by Arielle Antonio, contributor
Marvel Comics and DC Comics together maintain a share of about 70 percent of the American comics market. They are rivals and two of the most well-known comic book companies. Their characters have been pillars of American culture since the 1930s and are still going strong in comic book form. Over the past decade, many of their most popular superheroes, like Batman and The Avengers, have received new live-action theatrical films releases, along with sequels. And now live-action television series are popping up again for viewers to see their comic book worlds on a weekly basis.
Superheroes running around with secret identities and battling villains on our television screens is not new. Each decade since the ‘50s has seen live-action incarnations of their favorite comic book superheroes. Although Marvel has not produced a live-action television series since the SpikeTV hit “Blade: The Series” in 2006, they are making a comeback. For DC, some have been very successful, some not so much, and others were planned but have yet to see the light of LED-lit television screens.
Others such as Aquaman and a constantly rumored Wonder Woman series that never seems to make it to the development stage. Despite their troubles with Wonder Woman, DC Comics has produced other multi-season shows. “Smallville,” a Superman origins series, and “Arrow,” a series based on Green Arrow, are examples of the successful shows. The latest shows in development are “Flash”, based on the speedster The Flash, and another called “Hourman”, based on the psychic superhero Hourman.
Marvel, on the other hand, has “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” on ABC this fall season. Their success in the arena of live-action adaptations of their comics has largely been found in theatrical film releases with their newest Marvel Studios’ productions. Nonetheless, Marvel Studios is rumored to be planning several new television projects in the coming years. If “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is any indication, where Clark Gregg is reprising his role as Agent Coulson, could we see Scarlett Johansson kicking butt every week as Black Widow?
Slowly but surely, Marvel is expanding its cinematic universe into the weekly television show arena. Meanwhile, DC is attempting to catch up in the film department with a “Batman Vs. Superman” movie that opens up the possibility for films for the rest of the Justice League members and a Justice League movie in the same vein as Marvel’s “The Avengers”. All in all, the future seems to be looking very good for comic book fans.