Current Events > Marvel vs DC which big 6 is more Iconic?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Marvel:
Iron Man
Spider-Man
Wolverine
Captain America
Thor
Hulk

DC:
Superman
Batman
Wonder Woman
Flash
Green Lantern
Aquaman

Batman and Superman were huge when I was growing up in the 80s and 90s. Today, my nephews all love Spiderman more than anything.

Marvel has Spider-Man but Superman and Batman are more iconic pop culture figures imo

You can surely switch Wolverine to X-Men since you didn't specify characters. Marvel would win that way.

Anyone voting DC is out of their minds. Super man and Batman are huge but nobody cares about the others. Marvels lineup on average is more iconic

DC everybody knows the holy trinity that is superman batman and wonder woman. Even non comic fans. Think most people know aquamarine green lantern and flash too.

Before the movies spiderman hulk and wolverine where super well known maybe captain America too.

Movies skew things towards Marvel these days but that's for people who watch them or have kids that watch them. My point on DC wad even people who give zero shits about superheros know them

Superman and Batman hard carry.
Old people know them, Batman's had a steady spread across culture outside of comics with the Adam West show, movies, those people who really like the Heath Ledger Joker and make sure everyone else knows it. Superman alone is on a whole other level.
Spiderman could compete but I wouldn't expect him to be more recognised than either.

power levels:
Spider-Man 10
Batman 9
Superman 8
Captain America 6

the rest null

spider-man definitely takes top but he can't stand alone against batman and superman
captain america is/was like slowly nudging his way into notoriety but only because of mcu

movie-wise though, no question marvel kills it

Kloe_Rinz posted...

Anyone voting DC is out of their minds. Super man and Batman are huge but nobody cares about the others. Marvels lineup on average is more iconic

Superman and Batman alone are more iconic together than all 6 of those Marvel's combined.

Kloe_Rinz posted...

Anyone voting DC is out of their minds. Super man and Batman are huge but nobody cares about the others. Marvels lineup on average is more iconic

Superman alone brings the DC average up far, far above Marvel's, Batman and Wonder Woman are the frosting on the cake, the rest are just the sprinkles.

I mean, shit, kryptonite and brainiac are actual dictionary words now because of Superman. He's not just a character, he's a cultural icon. He is the quintessential superhero.

Pre mcu it was easily Superman, batman, Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, X-men, hulk, aquaman, flash. Easily. Thats it.

post mcu, mcu takes it easily

i realize that box grosses aren't everything but i'm not sure how supes or bats can measure up these days when they were murdered in their very own movie(and followup ensemble movie) by all avengers movies individually.

Kloe_Rinz posted...

Anyone voting DC is out of their minds. Super man and Batman are huge but nobody cares about the others. Marvels lineup on average is more iconic

Nah. Wonder Woman is pretty much #1 on everyone's "first female superhero that comes to mind" lists. Aquaman is also really popular because of memetic culture. Only Flash and Green Lantern are kind of obscure.

Marvel has not done a good job establishing characters as icons. Something DC was really good at. Superman has the S. Batman has the Bat symbol. Spider-Man has a generic looking spider sticker. Captain America is symbolized either by a plain looking A or an abstract star depending on time period. Iron Man has nothing and still has nothing they just use a picture of his helmet these days. Thor has nothing.

DC made trademarks out of their characters. Marvel didn't. That's why DC is more internationally known than Marvel.

Tyranthraxus posted...

Nah. Wonder Woman is pretty much #1 on everyone's "first female superhero that comes to mind" lists. Aquaman is also really popular because of memetic culture. Only Flash and Green Lantern are kind of obscure.

Marvel has not done a good job establishing characters as icons. Something DC was really good at. Superman has the S. Batman has the Bat symbol. Spider-Man has a generic looking spider sticker. Captain America is symbolized either by a plain looking A or an abstract star depending on time period. Iron Man has nothing and still has nothing they just use a picture of his helmet these days. Thor has nothing.

DC made trademarks out of their characters. Marvel didn't. That's why DC is more internationally known than Marvel.

Mjlnoir?

AsucaHayashi posted...

i realize that box grosses aren't everything but i'm not sure how supes or bats can measure up these days when they were murdered in their very own movie(and followup ensemble movie) by all avengers movies individually.

This isn't a popularity contest as much as its just who's more well known. And iconic status doesn't come simply from a short span of time involving movies. If you polled every age group imaginable on which characters they knew I'd bet money superman batman spiderman and wonder woman would be at the top. Like for example I'm sure most 90 year Olds know superman and batman but I'm also sure a lot wouldn't know much about Iron man or thor.

GS4Life posted...

Mjlnoir?

Mjlnir is just a thing he carries around.

Iron Man was never a top marvel character popularity-wise until the Movies

Its always been Spidey, Cap, Xmen, i think F4 is next but i think Sup and Batman blow all but spider man away

but if we're going by the success of the movies then Marvel blows it out the water. It changed the landscape of movie franchises and action movies.

Superman is the most iconic and universally recognized hero by light years

I was going to vote DC, but then I saw Aquaman listed.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

The lack of Green Lantern at this point besides the Ryan Reynolds dumpster fire has been getting annoying. Maybe Gunn will tap into it finally and do it right.

Spider-Man solos. If you added up all the games, movies, TV shows, etc of all of these characters I would bet Spider-Man has by far the most.

Overall as a big 6 I'd probably say DC though. I think Marvel as a brand has always been bigger, and their biggest character is far more popular than any of DCs, but it's hard to argue anyone aside from Spider-Man is bigger than Batman, Superman, and Wonder woman.

Like, Wolverine has always been mega popular among comic book fans but before the movies he was a big name in pop culture.

Isn't Spider-Man the most popular superhero?

Kloe_Rinz posted...

Anyone voting DC is out of their minds. Super man and Batman are huge but nobody cares about the others. Marvels lineup on average is more iconic

Before the MCU no one cared about any of the Marvel ones except Spider-Man and Wolverine. DC easily would have won at that time.

Now, it's pretty close but Marvel probably has the edge. Batman is still the top of the list individually though.

LightHawKnight posted...

Isn't Spider-Man the most popular superhero?

No its superman and then batman

Spider man is like 3 if you go by sales all time.

Superman has almost a billion in comic book sales. which is like double the next person. Marvel characters were popular but outside of Spiderman and Xmen they havent really been needle movers.

Its always been Supes, Batman, Spiderman, Xmen, then Spawn. Theres that random italian comic book that was crazy popular too.

I4NRulez posted...

No its superman and then batman

Spider man is like 3 if you go by sales all time.

Superman has almost a billion in comic book sales. which is like double the next person. Marvel characters were popular but outside of Spiderman and Xmen they havent really been needle movers.

Its always been Supes, Batman, Spiderman, Xmen, then Spawn. Theres that random italian comic book that was crazy popular too.

Not talking about comic sales. Talking about sales of everything. Spider-Man outside of the comics is massive. Generally most polls around the world list him as the most well known due to that and not comic sales.

I4NRulez posted...

No its superman and then batman

Spider man is like 3 if you go by sales all time.

Superman has almost a billion in comic book sales. which is like double the next person. Marvel characters were popular but outside of Spiderman and Xmen they havent really been needle movers.

Its always been Supes, Batman, Spiderman, Xmen, then Spawn. Theres that random italian comic book that was crazy popular too.

If you go by sales Spider-Man is the most profitable superhero of all time. If you go solely by comic sales of course Superman is the highest selling. They were selling Superman comics for decades before Spider-Man was even a thing and haven't stopped. But Spider-Man makes more money by far than any other superhero.

There's a reason there's like 10 pieces of Spider-Man media to every 1 piece of Superman media, because Spider-Man is profitable.

Spider-Man comics also invented so many comic tropes that are used today.

The topic isn't asking which characters made the most money, it's asking which one is the most iconic.

That is without a doubt Superman.

The MCU has done a lot for the visibility of the Avengers. The DC heroes have been in movies and TV for decade after decade while marvel kind of stayed lower key.

For that reason, I still say DC, but the gap is much narrower now than it was in, say, 2005.

I'd argue that the Marvel characters are more culturally relevant now, but the DC characters have more long-term popularity and recognition

pegusus123456 posted...

The topic isn't asking which characters made the most money, it's asking which one is the most iconic.

That is without a doubt Superman.

Uh what does iconic mean to you? For me iconic means wildly known, if something is selling that well, more people are going to know of it than not. Just pure comic sales just means people who buy comics knows.

LightHawKnight posted...

Uh what does iconic mean to you? For me iconic means wildly known, if something is selling that well, more people are going to know of it than not. Just pure comic sales just means people who buy comics knows.

Iconic does not mean well-known, it means that something is an icon. Superman is the superhero. For many people, Superman is not even a character, he is an archetype. I think that's where a lot of complaints about him being a boring character come from: people don't see him as a character, they see him as the baseline that you tinker with to make a character.

pegusus123456 posted...

Iconic does not mean well-known, it means that something is an icon. Superman is the superhero. For many people, Superman is not even a character, he is an archetype. I think that's where a lot of complaints about him being a boring character come from: people don't see him as a character, they see him as the baseline that you tinker with to make a character.

Uh yes it does. Iconic is something that is well known. The more people that know of it, the more iconic it actually is.

pegusus123456 posted...

The topic isn't asking which characters made the most money, it's asking which one is the most iconic.

That is without a doubt Superman.

Actually the poll says who is the most prominent in pop culture, which is Spider-Man.

But what actually makes you think Superman is more iconic than Spider-Man? Iconic in what way? He's the original superhero but he's been surpassed in pretty much every other way you would consider something to be iconic. Influencial maybe, if for no other reason than that he is the original superhero. But in a general sense, Spider-Man is as much, if not more of an icon in almost every part of pop culture.

LightHawKnight posted...

Uh yes it does. Iconic is something that is well known. The more people that know of it, the more iconic it actually is.

No.

1
: a person or thing widely admired especially for having great influence or significance in a particular sphere
2
: emblem, symbol

Popularity is not part of either of those definitions. An icon must be popular yes, but being more popular does not mean something is more iconic.

RchHomieQuanChi posted...

I'd argue that the Marvel characters are more culturally relevant now, but the DC characters have more long-term popularity and recognition

Marvel's characters aren't as relevant as their movies tbh. Everyone is trying to copy the movies but nobody is trying to copy the characters.

Brandon Breyer, Omni-Man, Homelander, The Plutonian, all characters semi recent that have in some way tried to copy Superman and his story and those are just the "evil" copies.

Where's the movie with Spider-Man, but evil?

Ryven posted...

Superman and Batman alone are more iconic together than all 6 of those Marvel's combined.

Maybe pre-MCU. Now all of the Marvel guys are huge to casual audiences, and Spider-Man has been the heaviest hitter of all for a very long time.

Batman and Superman continue to be big names, but the rest are so much lower its laughable. Robin is more iconic and than the others on the list, despite being a sidekick.

pegusus123456 posted...

No.

Popularity is not part of either of those definitions. An icon must be popular yes, but being more popular does not mean something is more iconic.

Uh wildly known is literally part of being popular.

LightHawKnight posted...

Uh wildly known is literally part of being popular.

I feel like you're skipping every other word of my posts and completely missing my point.

Tyranthraxus posted...

Marvel's characters aren't as relevant as their movies tbh. Everyone is trying to copy the movies but nobody is trying to copy the characters.

Brandon Breyer, Omni-Man, Homelander, The Plutonian, all characters semi recent that have in some way tried to copy Superman and his story and those are just the "evil" copies.

Where's the movie with Spider-Man, but evil?

This doesn't really have anything to do with popularity.

The idea behind Superman is that, conceptually, he is the most "pure" superhero while also being one of the most powerful. Therefore, writers get a lot of mileage out of exploring the concept of an evil/morally grey Superman.

For what it's worth, there's tons of characters that also followed in Spider-Man's footsteps in being a teen hero where much of the drama centers on their personal life. And The Boys just had a clear Captain America clone as a major antagonist in their latest season.

To turn this argument on its head though, where are all the Superman video games, cartoons and movies?

RchHomieQuanChi posted...

The idea behind Superman is that, conceptually, he is the most "pure" superhero

"Superman is the purest superhero."
"Spider-Man is more iconic."

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/ScarceSlushyAmericanriverotter-mobile.mp4

pegusus123456 posted...

I feel like you're skipping every other word of my posts and completely missing my point.

I feel like you dont understand what iconic even means.

RchHomieQuanChi posted...

This doesn't really have anything to do with popularity.

The idea behind Superman is that, conceptually, he is the most "pure" superhero while also being one of the most powerful. Therefore, writers get a lot of mileage out of exploring the concept of an evil/morally grey Superman.

This isn't really relevant to the topic at hand but I just want to say that the idea of "subverting tropes by making Superman evil" is horseshit. Superman being good is a trope that is subverted. The norm is when you give someone Superman powers they're an asshole. That's the expected result of someone being invincible with super powers. Evil Superman isn't interesting or novel.

For what it's worth, there's tons of characters that also followed in Spider-Man's footsteps in being a teen hero where much of the drama centers on their personal life. And The Boys just had a clear Captain America clone as a major antagonist in their latest season.

To turn this argument on its head though, where are all the Superman video games, cartoons and movies?

There's asstons of cartoons and movies and TV shows. Superman and Lois is still ongoing. WBD also recently announced a new Superman movie although they don't have a script or director yet.

There's less games comparatively but he's the main antagonist of Injustice which is basically one of the biggest western fighting games.

LightHawKnight posted...

I feel like you dont understand what iconic even means.

I posted the literal definition of the word, you just don't like that it doesn't match yours.

AsucaHayashi posted...

i realize that box grosses aren't everything but i'm not sure how supes or bats can measure up these days when they were murdered in their very own movie(and followup ensemble movie) by all avengers movies individually.

You gotta think about the circumstances of those though.

The Avengers and their movies are all mainstream blockbuster action movies that have broad appeal to both kids and adults. The Batman was a gritty crime drama that was pretty slow paced for a comic book movie. A few years earlier the Joker made a billion dollars at the box office being a character study crime movie too. You aren't going to see anything like this from The Avengers.

So yeah I think there's an argument between box office and being iconic. Batman has a lot of flexibility due to him simply being around for almost a century now and having to adapt to the times. Which overall makes him a more iconic character.

Similar to James Bond I guess. He's often not the most popular action character whenever he's around but due to his appeal crossing across different generations he's incredibly iconic. Some things go beyond ticket sales.

I feel like people are still getting a bit confused between iconic and popular too. Mickey Mouse just has a few cartoons on Disney+ that are mostly targeted towards toddlers yet I doubt anyone would argue against him still being one of the most, if not the most, iconic character of all time. Superman is very similar to this. My toddler already knows both Mickey Mouse and Superman while not really watching much with either of them in it. Their imagery just has a sort of inherent and easy to understand appeal to them.

ArchNemo posted...

Actually the poll says who is the most prominent in pop culture, which is Spider-Man.

But what actually makes you think Superman is more iconic than Spider-Man? Iconic in what way? He's the original superhero but he's been surpassed in pretty much every other way you would consider something to be iconic. Influencial maybe, if for no other reason than that he is the original superhero. But in a general sense, Spider-Man is as much, if not more of an icon in almost every part of pop culture.

For me it's the fact you could probably go to some shit hole corner of the world that's too poor for these things and I'd bet more people would know superman than spiderman. Things like that. Sure spider man is more popular but superman has always been a more well known name.

You can also take the fact I think superman is referenced in unrelated media more like songs such as kryptonite