Marvel Vs. DC - Daredevil, Deadpool, 2015-2016 TV Season, and the not so Fantastic Four

By Ken Parker

With the next TV season almost upon us we see a lot of exciting match-ups in this ongoing and fun battle between Marvel and DC.  The tides seem to be slightly changing due to a horrible outing by Fantastic Four but until Deadpool and Batman Vs Superman come out next year, all we really have is what is on TV and that is certainly exciting.  This time around I also look at what I think are the most important events for either side in the following year or so.

Daredevil and Netflix - I finally watched the entire season of Daredevil and I will say that this was probably the best superhero TV series currently on TV.  The show was incredible.  Its cinematography, action sequences and acting were all top notch.  The series got better and better each episode leading to an incredible climax.  My confidence in the Netflix/Marvel universe is through the roof right now and I am really looking forward to the other series that come after this.

This is another element of Marvel that is working perfectly right now.




Fantastic Four - Yeeeshh.  Okay, raise your hands if you thought Fantastic Four was going to be good and do well.  The film did not do so well and there is a lot of hate toward Fox and this franchise. Now I have not seen the movie and I do want to see if it really is that bad or that it is just different. The Marvel Cinematic universe is doing most things right and is keeping an accurate blueprint from the original comics.  Fox strayed quite a bit from the comic with Fantastic Four and director Josh Trank has voiced his opinion on this, stating that his version of the movie would have been better and
that the studio got too involved.  Whatever happened, the movie didn't do much, or did it?

Some Marvel fans are kind of hoping on the off chance that this failure will push Fox into dumping the Fantastic Four franchise into MCU's lap.  This would mean, if done quick enough, the Fantastic Four could be ready for their MCU reboot appearance by the time Infinity Wars reaches the big screen.  If not, then perhaps phase 4 or 5 could headline Fantastic Four along with Spider-Man for movies past 2020.  That would be really cool.

Makes the 1994 version just a bit better......

What is shocking about Fantastic Four doing poorly is that Fox is sticking to their guns and are still planning a sequel for 2017.  This may be just a way to not give what fans want, either a shift over to the MCU or no more Fantastic Four movies.  Fox keeps the rights as long as they keep making the movies.  The idea of a crossover with Fantastic Four and X-Men seems like a better idea now but if FF did, one has to imagine that the X-Men franchise could suffer.







Deadpool - the next big superhero film will be Deadpool coming out in February 2016.  The film has quite a bit of hype and looks to be a breath of fresh air.  It's R rating will keep a huge section of the superhero audience from watching it but nevertheless the popularity of this character is pretty high and should get back some of Fox's lost points with Fantastic Four.

This may be a glimpse at the MCU Spider-Man

Spider-Man Reboot - it appears that the new Spider-Man film coming out in 2017 will not be an origin story thank God.  Despite that, they will need to still re-introduce what makes that character so good if Marvel hopes to make him a heavy hitter in their Universe.  Remember, Spider-Man is one of the most popular Marvel characters and for him to be successful in the MCU, he needs to be just right.  If well acted and given the right set of scenes in Captain America: Civil War, I think he could regain that crown.

Spider-Man will probably become the face of the MCU going forward and so this is probably their most important movie in the next couple of years.



Fall 2015 Television Battle Heats Up - So Marvel and DC go head to head this fall on television. With no movies until 2016, all we have left is TV series but there are some great things to look forward to.

Gotham will be go up against Supergirl in the season's most unfortunate line-up problem.  This will weaken both series ratings for sure.  While I have enjoyed Gotham, there is only so much I can take of a prequel that takes place years before all of these characters come into their own.  I do like the crime drama and atmosphere but I would rather see a woman kicking bad guy butts all over the place. Gotham has been teasing the appearance of the Joker, mostly because that is what keeps people watching is seeing the early development of these iconic bad guys.  Unless we jump ahead and see Batman, this show is never going to do anything but heat on slow simmer.

Supergirl is something I am looking forward to quite a bit and I hope it does well.  I already do not like the premise of escaped convicts from the Phantom Zone idea but hopefully it will be written well and continue to have the energy that the pilot did.  Again, because the two of these shows are on the same time on Monday, both will suffer in the ratings and one could kill off the other. It's too bad that it was confirmed that Supergirl will not crossover into the DC CW world with Flash or Arrow because this is what viewers want to see and if Supergirl does not do as well as hoped, this might be something they regret not doing.

The Flash - This show will be continuing where it left off with all kinds of time and inter dimensional travel.  Hopefully this won't dominate the plot line but I guess there is only so much you can do with the new Metahumans every week.

Marvel's Agents of SHIELD - This show has been moving in the right direction since the first season story "Turn, Turn, Turn." and with the Inhumans becoming more involved with the series, I see this show doing nothing but improving as long as it keeps the characters the center of attention.

Marvel's Agent Carter - a brief shining star last season, I love the look and feel of Agent Carter's premise, taking place in the past and providing an underlining groundwork for this Marvel universe to stand upon.

Arrow - This show has changed quite a bit and has moved into mini Justice League territory.  Looks like it might get away from that a bit with the Legends of Tomorrow happening mid-season.  This show needs to have some kind of powerful flashback story as well.  Bringing in Constantine (Matt Ryan) from the cancelled NBC show of the same name is a good idea to perhaps bring on board fans from that show.

Legends of Tomorrow - Really looking forward to this.  I just hope the writing is excellent.  No reason to suspect otherwise.

AKA Jessica Jones - after seeing Daredevil I have no fears about this show.  It is the most exciting mini franchise on TV right now or at least if this show hits it out of the park then it will be.  Still believe DC is doing it right but Marvel and Netflix could be some better competition.





Daredevil - Looking forward to this.  Can't wait to see Electra and Punisher.  Can't see how they can top this past season with Kingpin.

What more can I say - I can't wait!!

Marvel Vs DC - What are the most important things to look for within the next year?

Fox's Deadpool - Fox is reeling despite announcing a Fantastic Four sequel is still happening.  They need a new franchise and Deadpool should give it to them.

Batman Vs Superman - this movie will make or break the DC universe.  If this film does well and is accepted by fans and the public, then half the battle is over.  If sales are weak or there are Man of Steel like problems with the film, the interest in more Superman, Wonder Woman, Aqua Man and the Justice League will not be as high as DC hopes and this house of cards could fall.  Certainly the hype is making this the most eagerly anticipated film of the year and believe it or not it has already closed the gap on Marvel's Captain America film by presenting us with an excellent trailer and by standing by and watching The Avengers, Age of Ultron make a few mistakes and exposing some kinks in the armor.

Captain America - Civil War - if this film is anything remotely like Winter Soldier then great.  If it is more like Age of Ultron then look out.  Marvel showed that sometimes smaller is better (Ant-Man) and Captain America - Civil War, or Avengers 3 Civil War as it seems to resemble, needs
to right the ship a bit.




X-Men Apocalypse - Fox needs another win to limit its Fantastic Four damage.  This film may be setting the stage for the future of this franchise.  With a new younger cast, the X-Men will need to move on from Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and Hugh Jackman and this continues this process started with X-Men First Class.

Suicide Squad - No matter what Batman vs Superman does, this film is very important for DC.  If this film doesn't do that well it would be bad even if Batman vs. Superman does well.



Female Super Heroes - There is a push to see a better quality of female super hero and Wonder Woman will give DC first crack at it.  If Wonder Woman has a memorable part in Batman vs Superman then we can relax a little. DC can also lean a bit on Supergirl if that series does well. Marvel  has taken some mis-steps with Black Widow but has teased Wasp in Ant-Man.  The casting of Captain Marvel is high on the list for Marvel but it seems we have a long way to wait.  We will see how much of a well written part Black Widow and Scarlet Witch have in the next Captain America film.

Over Saturation Avoidance - Especially on TV, both DC and Marvel are expanding their universes with Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow and AKA Jessica Jones.  It is important for them not to go too far.  Some might say Age of Ultron and to a lesser degree, Ant-Man was the start of the super hero saturation on the big screen and certainly one can look at Fantastic Four as the first casualty of this but until we see something from the MCU tank, we won't know for sure.