The DC references in Marvel Studios' Eternals may have been a subtle flex by the company. Marvel and DC are generally viewed as rivals, and that's certainly true to an extent. The pair has reigned atop the world of comic books from the earlier days of the medium, and when it comes to movies and TV shows, most of the biggest hits have also been adaptations of Marvel and DC material. The MCU and DCEU are certainly competitors as well, competing for box office bragging rights, although both have proved quite profitable.

That said, Marvel and DC may be competitors, but that doesn't mean they hate each other. Notably, the two companies have crossed over multiple times on the comic page, and their various respective universes canonically exist in the same multiverse. Marvel and DC have shown a willingness to work together in that regard, both to offer fans character interactions they had only dreamed of previously, and of course to make lots of money from said fans.

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Notably, that cooperative spirit has yet to become part of either Marvel or DC's movie outings, very much including the MCU and DCEU franchises specifically. A character from one franchise has yet to appear in a movie made by the other - although there's certainly been plenty of Marvel and DC actor crossover - and unless a sudden about-face occurs from either Disney or Warner Bros., that's not likely to change anytime soon. Yet, Eternals, the latest entry in the MCU saga, crossed into new territory for Marvel Studios by directly making reference to the DC characters Superman and Batman. While that's sparked faint hopes among some fans for a coming DC/Marvel big-screen crossover, the reality is that the move is more likely an instance of Marvel Studios flexing its considerable pop culture dominance.

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While it's not entirely spelled out that Eternals' references to Superman and Batman aren't to actual superheroes that exist within the MCU, the most logical interpretation is that the characters in Eternals are making reference to them as fictional creations. Comments made on the subject by Eternals director - and twice-credited writer - Chloe Zhao have reinforced that view as well. After all, if DC heroes somehow existed as themselves in the MCU, that would open a huge Pandora's Box of questions begging for answers as to why this has never come up before over the course of 20-plus films.

Yet, by making DC's biggest names fictional characters in the MCU, Marvel Studios has subtly put themselves on a pedestal above those characters. In the world of Eternals, people like the Avengers - and presumably the Eternals themselves going forward - are real-life superheroes that battle bad guys, defend the common person, and sometimes save the world. Meanwhile, DC's Batman and Superman are simply the invention of writers and serve as mere entertainment for the masses. While there's obviously nothing wrong with serving that function in society, Marvel's use of DC heroes as simply punchlines within an MCU film feels akin to patting the still trying to truly find its way DCEU on the back, and condescendingly telling the franchise it's doing a good job. The fact that this came during Eternals, the worst-reviewed MCU movie to date, just adds a layer of irony to the proceedings.

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