7. Marvel Has Succeeded Without Its Biggest Characters
If you mentioned Marvel to the man or woman on the street ten years ago, the chances are that the first thing to pop into their head would be either Spider-Man or the X-Men, with only those on a deeper level of fandom showing knowledge of Thor, Hawkeye or even Iron Man. Now though? You can't move for Avengers merch, and the characters have been given a new lease of life that's seen them become far more visible than Spider-Man (for now), the X-Men or the Fantastic Four. How times change. Conversely DC is struggling to launch an extended universe despite the fact it has access to the biggest names on its books. Building a set of shared franchises on the back's of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman should be easy, but DC is doing a remarkably good job of making it look difficult. It could be because there are already beloved film versions of DC's heroes to try and get people to forget about whilst Marvel started with a clean slate, but maybe Marvel just made better cast and production choices.
Stereotypically awkward writer, gamer and general nerd. Dislikes writing in the third person, likes tea as much as the next man but not as much as a typical blogger and has breath as fresh as a summer ham.
