How DC and Marvel comics exist in each other's cinematic multiverse?

DC and Marvel have now been the two biggest giants in the comic book industry for a really long time. Both are in a friendly sense of competition that sees them try and top each other every now and then, but in good fun. Although, that doesn't mean that they don't respect each other's work.

Unlike what some fans might lead you to believe, DC and Marvel have paid respect to each other's work many times. Both have referenced each other in ways that have gone beyond the pages of comics. So with that being said, let's explore how DC and Marvel exist within each other's cinematic multiverses.

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DC and Marvel have referenced each other quite a bit on many occasions

When strictly talking about movies, it's usually Marvel that references DC a lot. For example, Iron Man 3 had a bunch of references to the DC show Super Friends, but even they were barebones at best. The MCU as a whole has mentioned DC a couple of times.

Although their contribution in referencing DC comics just went up till there until recently. Eternals before its release had created a buzz around the movie making a bunch of references to Batman and Superman. In two scenes of the film, the 'World's Finest' are mentioned, and that was quite interesting to see.

Talking about the references with Empire magazine, Chloe Zhao had this to say:

"I take responsibility for that. I just believe we all should live in one big happy family. And also, you know, we can talk about the elephant in the room – which is that Ikaris [Madden] reminds people of Superman."

She added:

"There are many brilliant filmmakers who've brought Superman to the screen in their own modern interpretation of this beloved mythology that exists in many cultures. So I just felt it's great to pay tribute, it's great to acknowledge these iconic interpretations of Superman. In Eternals, Gilgamesh [Lee], watches his movies while he's looking after Thena [Jolie]. You will see that there's going to be a deleted scene where he talks about another film that's gonna make you smile. And he loves Batman movies."

It certainly seems Zhao wanted to reference DC in some way and honor these iconic characters, and this honestly felt like a step in the right direction. Not only that, but with Marvel opening up about Batman and Superman in movies, it would be great to see DC do the same as well.

Recently, director James Gunn has been working with both DC and Marvel. Being a creator at both the companies, Gunn has talked about how he would love a crossover story with DC and Marvel characters. That would be quite amazing to see.

The line between the cinematic multiverses of both these companies is starting to bloom in huge ways, and hopefully there might come a time where we might see the two companies work together, at least in movies.

Robin mentioning Peter Parker (Image via DC Comics)

But that's not to say they haven't worked together before. DC and Marvel teamed up to remove their comic amalgamations as well that saw characters being merged with one another. The most popular one is where Wolverine was merged with Batman and was called Nightclaw.

DC and Marvel have also teamed up before, having a crossover in comics that saw some of the heavy hitter characters from both the companies interact with each other as well.

Hopefully going forward, we do see something similar in the movies as well, because the fans will definitely go crazy for these kind of crossovers. However, it's good to know as of now that Superman and Batman do exist in Marvel.