I'm just going to come right out and say something. Puttin' it on the table.

Marvel's movies have been better, done better, and have a brighter future because . . . the material and characters Marvel has to work with are, one the whole, stronger and more interesting.

The following specifics should be kept in mind.

1. Batman is as strong or stronger than anything Marvel's got. He's the DC anchor.
2. Superman has potential to re-acquire the throne that is rightfully his, if they can get the tone right.
3. But after that, it's a rout in favor of Marvel in terms of interesting heroes, interesting villains, interesting story lines.

After the Big Two, I just don't think DC can match up with Spider-man, Wolverine, the X-Men at large, Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, the Avengers generally. And then there's Daredevil and FF waiting in the wings to shake off the fail.

The world is kind of scratching its head, wondering why DC has not been able to nail it like the Marvel movies have done. But maybe they're getting out some of these comic books and seeing stuff that's just not as compelling.

I thought I suffered from Childhood Bias Syndrome. But I'm starting to think "Yeah, Marvel was better than DC in its Silver/Bronze/Shooter Age conceptions."

This is awkward.

Marvel Studios has Kevin Fiege.

In your defense, I will say that Watchmen was good, even gnarly.

That's the conventional explanation. But I've seen behind the veil to the real truth.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Marvel kid, so I completely agree with you. But none of it works as well as it has without Fiege.

What do you think he would do if he was at Warner Bros.?

Same thing he's doing at Marvel. Making great movies.

But Feige doesn't explain the strong turn of the X-Men franchise, or the Amazing Spider-man franchise. I don't think.

That's where it's getting awkward -- little boomlets of win are breaking out over here, over there.

I want to point out that Jay is a poopyhead and his face is stupid and smells.

I agree with this. Marvel's characters were created with more dimensions than DC's, and that's generally the starting point for the Marvel films. They have a built-in arc for the first films that the DC characters generally lack.

I will balance things out nicely by saying I still like the Dark Knight most of all.

Yeah, it's the hook.
Iron Man -- the narcissistic weapons genius who discovers what sacrifice really means, and finds his purpose.

Hulk -- the raging force of nature inside a meek and mild scientist, that is our only hope against a much larger threat.

Captain America -- the super soldier from a simpler time and a simpler war, who may have something to teach us about what being a real hero means in these supposedly more complicated days.

Black Widow -- a Russian with a mysterious past, death-dealer. Bam, that's a show.

Spider-man -- a high school nerd who gets powers but still has some of the same issues we all faced as young people.

X-Men -- they have Wolverine. Without him it would go nowhere.

Thor -- an Asgardian who becomes fascinated with Earth yeah okay his hook is kind of elusive and Marvel pulled a rabbit out of a hat here.

Daredevil -- red leather can work as a fashion statement.

Marvel characters have more rhythmic variety and faster rates of harmonic change.

I'm a die hard DC fan. I've rarely liked Marvel. But, you know? In those sleepless nights...I say to myself "Arrow is supposed to be good, and the Timm Justice League was fantastic. Marvel movies are great because Kevin Feige has an uncanny ability for long-term filmmaking, he may be a genius. That's the only reason why Marvel movies are so successful. And Warner Bros. is run by morons. That's it"

But in my most private moments, when I'm at my lowest ebb, I do think that maybe, just maybe, Marvel characters are just better than DC's.

Thor - arrogant god learns humility.

Yeah, it's pretty good. But I suppose this is the one where they were most flirting with disaster, and I can't really neatly explain why it worked.

Even during Dark World, I was thinking "This villain is a silly man. Those are ray guns they are shooting at each other. But I'm enjoying this. Ha, look Thor just tried to hang up his hammer on a coat hook."

For the love of Thor, WHY?!?

TDK gets worse with every viewing...

I think they have Captain America, Spider-Man, and the Fantastic Four over DC. There's no equivalent on that side for any of those characters. There are B-listers who are similar in characteristics, but nothing even long time comics fans would say compares.

However, that said:
Green Lantern - Iron Man potential, squandered
Teen Titans - X-Men potential, never visited (too many sidekicks?)
Superman - blow everything away potential, squandered.
Batman - Done well thanks to Nolan even after being potentially squandered.
Wonder Woman - Thor potential, and they run away from it at every turn (no Eddie, it's not because of her costume). Don't even give it a shot. We'll see in BvS.
Justice League - Can be done right as well as the Avengers; JL/JLU shows it's very possible to make the characters appealing to a large audience while still keeping the spirit of the comics alive. But what we've seen so far from MoS, I don't expect it to be.

The problem with DC is what many have said in other threads. They shun their history while Marvel Studios embraces theirs. While I do think Silver Age Marvel is leaps and bounds better than Silver Age DC, with more character driven storylines and concepts, DC spent more than enough time "catching up" later. There's a huge well to draw from, and it's ignored.

You really think so? I think it's great. Mostly because of Heath Ledger admittedly; his Joker is just so good. I think DKR, while an enjoyable enough film, is a huge letdown after DK though. As a trilogy, I think the third act fails.

My favorite superhero movies top five goes like this:
Captain America: Winter Soldier
Avengers
Dark Knight
Iron Man
Iron Man 3

Amazing Spider-Man is just on the outside looking in because of that hokey scene with the cranes, otherwise it would surpass Iron Man 3. Sorry Jay.

I think we have the same top 5, though I have a soft spot for the first Thor.

Wonder Woman labors under such a heavy burden of supposedly being THE woman superhero, the symbol that women can be as mighty and fighty as men, and carries all this political angst with getting the project right.

Meanwhile, Marvel just farts out a Black Widow and gets away without a scuffle.