The Avengers vs The Justice League

This post is written by a fan of both Marvel and DC comics, it is coming from a place of love and not malice. I simply wanted to compare the two powerhouse teams from both companies and try to come to a conclusion, what team is better? After the recent release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021) I cannot help but see similarities in the plot to The Avengers (2012-2019) movies. So, let’s dive into the nail biting question of who is better, The Avengers or The Justice League?

Breakdown of Characters

Unfortunately, the DC universe will always be in rivalry and comparison with the MARVEL universe and The Justice League is no exception. Being a die hard fan for the DC comic book characters but also an opposing fan of the MARVEL cinematic universe I always feel incredibly disappointed when the representation of DC characters on screen falls flat and feels like a cheaper version of MARVEL.

Firstly though, let’s introduce ourselves to the original comic book characters that make up The Avengers, I am going to condense this list to those we are familiar with from the cinematic universe. Back in 1963 the first Avengers comic was published, including the co-founders of the Avengers team, these members were Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp and Hulk. Later into the 1960s several other members joined (in order of appearance), Captain America, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlett Witch, Black Panther and Vision. Continuing to the 1970s and 80s recruits, also in order of appearance: Black Widow, Mantis, Ms. Marvel, Falcon, Captain Marvel and then later into the early 1990s Spider-man joins the team.

On the other hand, The Justice League’s seven founding members were featured in the team's first appearance in The Brave and the Bold Vol. 1, 1960. I am also going to condense this list to those we are familiar with from the motion pictures, these members were: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter. New members were added in the team's own series the Justice League of America Vol. 1, launched in November 1960. This incarnation lasted until the mid-1980s and we do not see Cyborg until the release of Justice League of America Vol. 2 #41, 2008.

Essentially, comparing the inclusion of characters into the cinematic universes we see a lot more newcomers on the Marvel side rather than the Justice League. Considering Marvel have expanded their universe to a larger scale than DC, the list of characters still shows that The Justice League have simply stuck with the original seven and haven’t set up any expansion for the second movie? Some may argue this control of characters is a good thing but personally I find this just restrict the potential for DC characters to be integrated in the future.

Thanos vs Darksied

Thanos or Darkseid ? Infinity Stones vs Mother Boxes, duh?

In this section I wanted to discuss the top enemies of both teams from the comics books and motion pictures. I want to show just how many villains there are in both universes and how much potential for expansion the Justice League truly have.

Top Avengers enemies: Taskmaster, Korvac, Scarlett Witch, Norman Osborn, Thanos, Kree/Skrulls, Baron Zemon and the masters of Evil, Loki, Kang and Ultron. Out of this list of ten enemies, in the MCU we have seen a total of five of them, this statistic is brilliant! We have had a chance to see the Avengers power to its full potential. Although the Scarlett Witch narrative is only now being explored through WandaVision, her evil side is going to grow through several upcoming motion pictures.

Top Justice League enemies: Despero, Lex Luther, Prometheus, Injustice League, Amazo, Secret society of Super Villains, Anti-Monitor, Starro, Crime Syndicate of America, Darksied. In this line up we have only seen two out of a possible ten enemies. Considering DC have nowhere near as many movies as The Avengers this number is pretty substantial, we have seen Lex Luther and Darkseid, although neither have been defeated yet i’m sure those battles are soon to come.

The Cinematic Universe

DC movies will most likely always struggle to hold a solid and loyal fanbase due to its non-cohesive universe, everything and everyone exists individually rather than being united in one narrative. The Dark Knight Trilogy, The Joker, Suicide Squad and the upcoming The Batman are all interpretations of the same characters whilst existing in completely different versions of their universe and cinema itself. In my opinion, the DC universe is simply messy. Everyone wants a piece of the pie and it’s becoming harder and harder to chew, the characters are spread all over cinema in several genres, performed by several actors and created by many directors, it is becoming too vast to control or contain. In my opinion, as powerful and iconic the Justice League are their movies will never be considered better than the Avengers, strictly for the reasons I have stated above. The characters have been spread too thin and are starting to loose their uniqueness, every interpretation is simply compared to another… a perfect example is the competitiveness and toxicity surrounded by the Joker’s character. Each actor who plays him is competing and fighting to be liked by the public and I find it exhausting to keep up, especially now with Jared Leto actually replaying the Joker in a completely new style and appearance?

To conclude, this post is incredibly difficult to condense, I’ve trying to share some points that personally steer me towards The Avengers over The Justice League. Of course, this post isn’t simply about strength or power this is about everything but most of all exposure in the media. I take into account the dedication to the cinematic universe and every time Marvel win.

I hope you enjoyed this post, it is a lot longer than my usual but I appreciate you reading to the end. Thank you and I hope you learnt a little about DC and Marvel studios.