With Superman, DC Has Its First Undisputed Victory Against Marvel In 17 Years

As we reach the final weeks of the 2025 summer movie season, let's take a look at the current state of the comic book movie genre. What was once the most reliable cash cow for Hollywood throughout the 2010s has since cratered in box office returns. Sure, Marvel Studios had at least two $1 billion hits this decade, with "Spider-Man: No Way Home" and "Deadpool and Wolverine," and DC's "The Batman" was a critical and commercial success. But otherwise, the genre has fallen considerably from its peak.

That said, 2025 has arguably been the best summer of comic book films in several years. Marvel Studios kicked off the summer with "Thunderbolts," which proved to be one of its better post-Phase 3 Marvel Cinematic Universe. "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" finally gave us a quality film adaptation featuring Marvel's First Family. Unfortunately, despite these two films undoubtedly being some of the best that Marvel has produced this decade (the underwhelming "Captain America: Brave New World" also came out earlier this year), audiences are not turning up in droves for the MCU on the scale that they used to.

While the comic book movie genre is clearly at a crossroads, in comes "Superman," written and directed by DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn. The film may not be lighting the box office on fire overseas, but it's a solid hit with domestic audiences. While Marvel Studios' two summer movies were received well by both critics and audiences, "Superman" is outperforming all three of this year's MCU releases at the box office, while also dominating the pop culture discourse. This gives DC its first undisputed victory against Marvel at the movies in 17 years, a win that's all the more remarkable when we look back at the last five decades of the genre.

While DC and Marvel have competed for nearly a century as comic book publications, much of the rivalry among their devoted fanbases has revolved around their respective film adaptations. The modern superhero blockbuster was born when Richard Donner's "Superman: The Movie" soared into theaters in 1978, convincing the world that a man can fly (on the big screen). At the tail end of the 1980s, Tim Burton's "Batman" hooked audiences with its imaginative vision of Gotham City. Between these two founding fathers of modern superhero cinema, DC Comics was the first major publisher to establish a foothold at the box office.

That being said, DC's initial reign was not without its lows, which were quite deep. While the first two "Superman" films were acclaimed by critics and audiences alike, the final two entries left a stain on the franchise's legacy, with "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace" ending Christopher Reeve's run on an unfortunate whimper. As for the "Batman" films, despite starting with promise thanks to Tim Burton's two films with Michael Keaton, the cracks began to form when Joel Schumacher took over. Although "Batman Forever" (starring Val Kilmer) did well at the box office, its sequel, "Batman and Robin" (starring George Clooney) was an infamous flop that put the Caped Crusader's film franchise on ice for several years.

Marvel's own journey on the big screen started poorly with the 1987 disaster that was "Howard the Duck." It wasn't until 11 years later that the Marvel universe had its first successful outing with "Blade." And as we turned the page towards the 2000s, Marvel's characters started to make a name for themselves with successful film adaptations of "X-Men" and "Spider-Man."

In many ways, the DC/Marvel rivalry went into maximum overdrive in 2008, thanks to the critical and commercial successes of both "Iron Man" and "The Dark Knight." Marvel Studios' first entry in the MCU was a breath of fresh air that thoroughly entertained audiences on its own merits, with the post-credits stinger teasing the "Avengers Initiative" serving as icing on the cake. Only a month later, "The Incredible Hulk" hit theaters, and while not as much of a success as "Iron Man," it further stoked the flames of excitement with promises of an ambitious cinematic crossover event in the years to come. Although Marvel was subject to much buzz that summer, the spotlight immediately shifted towards DC when "The Dark Knight" broke box office records left and right, becoming the biggest film of 2008. To this day it's still widely considered to be one of comic book movies of all time, if not the best.

The 2010s were the decade of shared cinematic universes, with the MCU reigning supreme. Meanwhile, following the conclusion of Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" trilogy, Warner Bros. attempted to capitalize on the success of those films with its next Superman reboot. Zack Snyder's "Man of Steel" evoked the darker, grittier tone established from Nolan's Batman films, and eventually led into the broader DC Extended Universe. The mixed success of the DCEU eventually led to the current reboot under DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran.

Following a massive second weekend box office drop for "The Fantastic Four: First Steps," "Superman" is on track to become the highest-grossing comic book film of 2025. This would give DC its first undisputed victory over Marvel for the first time since 2008, when "The Dark Knight" topped "Iron Man" at the box office. Some may argue that 2008 was the year in which DC won a battle, only for Marvel to win the long-term war of the 2010s. And Marvel Studios is all but guaranteed to emerge victorious over DC Studios at the box office next year with its most profitable titles, "Spider-Man" and "Avengers," returning to theaters. But the foundation that has been set with DC Studios is enticing audiences for the expansion of the DC Universe that is to come, especially with "Supergirl" and "Clayface" both looking to be bold, different approaches to the genre.

"Superman" and "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" are both playing in theaters.