DC vs Marvel... And Why You Should Care

Do you know why Marvel grew so big? It’s because of the way that Stan Lee did this…

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---Transcript---

What's up everybody? This is Russell Brunson. Welcome back to the Marketing Secrets podcast. Today, I want you to talk about a topic that's actually very, very important, and that topic is why Marvel is so much better than DC, and why that should actually matter to you.

All right, all right, I know, some of you guys are freaking out right now. You're like, "No, there's no way, Marvel is not better than DC, Batman's the coolest," and you're going on and on. So I wanted to take step back because there's something we actually can all learn from this which I think is really, really important. It's funny, because I didn't know the whole Marvel, DC, the storyline a long time ago.

In fact, it wasn't until I started listening to Business Wars, and Business Wars is a really cool podcast that they take two different companies and over five or six episodes tell the story of the war between these two businesses. And there's all sorts of really cool businesses in there, but one of them was DC versus Marvel. So I was like, "That's cool." So I started listening to it.

And I didn't realize the time was just the story behind how those two companies came about. In fact, it's kind of fun, I had Dave Woodward at Funnel Hacking Live, I was like, "Dave, talk about this. I want to talk about DC versus Marvel, and the storytelling, and all those kind of things." He did a really cool presentation on that, actually dressed as Captain America, which was amazing. I feel bad, he was carrying a shield, and a mask, and everything while he was trying to give a presentation on stage. And I was like, "It's going to be hard to breathe up there." But he did an amazing job.

But I want to share with you guys, because I think it's interesting, as I've, in the last recent months, binge watched all the Marvel movies once again, I started thinking more and more about it, but it's interesting if you look at the history of it, so DC came out first, they were like the big comic book company, right? If you look at comic books, there are always these people that had supernatural powers, right? Like Superman and things like that. Right? Where they were superheroes, extraterrestrials, or whatever, where they had these superpowers. And they always did good, because people are like, "That'd be cool if I could be a superhero too." Anyway, they did well.

And Marvel was competing, and Marvel struggled for a long time. And then it wasn't until this one dude, who I think he was a janitor at the time, and he wanted to write comic books, anyway, I think, it's been a while since I listened to Business War episode, but basically what happened is, and some of the details might be fuzzy or incorrect, but basically he was leaving, he was going in to quit and he's like, "I'm quitting. I don't want to the janitor anymore." And they're like, "Well, why are you leaving?" He's like, "Because I want to write." And they're like, "Well, try to write something." And that was Stan Lee.

And he went and he wrote, and I believe the first one he wrote was actually Captain America. And pitched that, they made it a thing, and it became amazing. Right? And then over the next however many decades, Stanley became Stan Lee, who was the man who's known for writing these amazing comic book characters, and storylines, and things like that.

If you look at what the difference was between DC and Marvel, because in very short period of time Marvel ended up bypassing DC and became the brand, like the thing. And it's interesting, if you look at DC's characters, and this isn't universal, but at the beginning, DC's characters were all people who were supernatural, had no problems, could not have any issues, right? Like Superman, where it's just like, "Yeah. Yeah, well, he's got kryptonite, so he's got one weakness." But other than that, he's flawless. And it's hard to relate to someone like Superman, right? Eventually they brought in things like his family and things like that to try to make him more relatable, but he wasn't a relatable human.

Where Stan Lee, for all the heroes that Stan created, there were people like Captain America, who's a normal person and then something happened and he became Captain America. Or Spider-man, Peter Parker was this normal kid and then this radioactive spider bit him, and he became something. So he was a normal human who then became a superhero, which for us average, normal humans who all want to become superheroes, that's something like, "Oh my gosh, I could become Spider-Man. I could become Ironman." Right? "I could become these characters."

And if you notice all of the Marvel characters for the most part they were people, they were human beings with flaws and problems, but then they became superheroes. Whereas DC's were typically these super, you know, they're born as superheroes. Now obviously, the big one that's not true is Batman. And it's funny because Batman is of the DC characters by far the biggest, most popular, most loved. And what's Batman's story? Batman doesn't have superpowers, unless you watch Justice League, then they asked him, "What's your super power?" And he says, "I'm rich." So I guess that's technically Batman's super power. But for the most part, he was the one who was human who had to then create his super powers. Right? Which is why Batman is the one from DC world that we all know, and we love, and we all want to be like. At least me and the other superhero nerds.

But yeah, so interesting thing is in the storylines, it's the storylines where it was a normal person who then became a superhero. And so the reason why that should matter to you guys is because you're all in the story telling business, whether you knew it or not, why do you think you're in a product business, or you're in a marketing business, but you're actually in a storytelling business. And your job and your goal is to tell stories. And if you look at just these two examples, right? A lot of times us as insecure humans, when we tell our stories, we want to come off of a place of being a superhero. And I see this all the time, people talk about how great they are, and they brag about themselves, and they share the highlight reel all the time.

And it's like the problem with that is then you're like a DC character, right? You're Superman, you're invincible, and it's not relatable. Whereas if you look at it from a Marvel standpoint, and you come back and say "Instead of me telling my highlight reel and why I'm so great, what if I told my origin story? What if I told why I struggled? Why I was a normal person just like them?" What would happen then? Right? In that situation, you build rapport with the audience, they actually listen to you, they care about you, they're drawn to you. And then as you develop your superpowers, they go on that journey with you because they want to become like you, and that's really the key.

It's funny when I, man, and not that I'm not now, but in a more insecure time in my life, when I was really struggling with who I was, my identity, and I got in this marketing world, and it's like, "Yeah, tell your stories." And I'm like, "Yeah." So I would tell the stories that made me look really, really good, right? But it was interesting because it didn't connect to people, they didn't relate. Everyone's like, "Great, there's this kid, he's really good at all these things," and just didn't relate.

And it wasn't the full truth, if I'm honest, the truth was not that I was super out of the gate, the truth I had to become something, right? And so as I started becoming more vulnerable and more willing to step down off of that and share, "Here's this, here's that," and kind of go through those things and being willing to open up and share those things with people, that's when people started coming to me and started connecting with me.

And so, your job is to become like the great Stan Lee and start telling your story in a way that shares your before. Talk about how you were a normal human before you became who you are today. And I'm looking at you today, if you're listening to this then you are a superhero. And some of you guys, it's not going to seem like you're a superhero, especially if you think about my guess is if Superman's like, "Yeah, I can fly, everyone from Krypton can fly, it's not that big of a deal." Right? Or Batman's like, "Yeah, it's really cool to do..." You know? For most of us, our super powers don't seem super to us, because it's the normal, it's what we do. And so, you have to understand though for the rest of the world, what you do is special.

And so I'm here to tell you, in case you don't know that, that what you do is special. Even if you don't think it is, or you don't understand it, you don't understand your own worth, you have worth there. There's things you can do, there's people you can serve today because of what you've gone through, what you've experienced and who you've become. It doesn't mean you should stop becoming and stop that path, there's always so much more growth and things that are happening, but understanding that where you are today is a good enough place to start. Looking back on your path of where you've come and who are the people that you can help on this journey to get to where you are today, and whatever thing is you're excited by.

And so, then it's coming back and say, "Okay, how do I track those people?" Well, you track those people by telling your story about where you were at back when you were like them. And the more willing you are to share that story and the more vulnerable you are, the more people will come to you. And they don't come to you because of the pedestal you're on, they come to you because you come off that pedestal and share the story about how you were just like them. And so that's what's important.

So what is your story? What's the story that's going to scare you to tell the world? What's the story that's probably more vulnerable than you would tell even your friends or your family members? The one that you're scared of? You're scared that people will look down on you if you share that one. That's probably the one you're supposed to share. It's probably the one where you're like, "Man, I know Russell's saying, 'I'll do all the things, but I don't want to do that one thing.'" Okay, that's you, or you feel that way, that's a story you got to share.

And so I want to encourage you guys to share it, to test it. And it can be as simple as doing a Facebook live. It can be simple as telling a friend. It can be simple as writing a blog post just to get it out. And the first time it's going to be super uncomfortable, and that's okay. Even if you just record it on your phone and you feel stupid, I understand that. I get that. I feel stupid recording these podcasts half the time, but I do it because it's important, right? It's not about us.

In fact, I remember, it's funny because I've been doing these new videos we've been creating and I'm acting in a little bit, and it's just kind of embarrassing. It's like to get somebody to stop a scroll on Facebook, you have to overact and be like, "Wow!" All crazy, you know? And it's tough for me. But I remember listening to, I can't remember who it was but some famous actor, he said, "Your success as an actor relies upon your ability to be uncomfortable on camera." Right? Doing the uncomfortable thing, like talking over the top, or being excited, that's what draws people to you. And I was like, "Man." And that's what I totally feel like. I feel like half the time I'm making stuff I feel so stupid or whatever, but then you see the end product. And even if you're like, "It still is a little cheesy," sometimes it's like that's the thing that connects with people.

So, worst case, in fact, let's do this, this is your assignment. If you're listening to this, I'm your teacher and you have an assignment today. Your assignment is to tell your Marvel origin story. Okay? And if it's just to yourself, that's fine. Open up your phone and click record on the audio memo like I'm doing right now, or open it to the camera and just click record, and just go back and try to remember what was your origin story? What was your Peter Parker story, when you got bit by a spider, right? What was your Captain America story, when you got radioactive, whatever, you became Captain America? What was your story about, you know, fill in the blank with whatever superhero you want, but what was your story? Because you've got one, you just got to remember it and then be willing to share it.

So do that, record it, try it. And then the next step of if it came out okay, then go and post it somewhere. Text it to somebody, send in a post online, whatever it is. But it's the process of trying and starting this thing out. So, with that said, thanks you guys for listening, I hope this helps. I hope that you guys all start watching more and more Marvel movies because they're amazing.

Now one cool thing from the DC world, I don't know the whole story behind this, but I got some details. So how many of you guys have seen Justice League? This is for my superhero nerds. So when Justice League came out, there's a guy, his last name's Snyder, he was a director, who was supposed to be the director of it. And then I guess during the filming of it, I think his daughter passed away or something, so he ended up leaving the project, and somebody else edited Justice League. Justice League came out and it was like, "Okay movie, not the best, not the worst, but not the best." And it came out, and some of you guys have probably seen it, and I guess after it was done, people were mad like, "I wish Snyder would have done this, it would've been way better."

And so there was this thing online where people started messaging, "We want a Snyder cut. We want a Snyder cut of the movie." And it became such a big thing that I guess Snyder came back in now, however many three or four years later, and he's taking all the original footage, he's refilming some scenes, and he's doing a Snyder cut, where it's going to be Justice League, The Snyder Cut, coming out. So that's the plan.

Brian Burt told me about this, he's one of my inner circle members, he's awesome. And so I started doing some research later and I started freaking out. So I'm actually really, really excited to see the Snyder cut, because they're going to take the broken DC Justice League and make it amazing. Hopefully. Cross your fingers.

So anyway, that's all I got, you guys. Appreciate you all, thanks for listening, and I will talk to you all soon. Bye, everybody.