This year (2016), the two biggest comic book movies – and two of the biggest movies, period – are undoubtedly Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Captain America: Civil War.

Batman v Superman is out in March and Civil War is out in May, and comic book movie fans around the world are incredibly excited about them both.

Batman v Superman is a DC offering, distributed by Warner Brothers, while Civil War is a Marvel offering, distributed by their own Marvel Studios, meaning that it’s a rivalry between the two biggest entities in the comic book movie business.

But which will come out on top in terms of box office and critical success? We believe it will be Captain America: Civil War that comes out on top. Here are ten reasons why…

The Release Dates

As we’ve already touched upon, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will be hitting theatres around the world in March, while Captain America: Civil War arrives two months later in May – and that could have a very big effect on the success of the two movies.

Typically, March isn’t a popular month for movies – and it’s fairly obvious that DC and Warner Brothers only moved it from May to avoid a direct collision with Civil War, meaning they’re fairly obviously scared of the competition.

Civil War is indeed released in May – a much more popular month for movies – and, as a result, more people are likely to watch it. Simple facts like this give the Marvel Studios offering a clear advantage when it comes to potential box office success.

A Much Better Trailer

Trailers are, quite obviously, very important when it comes to a movie’s success – why bother with them if they weren’t? They’re an integral part of the marketing process and can actually determine whether or not a movie will be successful.

Both Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Captain America: Civil War have had trailers released for them to date – and it’s fairly obvious which movie has the better trailer so far.

The Batman v Superman trailer drew a lot of criticism. It seemed hastily put together and gave a lot away. The Captain America: Civil War trailer was much better. It teased a lot, showed a lot of action and was well put together. With this in mind, you have to imagine more people will flock to see the Marvel Studios offering than the DC offering.

It’s Given Less Away

As touched upon in the last point, Captain America: Civil War has had a lot less given away in its trailers than Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – and that could be key when it comes to the success of each movie.

Civil War still has many secrets left unseen – Spider-Man, Baron Zemo, the outcome of the titular battle and seeing Ant-Man alongside the other heroes, for example – while Batman v Superman has already shown things like Doomsday and the Holy Trinity standing alongside each other.

Essentially – as much as the people behind the movie deny it – Batman v Superman’s plot has been entirely leaked. And what’s so silly about that is that the people behind the movie are the ones who gave it away. More people will be interested in Civil War as a result.

It’s Less Rushed

Captain America: Civil War is undoubtedly the biggest movie event in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to date – but that’s fine, because it’s the thirteenth installment in the franchise and is something that has been built-up to since 2008.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice can claim no such thing. It’s a huge event, but it is merely the second installment in the DC Extended Universe.

To introduce such a large cast of new characters – the likes of Batman, Lex Luthor, Doomsday, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Flash, Cyborg, Mercy Graves and Alfred Pennyworth et al – all in just the second movie of the franchise is crazy. It’s very rushed and you get the impression that will be very noticeable when you’re watching it.

An Established Universe

As popular as the likes of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are, the fact is that these versions of the characters are either not so popular or not even established yet. Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, War Machine, Bucky Barnes, Falcon, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Ant-Man and company are all existing, popular movie characters with a fan base.

With that in mind, Captain America: Civil War already has its existing fan base due to the fact it is taking place in a long-established universe.

Whereas Civil War is undoubtedly going to pull in fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is serving as a means of winning new fans for a new franchise. That’s a big ask for any movie – especially one with such a popular direct rival in the form of the MCU.

A Better Cast

Simply put, Captain America: Civil War has a much better cast of actors than Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Moreover, its cast have been far more suitably matched with the characters they’re playing as well.

The likes of Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Anthony Mackie, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, William Hurt and Paul Bettany will be joined in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by the likes of Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Martin Freeman and Daniel Brühl in Civil War – and that’s a lot more convincing that the Batman v Superman cast.

Henry Cavill was hardly amazing as Superman in Man of Steel – and potentially dodgy castings like Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and Jason Momoa as Aquaman aren’t helping matters, as far as we can see at this stage.

Better Characters

As well as having a better cast, the fact is that Captain America: Civil War has better characters than Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice as well.

In spite of the fact that Batman v Superman has… well… Batman and Superman, the rest of the cast just isn’t that interesting. Wonder Woman is the exception, but Lex Luthor has been done to death (as have many of the supporting characters), Doomsday is very one-dimensional, Cyborg isn’t well-known enough to excite, Aquaman is awful and the rest of the characters are fairly uninspired.

Captain America: Civil War has the ever-popular Iron Man and Captain America, as well as the massive introduction of Spider-Man, the first appearance alongside other heroes of Ant-Man and an army of popular existing characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

A Better Previous Installment

The previous movie in any given franchise can be integral to the success of the next one. In the case of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the previous (and only) installment in the DC Extended Universe was the fairly underwhelming Man of Steel – and that undoubtedly could hamper its potential success.

In the case of Captain America: Civil War, the brilliant Ant-Man was the last movie released in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so people are still going to be interested in it.

More to the point, there have been eleven other movies in the MCU – most of which were huge successes – and the characters from those movies are uniting for this one. The past will certainly affect the success of these future movies, just you wait and see.

Marvel Simply Do Movies Better Than DC

Let’s be honest, when it comes to making movies, Marvel simply do it better than DC. There’s something about Marvel properties that seems to translate better on the big screen – at that applies whether it’s Marvel Studios, Fox, Sony Pictures or otherwise behind the movies in question.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe in particular utterly dwarves anything DC have ever done – even the Dark Knight Trilogy – in terms of success and expansion.

With that in mind, Captain America: Civil War quite obviously has a massive advantage over Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Reputation alone should see it overcome its DC rival, as Marvel have built up a solid reputation with their movies and DC have been, at best, unreliable and inconsistent.

Spider-Man

The real X-factor in the battle for comic book movie supremacy this year is undoubtedly a certain Webbed Wonder – Peter Parker AKA Spider-Man himself.

Marvel’s flagship hero is set to make his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Captain America: Civil War, having previously flown solo in two franchises that were under the jurisdiction of Sony Pictures.

Tom Holland will take on the role of the hero and it is currently completely unknown just how big that role will be in Civil War. The fact that Spidey will be appearing and the mystique of the extent that he will be appearing ensures that audiences will turn up in their droves to see Captain America: Civil War and, as a result, it will definitely win the comic book movie war against DC’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice this year.

What do you think? Is this article right? Or will the DC movie outperform the Marvel offering? Have your say below!