Let’s go back to April of 2019. Theaters are packed and lines are wrapping around blocks with people waiting to get their ticket. Websites are crashing with the traffic coming in to reserve a ticket and a seat and the internet is filled with nothing but screaming fans. And for one movie only.

Avengers: Endgame.

After being forced to wait a year, fans have finally received the long awaited answer to the cliffhanger that Avengers: Infinity War left us. How would our beloved characters recover after such a grueling loss? Who will pick up the pieces? Will our favorite characters return after being snapped away? And the most intense question of all, which heroes will be ultimately seen for the last time?  The answer was simply a perfect film. Theaters were filled with crying adults as we saw Iron Man make the ultimate sacrifice and shouts of cheer and triumph as Captain America whispers the famous “Avengers assemble!” No one could stop talking about it, it covered news outlets and entertainment blogs for weeks. It was simply the most perfect way to end Marvel’s Phase 3 and to this day is considered one of their best works.

Now compare that to today and Marvel is but a small whisper of what it once was. Though it did not begin like that. If anything, people expected the momentum to continue with the release of Spiderman: Far From Home.  The doubt started only after the underwhelming release of Black Widow, due in part with the restrictions due to COVID at the time. People passed the film off as a fluke, still trusting in the Marvel brand, justifying it with the conditions of the time. Similarly, Phase Four would have the same type of commotion around it, with films like Thor: Love and Thunder and Eternals having mixed fanfare reactions. But the shaky reaction to Black Widow should have been foreshadowing to what the Marvel brand would become.

At the same, DC had difficulty finding mainstream success and popularity the likes that Marvel had. Their last batch of great films were The Dark Knight Trilogy and they had long since passed holding up the DC name. Turmoil surrounding the comic brand would only deepen with the drama surrounding the Justice League Snyder Cut and Suicide Squad. Similarly, reception for their films like The Flash and Black Adam only made fans question if DC and, really, superhero movies in general, were past their prime. But while Marvel was losing the trust of their fans with films like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and their show Secret Invasion, Warner Bros and DC were planning their recovery.

After the box office bombing of Wonder Woman: 1984 and Birds of Prey, DC would begin their universal reset as their cinematic universe had gotten too convoluted and confusing. Plans had been made to begin the final stages of the DCEU, and began production for their last films. Of those last ones, Warner Bros would release The Batman.

Grossing over $772 million on a $200 million budget, the film was a success as it became the seventh highest grossing film in 2022. It was met with fanfare, praised for its new, raw and creative depiction of the Dark Knight, whose stories had begun to become repetitive. The film showed Batman in a way never seen before, gritty yet in a vulnerable manner that fleshed out Bruce Wayne, exploring his weaknesses and realizing his journey isn’t just of vengeance but of hope. A total reinvention of the character and audience’s loved the film, with many finally turning to the DCEU and noting its very real potential. The film would create a new atmosphere surrounding the studio, a new era beginning for the DC brand.

And while of course The Batman stood out as one of their few good films at the time, Marvel was in the same positioning. It seemed for every one good project Marvel released they came out with three bad ones. Yet while Marvel kept this pattern, DC was beginning to learn from their mistakes, slowly but surely picking their broken pieces to fix their once great empire. 

In the background of all the chaos and work, they began to release hidden classics that fans seemed to salivate over. The Netflix series The Sandman explored one of the more niche characters of the DC comics, Morpheus, the representation of Dreams in their universe. Then came the Peacemaker series, though with its few flaws, it was greeted with loving arms and a new audience that ate up DC’s new direction of embracing their campiness. And as of recently, they had wrapped up their new series The Penguin, following the character Oswald from the same universe as The Batman. Its reception was greatly positive, with raving reviews. And in their animated sector, their last series, Creature Commandos, was praised for its new direction.

And with the upcoming release of their next film, Superman, expectations are high for the film as it is already expected to be a creative reinvention and telling of a beloved character. Many have said it will rival The Batman, much excitement surrounding the return of Clark Kent, seemingly returning back to his comic origins. And with more projects lined up for the future like The Batman: Part 2, a Booster Gold movie and a Supergirl film, many fans predict the DCEU’s Chapter One for their new universe will finally heal their brand and transform to rival Marvel.

Much of the DC’s success can be attributed to James Gunn, who after finishing his last Guardians of the Galaxy movie took over DC studios with Peter Safran in 2022. His vision has been seen as early as the movie The Suicide Squad, clearly turning over to a more campy leaf for the studios. Gunn has seemed to change the self-serious tone that DC had to a direction that focuses on less known characters and unafraid to being a comic book movie. He clearly connects his films to their comic book counterpart, no fear in being nerdy or campy, if anything embracing this aspect. It has transformed the DC brand both visually and thematically, all for the better as characters now seem to be better understood and adored by fans. 

Now of course Marvel is still equally as popular, but it is no exaggeration to point out that Marvel is no longer what it once was. Many have left the franchise after Endgame and many say they no longer have the same flair they once had. It is clear with the decline in their box office return and the quality of their films. Now while they still release a good amount of films and with exciting projects like the next Fantastic Four film, it will never truly amount to what they were once. And it’s clear that the DC brand has transformed into what may have the potential to dethrone Marvel once and for all. Their projects have been reverberating with comic lovers more than ever and seem to have a quality to them Marvel now lacks.

We just have to wait until either hero’s meet in their final battle.