Invincible Creator Robert Kirkman Finally Weighs In on Marvel vs DC Movies—And Ends the Debate

The conversation around superhero movies rarely stays quiet for long, and few voices carry more weight in that space than Robert Kirkman.

The man behind ‘The Walking Dead’ and ‘Invincible’ has spent years sitting at the intersection of comics and screen adaptations, watching both Marvel and DC navigate the highs and lows of building shared cinematic universes. When Kirkman speaks about the state of superhero filmmaking, the industry tends to listen.

Kirkman is no stranger to weighing in on the Marvel versus DC debate. During a recent appearance on Robservations with Rob Liefeld, he argued that Marvel and DC have a tendency to be “limiting” in what they offer audiences, particularly when compared to the genre variety found in manga. But his latest remarks take direct aim at the state of DC films specifically, and the observations are pointed.

Kirkman laid out his position without much diplomatic softening. “There’s still like things about Marvel that are relevant today and the DC stuff is less and less relevant as time goes on,” he said. “So you have to in a sense fundamentally alter what DC is built upon to make DC appeal to a modern audience and therefore I think anyone that is doing a DC movie has an uphill battle ahead of them.”

The argument Kirkman is making is not a new one for him. Years ago, he told ComicBook.com that “anyone would be foolish to think that Marvel hasn’t done something extremely special,” pointing to the organic, surprise-driven way the Marvel Cinematic Universe was built from ‘Iron Man’ onward. That sense of earned momentum, Kirkman has long argued, is something DC has struggled to replicate.

The perception gap between the two franchises has widened and narrowed over the years, but the structural challenge he describes is real. Marvel’s characters, from Iron Man to Spider-Man, became cultural shorthand in a way that has kept them embedded in mainstream conversation even during periods of so-called superhero fatigue. DC’s roster, by contrast, carries decades of baggage from properties that mean very different things to very different audiences.

To be fair to DC, the reboot under James Gunn and Peter Safran has generated genuine momentum. James Gunn’s ‘Superman’, starring David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, was a critical and box office success in 2025, creating a strong foundation for the DCU’s future, including this year’s ‘Supergirl’ movie and HBO’s ‘Lanterns’ series. The film has continued finding audiences on streaming, suggesting the new DCU has real staying power.

Pre-Gunn DC films often fell victim to a seat-of-the-pants approach, with scripts rewritten mid-shoot, third acts reshot under studio pressure, and release dates locked before a coherent story existed. Gunn’s more deliberate, architect-style approach to building the new DCU has been praised as a corrective to that era. In 2026, two DCU films are set to release, ‘Supergirl’ and ‘Clayface’, with the former building directly on the goodwill ‘Superman’ generated.

Yet Kirkman’s point lands regardless of the recent uptick. Rebuilding cultural relevance from a fractured foundation is a different challenge than sustaining the kind of relevance Marvel has maintained across nearly two decades of releases. DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has compared ‘Supergirl’ to his ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ franchise at Marvel, signaling his intent to bring the same tonal blend of comedy, emotion, and action to the new DCU. Whether that approach closes the relevance gap Kirkman identifies remains to be seen.

Kirkman’s comments arrive at a complicated moment for both studios. Marvel is placing a significant bet on ‘Avengers: Doomsday’, with Robert Downey Jr. and the Russo brothers returning, hailed by some as Marvel’s potential salvation after a stretch of mixed results. DC is methodically laying new bricks. Both franchises are fighting to prove they can still command the kind of cultural attention they once did effortlessly.

What makes Kirkman’s take especially interesting is his vantage point. He built ‘Invincible’ as a creator-owned superhero universe that now competes directly with both studios for audience attention and goodwill. He has skin in the game, and no obvious incentive to favor either side of the Marvel versus DC divide. His read on DC’s cultural challenge feels less like a dismissal and more like an honest industry assessment from someone who has watched both giants operate up close.

Whether DC’s filmmakers can clear the bar Kirkman is describing will define the next chapter of superhero cinema. Let us know in the comments whether you think DC’s recent films have done enough to close that relevance gap.

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