So, I just read Avengers: Enemy Within and I was very surprised that Marvel is having a crossover event centered around a character that is not one of their big leaders. I'd like to take this as evidence that Marvel is trying to boost Captain Marvel as one of the premiere characters in their universe. It isn't the first time Marvel has gotten behind a non-mainstream character; Wolverine was invented in the 70's and is now one of their biggest characters.

That got me to thinking about DC. Supes and Bats are the undisputed top dogs at DC followed by the members of the current Justice League and thats how it's been for decades and decades. Why do they do this? Fear of taking chances? Why is DC so hesitant to put their weight behind less mainstream heroes while Marvel is eager to?

Anyone think that this could ever change?

Well its because Batman and Superman have the most media representation. They are the most famous. The next big breakout would most likely be someone from the photo (probably not Firestorm though), plus John Stewart, Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Robin, Static, Vixen, Steel, Supergirl, Question, Huntress or any character who was highlighted in an animated series and because of that had their popularity boost.

A blockbuster movie is probably what is needed to bring the next DC character to household name status, just look at what the MCU has done to former b-listers Iron Man, Thor, etc.

Sure but it will require a new flashy character or a good movie. Deadpool is a ridiculous character that had not so successful solo runs at first but then blew up. Green Lantern could have taken off, Geoff Johns was writing awesome stuff for him leading into the movie but then that movie totally flopped. There is also a generational aspect. Older generation have thought of Aquaman as a joke but kids growing up to him in Brave & the Bold cartoon now love him (with again a little help from Geoff Johns). I am not saying Aquaman will take off but a different generations have different tastes. So who knows.

No, Supes & Bats are embedded in American Culture

Maybe in 50 years lol. These are the two most well known heroes on the planet. It would be a challenge to find someone who actually never heard of these two. If a hero ever does gain the popularity of Bats and Supes it will be the in the very distant future.

I have to say that the next DC character to equal their popularity has yet to be created.

In the golden age, I heard Captain Marvel Billy Batson was outselling Superman. Wonder Woman used to be as popular as Superman and Batman. Currently, Green Lantern is outselling Superman. Currently, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern have great potential in the movies. Flash is a bit outdated already. Cyborg probably has great potential. With increasing ocean pollution and the increasing extinction of sea life, I think we can forget about Aquaman already. Not sure when bats will become extinct.

It has to be an old character whose potential is not yet realized. Supes and Bats have the generational thing going for them, and these days it is hard to come up with a brand new superhero because most of the powers are already taken.

I don't think a character will ever be as popular as Superman or Batman along with the few guys at Marvel like Hulk and Spider-Man because these characters have been around forever and are Iconic.

It would be possible to have a newer character get super popular right now but it would still pale in comparison with the overall popularity with the comic icons.

Powers already taken? Most superheros have similar powers. Superman, Wonder Woman, Shazam, and Martian Manhunter all have similar powers. And for some of DC's heroes need to be reinvented to realize their potential. Some fans wont let that happen so the character gets stuck in its minor place. But with a new character that wont be a problem.

- I doubt it.

The only close one is Wonder Woman.

It's going to have to take some time. Characters like Wonder Woman and GL could be in culture if there are a lot of movies and shows starring them where it almost forces them into the culture than yes.

Nightwing seems to be popular, his comic sets/issues are grabbing a lot of attention on ebay (new 52)

Nah. It hasn't happened in over 70 years of comics, and it won't happen any time soon.

Never. Only spinoff characters like Supergirl or Robin could come close as far as name recognition. But it'll never happen.

I count Wonder Woman on par with Bats/Supes already btw.

Well if we're talking characters and not just heroes the Joker is on Superman and Batman's popularity level.

But out of just the heroes, it doesn't seem all that likely, Wonder Woman in the 70's was probably the closest any DC hero will ever get to Batman and Superman. I do think they have a few characters who can at least get decently close to those 2 in popularity: Wonder Woman (if done right can be like Superman to females), Green Lantern (if his movie was done better he would have blown up in pop culture I see a lot of potential in marketing GL rings and all the other Lantern corps) and the Flash (cool look, villains and is the archetypal speedster a lot of people loved him in JL/U) The concept of Robin is also surprisingly very popular despite how much of a joke he's shown to be in pop culture.

They'd need to be played by a super-attractive, super-charismatic actor on screen and be a generally compelling character.

Most assuredly. This is like someone asking if Superman will ever be as famous Mickey Mouse. Ever is at all time, all time is freaking massive period of time. Even with the advent of newspapers, radio, television which helped spread the knowledge of characters created onwards from those times, iconic and popular characters have fallen from the wayside and diminished. How many popular and iconic characters from before 1900 are widely known today? Sherlock Holmes?

You know how there was that type of person that shouted first on things? Threads? Youtube videos? First! First to comment! First to post! Those guys? They usually draw the ire of people because who really cares right? Thing is as far as the spreading awareness and exposure and the resulting reaction, resonance, influence things that get in first tend to be powerful and maintain a special grip on societies psychology. It can often be a self sustaining effect, because icons don't always start off as icons, but they reach and resonate with people in such away that their influence extends past the people that enjoy and like the entity that the entity is carried on and passed on until it becomes a meme.

Now competition as far as superheroes both hurts Superman and Batman's ability to resonant as deeply as in former years. As an example neither character's book will sell over 100 000 copies on a regular basis, but competition as far as superheroes affects all superheroes. Just like how there are thousands and thousands of mythological heroes, there are thousands and thousands of superheroes, but some tend resonate and spread around more than others. In mythology its arguably mythological figures like Hercules, Zeus, Thor, Odin, Achilles and funnily enough comics has some responsibility there too, ditto video games. Gilgamesh is often cited as the first hero to mind you, and so yeah at various times in history Gilgamesh would not only have been more popular than Hercules and Thor but the fans of Gilgamesh wouldn't even known her Thor or Hercules were heh heh. We are talking only a few hundreds years though there right, plus eras that had no internet plus you know, whole real life worship thing going on.

Cool thing about modern day living is that a lot of us have the internet, and other super fast ways of communication and information and entertainment spread and accessibility. Old characters can be revitalized, characters like Sherlock Holmes for example, with movies and television shows. Comic fans know this better than anyone, consider how characters get revamped and revitalized all the time. Not always good though, remember teenage Iron Man?

Here's the thing about DC, they don't want any of there characters to take away money from Superman and Batman or each other, but they sure as hell want lots of money but its tricky to try and push another character without one, having losses and also two unintentionally undercutting another resource. Superman and Batman are pretty safe though. Superman and Batman's popularity is self sustaining, and even children who don't read comics, watch movies or cartoons featuring either character will probably know who Batman and Superman are just because their parents know who they are and so do their friends, their teacher and you know. Even a bad movie won;t really hurt either character in the long term, the only thing that can really hurt them, is time, competition, and societies psychology.

The way technology increases and advances incidentally has an effect on societies psychology because somewhat predictably it creates generations that have shorter attention spans and quicker to embrace new stuff faster. 50 years ago where as five years might have been a long time ago, today 1 year is like freaking ages ago woah. At least you know thats how research on generations and generational gaps would have us believe and its not so hard to accept considering how technology influences things so much as far as communication, awareness, news, information access and spread and filtering and just raw output. I mean we have ten year olds with Isomethings tweeting stuff. When I was a kid and watched the 80's show I laughed at brick cellphones, but now a decade later kids laugh at cellphones that can't read comics and actually I shouldn't talk about this subject I don't have a cellphone >_>

Anyhow, given population trends, competition, where comics industry will be heading (digital) and more input, and what that will mean, as well as just general technological advances and how sacred cows of yesterday wane in popularity then well yeah if DC wants to be around in a 100 years they are going to have to have other characters as popular as Batman and Superman. They might not have as much historic importance though - but even thats potential, it would just require deeper more foundational axis shifts.

I don't think they're scared I just think they're fully aware that if they tried bringing someone like Elongated man to the top . It just wouldn't happen , + Barry Allen and Wonder Woman are pretty mainstream as well so I think that it's not to do with media necessarily. However I believe that if the Arrow series carries on say 4-5 years Green Arrow will become immensely popular .

However, Batman shall always be top dog and depending on the Man of Steel films quality . Superman may have a drop in popularity , my generation has no interest in Superman besides the logo which is incorporated on 50+ million product designs. Idk why so many people like the logo , but they do . But even my friends which do circulate around comics think he's totally O.P. Which is why I think he could become less of a character in the near future , Batman will however REMAIN RIGID

Dc has too many redundant characters. Green Arrow is too similar to Batman. Aquaman and Hawkman are too similar to Superman. Since Superman has super speed and can fly also, even Flash seems redundant. Star wars and star trek are popular so can easily do Green Lantern like that. Black Canary can probably be done as a female Batman. Dc does have other promising properties like sandman morpheus, swamp thing, Constantine, Tim Hunter, demon, orion, captain atom, blue beetle, static, deathstroke, wildcat, starman, ray, andrew bennett, blackhawks. Dc probably needs to invent more new unique superheroes like what Stan Lee and Jack Kirby did for Marvel. Dc don't have anything as popular as the x-men franchise. Dc's Legion and Titans have had great falls in popularity. Even though cyborg has been moved to the Justice League, maybe rebuild the Titans from the core of cyborg, starfire, changeling and raven, since these are still being used in the cartoons.

The only resemblence between GA and batman is that they are rich, otherwise their personalities are completely different. Aquaman and Hawkman are nothing like Superman. Green Lantern is nothing like Star wars or Star trek. Black Canary is nothing like batman. You obviously are incredibly biased in your thinking.

I really wish DC would build up characters like Swamp Thing or Constantine. These characters have a dedicated fan following for a reason.

You never know, who would have thought Ironman would be as popular as he currently is 10 years ago.

I feel like dc is trying to do this a little bit. Cyborg is part of the justice leagues founders now and it has really established him,supers,batman,wonder woman,flash,and green lantern as the 6 primary characters for the new 52. And before Geoff johns GL wasn't As popular as it is now, so we'll have to see what he does next.

@colonyofcells: Aquaman and Hawkman are to similar to superman. What?

@mutated_jedi: You forgot aquaman, who's honestly more of a core character than cyborg.

Hollywood films can do it. Just look at Iron Man. From a relatively popular character to part of Marvel's elite right up there with Spiderman and Wolverine. The GL film could have done it as GL in comics is more popular than Superman but it was balls.

If DC cared enough about any of their other characters after some time sure.

Shazam, GL and Flash has the potential to come very close to Bats/Supes popularity.