Why The Avengers Did Better in Theaters than The Dark Knight Rises

Yes, the epic debate that has been crawling all over the internet for months. Nerds and comic book fanatics arguing over with series is better, which turns out to be remarkably complex and somehow the quality of those two movies includes the over all quality of all Marvel and DC comics. The interesting thing about this argument is that the epic-ness is basically one sided.

I've only really seen arguments as to why The Dark Knight Rises should have done better, and why The Avengers, (and Marvel comics in general) is less awesome than Batman. One almost can't call it a debate since it is so one-sided. There are a few who argue for The Avengers, but all the articles and ranting blog posts I've seen talk about the movies on a more DC vs. Marvel bases. And yet The Avengers made $468,471,111 more than Batman. If there are so many more people talking about why Batman is superior, why do the numbers say other wise.

That's where I come in.

A couple quick disclaimers though. First, I have not actually seen The Dark Knight Rises, though I have seen  The Avengers. I have watched the first two Batman movies though, and have read reviews and epic "debates" about Batman, and I think I have a good enough feel of what the third movie will be like. Second, this isn't really an argument for The Avengers, or against The Dark Knight Rises. In fact, I like the Batman movies better than The Avengers series. I'm simply going to list the reasons why I feel that The Avengers did better. In fact some of the reasons why it did better are reasons Batman fans say the movie The Avengers is inferior to The Dark Knight Rises. 

Reason number 1: The Hype

There was quite the hype for The Dark Knight Rises, but there was probably more hype with The Avengers. The Avengers had more movies preceding it, which would add an epic feeling; every year there was a new Avengers movie, pulling more people into the whole Avengers hype. Plus there were the little clips at the end of each movie, which would get people excited about the next movie. 

Reason number 2: Multiple Heroes 

In the Batman movies you have Batman. In The Avengers you have Ironman, Captain America, The Hulk, and Thor (plus Black Widow and Hawk Eye, but they don't have their own movies.) If you're not to fond of Batman, you're not exactly going to go and see the third movie. If Ironman is your favorite super hero of all time, even though you weren't fond of any of the other three, you probably went to go see The Avengers. It also helped reason number 1, the hype. Here was the movie were all of the super heroes got together and formed one epic team, making for one epic movie.

Reason number 3: The Villain

The Bane. Psh. Who cares about The Bane? The Joker was awesome, but quite frankly The Bane isn't the most interesting villain in the world. Like I said, I haven't seen The Dark Knight Rises, but other than how people can't understand him, I have heard nothing about the villain quality of The Bane. Now Loki on the other hand, people like Loki almost as much as they like the Joker. (I think, in part, that has to do with Tom Hiddleston playing Loki.)

Reason number 4: Less Darkness, more Laughs

Now, I know people like me enjoyed the Batman movies more than the Avenger ones, but quite frankly I was more "entertained" by The Avengers. The Avenger movies are lighter, easier to digest, more fun to watch. Not everyone can appreciate the dark slant the Batman movies have. In fact, for someone lacking at least a slightly grim sense of humor, the Batman movies would seem simultaneously too serious, and not serious enough. It's so dark and scary, but seriously? It's about a man who dresses up like a giant bat, and he fights crazy people who wear makeup and strange masks. The premise is a little ridiculous, so unless you can appreciate the slightly ridiculous, and laugh at the slightly gruesome, the Batman movies are not for you.

Avengers on the other hand. Well? Those movies don't take themselves seriously at all. It's easier to swallow the more ridiculous aspects. There's at least a couple decent one liners in each fight scene that lighten the mood, laugh at the kind of ridiculous premise, without hurting the intense action.  

Reason number 5: Wider Fan Base 

Yes, despite what I said earlier about The Dark Knight Rises having more crusaders than The Avengers, the latter has a wider fan base, much due to the reasons already stated. This may seem paradoxical, but the simple fact is that Batman has fewer, but more dedicated followers. The type of people who will become obsessed with a single super hero and defend him as if he was a real person are more likely to be attracted to Batman. Casual fans are more likely to enjoy The Avengers. This fact is mostly due to reason number 4. It appeals to more people, even if not people who become as dedicated to it as Batman fans.

Plus, men probably found it a lot easier to drag their wives and girlfriends to see The Avengers than The Dark Knight Rises. 

Reason number 6: Robert Downey Jr./Ironman 

Yes, he does deserve his own reason. No, this isn't just because I'm some man obsessed woman who will enjoy a movie just because I think an actor is attractive. I honestly believe that the super hero of Ironman is what has made a lot of people attracted to The Avengers. You know that saying, "Be yourself, unless you can be Batman. Always be Batman." Honestly, all noble prejudice and righteous aspirations aside, which person would you rather be, Batman or Ironman? Ironman is awesome, and has one heck of a good time being a bad-ass hero. Batman is awesome too, but his life is one hysterical breakdown from being a bad drama.

There are my reasons. You may agree with them, you may not. You may be sitting there in a huff saying to yourself  "But The Dark Knight Rises was better." It may have been so, but The Avengers did better, and there really is no arguing with that.