true or false: marvel has more popular characters than DC comics?

Depends on what you mean by more. If you mean quantity then true. If you mean amount of popularity then false. Marvel has no character more popular than Batman.

Yea Marvel has some pretty popular characters and so does DC. But I remember that when I was in elementary school the big craze was all about Batman and Spider-Man (so was Superman and Hulk but not as much bc of Batman Begins and Spider-Man 3 etc.). I never heard about who Iron Man is, Captain America and Thor. I first knew about CA when they came out with Disney XD's Avengers show, Iron Man with the film "Iron Man" (the Dark Knight was more popular than Iron Man) and Thor in his first film. Even if u have heard of Thor u probably have heard about the Norwegian God not the Super Hero and with Iron Man the song Iron Man from AC/DC (Really Black Sabbath not AC/DC which is what the kids think). So in conclusion the most popular super heroes are in this order (in my opinion)

1. Batman

2. SpiderMan

3. Superman

4. Hulk

5. Iron Man

6. Captain America

7. Thor

8. Wonder Woman

9. Green Lantern

10. The Flash

I think that DC has more popular super heroes in comics and Marvel has more popular heroes in film.

True, it has nothing to do with which has better characters or comic books, it is simply who is more main stream, and that is marvel. They have a larger selection of films covering multiple characters. And that's it, sure DC has superman and batman but on the whole, if you asked a random person, someone who is unfamiliar with comic books, to name 10 superheroes or villains, it is very likely that they will mention maybe 3 DC characters and the rest will be Marvel.

I think Marvel has more known characters in numbers, but DC has more well known characters.

Theres waay too many marvel fanboys here, ill break it down.

Global

• superman
• batman
• wonder woman
• spider- man
• hulk

General Public

• Green Lantern
• Robin/ Nightwing
• Supergirl
• Martian Manhunter
• The Flash
• Aquaman
• Green Arrow
• Captain marvel/ Shazam
• Wolverine
• Iron man (movies)
• captain america (movies)
• thor (movies)
• Justice League
• The avengers
• X- Men
• Teen Titans

Moderately Known

• Fantastic Four
• Daredevil
  
• Ghost Rider
• Dr Manhattan
• V for Vendetta

I havnt Added Any Villains, thats a seperate list on its own, im a comic fan in general, i study law, and traveled to countries even you've never heard of; its only natural that i take notice of how comic characters, and which characters, are perceived in certain ways.

yep backwards. Movies alone should be a give away.

There's an experiment. Go to someone not into comic characters at all and start listing DC toon then start listing Marvel toons and see how many they recognize. Your Average person probably won't recognize Beyond The standard Justice League set.. While i'd say most people are familar with most of the Primary Avengers, a good chunk of the X-men, Fantastic 4, and several solo heroes. Especially if you're counting villains as well.

DC has two popular characters. Marvel has loads.

Well yea.. 2 of them.... Yes, Batman and Superman are probably the most popular characters ever conceived. But X-men and Spiderman are not far behind. even before the recent films. beyond that its Marvel by quite the wide margin amongst casual fans.

CV and hardcore comic readers, seem like they really love their DC tho.

In terms of popularity, Marvel is clearly winning. With Avengers, X-men and Spider-man vs Batman and Superman I can't see how it can be argued. I guess you could say those two are more popular than any of them (expect maybe Spider-man) but still, those two are all DC have compared to Marvel's growing number.

But in terms of icons, Superman alone would win it. He's a full on global icon, not matched by any other comic book character. Batman and Spider-man battle for 2nd place.

Also for those saying Marvel's gang are only famous because of movies, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman gained their fame outside of the US through TV and film. So I don't see your point.

To the general audience DC characters are much more popular. Everybody knows who Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are. Same thing goes for Green Lantern, Flash, Robin, Supergirl, Lex Luthor, any batman villain, etc. Even Aquaman's name carries more weight than the majority of Marvel's heroes.

DC's characters are classics and have had much more of an impact on pop culture over the last century than Marvel's. A few movies by Marvel aren't going to change that. Maybe in another decade or two, but not yet. Even then I doubt they'll ever reach Batman or Superman's level.

http://moviepilot.com/posts/2014/04/11/marvel-movies-vs-dc-movies-no-contest-1332425?lt_source=external,manual

gonna have to say marvel

I love dc better but currently marvel is more popular sad to say but it is

False, who is more popular than Superman and Batman.

DC relies too much on Batman and Superman while at the contrary of most people in this thread believe Marvel actually even before they began with the Action Live movies had almost equal popular characters that people can relate to. That's what makes them have much more popular. Batman and Superman are probably the most popular characters in the world cause they were the OG, the first Superheroes. What makes them bad is that DC goes too many times into time travel and dimensional places. Though they only have 52. Marvel creates a series give it a Universe and put their head into that. There are some crossovers that combine those Multiverses in Marvel but they keep having their own story. While at DC they keep resetting the story and have been like 3 times probably more. While though Marvel change the story they do it while keeping the timeline intact. And those who come from the future are often from another dimension and after some time they gain their own story. That's what makes Marvel more popular than DC in general. But going by character Superman and Batman take the pie. They are easily more popular than Hulk, Spider-man and Iron Man. Though with the resent movies Marvel has won way more popularity than DC. DC keep it in Black and White while Marvel have it in gray or multiple colors.

@mrdevil: So your saying marvel gains more popularity because they make universes and don't reboot?

DC may have rebooted twice but that doesn't mean they aren't original, I'm actually getting tired of people saying they only pump out superman and batman, sure they got a lot of treatment but there are other characters getting the same thing. Let's not forget marvel tried to make captain America, Spider-Man and hulk a few times before the 2000s.

The marvel set up may be winning the general public now, but if the DCEU succeeds then I'm sorry but marvel has lost in my eyes. You can't beat the power of the justice league, flash,arrow, lantern and Wonder Woman are at a level of popularity where they can carry their own fame.

False. THE superheroes are Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, etc.

Marvel has very popular characters too. but when people think of superheroes in comics, they think of superman and the JL crew.

considering that Spider-man and The Avengers were the best selling comic brands of 2014 (by a landslide) Marvel are more popular.

No, i'm saying thatg DC keep going around the same character and the only time i believe Marvel tried to make a rebut that they leave that idea apart was Ultimate Universe. Marvel when they are working in a character and they want to change it they put another person in the costume. Not like DC. They centralize too much in the same character. You see what they did with Batman? Robin? etc. Marvel does that but in a greater scale without resetting the entire Universe.

But not at the same lv of most Marvel character. Now with the series I really hope they maintain a only universe in the Live Action DC instead of recreating Batman, Arrow and Flash once again.

@mrdevil: but that's the thing, they're giving others a chance now, so they don't centre around them all the time. Marvel doesn't do it on a greater scale, they just change characters in minor areas for barely any reason. The reboot for DC was to refresh their line of comics and to redesign their characters.

Do what on a greater scale?

I doubt they d recreate them so soon

Maybe when the hype dies out

@redatom1234: but only after a great issue that something happens they combine all the story, they go doing it after some plots and they keep with their story DC has only done that after a long time and I hope they keep doing it.

Working with different characters and universes.

we are talking about dc dude, they had just make the animated new 52 and they already created a new superman batman and wonder woman.

i hope they don't do it. it gets boring after some time.

Marvel characters are atm definitely more popular. Just look at the sales, the only thing keeping DC up is Batman

Bout even now.

Obviously Marvel I cant believe this is a topic. Im a DC fan and unfortunately Marvel more popular characters and it will remain that way. I mean they could make a Tree more popular than Green Lantern. I really hope DC is able to fix things to where they have more popular characters that the general public likes.

Marvel: Blade, X-Men, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Daredevil, and now Ant-Man. (four groups consisting of a lot of extremely recognizable characters )

DC: Batman, Superman, Flash, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, Teen Titans.

Marvel has DC beat. DC does have the two most recognizable superheroes of all time though.

Overall I'd say the most well known characters are Batman, Superman, Spiderman and Hulk (possibly Iron Man now due to the mcu). Tbh out of I'd say DC would be more well known, but overall I'd say a bigger range of Marvel characters are more well known.

False.

@mrdevil: I'm sorry I'm not too sure what your talking about in the first paragraph, would you mind re explaining/elaborating?

I'd say they are starting to undertake new/other characters, from TV they are introducing a handful of characters. Everyone is getting a movie. Over in the comic side, aquaman, flash, green lantern all have some nicely written books, superman has been fluctuating a bit and batman of course has been consistently good, post convergence we saw changes, I admit, they used to be a bit dodgy with the way they used their characters but I feel that we are in the wake of DC unleashing what they are really capable of.

You mean gods and monsters? That's not a reboot or part of continuity. It's like marvel having ultimates and 616 at the same time. It's just there for a fun read, it's also it's own universe.

It would be a little bit repetitive if it was the same origin movie pumped out not long after they have ended, which is what I'm doubtful about, because DC strayed away from green lantern after their recent failure, which was about 4 years ago? Also before you bring up Nolan batman, note that they are not technically bringing a new origin to bats, they are just indirectly continuing. Besides, movies run out of ideas, technology improves, who's to say marvel and DC don't reboot in the near future?

Marvel change characters but only after something happens to the originals like in Marvel now.

Yeah but DC just killed arrow, so unless they are going to use Red Arrow i think I smell a reboot. And about comics they are doing good but they had about 40 years of continuity before the new 52. And they already rebooted it AGAIN. That's what i mean, if they didn't do that I personally think they would have more fans in general.

Let's hope ur right cause a fight between two Superman should be awesome.

Nope they have just brought us a new Batman. This guy has nothing to do with the Dark Knight trilogy. Really? Out of Ideas? how hard would have been to leave Batman's continuity with the beginning of Superman? huh? Superman comes to earth and bc of his figth a lot of people died, including Selena. Batman is back from the death to exert vengeance upon this Godly alien. Pum I just made a plot and I didn't had to reboot Batman... again!

so i'll break it down

A general audience (my high school speech class) are familiar with these heroes:

DC- Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash (especially since the show), Green lantern, Supergirl, Robin/ Nightwing

Marvel- Ironman, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Spiderman, X-men (especially wolverine and storm), Fantastic Four, Avengers as a team, and Daredevil

overall marvel has a slight edge due to a higher media presence

Looks like we're going for Marvel Vine again.

@mrdevil: understandable.

are you talking about the comic or TV series? Either way why would they reboot just cause arrow is dead? I thought DC only fully rebooted twice, and both for good reasons. Characters are fading, running out of interesting stories, that's why marvel change cap to Sam, wolverine to x-23, Thor to Jane. The new 52 wasn't just because they felt like it, it was because they needed to refresh their characters, and good things have happened from that.

A fight between 2 supermen would be totally awesome

Apologies for my choice of words, batfleck is not connected to the Nolan trilogy, it's just DC felt no need to give another representation of the beginning, besides it probably would have made no sense. I'm not too sure where you are going with that plot

I would say overall general public edges with Marvel as all the cinematic universe. From comic fans DC. overall I would say DC edges is as they own 2 of the big 3 (Superman, Batman & Spider-Man)

False. I think that if we are including everybody (not just comic readers) than DC is more popular considering they have Superman, Batman, and Wonder woman. Even my great grandmother knows who Superman and Batman are, or has heard of them before lol

Everyone knew what the Justice League were before and now. Now, everyone knows who the Avengers are.

We all win, yay happy day.

Pretty much this.

True. Marvel are selling more books than DC, they had the two best selling brands of 2014. And with the MCU marvel characters are more known too the general population.

i'm talking about both of them. and that's what Marvel keep it good. They don't reboot they keep it on the same story but they evolve the characters. and they actually changed Thor to Jane to Ultimate Thor. Yeah they had some good stories I give u that but how hard would have been to keep it the same way and make those stories?

I mean that they had 3 movies with Batman, people already knew how the Dark Knight worked and how he would do everything to win without crossing the line. Now they change the actor (which is good for me to me Nolan wasn't that much of a strong character for Batman, and his bruce wayne was more like a Tony Stark kind of guy. But they would been better if they just stick to make a story not to reboot every time something goes wrong. For example look the GL. The movie wasn't that bad. I mean for a star they portrayed GL as in a new 52 kind of. But it was good, it was the first time. And now bc the public didn't like it they are going to make a new one later? seriously? dudes that's really god dam dumb. At least Marvel is adapting the comics to Action Live and keep it in a same Universe so when they introduce someone people already have some knowledge of him. Look though i don't see Daredevil fitting anywhere in MUAL. Unless they are going to bring him with the next movie of Avengers or the new Captain America I just don't see him fitting in there.

Marvel has it. It's just the hard truth.

Marvel pushes so many characters constantly and has been doing it for decades. The end results were marvel has WAY more recognizable B, C, & D listers than DC. It's never a clear cut who's at the top on marvel earth which keeps it interesting as they'd never have to rely on one hero(superman) which keeps them having refreshing stories.

Marvels cosmic(space) scene is much more defined as well because DC focuses too much on keeping everything in a level superman can reach and take care of. Not too many interesting things can be done after that.

I mean Darkseid should be a being who effortlessly can mind control a planet, beat multiple kryptonians like H'el did and more. But they've weakened him to being just a little above superman. Where's his massive intellect he used to have? He no longer feels like a galactic threat. Remember when he had the aid of the promethean Giants and new gods had to shrink themselves to enter the main universe. The god wave? How the gods created from the God wave ALL could've slapped Supes around.

Marvel still makes their brand feel like a living constantly moving universe.

DC just feels like a congested earth that still has to rely on superman to get the job done.

In ways, they are both popular.

In general, people call out Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman as heroes they like and know.

Now, since alot of movies came out, most people know more Marvel characters. Not many people knew of Guardians of the Galaxy, but they are very popular and many people know of them.

I feel DC only focuses on key people (Superman Batman and Supergirl) while Marvel gives alot of media, thus making them more popular as a whole.

Maybe it's true.

But DC has Batman, and Batman >>> Everything.

Because of marvel's movies their characters have become more well known whereas DC's Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are the only iconic characters whilst marvel has all the avengers, the x men trilogy, the three fantastic four movies and the guardians of the galaxy movie among others

Absolutely true

DC has the two most popular comic characters in existence, but aside from Batman and Superman, Marvel has the much better roster IMO.

It's a Fact that Spider-Man is the most popular superhero worldwide based off of merchandise sales. The theory is because of the mask, he's more appealing to all customers around the world.

@thorson: I'd say that's true mostly because of how Marvel try to emphasise character in their comics by giving them real struggles and making them relatable (I think Ultimate Comics has done the best job with this especially Ultimate Spider-Man). DC I think are more about the action and the Super Hero rather than their real life counter parts so they emphasise the action and villainy a lot more but that said I'm not gonna rule DC out because I think they've done a brilliant job highlighting the traits of their character ironically in the TV shows focused on their backstories whether it's Flash/Gotham/Arrow/Smallville it made me feel something for those characters and made them a lot more relatable.

I'd love to see a DC comic focus mostly on those kind of interactions.

I'd say overall it would be close but DC has the edge.

People are giving the general populous way too much credit. In no particular order.

Characters: Batman, Robin, Superman, Spiderman, Wolverine, Ironman

As abstract ideas: Justice League, Fantastic Four, X-Men, The Avengers