Are DC and Marvel’s Universes too big?

DC and Marvel’s wealth of characters is part of what makes the companies so great. As an avid Deadpool fan, I really enjoy seeing him interact with (and often outsmart) other characters who are near polar opposites to him. However, I feel that in a holistic sense, both companies are over saturated with characters, which leads to a select few receiving an appropriate amount of attention (the money makers like Batman, Spiderman, Superman etc.) and many being left out. I am not all suggesting that either companies should just start killing off characters, but I think it could be wise for the companies to create branches within their organization with their own separate writing, editing, illustrating and creative teams. For example, maybe DC could reopen Milestone with its original characters plus some of DC’s characters who have great stories, but were over shadowed. For Marvel, maybe they could reopen a Max branch for characters that work well within teams and are fan favorites, but have struggled when put in main roles due to poor writing or lack of advertisement. I don’t think it’s necessary to make the separations based solely on content or popularity, but I think it would be refreshing to see great characters not always have to play backseat to the usual suspects.

Your Thoughts?

Batman's universe is heeh

@phantom1527 said:

For Marvel, maybe they could reopen a Max branch for characters that work well within teams and are fan favorites, but have struggled when put in main roles due to poor writing or lack of advertisement. I don’t think it’s necessary to make the separations based solely on content or popularity, but I think it would be refreshing to see great characters not always have to play backseat to the usual suspects.

Your Thoughts?

I don't agree, Marvel has been pretty good about giving characters their own titles lately and hell sometimes characters just don't work as well in their own series. I mean the last couple years we got a Hawkeye ongoing, Doop miniseries, Cyclops is getting his own, Storm is getting her own, you have Ms. Marvel & Captain Marvel, a new Ghost Rider, Guardians of the Galaxy, Rocket Raccoon, Nightcrawler, Gambit had one, Elektra, Loki, Moon Knight, Punisher, Iron Patriot, She-Hulk, Iron Fist, Silver Surfer, Inhumans and much more.

I mean what other characters are you really hoping to get with this other universe you're proposing? (Or did you just want darker stories not in canon?)

@feartheliving: They say there are thousands of characters in marvel alone (a few humble google searches threw up some results). The implication of darker more adult stories sounds interesting. But for my two pennies-worth I do not have issue with the number of characters rather the number of universes. It seems ridiculous to have so many realities that offer not much in terms of interrelatedness apart from a few crossovers. One only has to look at the mess that occurred through the X-men movie franchise to see how not to do things. I have always thought that poor writing and deus ex machina necessitate such silliness. People make a big deal about canon...I do not believe there is such a thing...more like fashion and income generation, prolonging the effectiveness of over-saturated hyperbolic characters and storylines. Just spare a thought for pre-retcon Beyonder...how the mighty fall.

I don't think this is anything bad at all. In fact, I love the sheer size of both universes. It offers for a ton of diversity in characters, and offers tens of dozens of characters to get into.

I feel like often times the companies produce solo series just to appease fans. There's no vision for the future or effort within these projects. I just think if there new organizations under the big companies' umbrella more characters would be written well

Nah, most characters either go into limbo or get a really good series at some point. Just gotta wait.

@teddy_the_god_killer: I want the separation so there can be more creative groups. In a sense more manpower so more characters can get proper attention