Why can't DC comics do anything other then Batman or Superman?

can anyone tell me why does DC only do Batman or Superman and seem to have everything centered around the two

I'm a Wonder Woman fan and she is one of their biggest sellers in the comic world. The live action tv show did great for them, why can't they market her more and do more with her. She is cool and she has a ton of powers and abilities. And DC should do more with the others in the JLA like Flash GL and Aquaman. They have some great heroes but never market them like they do Batman or Superman. i do give marvel credit they market the hell out of their heroes and try to show as many as they can, well more then just two.

Sorry for all the Batman or Superman fans but we know them and all their back story, okay lets try something or someone new.

Lets face it how many people know anything more about the other JLA members.

They are a safe bet. Everyone on the planet knows who they are, they can't go wrong..
 
I do agree its a shame, the comic to film boom started in roughly 2002-03 and DC proper has squeezed out like 6 films, 3 of which were really bad. I guess they do not want to lose credibility

@cattlebattle said:

They are a safe bet. Everyone on the planet knows who they are, they can't go wrong.. I do agree its a shame, the comic to film boom started in roughly 2002-03 and DC proper has squeezed out like 6 films, 3 of which were really bad. I guess they do not want to lose credibility

They should do what Marvel did. Not many people knew who was Iron Man or Thor was.. and those movies were successes

@BiteMe-Fanboy: They should do what Marvel did. Not many people knew who was Iron Man or Thor was.. and those movies were successe

Yes thats what i'm saying, branch out try more heroes. GL was a start bad movie but a start.

They should do what Marvel did. Not many people knew who was Iron Man or Thor was.. and those movies were successes

I believe there is WAY too much Batman out there. But in this day and age where everything is considered a risk, no company is willing to further promote anyone but their popular characters. When it comes down to it, it is all about the money.

@cattlebattle said:

@BiteMe-Fanboy said:

They should do what Marvel did. Not many people knew who was Iron Man or Thor was.. and those movies were successes

Well, I could care less if they're all in the same "universe" they have a lot of great characters and its a shame that a lot of them hadn't had a movie yet......I mean they have more diversity than Marvel, they could have totally made a legit buddy cop type of movie with Booster Gold and Blue Beetle and it would have been acceptable.....missed oppurtunities

DC definitely doesn't have more diversity than Marvel, and that's their problem. Marvel actually started with Blade in 98, and then X-Men in 2000 and so on. They can do vampire movies, religious based movies, family movies, and all the typical superhero stuff. DC characters are generally stereotypical heroes.

@cattlebattle said:

@BiteMe-Fanboy said:

DC definitely doesn't have more diversity than Marvel, and that's their problem. Marvel actually started with Blade in 98, and then X-Men in 2000 and so on. They can do vampire movies, religious based movies, family movies, and all the typical superhero stuff. DC characters are generally stereotypical heroes.

@cattlebattle said:

@BiteMe-Fanboy said:

They should do what Marvel did. Not many people knew who was Iron Man or Thor was.. and those movies were successes

Well, I could care less if they're all in the same "universe" they have a lot of great characters and its a shame that a lot of them hadn't had a movie yet......I mean they have more diversity than Marvel, they could have totally made a legit buddy cop type of movie with Booster Gold and Blue Beetle and it would have been acceptable.....missed oppurtunities

I don't know, the thing that Iron Man had going for him was that he is a person under the costume, not only was he a person but he is one with a great character. Thor is a funny talking God and there is a lot that can be done with that. Booster Gold is kinda cheesy and dorky, Blue Beetle is well, a Blue Beetle. Not gonna get a lot of play with costume and powers there. Characters like Iron Man and Thor have infinite possibilities when it comes to making movies about them. Marvel is much more mainstream as a whole. Plus they all live in the world that we know as opposed to made up cities. Not that I have anything against any of the characters from DC including Blue Beetle and Booster. But a far as Hollywood is concerned...

@cattlebattle said:

I don't know, the thing that Iron Man had going for him was that he is a person under the costume, not only was he a person but he is one with a great character. Thor is a funny talking God and there is a lot that can be done with that. Booster Gold is kinda cheesy and dorky, Blue Beetle is well, a Blue Beetle. Not gonna get a lot of play with costume and powers there. Characters like Iron Man and Thor have infinite possibilities when it comes to making movies about them. Marvel is much more mainstream as a whole. Plus they all live in the world that we know as opposed to made up cities. Not that I have anything against any of the characters from DC including Blue Beetle and Booster. But a far as Hollywood is concerned...

Because that marketing strategy has been working well for years. I helped with a Avengers-themed story hour at the library and of the ten kids there, only a few could name at least one Avenger. No matter how good the movie was, there are just too many characters to remember. Marvel raking some serious money right now, but it is going to be very hard to keep that momentum going.

There has basically been a Batman and Superman characterization for every generation. These characters were popular in the media before color television was affordable! People remember Christopher Reeve, Jack Nicholson, (infamously) George Clooney, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale for their turns as the famous villains and heroes. They have had some embarrassing huge flops, but it the movies maintained brand recognition. I think the only names that are really sticking out from the Avengers right now are Robert Downey Jr and Mark Ruffalo. The roles elevated the actor's notariety and the actors sold the characters. I can't think of another actor with such a memorable connection to the Avenger.

The other problem: Explain in thirty words or less the story Hawk-man, Green Arrow, Red Tornado, Cyborg, Black Canary, Atom, Wonder Woman, The Flash. Read them and look at them from a non-comic fan perspective. It is very hard to sell many of these characters in a ninety-minute movie. Green Lantern being the example of a failure (which I personally blame on the writing, I'd kill have the power of ring to fly!). Superman: Alien raised on a farm by a loving family and has super strength, laser vision, and the power to fly. Batman: After witnessing the brutal murders of his parent as he boy he dedicated to fight crime in a bat suit. They both sound silly but the idea has been marketed extremely well.

As for Wonder Woman: No one has any idea what to do with her right now. People keep re-tooling her character and none of them seem to stick (I am hoping her New 52 incarnation will destroyed as an illusion devised by Circe).

Hollywood likes the "tried and true" format. DC already has a fairly successful franchise and investing millions in another character is a big risk.

That's my two cents.

@wonderW said:

I'm a Wonder Woman fan and she is one of their biggest sellers in the comic world.

She's not nearly as good of a seller as Batman and Superman, though. Her comic averages about half what they sell. It's basically the same reason Marvel puts Wolverine in everything, they know people are more likely to buy something if it's got their favorite characters in it.

@Crow33: I don't know, the thing that Iron Man had going for him was that he is a person under the costume, not only was he a person but he is one with a great character. Thor is a funny talking God and there is a lot that can be done with that. Booster Gold is kinda cheesy and dorky, Blue Beetle is well, a Blue Beetle. Not gonna get a lot of play with costume and powers there. Characters like Iron Man and Thor have infinite possibilities when it comes to making movies about them. Marvel is much more mainstream as a whole. Plus they all live in the world that we know as opposed to made up cities. Not that I have anything against any of the characters from DC including Blue Beetle and Booster. But a far as Hollywood is concerned...

True everything you said, but dc lacks in not just the big screen but on tv to, the new show young justice became to me too many batman sidekicks and they do break out of the superman batman center just a little, but i think darkside is the main villain in season 2. the animated movies did great like wonder woman and GL well now i want more wonder woman and others like flash. you dont have to go to the big screen yet make a animated series of the other heroes or animated movies. i just cant take one more superman batman thing from DC right now, i have to say marvel does show me more heroes.

cattlebattle
I mean they have diversity by having a comedic duo....like Beetle and Gold and things like that. Marvel has just as many stereotypical heroes as DC and DC actually has a lot more women characters, and through Vertigo comics has a lot more darker stories.

no dc does not, they have more female spin-off from batman, superman and even wonder woman, but wonder woman is one of DC few real female character. p.s. Zatanna is spin-off of Zatara

no dc does not, they have more female spin-off from batman, superman and even wonder woman, but wonder woman is one of DC few real female character.

@tim2081 said:

@cattlebattle said:

@BiteMe-Fanboy said:

They should do what Marvel did. Not many people knew who was Iron Man or Thor was.. and those movies were successes

Well, I could care less if they're all in the same "universe" they have a lot of great characters and its a shame that a lot of them hadn't had a movie yet......I mean they have more diversity than Marvel, they could have totally made a legit buddy cop type of movie with Booster Gold and Blue Beetle and it would have been acceptable.....missed oppurtunities

DC definitely doesn't have more diversity than Marvel, and that's their problem. Marvel actually started with Blade in 98, and then X-Men in 2000 and so on. They can do vampire movies, religious based movies, family movies, and all the typical superhero stuff. DC characters are generally stereotypical heroes.

DC has just as much diversity as Marvel

Vampire - I, Vampire

Religious - Zaurel

Family - Captain Carrot and the flipping' Zoo Crew!

DC has the potential to reach any demographic that Marvel can.

@tim2081 said:

@cattlebattle said:

@BiteMe-Fanboy said:

They should do what Marvel did. Not many people knew who was Iron Man or Thor was.. and those movies were successes

Well, I could care less if they're all in the same "universe" they have a lot of great characters and its a shame that a lot of them hadn't had a movie yet......I mean they have more diversity than Marvel, they could have totally made a legit buddy cop type of movie with Booster Gold and Blue Beetle and it would have been acceptable.....missed oppurtunities

DC definitely doesn't have more diversity than Marvel, and that's their problem. Marvel actually started with Blade in 98, and then X-Men in 2000 and so on. They can do vampire movies, religious based movies, family movies, and all the typical superhero stuff. DC characters are generally stereotypical heroes.

Actually they started with the Punisher in 89, Captain America in 1990, Fantastic Four in 1994..........

Marvel started making movies long before Blade and they failed while Dc's movies did well. much like DC's movies fail and marvels are block busters today.

I believe there starting to push there other characters now.Dc recently made a 1-hour block on Cartoon Network Called "Dc Nation".It's a block completely devoted to Dc comics.One feature that catches my attention is that they gave lesser known characters like Animal Man and Vibe their own animated shorts.

It seems all of a sudden Dc is starting to market their other characters more often even the most obscure ones.

@LordMaverick: @Enosisik: I remember a lot of made for TV movies, like Generation X. But Marvel didn't really start major theatrical releases until Blade.

@cattlebattle said:

@wonderW said:

no dc does not, they have more female spin-off from batman, superman and even wonder woman, but wonder woman is one of DC few real female character.

Spin offs or not...they are still well known characters...a lot more than Marvel has

Clones of popular characters automatically get some credibility, but they can't stand on their own, they will always be overshadowed by the original. The first step in making a Supergirl movie is explaining why Superman isn't there; and if Superman is there, then it really isn't a Supergirl movie at all. Elektra already had a movie; without referencing Daredevil much. Black Widow has the potential to have her own movie without the other Avengers. There's also Jean Grey and Storm that can have leading roles.

@Tunsieon: Marvel goes out of their way to thrive on diversity. That's why they jump to have the first Black character to do things, and the first gay character to do things, and change Spider-Man in the Ultimate line to Black/Hispanic.

Clones of popular characters automatically get some credibility, but they can't stand on their own, they will always be overshadowed by the original. The first step in making a Supergirl movie is explaining why Superman isn't there; and if Superman is there, then it really isn't a Supergirl movie at all. Elektra already had a movie; without referencing Daredevil much. Black Widow has the potential to have her own movie without the other Avengers. There's also Jean Grey and Storm that can have leading roles.

**She's not nearly as good of a seller as Batman and Superman, though. Her comic averages about half what they sell. It's basically the same reason Marvel puts Wolverine in everything, they know people are more likely to buy something if it's got their favorite characters in it.** . . . I think because DC only advertise them two, and other characters they could care less- i am talking about movie wise. If you want your product to sell, you need to let it out there comic books only appeal to certain people.. a lot of people do not read comics but will go see a movie about a super hero. I read once that DC thinks that their character are much more popular than Marvel- which probably true (at least for now) but if they keep doing what they are doing - eventually people will forget everyone else but supes and Bat.. which is really sad.

Zatanna is spin-off of Zatara

Elektras movie is a horrid example the opening scenes in that movie mention how she died in Daredevil, and the first step in a Black Widow movie is explaining where the other Avengers are....
cattlebattle Even if you lose the "spin off" characters, there are still a lot of female characters, Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Zatana

Zatanna is spin-off of Zatara

@cattlebattle: Well thanks to Young Justice, every who watches that show.

cattlebattleon May 22, 2012 at 6:53 p.m.
@wonderW said:
Zatanna is spin-off of Zatara
How many non comic fans would actually know that??

@cattlebattle: Well thanks to Young Justice, every who watches that show.

cattlebattleon May 22, 2012 at 6:53 p.m.
@wonderW said:
Zatanna is spin-off of Zatara
How many non comic fans would actually know that??

@LordMaverick said:

@tim2081 said:

@cattlebattle said:

@BiteMe-Fanboy said:

They should do what Marvel did. Not many people knew who was Iron Man or Thor was.. and those movies were successes

Well, I could care less if they're all in the same "universe" they have a lot of great characters and its a shame that a lot of them hadn't had a movie yet......I mean they have more diversity than Marvel, they could have totally made a legit buddy cop type of movie with Booster Gold and Blue Beetle and it would have been acceptable.....missed oppurtunities

DC definitely doesn't have more diversity than Marvel, and that's their problem. Marvel actually started with Blade in 98, and then X-Men in 2000 and so on. They can do vampire movies, religious based movies, family movies, and all the typical superhero stuff. DC characters are generally stereotypical heroes.

Actually they started with the Punisher in 89, Captain America in 1990, Fantastic Four in 1994..........

technically marvel started with the ORIGINAL transformers film in 86 [marvel comics in partnership with sunbow productions]

No Marvel had a Dr.Strange movie in the 70's . A early Captain America in the 40's (don't count that) Captain America around 89. Punisher early 90's. and a Nick Furry movie . The Hulk,& Spiderman were Tv movies. The FF movie I think went straight to video.

when everyone is going back and "actually" naming the first Marvel movies......no one mentioned Howard the Duck   :(
 
 
They made a Captain America movie in 1944......who cares, the modern comic film phenomenon started in or around 2002-03

Batman and Superman are the most iconic heroes of all time, they should be pushed the most. They're the most iconic for a reason, clearly. I think recently DC has been doing a fairly decent job at pushing their other characters out there though, particularly with Green Lantern. Just from people I know, he's brought in a pretty large audience of new comic fans. Also with the new 52, they started upping the game of somewhat forgotten characters like Animal Man, and rebuilding the reputation of others like Aquaman. I do have to admit Marvel has done a better job with this, but it's primarily because of their recent hit movies.

Flash is doing pretty good.

Why can't people read something other then Batman ?

:P

@cattlebattle said:

when everyone is going back and "actually" naming the first Marvel movies......no one mentioned Howard the Duck :( They made a Captain America movie in 1944......who cares, the modern comic film phenomenon started in or around 2002-03

True, anything before that seems like a joke. The old Batman movie and TV shows, though great in their time when aren't things that I run back to watch. Same goes with the Burton and other 90s Batman movies. Though as a kid I couldn't wait for the next one to come out, even at that time I didn't think they were very good. The movie that kicked off the comic craze, IMO, was X-Men. Couldn't wait to see it a second time in the theaters and the sequels. That's when a sense of seriousness and quality came to the writing and producing of comic films. Some have not been as good as others, but going from X-Men and Spidermanthrough the new Batmans and to the emergence of the Avenger films, it has been a steady incline in quality, and only Marvel has been successful aside from Batman. Marvel has the edge on making the most with the less famous characters, though I don't think that all of them can hold a movie on their own. Even Captain America had trouble in modern cinema making a quality movie. Until characters like Black Widow, Hawkeye, Henry Pym, or even such a known character like Wolverine can make a good solo movie, then I doubt that DC would even think about messing with the lesser known of their heroes. Though I can picture a very successful Justice Leauge movie and maybe a manhunter movie. My only problem with that is, like I said before, is that DC tends to be a little campy and a little more on the lighter side of things - when they went a little darker with Batman Begins they made a huge impact.

And to answer cattlebad's earlier question, yes I think the fictionalization of the setting has a huge effect on the success of a movie. The best way to orient a viewer in a film is to give them a location they are familiar with; characters are characters, but once you throw away a world, some audience will be lost and everything else will fall into the fantasy and avant-garde categories (at least as far as location is concerned). Those (fantasy and avant-garde) are very specific genres with a very set base audience. There are not many fantasy/sci-fi/avant-garde books or films that have had a major following outside of their fan base. Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and maybe Ender's Game are the only ones that have had prolonged, major, success while not being based on a comic book.

I'm rambling....goodnight

"They made a Captain America movie in 1944......who cares, the modern comic film phenomenon started in or around 2002-03."..... You're still wrong.. As I recall the original Superman movies were pretty big hits and the 90's Batman films were insanely popular. Batman was by far the most marketed movie I've ever seen other than Star Wars. You couldn't go anywhere without seeing something related to that film....... Yeah Howard the Duck also was before Blade and also Spawn..

Cash Cows!

@tim2081 said:

@LordMaverick: @Enosisik: I remember a lot of made for TV movies, like Generation X. But Marvel didn't really start major theatrical releases until Blade.

@cattlebattle said:

@wonderW said:

no dc does not, they have more female spin-off from batman, superman and even wonder woman, but wonder woman is one of DC few real female character.

Spin offs or not...they are still well known characters...a lot more than Marvel has

Clones of popular characters automatically get some credibility, but they can't stand on their own, they will always be overshadowed by the original. The first step in making a Supergirl movie is explaining why Superman isn't there; and if Superman is there, then it really isn't a Supergirl movie at all. Elektra already had a movie; without referencing Daredevil much. Black Widow has the potential to have her own movie without the other Avengers. There's also Jean Grey and Storm that can have leading roles.

@Tunsieon: Marvel goes out of their way to thrive on diversity. That's why they jump to have the first Black character to do things, and the first gay character to do things, and change Spider-Man in the Ultimate line to Black/Hispanic.

Where in my post did I indicate that I was talking about physical diversity? I was talking about story possibilities, not doing things first (which really is irrelevant). I'll take a good story based on anyone over a sub-par story based on a gay guy any day of the week.

i Guess DC may be started to branch out, but its still not enough but its a start.