The Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote; capitalism and communism; Pepsi and Coke — for the most part, old rivalries die hard.
When Halle Berry's leather-clad Catwoman graces the silver screen on July 23, the spotlight will return to another epic rivalry. For the better part of the last century, DC Comics and Marvel Comics battled for the ink-stained hearts of comic-book fans, but they have never clashed head-to-head in Hollywood.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 opened this week to both critical acclaim and a box-office bonanza, placing further pressure on Catwoman to succeed for DC and its film proprietor Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Until 1997's critically panned Batman & Robin, DC was the only major player in superhero cinema. But Blade's surprise success in 1998 fuelled a string of big-screen Marvel hits, including Spider-Man, X-Men and X-Men 2.
But, almost inexplicably, DC's comics properties have lain dormant. "I think DC is at a point right now where it doesn't want to get anything wrong," says Mark Askwith, producer at Space: The Imagination Station. "But by not getting [the films] wrong, it's not letting them get out there."
Catwoman is DC's tentative way of stepping back into the market before next summer's highly anticipated release of Batman Begins, Askwith explains. "[They] need to take a character that isn't one of their icons and get their feet wet again."
Askwith attributes DC's lengthy big-screen hiatus to corporate indecision. "They know they have fantastic franchises in Superman and Batman," he says. "But they seem to be unclear as to what vision to pursue."
At least five different script proposals for the new Batman film were initially commissioned by Warner Bros., Askwith says.
While DC Comics and Warner Bros. both declined to be interviewed, Marvel says it welcomes its arch rival's return to filmmaking.
"It's important that our competition makes good movies — it validates our assumption that fantasy characters can drive films," says Avi Arad, president and CEO of Marvel Studios. "I'm sure DC will be just as caring with their material as we are. ..... They've been through a [period] of what I would call frivolous filmmaking and, God willing, they won't go through it again."
Director Joel Shumacher was at the helm of Batman Forever and Batman & Robin. Both films trumpeted high-profile casts (including Val Kilmer and Nicole Kidman in the former; and George Clooney and Uma Thurman in the latter) and dazzling special effects, but were burdened by poor scripts and characterization.
Christian Bale will don the hero's cape in next summer's Batman Begins, and director Christopher Nolan (Memento) is expected to explore the character's darker, vigilante roots — paying homage to the work of Batman writer Frank Miller.
But if either company releases a poorly crafted film, it could tarnish public enthusiasm for future comics-based offerings, Arad warns.
Given his logic, the negative Internet buzz currently being associated with Catwoman may be a bad omen for both DC and Marvel.
"Catwoman is quite literally an episode of Melrose Place thrown onto the big screen, injected with comic-book clichés and random, choppily edited action," writes one alleged member of a Catwoman focus group on aintitcoolnews.com.
Aside from Berry's scantily clad allure, Internet chat-room users have also been highly critical of the Catwoman movie trailer.
"If we all start making these movies and they don't work, then the public's perception will be, 'Comic films don't work,'." Arad says. "It's a function of quality control. We have to be very careful, but we can't control our competition."
Even if a few comics-based films fail at the box office, an audience decrease is unlikely, says Gareb Shamus, founder and chairman of Wizard Entertainment Group, which publishes Wizard: The Comics Magazine. "There could be a saturation of what I'd call superhero films ..... but comic books offer a wide breadth of material," he says.
Many comics titles don't revolve around superheroes at all, Shamus explains. Road to Perdition, From Hell, the critically acclaimed Ghost World and 2003's American Splendour were all adapted from comic books or graphic novels.
But superhero films remain the biggest cash cow, and are currently attracting some of the biggest names in Hollywood. "A lot of these people grew up reading comic books, and now they have some authority in the film industry," Shamus says. "They have the ability to green-light a picture."
There is currently a wealth of Marvel Comics films in development, including Elektra, with Jennifer Garner reprising her role from Daredevil; Blade: Trinity; X-Men 3; Fantastic Four; Sub-Mariner; Iron Man; Thor and Ghost Rider. Warner Bros. and DC are expected to bring Wonder Woman to the screen and take another stab at resurrecting their Superman franchise.
But with an orgy of heroes, what will separate the good adaptations from the bad?
"The worst thing any comic-book film can do is underestimate its audience and imagine they're a bunch of stupid, drooling morons," explains Tim Blackmore, a comic-book expert and communications professor at the University of Western Ontario in London. "You can't underestimate the complexity of the material ..... If you don't imbue the character with a depth that exists off the screen — or off the page — then you're doomed."
Comics-based films also have to show reverence for their source material, Askwith explains.
"The directors that got it right are Tim Burton (Batman), Sam Raimi (Spider-Man) and Bryan Singer (X-Men)," the Space producer says. "There's a reason why Spider-Man has been such a great character for so long, and Raimi managed to capture the energy of the comic book. Both the Spider-Man and Batman films had all kinds of clues — in their mood, tone and scripting — that the directors loved the source material."
Blackmore says fiscal desperation motivated Marvel's initial Hollywood foray, whereas DC has focused more attention on its comics properties. After 1989's Batman, the comics industry experienced a fiscal boom. Production increased and prices rose but overall quality suffered. The industry soon found its profits and readership in decline.
Marvel Enterprises Inc. was further saddled by an ongoing dispute between its two principal financiers, Ronald Perlman and Carl Icahn. But Blade's $70-million (U.S.) North American box-office gross inspired the company's new ownership to embrace Tinseltown. Re-energized by its films, Marvel is expected to record $450-million in net sales this year — only five years after emerging form bankruptcy protection. Both Marvel and DC have also invested heavily in video games, cartoons and toys.
Marvel's films have attracted readers to its once-flagging comics properties, Arad says.
"Our villains and heroes are all victims of circumstance — they're vulnerable, human and flawed," Arad explains. "People can relate to our stories — very few of our heroes come from a place that people can't understand."
The public currently has an appetite for flawed superheroes, which motivated DC to re-invest in Batman, one of its darker and more vulnerable characters, Askwith says. But Superman's less nuanced persona makes him difficult to portray. Popularized during the Great Depression, the hero often appears both physically and morally invincible — an embodiment of the American ideal. He lacks the edge of Batman or his conflicted Marvel rivals.
"I wouldn't touch him," Askwith says. "There's a reason why Superman happened in the 1930s. ..... Re-inventing characters in a new time can be fraught with difficulties."
Superman has been absent from the silver screen since Christopher Reeve last donned red-and-blue tights in 1987's ultracampy Superman IV: The Quest For Peace.
A new Superman picture has struggled to get off the ground for years, with countless directors and scriptwriters attached to the project. Nicolas Cage was once prepared to take on the lead role, while Johnny Depp has recently been touted as a possible Lex Luther.
While Spidey's dominance will soon be tested by Catwoman, DC may be motivated to do a Superman feature sooner rather than later.
With Batman Begins slated to be released next summer and Marvel's X-Men 3 scheduled for 2006, a long-time comic-book rivalry has clearly migrated from page to film.
"I don't think [Warner Bros.] has too much invested in Catwoman — it's almost like a little experiment," Askwith says. "If it doesn't do well, I don't think it shakes them to the core, because their big franchise is still Batman."
