Epic fan-made “Marvel vs. DC” trailer pairs explosions with grimacing superheroes
Ever since the galaxy of comic book superheroes was been reduced (mostly) to the Big Two (Marvel and DC), people have clamored for the rivalry between the two comics publishing giants to reach beyond hyperbolic marketing and into actual brawls between their favorite characters. There is some precedent for this, as Spider-Man and Superman “fought” in the ’70s and there were other such team-ups, including the Teen Titans and X-Men, during that decade. Then there were the crossovers of ‘edgier’ characters, like clone Spider-Man (looooong, stupid story) fighting clone Superman (shorter story, still kinda stupid) in the ’90s DC vs. Marvel/Marvel vs. DC. That eventually gave way to the superlative JLA/Avengers crossover, which featured every character that had ever been a member of either team involved in a cosmic footrace and battle. The point is—if there’s any division within a nerd culture, it will shortly lead to “who would win in a fight” debates. Heck, even Patton Oswalt‘s dork character from Parks And Recreation falls into this particular nerdhole when pushed to filibuster.
Building on this premise, a new trailer by MR8866 and Alex Luthor uses an incredible number of sources to piece together a trailer that delivers on the promise of DC and Marvel characters fighting. Bringing images from the various Spider-Man movies, Batman films, Man Of Steel, The Flash and Arrow TV series, The Avengers and other Marvel films, the duo are able to intercut fairly well between the two to simulate battle sequences. They go above and beyond by also using cut-scenes from the Injustice: Gods Among Us video game, scenes from the failed Wonder Woman pilot starring Adrianne Palicki, images from the Age Of Ultron trailer, some shots from Game Of Thrones featuring once and future Aquaman, Jason Momoa, and various fan films that came before.
It’s a stirring trailer that seems exactly the way these two entertainment monoliths would pitch their collaboration: first act setting up a multiversal theory carefully explained to an audience, then a second act full of explosions and yelling, then a third act that finds them all working together against an even greater enemy with even more explosions and yet even more yelling. Even knowing how formulaic it would be, it would still be pretty cool to see this play out on the big screen. And so the cycle continues…