With James Gunn at the helm, the new DCU seems like it’s bound to be a hit. While that fact still remains to be seen, Gunn’s previous comic book movie background is better than most other people in the industry. With the right care and creative efforts, the DCU has the potential to rival the MCU in scope, popularity, and excitement.

Ever since the MCU really caught on, fans have been wondering when some kind of massive crossover event with DC would be coming. With the DCU set to become a rival force of the MCU, those fan discussions are only bound to get louder and louder. Considering DC and Marvel have crossed over before in the comics, it is worth examining whether or not the DCU should crossover with the MCU.

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Why The DCU Should Crossover With The MCU

There are actually a lot of reasons why the DCU and MCU should crossover, ranging from the creative to the absolutely campy. One reason that’s already been mentioned is the fact that there is precedent for such an event. For decades, Marvel Comics and DC Comics have crossed over their characters in fun little events that usually see iconic characters clashing before working together to take on a team-up of villains. While something like that could be an absolute mess on the big screen, it’s hard to say it wouldn’t be fun for a lot of people. Certain combinations of characters wouldn’t quite make sense, but a universe vs. universe clash with an overarching villain could provide a lot of fun moments.

Another reason why a crossover would be great is more behind-the-scenes in nature. It’s not exactly a secret that James Gunn is good friends with his previous colleague at Marvel, Kevin Feige. Allowing those two brilliant minds to come together with their properties would be the best chance fans would ever have at getting a DCU/MCU crossover. It would have to come years if not decades from now, but both men being attached would ensure both sets of heroes and villains would get all the respect they deserve in a creative and bombastic event. Even James Gunn seems to agree with that sentiment as he had this to say about a potential crossover in an interview with Empire:

Something that should be acknowledged about a DCU and MCU crossover is that it would result in too many characters to juggle while still telling a great story, meaning a standalone movie probably wouldn’t be amazing. The thing is, sometimes all anyone needs is a horrendously campy movie that indulges in various tropes, heapings of fan service, and provides a couple of hours of exciting action. It’s hard to complain about a horrendous plot when Batman is battling the Hulk and Spider-Man is trying to not be absolutely obliterated by Superman.

Why The DCU Shouldn’t Crossover With The MCU

The biggest reason why the DCU shouldn’t crossover with the MCU is the same as the last reason why they should crossover – the movie would probably be awful. Fans have become accustomed to certain kinds of movies from Marvel, and while fans of the MCU seemingly can forgive less-than-stellar movies, it would be hard to call the movie anything other than a fan-service-riddled cash-in. That may not be a bad thing for everyone, but neither company will want their perception to be that they are only making movies to take money from people instead of actively entertaining them. A crossover just wouldn’t work, from costume design to differences in power between characters.

Another reason why they shouldn’t crossover is because fans simply haven’t seen what James Gunn is planning to do with the DCU yet. A lot of fans criticized Gunn for getting rid of some universally loved actors, most notably Henry Cavill who has been passed up to play Superman in favor of David Corenswet. Gunn may have a stroke of genius planned that will result in the DCU overtaking and eventually outshining the MCU, but until that takes place, DC movies are mostly viewed as lackluster efforts when compared to the best that the MCU has to offer. Additionally, if Gunn’s universe has a strikingly different tone from the MCU, then a crossover risks completely alienating fans from characters who still need to be built up.

One of the biggest reasons why a crossover wouldn’t work in the current context of both properties is that there won’t ever be a good time. It seems pretty clear that the MCU is about to move forward with a lot of street-level heroes while they work their way into setting up the Fantastic Four and X-Men. At the same time, the DCU has the unenviable task of reintroducing fans to characters they have already been introduced to a number of times over. Some aspects and characters of the MCU could be considered as veterans while many are going to be brand new, while just about everyone in the DCU will be brand new. Without any time to care about the incoming characters a crossover of the magnitude just wouldn’t work out.

Even determining which characters from the DCU would fight which characters from the MCU would be a herculean task. Take a simple example like Spider-Man vs. Batman for instance. In that match-up, who should get the win, whether or not they’ll fight a second time, and whether or not it even makes sense for one character to be able to beat the other are all questions that have to be asked and only have subjective answers. Fans wouldn’t be voting on who’d win, which means someone has to make that decision, and then live with the never-ending backlash that would come with fans seeing their favorite hero beaten by a rival company's hero that they don’t even like.

The Verdict:

The DCU and the MCU shouldn’t look at crossing over anytime soon. When the superhero movie bubble bursts, it wouldn’t be a terrible idea to do something like that as one last campy and money-making hoorah, but no one should ever expect a movie like that to be particularly good.

MCU

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is a sprawling movie and television franchise that weaves together individual stories of superheroes including Captain America, Thor, Spider-Man, Hulk, Black Widow, and many more. The first film in the franchise, Iron Man, was released in 2008. The MCU has garnered critical praise and financial success, earning billions at the box office and becoming a cultural phenomenon.

Cast

Robert Downey Jr. , Chris Evans , Chris Hemsworth , Scarlett Johansson , Mark Ruffalo , Jeremy Renner , Chadwick Boseman , Zoe Saldana , Chris Pratt , Tom Hiddleston , Iman Vellani

TV Show(s)

WandaVision , The Falcon and the Winter Soldier , Loki , Ms. Marvel , She-Hulk

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