Will The Disney And Fox Deal Make DC Comics Movies And TV Shows Irrelevant?
In the comic book world, Superman is still king, however, in the world of movies, he’s struggling to play well alone or with others. With reviews of DC Comics’ Justice League being rather dismal, DC may have taken another punch to the gut when it was rumored by the Los Angeles Times that Disney might be in the running to buy Fox.
While the deal would be done to challenge other bigwigs in the industry on the tech side of things, the majority of fans will only be concerned about the entertainment side of the deal. Merging Fox with Disney will give Marvel all the ammo they need to put DC Comics in the ground. While DC has done well on the small screen with Arrow, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow and Flash, Marvel still has a strong hold on the game with Daredevil, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Iron Fist and others. But, it’s the big screen that has Disney drooling at the mouth.
For years, Marvel has found a way to do The Avengers without one of its most important pieces– Spider-Man. However, a deal with Sony gave Marvel the rights needed and the rest has been cinematic history for both sides. But why hasn’t Fox been able to make such a deal themselves? At one point, X-Men was part of the Marvel Universe, but with Fox having control, we’ve been denied seeing Professor X and Wolverine paired up with Iron Man and Captain America.
How would DC fare against a universe that included the Avengers, X-Men and the Fantastic Four? While the Superman and Batman solo movies are no longer top draws, would they be able to withstand the onslaught of box office releases Marvel would throw their way? While DC has enjoyed a great run on the small screen, pairing the two giants will also give them an outrageous control on most networks.
ABC has a top-rated Marvel show with AOS, while Fox has a new hit with The Gifted. Then you add in the new original Hulu show Marvel’s Runaways and the new breakout hit– Cloak and Dagger to go along with the six Netflix original shows and it’s no wonder why DC is a bit worried. Things have gotten so bad at Warner Bros. that they have decided to do a restructuring of their DC film operations according to reports by Variety.
As a fan of Superman himself, I was a bit let down by the Justice League. While Wonder Woman and Suicide Squad were pretty solid, I left the theater after JL wanting answers. How can Marvel continue to put out great material while DC is struggling just to find their place? There is no way a cast of heroes that includes Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman should ever disappoint any comic fan. What has made matters worse for DC is that Marvel and Fox have continued to drill audiences with great movies just in 2017 alone with Logan, Thor: Ragnarok, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2.
Then in 2018, they dropped nuclear bombs with Black Panther, Deadpool 2, and Avengers: Infinity War. DC is still going strong with their network shows but Marvel still has their onslaught coming with Daredevil Season 3, Iron Fist Season 2, Luke Cage Season 2 and Runaways Season 2. It’s just too much for DC to overcome.
Many figured it was over when Comcast came in with an 11th-hour bid of $65 billion. But there was no way Disney was going to let this deal go away without a fight.
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Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
