While Marvel and DC are the two biggest names in superhero media, the former has been able to dominate both the box office and the cultural landscape in a way that the latter hasn't been able to replicate. For David S. Goyer, the writer behind everything from Blade to Man of Steel, the reasons why are clear.
"I think one of the issues is that Marvel’s had consistent leadership for the last 15 years or more, whereas DC hasn’t," Goyer told The Hollywood Reporter. "There have been all of these changes in terms of who is running DC. That is fundamentally very hard. It’s hard to make any headway when leadership is changing. One of the other things that’s made Marvel incredibly successful is all of their adaptations are true to the source material. Ant-Man feels like Ant-Man. The Hulk feels like the Hulk. They don’t try to change things up. I would say, try to hew closer to what was the original intent. So, it’s having a consistent universe, having consistent leadership and staying true to the source material."
While Goyer has written on numerous Marvel projects, including Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and the Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV movie, along with the entire Blade trilogy, he's yet to tackle an MCU project. But he's worked on numerous DC films and TV shows, including Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy, Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, Constantin, and Krypton. As such, he has intimate knowledge of how DC and Warner Bros. have changed over the years. At the end of the day, the comics are the guiding force for Goyer, and he feels that DC hasn't always nailed that when it comes to big-screen adaptations.
"Comics beta test all these ideas," Goyer continued. "When you have characters that have been around for 30, 40, 50 or 60 years, and you’ve seen certain storylines bubble to the top again and again — that should tell you something," Goyer said. "I call it Story Darwinism. Those are ideas or themes that are sticky, that are consistent because, for whatever reason, from decade to decade to decade, they keep working — even though some of the elements around them change. So anytime I adapt something, I always say, 'Can we identify the 10 core elements that make Superman, Superman? Or make Blade, Blade?' Before we even come up with a story, let’s just sit down and come up with 10 things we can all agree on. Then let’s make sure that we don’t break those commandments."
Goyer once had Warner Bros. kill a Sandman movie as it was veering too far away from the source material. Luckily for him and fans, he and comic writer Neil Gaiman will see Sandman come to TV this fall on Netflix.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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