With the arrival of both writer/director James Gunn and veteran producer Peter Safran to DC Studios, fans are excited about the future of the live-action feature side. While it may have to catch up to Marvel Studios at the box office, the DC Universe is running rings around the Marvel Cinematic Universe when it comes to animation.
A little more than a month after DC launched its new live-action universe with Man of Steel, the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox debuted, kickstarting the DC Animated Movie Universe. Warner Bros. Animation followed with 15 more movies over the next seven years, ending the run with 2020’s Justice League Dark: Apokoplis War. Since then, it has started the “Tomorrowverse” with Superman: Man of Tomorrow, and its latest entry is Green Lantern: Beware My Power, starring DC’s live-action Hawkman, Aldis Hodge, as John Stewart.
The studio has also released a half-dozen standalone films based on specific comic runs, such as its latest, Battle of the Super Sons. What makes these animated films even more interesting is they are not aimed at children. These are adult animated films, and Marvel Studios is just leaving money on the table by not doing its own.
The DC Animated Movie Universe Was a Comforting Alternative for Fans
In 2013, Warner Bros. launched two series of films with a shared continuity aimed at adult audiences. The fans disappointed in the big-screen effort found the DC Animated Movie Universe, which served as a palliative. The films adapted the New 52 storyline from DC Comics, itself something of a troubled run that was quickly rebooted. While the stories may not have worked in the comics, they fit nicely into this animated series of movies. At least twice per year, DC released a movie that advanced the overall story while deepening fans’ understanding of the individual characters.
A success for Warner Bros., it’s also something that Marvel Studios doesn’t have the answer for. One of the main critiques of the MCU is that the series hews too family-friendly. Part of what made Daredevil such a standout series on Netflix was that it was dark, violent and bloody. Storytellers can get away with a lot more in animation than live-action, so a standalone series of animated films for adults could be just what Marvel needs. Fans could get violent stories featuring characters who kill their villains, like Wolverine or Punisher.
DC doesn’t just do animated shared universes, either. It often releases standalone adaptations of its alternate universe stories, like Superman: Red Son or Gotham by Gaslight. Marvel could adapt some of its own runs, like the darker elements of the Ultimate universe or something like Marvel 1602. DC may have a thing or two to learn about live-action movie universes, but Marvel Studios could stand to follow DC’s animation example.
Marvel Studios’ Foray Into Animation Is Impressive but Could Be Much More
Along with dozens of shows for children, Marvel Studios is leaning into animation more. Its own alternate-reality series, What If…?, is coming back for its second season. Also, a series based on Marvel Zombies is in the works, spun off from its What If…? episode. It’s also doing a kind of “What if Marvel owned the rights to all the Spider-Man characters?” alternate MCU retelling of his origin. Yet, if it wants to compete with DC on this stage, Marvel needs to step up its adult animation game. The now-defunct Marvel Television was headed in that direction.
Two adult animated series, M.O.D.O.K. and Hit-Monkey, were comedies on Hulu. Casualties of that unit’s merger with Marvel Studios proper, the animation styles, at least, could be used to mine that nostalgia market. No matter how cool Avengers: Secret Wars is, some fans will inevitably be mad they aren’t getting the classic story adapted directly from the comics. But what if they could, perhaps with a M.O.D.O.K. stop-motion style with characters who look like the classic toy line? Countless classic Marvel Comics runs, even those that inspire the movies, could be adapted for animation in a way that more closely resembles the source material.
Those fans who care about comics-accurate depictions of characters would appreciate an adult-animated alternative to the MCU. When it comes to animation, the new DC Universe is already leaps and bounds ahead of its chief rival.
