Key points:
- Marvel, up until recently, had overall done an excellent job due to the interpersonal quality of its character development, as well as the strategic release of separate stories leading up to the Avengers, all this despite the fact that its Phases clearly overstayed their welcome. However, this positive trajectory may be coming to an end. Captain America: Brave New World’s reduced box office draw may be a negative indicator for Marvel, signaling an erosion of fan support as well as changing cultural contexts. No longer are side projects like Thunderbolts failing alone. Captain America himself is losing his touch.
- DC has faltered over the last several years, in part due to a changing political and cultural backdrop, as well as incompetent storytelling. In particular, DC should reduce the explicit, graphic, and disturbing quality of story and increase conceptual depth. DC films will also fare better once the cultural fear of Western/U.S. decline subsides. The recent success of Superman (2025) likely indicates that this cultural shift has already begun. DC can ascend once more, tracking a re-emergent America, if it gets back to the basics.
- Marvel has over-reached with the Avengers, but its over-reach has succeeded (at least in monetary terms). Marvel should ideally pull back from multiverse-oriented stories after Doomsday, and yet it appears that its Phase six also includes another film slated for 2027. We can expect multiverse fatigue to be in full swing by that release.
- DC’s Supergirl will not likely succeed at the box office unless it connects to myth more strongly than advertised in its trailer. The first Wonder Woman film succeeded primarily due to the strong connection between the heroine and her myth.
The product market discussed in this post is superhero story in film, and the two companies analyzed are DC and Marvel. Per my method, an initial market culture theory was developed based on analysis of reviews and comparisons on YouTube and other sources, as well as an exploration of brand websites. My initial theory for the market culture of each company is as follows: DC preserves epic myth, builds the surreal individual, and seeks balance of existential power; Marvel preserves vulnerable camaraderie, builds the unique individual, and seeks mastery of personal domain. The inherent paradox for DC is the rift between a super-empowered savior figure and a broken world: How does the hero of legend identify with a world continually in need of rescue? The inherent paradox for Marvel is the struggle between competition and vulnerability: How does the hero stay strong while building interpersonal trust?
Background: The role of the superhero story is to abstract impossible political and societal problems using action entertainment. The catch to this low-hanging-fruit enterprise is that fans become difficult to please. Therefore, the litmus test of a film’s success should not be whether it stays true to a comic book or whether an ardent fan group is happy but rather whether the general premises of the hero and brand are preserved and not violated. Staying true to impetus will provide the best long-term marketability. Violating premise can provide short-term benefits (as Marvel has seen) but may hurt sales in the future (as DC has witnessed).
DC and Marvel should accept that some films will flop and should strategically lower budgets for poor candidates. Those ancillary films should serve the brand as a whole rather than being seen as profit maximizers. When the ecosystem of the brand is enhanced, the hits become more profitable even if side films falter. The alternative in terms of compounding violations leads to a brand that is almost unrecognizable from the perspective of fans. DC has most notably struggled with this. However, the lackluster performance of Captain America: Brave New World is a sign that Marvel too is suffering from considerable dissonance.
In general terms, of course, DC and Marvel both benefit from the rich context and long tradition of comic books, which enables the bigger film risks and rewards that they have taken on in the past few decades. Both brands suffer from an often fickle and unforgiving fan base, but that goes with the territory. People who have been steeped in a century of tradition will have strong opinions each time the next big thing comes out. Both Marvel and DC are undeniably American, and their stories not only highlight the hidden “super” potential of the individual, but they also hearken to American might in particular (at times concretely as in the case of Captain America). As far as a general metric of success over the past several years, Marvel is seen as more successful at producing hit movies in live action, while DC is considered better at animated productions.
I should note that while I’ve enjoyed some superhero films, I am not particularly a fan of either brand. I personally prefer other genres of storytelling. However, I have seen several films from each brand and did have a couple comic books when I was a kid.
Using the above theory as a model to acquire artificial intelligence-generated market simulations, the following three prompts were given to ChatGPT:
- Provide a cultural analysis narrative of two subcultures in a fictional society: subculture Alpha and subculture Bravo. Each subculture is characterized by what they preserve, seek, and build. Subculture Alpha preserves epic myth, builds the surreal individual, and seeks balance of existential power. Subculture Bravo preserves vulnerable camaraderie, builds the unique individual, and seeks mastery of personal domain. Describe each subculture’s approach to superhero stories.
- Provide a cultural analysis narrative of two subcultures in a fictional society: subculture Alpha and subculture Bravo. Each subculture is characterized by what they preserve, seek, and build. Subculture Alpha preserves epic myth, builds the surreal individual, and seeks balance of existential power. Subculture Bravo preserves vulnerable camaraderie, builds the unique individual, and seeks mastery of personal domain. Describe each subculture’s approach to fantasy fiction.
- Provide a cultural analysis narrative of two subcultures in a fictional society: subculture Alpha and subculture Bravo. Each subculture is characterized by what they preserve, seek, and build. Subculture Alpha preserves epic myth, builds the surreal individual, and seeks balance of existential power. Subculture Bravo preserves vulnerable camaraderie, builds the unique individual, and seeks mastery of personal domain. Describe each subculture’s approach to adventure stories.
Alpha and Bravo were used for the purpose of abstraction, and specific characters were not named. Abstracting prompts (not using brand names or exact product types) helps control bias within ChatGPT’s training data while maximizing the probability that new perspectives will be gleaned. Caveats to the applicability of my analysis include the fact that no financials are considered, only cultural factors, and the fact that only two competitors are analyzed.
Conclusions: Reading the AI simulations, the themes that predominate are the embodiment of conceptual struggle for DC and instrumental responsibility for Marvel.
Looking at DC first, the simulations underscore “fate-bound heroes, cyclical destruction and renewal,” “internal struggles mirror cosmic forces,” “villains are…embodiments of excess, chaos, or nihilism,” “cosmic symmetry rather than moral clarity,” “stories are…deliberately impersonal,” “identities blur with prophesy,” “endings rarely offer closure; instead, they restore equilibrium,” “mythic journeys across unstable reality,” and “adventure is dangerous because it reshapes existence itself.” At the outset, when putting film in the context of broader culture, we should recognize a structural problem. America, for the past 25 years, but especially the past several years, has not been able to detach from conflict and contestation. We are in the thick of the fight, whether against terrorism, economic sabotage, great power competition, etc. We simply cannot embody a conceptual epic very well while struggling to keep our heads above water.
What we want, for now, is a concrete, relatable hero with instrumental strength and skill. Marvel in particular, as we shall see, has benefited from this cultural trend, as its characters are more relatable, while the threats of the multiverse simulate/abstract an embattled West/America. This does not mean that DC should not make live action movies during prolonged periods of malaise. But the success of such films will be variable, and strategy must be tightened up. As American Empire reasserts itself, finding itself primarily situated against an empowered China, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman will hold more appeal, and the culture will gravitate toward a myth that can tackle a slow-burning, amorphous threat. Cold war tension benefits DC, in other words.
In addition, given the conceptual nature of the DC hero, DC must take great pains to utilize concrete expression well. Graphic portrayals of bloodshed and gratuitous foul language generally detract, especially when disconnected from a concept; i.e., what is the impossible position that the hero is in conceptually? Or what amorphous, existential threat do the villains actually represent? The increasingly graphic nature of recent DC films does not lift the brand, simply because there is no compelling question underlying it, and that concept is what the audience is looking for. Note that the 2016 Suicide Squad (PG-13) did very well, but the 2021 (R-rated) version did poorly, though was better received by critics. Contrast that with Marvel, which, due to the interpersonal nature of its ethos, has had significant success with R-rated productions like Deadpool & Wolverine (2024). DC viewers want conceptual development, even if it means the characters are “deliberately impersonal,” as the simulation states. In general terms (and this goes for Justice League as well), when the attempt to enhance aesthetic devolves into soap opera drama, it becomes clear that the product has gone off the rails. Keep the story stoic and the legends on the high road.
In light of the above generalities, we can see why the first Wonder Woman did particularly well. It was a film that connected well to the myth, and its use of violence was a tool to show cosmic struggle rather than canvas. Looking at the trailer for the upcoming Supergirl movie, it is unlikely that this film will connect as well to myth as compared to Wonder Woman. While some followers have speculated that Supergirl will adhere to the comic books well, this isn’t the main question. Does the film adhere to the impetus of DC mythology? The over-reliance on “party girl” memes in the trailer suggests it does not. It is likely that box office results will be suppressed, though critics may score the film well.
Turning to Marvel, in terms of the theme of instrumental responsibility, the simulations note “drama lies not in cosmic stakes but in personal consequence,” “superhero stories answer the question: how much good can one person responsibly sustain?” “power only matters where someone must live with it,” “internal growth matters more than lore,” “magic systems are…tied to memory, promise, or personal discipline rather than cosmic law,” “how to live responsibly with what one has earned,” and “meaning is built where one stands, not across all creation.” The obvious takeaway here is that, provided the simulations are correct, Marvel has over-reached with the obviously cosmic, multiverse themes of the Avengers stories. Looking at revenues, the over-reach has largely been successful.
The reason Marvel has been able to achieve such massive success on the big screen while over-reaching in terms of story is due to a few key factors: First, the fictional threats have been more alien than mythic, with oddity maximized and separation minimized. As noted above, the multiverse can also simulate a multiplicity of external threats, as those facing the West in political reality. Second, Marvel has excelled at developing interpersonal team dynamics, somehow sustaining the implausible circus that is the Avengers. Marvel heroes are undeniably relatable and human. Finally, Marvel executives strategically built the MCU one story at a time to capitalize off of the serial effect.
Of course, sometime soonish, the scope of Marvel plots should be scaled back. While Doomsday will likely be some flavor of commercial success (just given the performance of past Avengers movies), rounding up all of the circus performers to save the multiverse again post-Doomsday may be a mistake. Certainly, after Phase six has ended, one would hope Marvel would stick to more localized stories with fewer characters. Public fascination with the multiverse is bound to come to a screeching halt. Nevertheless, one can’t really fault Marvel for cashing in as long as it can.
The larger problem for Marvel comes when standalone stars like Captain America go down with the barnacle-encrusted ship. Captain America: Brave New World should have been a resounding success. Undoubtedly, faults within that film contributed to its muted box-office response. Nevertheless, it should be apparent by now that DC and Marvel are ecosystems. When you continually violate the ecosystem, you can be sure that tepid fandom is not far off in the future. Couple that with a political context of emerging cold war with China, all while America reasserts itself, and the recipe for the New World may be more DC flavored.
Read the AI simulations below if you are wondering what AI “thinks.” My prompts are bold and italics.
Provide a cultural analysis narrative of two subcultures in a fictional society: subculture Alpha and subculture Bravo. Each subculture is characterized by what they preserve, seek, and build. Subculture Alpha preserves epic myth, builds the surreal individual, and seeks balance of existential power. Subculture Bravo preserves vulnerable camaraderie, builds the unique individual, and seeks mastery of personal domain. Describe each subculture’s approach to superhero stories.
Here is a cultural analysis narrative exploring Subculture Alpha and Subculture Bravo through their distinct relationships to superhero stories in a fictional society:
Cultural Analysis Narrative: Alpha & Bravo
In the fictional society of Aethryx, superhero stories are not mere entertainment. They function as mythic instruments, shaping how people imagine power, selfhood, and moral responsibility. Two dominant subcultures—Alpha and Bravo—consume, reinterpret, and produce superhero narratives in radically different ways, each reflecting what they preserve, build, and seek.
Subculture Alpha
Preserves: Epic myth
Builds: The surreal individual
Seeks: Balance of existential power
Subculture Alpha approaches superhero stories as modern epics—continuations of ancient myth rendered through capes, cosmic threats, and altered realities. They preserve the structure and tone of mythic grandeur: gods among mortals, fate-bound heroes, cyclical destruction and renewal. For Alpha, superheroes are not aspirational peers but ontological anomalies, beings whose existence destabilizes reality itself.
Alpha narratives emphasize scale and abstraction. Heroes are often solitary figures burdened with impossible power, operating in surreal landscapes where time fractures and morality is ambiguous. Their internal struggles mirror cosmic forces: to act is to risk annihilation; to abstain is to permit collapse. Villains are not merely adversaries but philosophical counterweights, embodiments of excess, chaos, or nihilism.
In building the surreal individual, Alpha stories isolate the hero from ordinary society. The protagonist becomes less human over time—transformed by power, mythologized by history, and misunderstood by the masses. Identity is fluid, sometimes symbolic rather than personal. Masks are not disguises but metaphysical thresholds.
What Alpha seeks is balance of existential power. Their superhero stories are less about victory and more about equilibrium: how much power can exist without tearing the world apart? Alpha audiences value endings that restore cosmic symmetry rather than moral clarity. Sacrifice, ambiguity, and unresolved tension are seen as signs of narrative truth.
For Alpha, superhero stories answer the question:
What happens when meaning itself gains strength?
Subculture Bravo
Preserves: Vulnerable camaraderie
Builds: The unique individual
Seeks: Mastery of personal domain
Subculture Bravo treats superhero stories as intimate narratives of growth, rooted in relationships rather than myth. They preserve vulnerable camaraderie—friendships, found families, mentors, and teams where emotional exposure is as important as strength. In Bravo stories, the hero is never alone, even when physically isolated.
Bravo superheroes are explicitly human. Their powers are bounded, contextual, and often secondary to skill, discipline, or ingenuity. The drama lies not in cosmic stakes but in personal consequence: protecting a neighborhood, saving a sibling, earning trust. Failure is common and formative.
By building the unique individual, Bravo stories emphasize specificity. Each hero’s journey is distinct—shaped by background, temperament, and chosen values. Powers are tools, not identities. Costumes are practical, often improvised, and evolve as the hero grows. Secret identities matter not as myth, but as zones of personal responsibility.
What Bravo seeks is mastery of personal domain. Their superhero stories celebrate competence earned through effort: learning when to intervene, when to ask for help, and when to stand alone. Antagonists are frequently mirrors—rivals who represent alternative paths rather than existential threats.
Bravo audiences favor arcs that end in earned stability: a hero who knows their limits, protects their circle, and remains embedded in community. Triumph is measured in trust preserved, not worlds saved.
For Bravo, superhero stories answer the question:
How much good can one person responsibly sustain?
In Aethryx, these two subcultures coexist uneasily. Alpha critics often dismiss Bravo stories as small or naïve, while Bravo audiences find Alpha narratives alienating and indulgent. Yet together, they sustain the superhero genre as a dual mythology: one that explores the limits of power itself, and one that explores the limits of the self.
Alpha reminds society that unchecked power reshapes reality.
Bravo reminds it that power only matters where someone must live with it.
Between epic myth and vulnerable camaraderie, the superhero remains what Aethryx needs most: a mirror—not of what people are, but of how they imagine becoming.
Provide a cultural analysis narrative of two subcultures in a fictional society: subculture Alpha and subculture Bravo. Each subculture is characterized by what they preserve, seek, and build. Subculture Alpha preserves epic myth, builds the surreal individual, and seeks balance of existential power. Subculture Bravo preserves vulnerable camaraderie, builds the unique individual, and seeks mastery of personal domain. Describe each subculture’s approach to fantasy fiction.
Below is a cultural analysis narrative examining Subculture Alpha and Subculture Bravo through their contrasting approaches to fantasy fiction in a fictional society.
Cultural Analysis Narrative: Alpha & Bravo in Fantasy
In the fictional society of Eldren Vale, fantasy fiction is not escapism but orientation. It is how citizens rehearse their beliefs about power, selfhood, and belonging. Two dominant subcultures—Alpha and Bravo—read, write, and circulate fantasy stories in ways that reveal fundamentally different philosophies of existence.
Subculture Alpha
Preserves: Epic myth
Builds: The surreal individual
Seeks: Balance of existential power
Subculture Alpha approaches fantasy as mythic architecture. Their stories are vast, symbolic, and deliberately impersonal. They preserve the structure of ancient epics: creation cycles, fallen ages, divine hierarchies, and world-shaping events that dwarf individual lives. History in Alpha fantasy is not linear but recursive; empires rise and collapse according to cosmic rhythms rather than human choice.
In these narratives, protagonists are less “characters” than surreal individuals—figures whose identities blur with prophecy, artifact, or elemental force. A hero may be simultaneously a person and a role, a living avatar of dusk, memory, or entropy. Names shift, bodies transform, and interior psychology is secondary to metaphysical consequence.
Alpha fantasy is preoccupied with existential power: magic that bends time, gods who fracture reality, spells that alter meaning itself. Yet this power is never celebrated without restraint. The central tension is always balance—how to contain immense forces without annihilating the world that gave rise to them. Victory often looks like limitation: sealing a god away, breaking a crown, choosing stasis over domination.
The tone of Alpha fantasy is solemn and uncanny. Landscapes feel alive, languages feel old, and silence is as important as dialogue. Endings rarely offer closure; instead, they restore equilibrium, suggesting that the world has survived—but at cost. Alpha readers value these stories because they preserve awe and remind society that power must be borne, not merely wielded.
For Subculture Alpha, fantasy fiction asks:
What must an individual become in order to carry the weight of existence itself?
Subculture Bravo
Preserves: Vulnerable camaraderie
Builds: The unique individual
Seeks: Mastery of personal domain
Subculture Bravo engages fantasy as relational storytelling. Their worlds are richly imagined, but always grounded in lived experience: inns instead of thrones, villages instead of empires, friendships instead of fate. Bravo preserves the emotional core of storytelling—the bonds formed under pressure, the trust earned through shared risk.
Bravo fantasy centers on unique individuals whose identities are defined by choice rather than destiny. Heroes are bakers, scouts, healers, or apprentices who acquire magic slowly, often accidentally. Power is localized and contextual: a spell that protects one home, a sword that only works when wielded with care. Internal growth matters more than lore.
Camaraderie is the engine of these stories. Parties argue, reconcile, and fail together. Emotional vulnerability—fear, doubt, grief—is not a weakness but a resource. Magic systems are often intimate, tied to memory, promise, or personal discipline rather than cosmic law.
What Bravo seeks is mastery of personal domain. Their fantasy narratives celebrate competence over grandeur: learning when to use power, when to refuse it, and how to live responsibly with what one has earned. Antagonists are not embodiments of chaos but disruptions to community—warlords, corrupt guilds, or internal temptations.
Endings in Bravo fantasy are modest but satisfying. The world may remain imperfect, but the protagonist gains clarity: a home protected, a skill mastered, a relationship repaired. Readers treasure these stories because they affirm that meaning is built where one stands, not across all creation.
For Subculture Bravo, fantasy fiction asks:
How well can a person care for the world they can actually touch?
In Eldren Vale, Alpha and Bravo fantasies circulate side by side, often misunderstood by the other. Alpha readers see Bravo stories as small; Bravo readers see Alpha epics as distant. Yet together they sustain the culture’s imaginative ecology.
Alpha fantasy preserves the mythic horizon, reminding society of forces larger than any life.
Bravo fantasy preserves the human scale, reminding it that worlds are saved one relationship at a time.
Between them, fantasy fiction becomes both a warning and a comfort: power must be balanced, and belonging must be built.
Provide a cultural analysis narrative of two subcultures in a fictional society: subculture Alpha and subculture Bravo. Each subculture is characterized by what they preserve, seek, and build. Subculture Alpha preserves epic myth, builds the surreal individual, and seeks balance of existential power. Subculture Bravo preserves vulnerable camaraderie, builds the unique individual, and seeks mastery of personal domain. Describe each subculture’s approach to adventure stories.
Below is a cultural analysis narrative examining Subculture Alpha and Subculture Bravo through their contrasting relationships to adventure stories in a fictional society.
Cultural Analysis Narrative: Alpha & Bravo in Adventure
In the fictional society of Rhyden, adventure stories are not simply tales of motion and danger; they are cultural instruments for teaching how one ought to move through the unknown. Two major subcultures—Alpha and Bravo—interpret adventure in fundamentally different ways, each shaped by what they preserve, build, and seek.
Subculture Alpha
Preserves: Epic myth
Builds: The surreal individual
Seeks: Balance of existential power
For Subculture Alpha, adventure stories are mythic journeys across unstable reality. They preserve the cadence of ancient epics—long departures, prophetic encounters, symbolic trials—where travel itself distorts the traveler. The road is not merely physical; it is metaphysical, and to move along it is to risk becoming something other than human.
Alpha protagonists are surreal individuals, shaped less by personality than by the forces they carry. They may be chosen, cursed, or transformed mid-journey. Names, faces, and allegiances shift as the story unfolds, emphasizing that identity is provisional when power presses too closely. The hero’s inner life is expressed through dreamlike imagery rather than dialogue: storms that follow them, mirrors that refuse reflection, companions who may or may not be real.
The adventures Alpha favors are vast and perilous, crossing ruined empires, elemental thresholds, and god-haunted territories. Each obstacle tests not courage but proportion—how much power the hero can exert without unraveling the world. Triumph is rare and often quiet. More commonly, the hero chooses restraint: sealing a passage, abandoning a weapon, or stepping away from dominion to restore equilibrium.
Alpha adventure stories end not with conquest, but with balance reasserted. The world survives, the hero is diminished or transformed, and the journey becomes legend rather than legacy. These stories preserve awe and caution, reminding Alpha audiences that adventure is dangerous because it reshapes existence itself.
For Subculture Alpha, adventure stories ask:
How far can one go before power outweighs being?
Subculture Bravo
Preserves: Vulnerable camaraderie
Builds: The unique individual
Seeks: Mastery of personal domain
Subculture Bravo understands adventure as movement through meaningful terrain. Their stories preserve the human core of exploration: traveling with others, relying on trust, and learning through shared hardship. Adventure is not about crossing mythic thresholds, but about leaving the familiar and discovering what one can responsibly handle.
Bravo protagonists are unique individuals with defined histories, limitations, and relationships. They are rarely chosen by fate; they choose to go. Their journeys are grounded—across forests, rivers, towns, and borders that feel lived-in. Companions matter deeply, and conflict within the group is as important as external danger.
In Bravo adventure stories, challenges are practical and personal: navigating unfamiliar cultures, surviving storms, negotiating passage, protecting one another. Power grows slowly, often as skill or confidence rather than magic. Mastery is localized—knowing a route, understanding a tool, earning respect in a new place.
The emotional center of Bravo adventure is camaraderie under strain. Vulnerability strengthens bonds, and failure is instructional rather than catastrophic. Victories are communal: everyone returns changed, but intact. Endings often show the hero settling into a clearer sense of self—better equipped to care for a home, a craft, or a small circle of people.
For Subculture Bravo, adventure stories ask:
What kind of person do you become when you leave home—and who do you return as?
In Rhyden, Alpha and Bravo adventure stories circulate through different halls and campfires, each misunderstood by the other. Alpha readers find Bravo tales modest; Bravo readers find Alpha epics distant. Yet together they define the society’s relationship with the unknown.
Alpha teaches that adventure carries cosmic risk and demands restraint.
Bravo teaches that adventure builds capability and connection.
Between them, adventure becomes both a warning and an invitation: go forth—but know what you carry, and know who walks beside you.