DC and Marvel’s rivalry is infamous, with the two universes having co-existed but (almost) never interacting. At one point, the primary difference between them was that Marvel was more concerned with superheroes with human flaws, while DC was more about fantastical stories, but now, the tonal difference between the two is somewhat academic. With that in mind, what might a DC vs. Marvel superhero movie look like?
You might scoff at the idea of Batman hanging out with Spider-Man on screen, but Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad director James Gunn isn’t ruling anything out. During an online Q&A a fan asked: “You think it would be possible [to do] a DC vs Marvel movie?” Here’s how Gunn responded:
“In the past I would have said no way, but today I think anything is possible.”
Let’s be real here, this isn’t going to happen anytime soon. However, if anyone would know the chances, it’d be Gunn. He’s in the unique position of working with Marvel Studios and Warner Bros. at the same time. And the very fact that he’s able to do that suggests a slight thawing of the relationship between the two studios. But that’s still a long, long way from them actively collaborating on a movie. I think the only circumstances either company would seriously consider it for would be if both of their franchises were failing and each one had nothing to lose.
But as Gunn says, anything can happen. It’s also worth remembering that there was an often-forgotten comics crossover between DC and Marvel in the 1990s called Amalgam. It wasn’t very good, but it did provide a number of strange and interesting combinations of iconic heroes, with the best being Dark Claw aka Logan Wayne, who was Wolverine and Batman at the same time. Also, he looks awesome in a ridiculous 1990s kind of way. Now that I think about it, who wouldn’t watch a Dark Claw movie?