Coke vs. Pepsi, Yankees vs. Red Sox. America loves itself a good-old fashioned rivalry, and one of the longest-running such battles is Marvel vs. DC. With superhero movies becoming all the rage in Hollywood, that battle has only intensified, especially with this year's releases of "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" and "Captain America: Civil War." But while the former failed to live up to critical and financial expectations, the latter is being celebrated by fans and critics alike.
This weekend, "Civil War" continued its dominant run by taking down two different Batman movies at the box office.
As of right now, "Civil War" has earned $347 million domestically, edging out "Batman v Superman's" $328 million within North America. That gives Marvel the upper hand in this current battle of blockbusters.
But, more importantly, "Civil War" is closing in on the celebrated "Dark Knight" trilogy from Christopher Nolan, widely considered one of the best superhero franchises in the modern era. "Civil War's" global total of $1.054 billion is slightly ahead of "The Dark Knight's" $1.053 billion. But DC hasn't lost the war just yet, as "The Dark Knight Rises" still stands at $1.084 billion worldwide (none of this takes into account the record-setting totals of both "Avengers" films).
While "Civil War" is currently outshining "Batman v Superman," comparisons between the two need a bit of perspective. "Civil War" is the logical next phase in what has been an eight-year, 13-picture world-building cinematic universe. The film's success isn't rooted in overnight sensationalism. Instead, it's taken almost a decade to build up to this point with long-standing character and plot development.
"Batman v Superman," on the other hand, had the misfortune of playing catch-up to the MCU. Warner Bros. rushed the product in an attempt to even the playing field, but ultimately set themselves back even further as a result. The film's sharp second-week drop at the box office and scathing fan reaction can attest to that.
With "The Angry Birds Movie" movie debuting over the weekend and "X-Men: Apocalypse" hitting theaters this Friday, "Civil War's" run of unchecked dominance may be coming to a close. But regardless of how it plays going forward, this has been a massive win for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Follow Brandon Katz at @Great_Katzby
