what they’re astir crossed each mediums. Desirable arsenic that sounds, the synergy accent can’t assistance but marque these characters consciousness smaller oregon similar toys successful a larger corporate game. It isn’t conscionable that determination needs to beryllium much of a absorption connected telling bully stories; having the 2 mediums blend unneurotic similar this some hurts and further devalues comics. And considering however off-balance the comics-movie dynamic already is, pushing these characters and worlds onto a singular endgame conscionable increases the chances of the full transmedia location coming down.

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