Forget the movies. That particular
battle between DC and Marvel doesn't really get interesting until
next year. Right now the battle is on television and while they are
not really going against each other head to head, it is still
interesting to see how both sides are amping up their game with their
current and future series. There is so much going on right now and I
am not even dealing with the animated series.
On Television that is.
Yes, I know, DC has usually done fairly well on TV, this is nothing new
but they are kicking butt big time right now.
I have been critical of DC’s vision for their movie franchise and
probably unfairly. Their recent Batman
movies were excellent but they have done little else. Meanwhile Marvel is so far ahead of them in
terms of their plans that by the time DC’s first phase kicks into high gear,
Marvel will be in its third phase. It is
not that DC is doing it wrong (Man of
Steel was a misstep for sure) the problem is that it’s taking time getting
going. Not true for Television - DC is doing everything right - in my opinion.
Not everyone wants to see Spider-Man in
the Marvel universe. James Whitbrook has some good arguments onkeeping Spider-Man in a solo setting.
If you are a fan of Marvel's Agents
of SHIELD then you know the brief rocky history it has. Most
people would agree that the show did not impress right away. The
show failed to live up to Joss Whedon's normal standard (Firefly,
Buffy The Vampire Slayer) and certainly didn't live up to the
Marvel Avengers universe level. The show was sub par with most
everything under achieving from writing, effects, character
development and so on.
Thoughts - Most TV shows are criticized based on
their most recent episodes and if this is true, Agents of SHIELD is one of the best series on TV right now. The show got off to a disappointing start to
say the least. The show was not bad. It was actually okay but most were expecting
and hoping for something better from Joss Whedon and the Marvel universe. 
Over the weekend I watched around 3 hours of the some of the best Marvel Superhero Avengers product I have ever see. Captain America - The Winter Soldier was a spectacular movie that had a near perfect plot and action mixture. It was a perfect continuation of the Captain America character and storyline from the original Captain America - The First Avenger and The Avengers movie. The character, played by Chris Evans sticks to his guns in an ever build up of conflict from the problems with SHIELD to still having to exist into today's society to leaving behind his life of the past to dealing with threats from that same past. This movie sees a slow reveal and decay of an existing society that Steve Rogers is already questioning and his concerns suddenly become so much more.