In the DC Universe, there's a definite hierarchy with three heroes on top - Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Known as the Trinity, they are the three leaders of the superheroic community and the focus of just about everything. At Marvel, things are done a little differently. While there is a hierarchy within its respected roster of heroes, there's no one central trinity that everything is based around.
An argument can be made that Marvel would work better with their own version of the Trinity at the center of things. While there are strengths to that argument, there are a lot of reasons why Marvel should stay the way it is.
10 Marvel Needs A Trinity: There's Already One
The Avengers are Marvel's biggest team and there is a definite trinity at the center of the group - Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor. Captain America is the Superman, the inspiring leader that everyone follows. Iron Man is the Batman, the billionaire genius. Thor is the Wonder Woman, the scion of gods.
Marvel already has its own trinity and while they aren't exactly the center of everything, they still guide most of Marvel's events and heroes. Groups throughout the Marvel Universe look to the Big Three of the Avengers for guidance and leadership and the three of them even fill the roles of the DC Trinity.
9 Marvel Doesn't Need A Trinity: Cap, Iron Man, And Thor Don't Actually Work As Trinity Analogues
On the surface, Cap, Iron Man, and Thor seem like they match the Trinity but when one looks closer, they actually meld the roles. Cap is like Superman, but he's also like Wonder Woman and Batman in other ways. Thor is only a Wonder Woman analog in upbringing but nothing else. Iron Man and Batman only have surface similarities, with the actual biggest similarity being how inherently untrustworthy and shady Iron Man is.
Marvel's Big Three doesn't really fit the mold of DC's Trinity in any way below the surface except in the fact that they use similar iconography.
8 Marvel Needs A Trinity: They Could Do It The Marvel Way
DC is a very different company from Marvel and they do things very differently. One way is not better than the other because each universe is structured in separate ways. DC is more about icons and godlike heroes. Marvel is more down to Earth and grounded in a lot of ways. Fans are used to DC's Trinity in a certain way but Marvel's version would be different.
Marvel's spin on the Trinity concept would be divergent from the DC one because of the different way Marvel stories are told and how Marvel characters work. Much like Marvel revolutionized the superhero concept in the Silver Age, they could do it again with the superhero trinity.
7 Marvel Doesn't Need A Trinity: The Marvel Universe Is Too Varied For It To Work
The DC Universe is pretty much centered around the Justice League, with all of the other ancillary teams either acting as a farm system for the League or handling lower stakes situations until the all-hands-on-deck moments. The Marvel Universe doesn't work that way. Sure, the Avengers are the big team but in a lot of ways, the X-Men are just as important. That's the same forthe Fantastic Four as well.
The DC Universe has more of a center than the Marvel Universe does, so there are really no three characters that everyone looks up to. Sure, there's Cap but who else? Cyclops? Wolverine? Spider-Man? Captain Marvel? Reed Richards? Storm? There's too much variety to the Marvel Universe for a trinity to work.
6 Marvel Needs A Trinity: It Could Unite The Heroes
The Marvel Universe can be a very contentious place among the heroes. It goes beyond stories like Civil War, which featured some of the best examples of why Iron Man is a bad choice for any kind of leadership role, or Avengers Vs X-Men, which showed how little the two teams understood each other. Marvel's heroes have found themselves in conflict almost from the beginning.
A Trinity could change all of that. Effective leadership like that of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman could do wonders for the stability of the Marvel Universe, allowing the heroes to focus more on fighting evil than fighting each other.
5 Marvel Doesn't Need A Trinity: The DC Trinity Aren't Always Paragons Of Leadership, So Following Their Example Might Not Be Wise
While everyone loves the DC Trinity, it's hard to deny that they've messed up multiple times. Messed up is putting it lightly, as the Trinity has been responsible for some very bad things over the years, their actions sometimes doing more harm than they help. While the Marvel Universe could definitely use some kind of leadership, the Trinity isn't it.
The DC Trinity consists of three of the best heroes ever created and they still make a lot of mistakes that put people in danger. There's really no reason to copy a system that pretty much just leads back around to where everything was before.
4 Marvel Needs A Trinity: It Could Spotlight The New Leaders Of The Marvel Universe
While Cap, Iron Man, and Thor have historically acted as a sort of Marvel's Big Three, times have changed. Iron Man may be popular in the movies but in the comics, he's not a fan favorite. Thor is pretty aloof and not much of a leader. Cap is still Cap but he's been in flux for years now. The Marvel Universe has new leaders, ones who could become a Trinity for everyone to look up to.
From older but still popular characters like Spider-Man, Black Panther, and Wolverine to established powerhouses like Storm and Captain Marvel to new stars like Ms. Marvel and Miles Morales, a Marvel trinity could focus on the new leaders of the Marvel Universe.
3 Marvel Doesn't Need A Trinity: The Characters With The Power To Be At The Forefront Aren't The Best Leaders
Superman is one of the most powerful beings on Earth. Batman is an unparalleled strategist who can figure out a way to win against anything. Wonder Woman is one of the greatest hand-to-hand fighters on the planet and has the strength and speed of a god. They combine all of that with an ability to lead and inspire that sets them apart from anyone else.
Marvel doesn't really have three similar characters. Someone like Hyperion or the Sentry has the necessary power but they aren't great leaders. Captain Marvel does as well but her leadership hasn't been the greatest either. Cyclops and Spider-Man make great role models but don't have the power, nor does Black Panther. Marvel just doesn't have Trinity analogs that work as well.
2 Marvel Needs A Trinity: Change Is Good
One of the best things about Marvel is the way it has evolved over the years. The Marvel Universe is constantly changing and growing, becoming something new. That's not to say that DC doesn't change or grow but there are lots of facets of it that have always been the same. With that in mind, just because the Marvel Universe doesn't seem conducive to a Trinity doesn't mean it can't or shouldn't have one.
Change can be a great thing and going in the direction of a Trinity could work wonders for Marvel. Marvel hasn't really ever tried to do something as uniting as having a Trinity like the DC one, so this could work well.
1 Marvel Doesn't Need A Trinity: It's Too Intrinsically DC
There are some concepts that DC just does better than Marvel and the Trinity is one of them. The thing about DC's biggest heroes is that they are exemplary of heroic virtues, even Batman. Marvel pretty much just has Cap as being the type of blameless hero that could work in the role, as many of Marvel's other heroes are too fallible.
Even in the Avengers' Big Three, Iron Man is too much the embodiment of the scummier aspects of the military-industrial complex and Thor is kind of a jock. Marvel just doesn't lend itself as well as DC does to the concept.
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