What Would Another Crossover Between DC and Marvel Entail?

*Originally published on 1/7/10


For a long time, the rivalry between Marvel and DC comics was always sort of light hearted and fun. Sure, they'd take potshots at each other, but there was no real malice there. In the 90's it seemed like the two companies were burying the hatchet as they made an agreement to release several inter-company crossovers.

Many of them were just solo team ups, Superman would team up with the Fantastic Four or Green Lantern would team up with the Silver Surfer, that sort of thing. There were two primary universe spanning crossovers. One that pit the characters of the DC Universe against characters in the Marvel Universe (aptly titled Marvel vs DC). This was unique in that the fans decided the winners. It led to some rather bizarre results, Wolverine beating Lobo and Spider-Man beating Superboy are the two big ones that stand out to me. It was OK, and it led to the interesting idea of the amalgam universe, but aside from that, it was pretty forgettable.

There was another crossover, JLA/Avengers. I already talked about this series, so I won't go into it too much, but the series is awesome and is a shining example of what all major comic events strive to be.

Sadly, after this, the crossovers stopped. With the exception of Itsjustsomerandomguy's video series on Youtube, fans had no way of seeing their favorite characters from the different universes interacting.

I know there are legal issues, what with copyright and all, but an occasional crossover would be pretty cool. It would benefit both companies as readers who are familiar with one character will get introduced to others so there could be some fan cross pollination.

My suggestion would be to make a Brave and the Bold style comic where a single hero from each universe teams up with one from the other. It would give readers a way to get to know new characters and it would also lead to some interesting stories. It could be established that all of this takes place outside of both continuities so there is no need to worry about the impact on canon.

This would also help new readers as there isn't any continuity on either end to worry about. Each issue could be a stand alone story so new readers can just pick up an issue and enjoy it. This seems to be a problem that both companies are suffering from. Marvel's Ultimate line as well as DC's All Star and Earth One series have been made solely to give new readers a chance to start from scratch without worrying about decades worth of back story.

Batman and Spider-Man have teamed up twice, but they play off of each other well and it would be fun to see that again. Also, an official Deadpool/Green Lantern crossover. A Superman/Deadpool story would be fun to see as well. Really though, Deadpool can cross over with anyone and it would be awesome, but you see my point. Captain Marvel could team up with Captain Marvell, Wonder Woman could team up with She-Hulk or Thor, Superman can team up with Captain America

Then every five years or so, they could do a multiverse spanning team up where all of the DC heroes and all of the Marvel heroes team up to take on some major baddie. Who would that major baddie be? Two names come to mind for me.

The first is Cthulu. The Ghostbusters battled him once and the Justice League battled a facsimile of the otherworldly beast in an episode of the animated Justice League series. An entity like that would require the combined might of both teams to defeat and, while I'm sure the heroes on either side would gladly offer their assistance if asked, Cthulu has the ability to threaten not just one, but several worlds, making the danger very real for both worlds.

The second is the Crimson King. Yes, he's not a comic book villain per se, but with Marvel releasing the Dark Tower comics, it would be interesting to see the character in a new light. All three franchises (DC, Marvel, and Dark Tower) state that there are several parallel worlds so it works on that front. Like DC's Anti-Monitor, the Crimson King has the ability to threaten all of reality. If that doesn't require the combined might of both teams, I don't know what does.

Combining the DC roster with Marvel's and adding in King's epic story line would result in one of the biggest stories you could possibly tell. It has the potential to be amazing if done right.

I really do like that Brave and the Bold idea. It has so much going for it and it benefits not only the companies, but the readers. The risk is minimal, while it offers great rewards for everyone. Opportunities like that don't come along very often.