Money Game: Marvel Studios vs DC Studios

 

2023 is a big year for movies, but let's look at the money side of things for a moment. Marvel films and DC films are killing the box office, but that is not the case with every film those studios produce. Take the most recent Marvel film: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantummania for example. The film had a budget of $200 million and grossed approximately $474.42 million worldwideٰٰٰٰٰٰ. In order for a film to break even, you would need to make more opening weekend than the initial budget which this film didn't. Opening weekend, the film made only $106.1 million which if you do the math is way less than their budget. DC's most recent film Shazam: Fury of the Gods did not fare much better. That film had a lower budget than Ant-Man 3 with a budget of $125 million and made $30.5 million opening weekend². What does this say about the future of superhero films? 

Superheroes are part of the cinema norm nowadays with Marvel movies grossing $7.1 billion or more, which means the average Marvel movie grosses around $716 million³. Compare that to a DC film. The average DC film only grosses around $129 million⁴. That shows you that while DC films have an audience, more fans are flocking to theatres to see a Marvel film mainly due to fan demand and the popularity of characters like the Avengers. DC and Marvel movies and the studios behind them have a formula but in the case of Marvel, the formula works better. What exactly is that formula? Marvel Studios is brilliant in its game plan, and the studio president Kevin Feige is a genius when it comes to mapping out what movies and tv shows to crank out in what year and how many Marvel will put out at once. Mr. Feige calls these groups "phases". For example, we are currently in Phase 5 which along with Phase 4 and Phase 6, is properly titled "The Multiverse Saga". While Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness started the conversation about the multiverse, that movie was part of Phase 4, and the real meat and potatoes of the multiverse in the MCU are starting with more recent releases like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantummania and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. What I believe also separates the MCU from the DCU is the idea that you can have solo Marvel movies as part of these "phases" and mix that with television series that bring in those same characters in a different light or adds this large cornucopia of different worlds and characters that seems foreign to the landscape of the MCU.

DC Studios has a problem. James Gunn, who has Marvel experience from directing the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, is in charge of the film and television side of DC Studios along with his producing partner Peter Safran, and the previous way DC handled their films was horrendous, to say the least, and the actors were not treated fairly. You can look at Justice League for a good example. Joss Whedon, who in my opinion created some true visionary television series, was known for being a cruel and vindictive bully who treated many cast members unfairly, especially Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot. There are many articles on the internet about that so I will not go into detail here. DC has another issue with that being that their plan on choosing which movies come out when sucks and lately they have had to cancel movies like Batgirl and a Ben Affleck starring solo Batman film that Affleck would have directed as well that would have him do battle with Joe Manganiello's Deathstroke. Manganiello's Deathstroke was a villainous character who was seen briefly in the credits of the theatrical cut of Justice League and featured more prominently in the Snyder Cut version of the film that, in my opinion, was the better version and one of my favorite Zack Snyder films. Marvel is different because they put their money into projects in a way where the actors benefit and not only that but from a financial standpoint, it makes it easier for the studio to see a profit so there is no reason for them to cancel a project either in pre-production or even after filming has wrapped.

The question that still needs to be answered by both Marvel and DC Studios respectfully is where the right places are to put their money that way they know how to fund a superhero film or television show in a way that will be domestically and globally successful for everyone involved. Many DC and Marvel fans do not understand the difference between the domestic and global box office. What is called the "domestic box office" only refers to the money made from films released in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada. The global box office is similar but refers to those same films and how much money they make overseas in countries around the rest of the world. In order to truly highlight the difference, I will use the box office earnings of Marvel's recent film Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantummania. The film made $474,570, 811 worldwide compared to the $212,974, 824 the film made domestically here in the States. All of this is to say that while Marvel films are box office behemoths, the films still financially perform better on a worldwide scale compared to domestically.

Before, I mentioned that the formula that works for Marvel does not work as well for DC. There is a reason for that and that reason is leadership. Marvel Studios has been led by Kevin Feige since 2007, so you are talking about 16 years of consistent leadership. DC can not say the same. James Gunn as great as he is, is only now the leader, the studio had a different leader at its inception. Studios are more successful when there isn't a changing of the guard when it comes to leadership. The actors feel safer in their given spaces when they can trust that the leadership already knows what they are doing. That is why DC will be in a better place with James Gunn. While the heads of DC feel like Gunn is their answer to Kevin Feige, James Gunn works well because his experience working for Marvel shows that he knows their formula and knows what DC Studios can do to make the films more diverse. Let's face the facts. While films like Black Adam and the soon-to-be-released Blue Beetle are great, they can not be the only examples we look at for culturally diverse DC films besides Wonder Woman with Gal Gadot and Aquaman with Jason Momoa. The leadership needs to change for the better and once that change happens, then the product will change in a way that brings more diversity to the audience. More audience brings more money for the studios and that is exactly what they want.

1. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) - financial information. The Numbers. (n.d.). Retrieved May 5, 2023, from https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Ant-Man-and-the-Wasp-Quantumania-(2023)#tab=summary

2. Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023) - financial information. The Numbers. (n.d.). Retrieved May 5, 2023, from https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Shazam-Fury-of-the-Gods-(2022)#tab=summary

3. How much money does Marvel make per year? – very aware. https://veryaware.com. (n.d.). Retrieved May 5, 2023, from https://veryaware.com/how-much-money-does-marvel-make-per-year/

4. Dingman, L., & Lisa Dingman (143 Articles Published) My passions in life are reading and writing. (2013, October 11). DC vs Marvel - who makes more money? TheRichest. Retrieved May 5, 2023, from https://www.therichest.com/entertainment/do-dc-or-marvel-movie-characters-bring-in-more-money/#:~:text=Well%2C%20you%20should%20know%20that%20Marvel%20films%20have,the%20average%20for%20DC%20is%20only%20%24129%20million.