Outside of Wonder Woman, it's been a weird time for DC. Batman vs. Superman came out, it made a bunch of money, but the response wasn't great. Suicide Squad survived the critics and rolled in the dough. Justice League did better with critics than BvS... and vastly underperformed.
At Comic-Con this year, Warner Bros. and DC came with a mission: to prove the DC cinematic universe can stand up against Marvel . And as Stream Economy pointed out, DC at least succeeded in showing it's possible.
We're still in the early stages of the Comic-Con trailer horse race, but so far Aquaman is the clear winner, with Warner Bros.' upload of the film's first trailer netting more than 18 million views. Fellow Warner Bros. trailers Shazam (7 million plus 9.6 million from a trending upload) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (7.2 million) are also at the front of the pack, alongside the trailer for Dragon Ball Super: Broly (6.2 million).
But as we saw from the reveal of the latest Battle Angel Alita trailer, there still could be more to come.
While the Marvel Cinematic Universe had zero announcements during this year's Comic-Con, Marvel Animation right now might be providing us a really good look at the MCU's future.
The new Marvel Rising: Initiation and the linked Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors series are bringing together younger heroes like Ms. Marvel, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Spider-Gwen (also known as Ghost Spider), Quake and Patriot. The new show provides a more hopeful take on teamwork and fighting crime, which is a welcome relief from the devastation seen in the MCU's current Infinity War status quo.
Several of these characters have an imminent future in theaters, such as Ghost Spider being in Sony's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and MCU head Kevin Feige already teasing that Ms. Marvel will happen in some way after her idol Carol Danvers makes her debut in 2019's Captain Marvel.
And this isn't the first time Marvel animation has become ahead of the movies, as Captain Marvel already plays a role on Disney's Avengers Assemble.
sources CNET, PlayDates