Are the Avengers now bigger than the X-Men in pop culture?

[Lex Von Doom]

While I agree that the Avengers are bigger in pop culture right now than the X-Men it's mainly because of the movie the X-Men imo is the team equivalent to Superman, Batman and Spider-Man. What I mean by that is they don't need to have a heavily marketed movie to stay culturally relevant they'll always be popular. Example, my sister who knows pretty much nothing about comic books knows who the major X-Men are, she knows Wolverine, Storm, Rogue, Cyclops she even knows who Jubilee is.

She also knows some villains, she knows who Magneto, Mystique and Juggernaut are. Whereas I don't know how but just yesterday she heard about how much the Avengers made opening weekend and asked me "Who are they? What's that movie about?" I had to tell her they were a superhero team. Whereas she just knows who the X-Men are. In fact I can only guarantee the only Avenger she knows is Hulk, she might know Iron Man, and Cap but not the others I know my sister doesn't represent everyone but I like to use her to see how the general public views comic book characters. In the NY Daily News they called Cap Captain Planet, so I'm not sure of how much bigger they really are over the X-Men.

[Brandon McKinnis]

The Avengers movie made more money in its first three days than any of the X-men films did in their entire runs. Depending on how long of a tail it has it may end up grossing more than that series combined. Of course, this is before factoring in inflation or the higher prices of 3D and IMAX tickets, but there's no doubt that this movie had a much larger audience.

Personally, I think that the X-men franchise has a stronger concept and more potential, but the films did a terrible job of conveying this. I did like First Class somewhat but the movies were all painfully dull and not fun to watch. They also served to weaken the franchise, as each film took it further from a team of dynamic personalities and closer to Wolverine and random broskis.

Compared to that, watching Avengers was just a great ride. Even without watching any of the prequels, you knew the background and personalities of each character right away, and the movie seemed to really embrace its source material and all the ridiculous and outlandish elements. I just hope that all this success doesn't go to the heads of the publishing division.

Handled about 4 pages ago. Even with 3D upcharge and inflation Avengers made more than the highest grossing X-Men film already.

[BBeeryan]

The Avengers movie made more money in its first three days than any of the X-men films did in their entire runs. Depending on how long of a tail it has it may end up grossing more than that series combined. Of course, this is before factoring in inflation or the higher prices of 3D and IMAX tickets, but there's no doubt that this movie had a much larger audience.

Personally, I think that the X-men franchise has a stronger concept and more potential, but the films did a terrible job of conveying this. I did like First Class somewhat but the movies were all painfully dull and not fun to watch. They also served to weaken the franchise, as each film took it further from a team of dynamic personalities and closer to Wolverine and random broskis.

Compared to that, watching Avengers was just a great ride. Even without watching any of the prequels, you knew the background and personalities of each character right away, and the movie seemed to really embrace its source material and all the ridiculous and outlandish elements. I just hope that all this success doesn't go to the heads of the publishing division.

I agree with all of this, especially the part about the movies weakening the x-franchise.

[destro]

While I agree that the Avengers are bigger in pop culture right now than the X-Men it's mainly because of the movie the X-Men imo is the team equivalent to Superman, Batman and Spider-Man. What I mean by that is they don't need to have a heavily marketed movie to stay culturally relevant they'll always be popular. Example, my sister who knows pretty much nothing about comic books knows who the major X-Men are, she knows Wolverine, Storm, Rogue, Cyclops she even knows who Jubilee is.

She also knows some villains, she knows who Magneto, Mystique and Juggernaut are. Whereas I don't know how but just yesterday she heard about how much the Avengers made opening weekend and asked me "Who are they? What's that movie about?" I had to tell her they were a superhero team. Whereas she just knows who the X-Men are. In fact I can only guarantee the only Avenger she knows is Hulk, she might know Iron Man, and Cap but not the others I know my sister doesn't represent everyone but I like to use her to see how the general public views comic book characters. In the NY Daily News they called Cap Captain Planet, so I'm not sure of how much bigger they really are over the X-Men.

Not to be a jerk, but all that proves is that your sister doesn't know who the Avengers are, nothing more.

Iron Man and Hulk are huge. Especially Hulk, almost everyone knows who he is. Cap and Thor aren't up there yet, but may get there eventually.

[Gamma Burst]

Yes, Avengers are already much bigger than the x-men have ever been. And they'll get even bigger in the upcoming years.

[Lex Von Doom]

Not to be a jerk, but all that proves is that your sister doesn't know who the Avengers are, nothing more.

Iron Man and Hulk are huge. Especially Hulk, almost everyone knows who he is. Cap and Thor aren't up there yet, but may get there eventually.

I know but what does it tell you that after all of the hype and promotion of this movie that there are people who don't even know who the Avengers are. I actually think that (prior to the movie) even the Teen Titans because of the cartoon were more famous than the Avengers. I'm not trying to bash them or anything just saying they might not be quite as big as a lot of people are making them out to be.

[PwrdOff]

Handled about 4 pages ago. Even with 3D upcharge and inflation Avengers made more than the highest grossing X-Men film already.

Ah I just saw your post on that, good work. I don't think it's possible to adjust worldwide numbers for inflation though, because you'd have to take into account inflation rates in all countries as well as changes in exchange rates and it would just be a mess. Your estimate is probably as close as anyone will get.

Either way the numbers on the movie aren't all that determines how successful the property is. Avatar made almost $3 billion but it hasn't really spawned a media franchise and the only time people even talk about it now is in reference to how much money it made. There's a nice balancing act between trying to keep the brand active and oversaturating the market that Marvel needs to play, and the long term success will depend on how well they do that. If they start greenlighting movies and TV shows for every character they can think of and slapping the logo on any random piece of merchandise, people will get sick of the Avengers name pretty quick.

[LeonardEugenius]

Yes, Avengers are already much bigger than the x-men have ever been. And they'll get even bigger in the upcoming years.

The Avengers may be bigger than the X-Men are now, which I don't think they are, but they certainly aren't bigger than the X-Men have ever been.

[Ian Pressman]

that hasn't been proven. i found Iron Man 2 to be underwhelming.

It might have been underwhelming, but it did make a lot of money. About a hundred million over the first one.

[destro]

I know but what does it tell you that after all of the hype and promotion of this movie that there are people who don't even know who the Avengers are. I actually think that (prior to the movie) even the Teen Titans because of the cartoon were more famous than the Avengers. I'm not trying to bash them or anything just saying they might not be quite as big as a lot of people are making them out to be.

Oh I know, I didn't think you were bashing them. I just don't think the Teen Titans are really that big, nothing against them. As of this exact moment in time, the Avengers are kind of on a launching pad. They are basically primed to be the most popular heroes for the next 5 to 10 years or so due to the success of the movie. But of course we'll see what happens.

[Lord Bravery]

Avengers isn't just a bigger grosser than the biggest X-Film adjusted for inflation and the 3D, it's the biggest grossing film ever. So far it's sold more tickets than any other movie ever at this point in it's release. Even without 3D the opening weekend was 180 million.

[Brandon McKinnis]

The Avengers may be bigger than the X-Men are now, which I don't think they are, but they certainly aren't bigger than the X-Men have ever been.

I wonder if Fox would be able to get the same sort of traction with individual X-characters as Marvel has with Avengers. I'm not sure the X-men, aside from Wolverine and maybe Magneto, would be able to compete with the Avengers solo films. That's not to say they wouldn't be successful, I just don't think most would be as successful.

As a brand name X-Men vs. Avengers, I think the X-Men is more recognizable but that will probably change.

[XPac]

I wonder if Fox would be able to get the same sort of traction with individual X-characters as Marvel has with Avengers. I'm not sure the X-men, aside from Wolverine and maybe Magneto, would be able to compete with the Avengers solo films. That's not to say they wouldn't be successful, I just don't think most would be as successful.

As a brand name X-Men vs. Avengers, I think the X-Men is more recognizable but that will probably change.

Wolverine is really the only X-Men that has been able to sustain an on-going, and I think that's a pretty good indicator of whether or not other X-Men can support an on-going film.

There is Deadpool though (who is in that X-Men family).

Ultimately though the X-Men really don't need solo films. Similar to the Fantastic Four, they were never really solo heroes before becoming the team. The team itself was the genesis of the characters (though Logan is an exception there), so telling the story of the team is all you really need. It's part of the reason it's MUCH easier to do a Fantastic Four or an X-Men film, and why an Avenger film almost NEEDED solo movies to come out beforehand to really work. You don't need a separete movie to explain why Cyclops and Jean Grey are on the same team... but a lot more effort is needed to explain why a WW2 soldier and a norse god are suddenly teammates.

An Avenger (or a Justice League) movie is MUCH harder to pull off... but if you can pull it off, the potential payoff is bigger because you're building multiple franchises instead of just one.

[WaveHeater]

Yes, Avengers are already much bigger than the x-men have ever been. And they'll get even bigger in the upcoming years.

The seeds have been planted for Avengers to eventually surpass X-men (millions of 5-10 year olds will see this film), but as of RIGHT NOW X-men are superior.

Ask yourself if Avengers could make a First Class type film without their 4 biggest stars?

The X-men can throw any lineup out there and pull in respectable numbers, I doubt (Black Panther, Black Widow, Vision, Falcon, Ant man, Hawkeye) would sell.

[Lord Bravery]

The seeds have been planted for Avengers to eventually surpass X-men (millions of 5-10 year olds will see this film), but as of RIGHT NOW X-men are superior.

Ask yourself if Avengers could make a First Class type film without their 4 biggest stars?

The X-men can throw any lineup out there and pull in respectable numbers, I doubt (Black Panther, Black Widow, Vision, Falcon, Ant man, Hawkeye) would sell.

They could if you got great actors to play them and wrote them well.

I mean, Iron Man was B list at best before his first movie. Now look. Thor and Cap were not quite as successful, but they definitely were not A Listers and Thor made half a billion dollars.