Justice League Vs. The Avengers: Which Is Better?

Joss Whedon takes on himself.

The Avengers Justice League
Marvel Studios, Warner Bros & https://jmattisson.deviantart.com/

Justice League has been out in cinemas for a while now, with fans continuing to debate its merits and keeping an eye on that slow-rising box office tally.

With its ensemble superhero line-up and epic, apocalyptic narrative, the film was clearly intended to be the DC Extended Universe's answer to the Marvel Cinematic Universe's The Avengers, which remains the highest-grossing superhero movie of all time and is also one of the most-acclaimed.

Away from box office bucks and Rotten Tomatoes scores, though, how exactly does Justice League measure up against The Avengers in every area that counts?

With Joss Whedon joining Justice League's production late in the day, it's interesting that this eventually pits the director partially against himself, having also directed The Avengers, albeit working under decidedly more urgent circumstances in his new movie.

From the direction through to the performances, each movie's villain, the action sequences and beyond, here's how the MCU and DCEU's biggest movies to date fare against one another...

13. Direction

Zack Snyder Header
Warner Bros.

This sure is a complicated one, what with Joss Whedon being involved in both movies. His work on The Avengers is certainly competent if also relatively uninspired, because Whedon's clearly a far more talented writer than he is a director. There are a lot of shot-reverse-shot conversations that feel more like TV than a big event movie.

On the other hand, Justice League is a mess of two distinct directorial styles, with Zack Snyder's operatic bombast and Whedon's more stripped-down simplicity clashing harshly at times.

Winner: Neither film is particularly impressive in this area, though for its consistency of vision, The Avengers snags it.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.