Being iconic, casting a long pop culture shadow, the existence of prior successful and beloved mainstream adaptations... all of that helps, but it doesn't guarantee anything.
Batman has a very high ceiling, for example, as far as the potential audience is concerned, but not every incarnation is going to get there immediately, and a certain incarnation may not get there at all, if audiences don't like it.
Wonder Woman was tracking for like a $65M opening, but once people found out the movie was good, there was a surge of support that might not have been as great for a lesser known character. I think it is safe to guess that it wouldn't have been on the same level. Also, had the buzz around the DCEU been positive overall, WW would probably have opened higher. It's been longer since a film incarnation of Superman was well-received, so I can't be sure, but I think a similar thing would happen in that case. That character has simply proven to be difficult to adapt outside of the Reeve/Donner version.
Outside of those three, though, I don't think any of the DC characters have any advantage over the B-list Marvel characters, and now the marvel characters are no longer B-list anyway.
Having said that, I think the ceiling for Justice League was high. Even BvS should have hit a billion without breaking a sweat. So we are looking at a badly mismanaged version. That is the reality. Nothing is immune to poor quality.
Batman has a very high ceiling, for example, as far as the potential audience is concerned, but not every incarnation is going to get there immediately, and a certain incarnation may not get there at all, if audiences don't like it.
Wonder Woman was tracking for like a $65M opening, but once people found out the movie was good, there was a surge of support that might not have been as great for a lesser known character. I think it is safe to guess that it wouldn't have been on the same level. Also, had the buzz around the DCEU been positive overall, WW would probably have opened higher. It's been longer since a film incarnation of Superman was well-received, so I can't be sure, but I think a similar thing would happen in that case. That character has simply proven to be difficult to adapt outside of the Reeve/Donner version.
Outside of those three, though, I don't think any of the DC characters have any advantage over the B-list Marvel characters, and now the marvel characters are no longer B-list anyway.
Having said that, I think the ceiling for Justice League was high. Even BvS should have hit a billion without breaking a sweat. So we are looking at a badly mismanaged version. That is the reality. Nothing is immune to poor quality.
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