Part II, Chapter XXIX: "The First Battle"
“1992 was, without a doubt, the most important year for DC Comics. The release of both Batman Returns and Wolverine and the X-Men within three months of each other meant that they would be in direct competition. As to who won that particular battle, the fans can decide. I actually got back into ‘mainstream’ comics around the same time, and boy was that an interesting experience.”
- Alan Moore, speaking about DC Comics during the 1990s, taken from a 2004 interview. [1]
1992 would bring the much anticipated release of the second Batman film, and the inaugural X-Men film. Critics and fans alike were speculating wildly as to which franchise would win out, with the more successful film. To many,
Batman Returns held the upper hand, as the sequel to the highly successful
Batman, which was at the time of its release, the fifth highest grossing film of all time. There was an established fan-base, and the film would almost certainly be financially successful, if not critically.
Wolverine and the X-Men had more of a star factor however. While nominally Bob Hoskins was the main star, in reality it was the involvement of actors like Tom Cruise and Molly Ringwald that were drawing the most attention from prospective audiences. In addition, due to the comic characters involved,
Wolverine and the X-Men promised to be a more flashy action film, in contrast to the darker tone that Tim Burton had gone for with
Batman Returns. [2]
Batman Returns would be the first of the two films to be released, on June 19, 1992. The film saw Michael Keaton’s Batman face off against the Penguin, played by Danny Devito, whilst also dealing with Catwoman, portrayed by Michelle Pfeiffer. Both of these characters are involved with the businessman Max Shreck, played by David Bowie, who has plans to build a new chemical plant in Gotham.
The film would once again be a commercial success, though critics would criticise the dark tone. Despite this, there would be much praise for the rest of the film, with the action sequences and villains being given particular praise, alongside Danny Elfman’s score. While grossing approximately $50 million less than it’s predecessor, a sequel would be greenlit by Warner Bros, with Tim Burton tentatively at the helm once more. In addition, there would be talk of producing a spinoff based around the character of Catwoman. [3]
Wolverine and the X-Men would enjoy a less than optimal release date of October 16. While this would mean that there were very few family films to compete with it, it would come out after all of the summer blockbusters, and as a result, the audience size would likely be decreased. Despite this, TriStar Pictures, which would distribute the film in most countries, was fairly confident that the film would perform well regardless.
Wolverine and the X-Men ended up grossing over $300 million worldwide, on a budget of approximately $95 million. Though it grossed less than
Batman Returns on a larger budget, Carolco Pictures, the primary production company, would consider it a success nonetheless. Reviews were near unanimously positive, with particular praise being given to Pete Postlethwaite and Max von Sydow’s performances as Professor X and Magneto respectively.
The film’s plot followed the X-Men as they try to stop Magneto from capturing Jubilee, whose powers he wishes to use as a weapon against humanity, in order to establish a mutant supremacy. Jubilee ends up in the custody of the X-Men after she and her protector, Wolverine, are saved by Cyclops and Storm when they are attacked by Magneto’s minion Toad. Throughout the film, Jubilee and Wolverine grow closer together, and become part of the X-Men team.
The success of
Wolverine and the X-Men would lead to a sequel being commissioned, with Kathryn Bigelow and James Cameron staying on as director and producer respectively. The success of the film would also prove the commercial viability of the Marvel Comics characters on the big screen after years of misfires. As a result, in 1993, Marvel Entertainment Group would create Marvel Studios, a production company with the express purpose of making more films with Marvel Comics characters. [4]
The successes of both
Batman Returns and
Wolverine and the X-Men would see increases in sales of both DC and Marvel comics. The two companies, however, would take vastly different routes with regards to stories within the comics at that time.
DC would close off 1992 with a new Superman run, the second issue of which would see the hero killed off by the villain Doomsday. While this would increase sales temporarily, DC would find difficulty in securing a lasting audience in this time, as the limited run editions of comics were increasingly prioritising quantity over quality.
Marvel’s crowning achievement of 1992 would be the beginning of the “2099” comics, a series of comics which showed a dark possible future of the main Marvel Universe. Marvel would however suffer the loss of many of its artists to the newly formed “Image Comics”. Despite this, by the end of 1992, Marvel’s readership would be up greatly, mainly tanks to the 2099 comics and
Wolverine and the X-Men.
While DC continued on with its “event” style comics, Marvel kept to a more traditional route, seeing fewer but more consistent sales. Only time would tell which company would win out in what would undoubtedly be a battle for the ages. [5]
[1] I'm not the biggest Alan Moore fan, but his work around this time is very interesting to say the least. I'm counting Image Comics as mainstream here.
[2] Wolverine and the X-Men is your more typical blockbuster. It's not too dissimilar from the 2000 X-Men film.
[3] Thanks to the hype building around the "battle" between Marvel and DC, Batman Returns ends up grossing more. This has some serious knock-on effects.
[4] I've big plans for Marvel and DC. This is the start of them.
[5] Marvel's taking a "safer" route than they did in OTL. Much fun awaits around 1996.