I saw an article recently that talked about this very concept of who will have a strong 2023, Marvel or DC. After reading the article it got me to think about that question. This is my take on that topic.

Before getting into it, here is a list of what is scheduled to release this year for Marvel and DC. For the sake of this, I am looking at the MCU which does include the Disney+ shows. X-Men 97 is an animated series and is a sequel to the 90s cartoon. Given it is not considered cannon for the MCU it is left out as well as the Sony Marvel Movies Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Kraven the Hunter. Now that DC is in the midst of massive restructuring, for the sake of this only the films are included. This is based off statements that the DCU will be fully cannon between film, television, and video games. As of now any DC show that is currently scheduled is not cannon to the DCU with the exception of Peacemaker.

Marvel

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania 2/17/23

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 5/5/23

The Marvels 7/28/23

 What If? Season 2 Early 2023

Secret Invasion Spring 2023

Loki Season 2 Summer 2023

Ironheart Fall 2023

Agatha: Coven of Chaos Winter 2023

Echo 2023

2023 is a big year for Marvel. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania kicks off Phase 5 of their Multiverse Saga and it properly introduces Kang the Conqueror played by Jonathon Majors who is the main villain of this saga. Everything will culminate in Phase 6 films Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is meant to be a game changer the same way Captain America: Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War were when they were released. Quantumania is also going to lead into Avengers: Kang Dynasty. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is one of the most anticipated films of the year. It is also the conclusion of James Gunn’s trilogy with this group of characters. This will also probably be the last Marvel project from James Gunn since he has now moved into corunning DC Studios with Peter Safran. There is also The Marvels which is Captain Marvel 2. While Ant-Man & Guardians of the Galaxy have trailers, fans are waiting for a trailer for The Marvels. It will probably be coming soon. Might it be attached to Quantumania? Not much is known about The Marvels, but it will see the return of Brie Larson as Captain Marvel as well as the film debuts of Monica Rambeau played by Teyonah Parris and Ms. Marvel played by Iman Vellani. Monica Rambeau made her debut in the show Wandavision while Ms. Marvel debuted in her show of the same name.

On the TV side What If? and Loki will be the first Marvel shows to get second seasons. Loki, is also the first live show to get a second season up to this point. Even the animated shows in the works including X-Men 97 and Spider-Man have already been renewed for season 2. Loki is the show that really kicked off the Multiverse Saga due to the events in that series. I won’t spoil anything here. Secret Invasion will see the return of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury who has been around since the beginning. It has also been rumored that Secret Invasion will directly impact The Marvels. Only one trailer has been released for Secret Invasion but a new one is supposed to be on its way very soon. It is also rumored to be heavily linked to The Marvels which also stars Samuel L. Jackson. Ironheart will be getting her own show. Audiences have already gotten to meet Ironheart who was introduced in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Agatha: Coven of Chaos is aiming for late in 2023 possibly 2024. Its included here since there is not a concrete date of when it will drop. It is a spinoff of Wandavision with the popular Katharyn Hanh reprising her role as Agatha Harkness. Reports have stated that Echo will be delayed. Originally Echo was aiming for summer 2023. At this point it is not known if it will still be released this year or end up releasing in 2024. The last update was that Echo was still trying to aim for a 2023 release.

Marvel has 9 projects total with 3 movies and 6 shows. Fans have had a mixed reaction to the Phase 4 projects. However, when all is said and done the fans will still show up for the movies and shows. I know currently from what I have seen Secret Invasion and Loki are really the only ones that have anticipation. I think once trailers are released for the other projects hype will start to build up. Captain Marvel has had some controversy and has been a bit polarizing compared to the other characters. However Captain Marvel was a huge hit when it came out and made over 1 billion worldwide. It also opened right before Avengers: Endgame. The movie that has the most hype is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. That franchise has been very popular and this is the conclusion of this story that adds to the hype. After the promos the hype has grown for Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania. I think by the time The Marvels come out it will do very well and may be better received by fans. Secret Invasion may help build up hype for it especially if it is indeed linked to The Marvels.

DC

Shazam: Fury of the Gods 3/17/23

The Flash 6/16/23

Blue Beetle 8/18/23

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom 12/25/23

Peacemaker Season 2 Late 2023

With the DCEU (DC Extended Universe) over and the DCU (DC Universe) gearing up for launch 2023 will pretty much mark the end of the DCEU. This year is a little weird for DC. The films coming out this year may very well be the end for these current characters. The only thing known about the future at this point is that Henry Cavill is no longer Superman and they are going to have a younger version with James Gunn writing his own Superman movie. This also seems to spell the end for Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam as well. He is not set to appear in Shazam: Fury of the Gods unless he secretly filmed something. Shazam! was a hit and was well liked by audiences when it came out. There is hype for the sequel which will see the whole cast return. This time around Helen Mirren and Lucy Lui are playing Kalypso and Hespera who are the Daughters of Atlas and the villains of the movie. Should Fury of the Gods be a hit, the question remains what happens next for Shazam. Will Zachary Levi get to keep the role? Can there still be a Shazam 3 and if so, could it see Shazam face off with Black Adam? Part of the goal was to eventually see Shazam and Black Adam face off. In the more recent years, it seemed Dwayne Johnson was more focused on having Black Adam and Henry Cavill’s Superman face off. The Flash sees Ezra Miler reprise his role and finally get a solo movie. The Flash was supposed to come out five years ago in 2018. Barring any further delays, the movie will finally release in June. The Flash was always viewed as the movie to serve as a reboot or to fix all the problems in the DCEU. The main reason is due to the time travel that The Flash typically does. There were rumors of doing an adaption of the Flashpoint storyline at one point. However, it does not seem to be the case anymore. There have also been rumors that Henry Cavill and Gal Gadot who plays Wonder Woman were supposed to have cameos in the movie and are cut out.  Currently both Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck are supposed to be in the film as Batman. It remains to be seen if either of them will get cut out. Michael Keaton was supposed to reprise his role in the Batgirl movie, but that movie got the ax. If they end up cutting more people out of the movie, I would think they would cut Michael Keaton out and keep Ben Affleck even if it is just meant as a farewell to his character. The other main issue with the movie is the fact Ezra Miller has gotten himself into a lot of legal trouble and has had many scandals. Even if The Flash does well, there is the question of would the studio want to keep Ezra Miller in the role or recast entirely? Fans have suggested Grant Gustin taking on the film role after starring as The Flash on the hit CW show which is also entering its final season within the next few weeks. Blue Beetle is a new movie with a character we have never met. I was never really clear if Blue Beetle is even meant to be part of this world or not given it was originally supposed to be for HBO MAX. The studio decided to give it a theatrical release. I’m not sure how connected it is supposed to be to that world or if it is a standalone movie. We’ll see when it comes out. Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom was originally supposed to come out Christmas 2022. It was pushed back a full year. Aquaman did very well. Will the sequel be able to do just as well? There are some controversies with this one as well particularly with Amber Heard. Since Amber Heard and Johnny Depp’s trial, there has been a sector of the fanbase who have been pushing for Amber Heard to be removed from the movie. Currently she is still in the movie. I don’t know how substantial her screentime is in this one. Also there have been rumors that Jason Momoa will step down as Aquaman and take on Lobo for the DCU. Recent statements were made by Jason Momoa that he would remain as Aquaman. He could end up playing both roles, but we won’t know until they start unveiling the plans for the DCU.

Currently the only show that is considered cannon would be Peacemaker Season 2. However, I am not sure if season 2 is even happening this year or is aiming for 2024. The Penguin show starring Colin Farrell is linked to Robert Pattison’s Batman which is not part of this world.

Who will dominate 2023? Marvel and DC could both be winners but there are some hurdles for both. A complaint of Phase 4 for Marvel has been that fans felt the movies and shows did not serve a bigger purpose and did not feel as connected compared to the prior films. This year has the opportunity to really link everything together and show that Phase 4 is just as important. The Marvel movies will probably dominate as they usually do. The shows are the ones that have a little more to prove. However, all of the Marvel shows up to this point have been successful including the ones that were not as well liked. DC has a lot more bumps given the films may be obsolete when it comes to the bigger picture. I don’t know if The Flash and Aquaman will be able to do as well given the controversies surrounding those films. Between the two, I think Aquaman has a better chance of doing well. Ben Affleck is also supposed to be in Aquaman but there have been rumors of him being cut out of the film. We won’t know until the movie comes out. DC could still have a successful year, and this is the first year they are releasing 4 movies. Currently the only film to have a trailer is Shazam which just released its latest trailer. The Flash has a teaser trailer, but nothing has since been released. 2 out of the 3 movies for Marvel have trailers and Secret Invasion has a trailer with a new one expected to be coming sooner than later and The Marvels will most likely debut its first trailer around the same time of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Only time will tell who will be the winner of 2023. I look forward to how this year will shape out for both Marvel and DC.