Superman in “Eternals” ?: A Review of Marvel and DC Joining Forces

Hear the name of Superman in a superhero movie it shouldn’t be a cause for wonder, as the ‘man of steel’ is perhaps the most iconic character in this genre. The surprise occurs when the mention is given in “Eternals”, The last film of the rival of DC Comics, Marvel Studios, which just premiered on November 4.

The mention is actually brief, with Phastos’s son (Brian Tyree Henry) comparing Ikaris (Richard Madden), the Eternal with the power to cast cosmic power from his eyes, to Superman. “I don’t wear a cape,” jokes the hero in response. It is not the only reference to DC in the film directed with Chloé Zhao, since at another time a character is compared to Alfred, the loyal butler of Bruce Wayne / Batman, establishing that these characters exist in some way as part of popular culture. from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

And while these references are without a doubt jokes, they are perhaps the closest approach that the two great rivals have had in the superhero genre in the last decade and a half. A shame, as both companies have had a history of collaborating at times, when things got ugly in the world (of comics).

The first superhero collaboration between DC Comics and Marvel occurred in 1976 and pitted ‘Man of Steel’ against Spider-Man, both characters the most popular in their respective universes.

Entitled “Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man: The Battle of the Century ”(“ Superman vs. The surprising Spider-Man: The fight of the century ”) and published in 1976, the 92-page long comic strip saw both heroes cross blows and then join forces against Lex Luthor and Doctor Octopus.

Several factors enabled this meeting, including a collaboration between the two companies just a year earlier to bring the story of “The Wizard of Oz” to the comic strips.

Additionally, although the relationship between the two editors was one of rivalry, there was also constant communication between the two not only because of sharing several of the same collaborators, but also because of the relationship between Stan Lee and his DC counterpart, Carmine Infantino, with whom he had already worked years ago.

The script was in charge of Gerry Conway, who did not worry too much to justify the presence of both heroes in the same universe.

“For me, there was no rational way to justify this joining of forces. I mean, in what universe, in what world (did it take place)?“Conway noted in a 2006 interview.”I saw it as an opportunity to make a story for the fans, a funny story. It was an opportunity to do the scenes that I (as a fan) would like to see in this fantasy”.

The success of the comic, as well as the profits for both companies, led them to collaborate again in 1981 with new superhero encounters: the reunion of two allies in “Superman and Spider-Man” – where Doctor Doom and Wonder Woman also participated, as well as a confrontation between the titans with “Batman vs. The Incredible Hulk ”.

Finally, a year later the companies joined their most popular teams of the moment with “The Uncanny X-Men and the New Titans”, an epic story where the villain Darkseid seeks to use the Dark Phoenix to, of course, conquer the universe. Despite the success of the story, and having sequels already planned, differences between publishers caused collaborations to stop for the next decade.

The comic book resurgence in the 1990s also rekindled Marvel and DC’s desire to collaborate, appropriately beginning in 1994 with two of their characters who most represented the darkest stories of that decade: The Punisher and Batman.

It was far from being the only crossover and a year later two of the greatest villains of both universes faced each other in “Darkseid vs. Galactus: The Hunger” (1996). Spider-Man would not be left without collaborating, although this time he joined forces twice with Batman instead of Superman, while Green Lantern and Silver Surfer had a galactic adventure in “Green Lantern / Silver Surfer: Unholy Alliances”. The latter served as the door for the most ambitious collaboration between the two companies.

Titled “DC Versus Marvel” (or Marvel Versus DC depending on who published it), this four-volume miniseries that came out in 1996 saw the heroes of both universes clash for the entertainment of readers and two omnipotent beings representing each one. of the companies, with battles like The Flash vs. Quicksilver, Aquaman vs. Namor, and Thor vs. Captain Marvel.

In a novel way, some battles such as the one between Superman and the Hulk, Batman with Captain Marvel and Storm against Wonder Woman were decided by an online vote.

Additionally, lThe universes of DC and Marvel end up temporarily merging to create a universe called Amalgam, with combined versions of the characters of both companies as Super-Soldier (Superman and Captain America), Dark Claw (Batman and Wolverine) and Amazon (Wonder Woman and Storm). The merger was only temporary and the universes ended up parting again. However, the popularity of the Amalgam characters led to more comic strips featuring them being published until 1997.

Later DC and Marvel continued to collaborate occasionally. Batman became the character with the most encounters outside of his universe, joining forces with Captain America, Daredevil. Superman was not far behind, and went on adventures with the Silver Surfer and the Fantastic Four.

The collaboration between the two companies was in 2003, when at the risk of bankruptcy the publishers devised “JLA / Avengers”, an event that brought together the most powerful superhero teams from both sides in a race for powerful artifacts. The event ended in the iconic image of Superman using both Mjornir and Captain America’s shield to stop the villain Krona.

And we come to the present day, where the idea of ​​a crossover between Marvel and DC seems as far away as the distance between Earth and Oa. The truth is that both companies are no longer the same as they were a decade ago and both are part of powerful conglomerates, with Marvel belonging to Disney and DC to Warner Bros.

Almost as important is the fact that most of these collaborations occurred in moments of crisis for both companies, so the boom period they are experiencing now, where they try to take advantage of the renewed popularity of superhero stories with their cinematic universes, makes less likely to want to join forces like old.

However, all is not lost. At least that’s what Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson thinks, who recently expressed his desire to be the catalyst for a possible new encounter between Marvel and DC in his role as the antihero Black Adam. His comment came from talking to the press to promote his new movie “Red Notice”, in which he stars alongside Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) and Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool).

Meanwhile, in June of this year director James Gunn, director of both “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Suicide Squad”, revealed that he has spoken informally with the heads of both companies about the possibilities of a meeting of both teams. “I would love to see it happen. I don’t think it’s likely, but I don’t think it’s impossible either”, he pointed.

But the most important thing is that the president of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, left the door open for this type of meeting, by answering this question with the phrase “never say never.”

Meanwhile, those who want to see Superman face Captain America, do not have to go any further than to play “Fornite”, the extremely popular video game that also sells the appearance of the most beloved characters of both companies so that they can blow their brains out with weapons. of fire, including those with aversions to these like Batman. A crossover in modern times.