50 'Controversial Opinions' on all Things Superhero
Movies, Comics, Television...
Here are my “controversial” opinions on the Superhero genre.
Marvel is overall better than DC, the fundamental reason why the Marvel Cinematic Universe has earned more money than the DC Cinematic Universe is Marvel has a more compelling brand overall.
DC is akin to ancient sumerian text depicting powerful stoic/aloof heroes that vanquish their enemies.
Marvel is more like Ancient Greek/Roman mythology with heroes that are flawed much like the Roman/Greek pantheon.
Batman can be really great. So can Wonder Woman and even the mostly boring Superman. DC in the 1980s did a good job of breathing life into these characters. Still too little too late. Marvel’s body of work is better.
Marvel has too many heroes. Even the MCU has too many not counting the X-Men or the Fantastic Four.
The X-Men universe is best separated from the rest of the Marvel Universe.
The Fantastic Four/Guardians of the Globe/Silver Surfer should exist separate from the rest of the Marvel universe.
Many mutants in the Marvel Universe are the product of lazy writing. Giving a random person powers at birth can lead to a lot of narrative laziness.
The non-powered citizens in the X-Men universe being scared of mutants makes no sense considering all the other superheroes, supervillains and existential threats to humanity that exist all around them.
Daredevil is a more compelling character than Wolverine.
I highly dislike the Punisher as a character.
Magneto is one of the greatest villains in comic history.
Netflix losing its own Marvel shows was a terrible thing. Particularly Daredevil.
Both Marvel and DC comics eventually lose any sense of suspense because there are often no real permanent consequences to anything that happens.
Related to this, saving the world gets boring eventually.
The “no killing” bad guys trope is a cheap plot device. Any rational hero would recognize the need to kill many of these villains.
Action sequences in movies and comics mean nothing if they don't somehow relate to the story. They are often cheap filler.
Batman villains are more interesting than Batman.
Wonder Woman is more interesting than Batman or Superman as a character.
A major issue with DC and Marvel is there is rarely any true ending or resolution to their stories.
Amazon’s “Invincible” and “The Boys” are better than anything being put out by Marvel or DC currently.
The Amazon “The Boys” show is way better than the comic.
Image Comics might be the best large comic company right now.
Image has a better business model than Marvel or DC.
Image comics were generally bad in 1992 and contributed to the speculation market crashing.
Spawn is kind of boring and dated.
The HBO Spawn animated show is good and better than the comic.
Savage Dragon is by far the best super hero from the initial Image run.
The vast majority of comics published since the early days of DC have been terrible. The ratio of good comics to bad comics is horrible. Most comics are terrible.
The good storylines and epic runs of various writers and artists make it all worth it.
Stan Lee wasn't trying to reinvent the wheel and never thought of himself as more than a commercial comic book creator, but he absolutely set a higher bar for what comics could be.
Spider-Man was the original subversive comic, it was “The Boys” of its day. It turned every superhero trop on its head.
People don't understand that Spider-Man was originally subversive because Spider-Man’s subversive elements became tropes themselves.
Peter Parker is the most influential super hero comic book character.
Miles Morales is a great version of Spiderman.
The Watchmen is probably the best super hero graphic novel.
Alan Moore is far superior to Frank Miller.
Invincible is probably the best long running comic series(2004-2017)
X-Men is the best superhero soap opera.
The comic medium is capable of much more than just superhero fiction and some of the very best of the medium do not involve superheroes.
The most accurate and best version of Bruce Wayne/Batman is Batman: Animated Series.
Harley Quinn is a far more interesting character in the animated series where she originated.
There are more good Marvel movies than Star Wars movies.
Disney should take a long break from making Marvel movies at this point, but won't.
The initial run of Marvel movies captured the characters they portrayed almost perfectly. Ironman, Captain America, and Thor in particular.
Christopher Nolan makes good Batman movies.
Tim Burton made good Batman movies.
Comic books from the 1990s were aimed at teenage boys and there is an absurd amount of cleavage and skimpy outfits worn by female characters.
The male characters from that era are drawn in a similarly exploitative way.
The Ninja Turtles comic and adjacent comics like Yojimbo and Zen Intergalactic Ninja are pretty good usually. Not really for small children.
Check out GOTD’s previous collection of “controversial opinions” on comics, and beware, more are highly likely to follow:
A Collection of Controversial Opinions, Part IV
Superman is the greatest superhero bar none. There is no comparable character in the Marvel universe. Superman is an American hero who should always stand for truth, justice, and the AMERICAN way. Superman is a wise and happy character, as such he should never be dark.
You've got a good mix of things I agree with, disagree with, and partially agree with. I can't hit them all, but just a few thoughts off the top of my head:
Yes to #6 -- I've long thought the X-Men needed to be their own thing, for the reason you stated. Marvel missed an opportunity to do this when it launched its Ultimate line circa 2000.
I do think the Fantastic Four work in the same universe as the Avengers, but I can see an argument for separating them out.
The no-killing rule has always struck me as an important part of what makes a superhero a superhero -- having all that power but still being able to restrain yourself and find a better solution. It represents an ideal. That said, sometimes the idea gets executed poorly -- too focused on the letter of the law and not the spirit -- and I wrote about one example on my own Substack several months ago: https://danielsherrier.substack.com/p/the-wrong-way-to-show-a-no-kill-rule
And while Wolverine is also great, I completely agree that Daredevil is better.
Thanks for a fun list!