DC vs Marvel: The Most Hyped Heroes in North and South Carolina

It’s an age-old question and fiercely-held debate among comic book aficionados — Marvel or DC? Are you team Avengers or Justice League? 

If North Carolina sportsbooks offered odds, neither would be a heavy betting favorite.

At BetCarolina.com, we typically stick sports betting news, but sometimes we cover other topics. For the Marvel vs. DC debate, we’ve crunched the numbers to settle things and reveal the most popular superheroes and superhero films across both North and South Carolina. 

As any fan will know, Marvel is undergoing a busy period, with three Phase Five films coming out in 2023 and a further four expected to hit screens in 2024. Of course, there’s also work going on over at DC Comics, with a series of long-awaited releases coming up, including the hotly anticipated solo screen debut of The Flash. 

But which superheroes and comic book films are the most popular across the Carolinas? Read on to find out…

DC vs Marvel

While the competition between Marvel and DC Comics has been raging for decades, when it comes to popularity in the Carolinas, there’s only one winner. In fact, an astonishing 74% of people across the two states favor Marvel, 73% in North Carolina and 75% in South Carolina. 

On the flipside, just 1 in 4 people here prefer DC heroes and movies. 

The feeling is echoed across the wider region, too, with nearby Georgia and Tennessee seeing almost-identical results, though neighboring Virginia does lean slightly more centrally (64% Marvel vs 36% DC). In fact, Maryland is the only U.S. state with an almost-even split (55% Marvel vs 45% DC).

Every state in the U.S. favored Marvel, as seen in the graphic below.

The Carolinas' Favorite Superheroes

When it comes to the states’ favorite superheroes, however, Marvel doesn’t quite dominate as heavily. In fact, Batman takes a close second in both North and South Carolina, with the extraordinary Wonder Woman also ranking among the top 5 in the Tar Heel State. 

Meanwhile, taking the top spot overall, Spider-Man is officially the most popular superhero in the Carolinas, with a score of 33 in North Carolina and 28 in South Carolina. There have been no fewer than eight live-action Spidey films in recent years, with Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland all successfully taking on the role, so it’s little surprise Peter Parker remains front and center of the public’s mind. 

Sticking with Marvel, the hammer-wielding Thor claims third place in both North Carolina (23) and South Carolina (19), while Iron Man takes fourth in each state with scores of 9 and 8 respectively. Finally, Captain Marvel is the final character to feature among South Carolina’s most popular superheroes, placing joint-fourth alongside Iron Man.
 

The Carolinas' Favorite Marvel Films

When it comes to the states' favorite Marvel films, there's a clear winner overall. Avengers: Endgame was the grand finale of Marvel's Phase Three, bringing a decade of stories to a conclusion and wowing audiences around the world. 

Not content with being the biggest movie release of the entire MCU and the highest-grossing film of all time at the time of its release, Avengers: Endgame crushed the competition to be voted the most popular Marvel movie in the Tar Heel State, with a staggering score of 37.

The title of second most popular superhero movie goes to the Phase Three classic, Black Panther, which scores 24. It might not have crushed all of the box office records the way Avengers: Endgame did, but Black Panther was the first superhero film to receive a nomination for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, and it actually won three Oscars! But not only that; it's also the highest-rated of all the Marvel films according to Rotten Tomatoes . 

Meanwhile, in third, we have the latest addition to the MCU's Spider-Man story, Spider-Man: No Way Home, with a score of 17. This blockbuster brought together all three previous live-action heroes, as well as a host of favorite villains, in a movie packed full of excitement and nostalgia. In fact, Spider-Man features twice in North Carolina’s top 5 superhero films, with the previous film Far From Home placing fifth (9). 

Finally, in fourth for North Carolina, Thor: Love and Thunder scored 13, with iconic director Taika Waititi’s entertaining style clearly resonating with audiences. 

Meanwhile, South Carolina’s top 5 is a little bit different. Black Panther (29) took the top spot, while Spider-Man: No Way Home (19), and Thor: Love and Thunder (18) also featured, albeit in a slightly different order, while the original Thor (20) entry takes second and Guardians of the Galaxy (14) places fifth. 

The Carolinas' Favorite DC Films

It’s a closer run race when it comes to the Carolinas' favorite DC films. Interestingly, the same five films feature on each list, suggesting a clear similarity in taste and opinion between the two states.

Taking top spot across the board, we have Jason Momoa’s Aquaman, which scores 24 in both North Carolina and South Carolina, ahead of the light-hearted Shazam! — which scored 22 and 21 respectively. Meanwhile, James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad and 2017’s Justice League rank joint-second in South Carolina, with both films bringing together some of DC’s best-loved characters — albeit at different ends of the villain-hero spectrum! 

The Suicide Squad (21) and Justice League (20) also rank favorably in North Carolina, taking third and fourth, while Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam rounds out the top five in both states with a score of 13 on each list. 

Are you more of a Marvel maniac, or are you ride-or-die for DC? While Marvel has the upper hand right now, one thing is for sure — all bets are off for who will come out the victor in the next few years of film releases. 

It’s bound to be a real clash of the titans — but if you need more excitement in the meantime, explore all the latest Carolina sports betting news, and remember this site is home to everything related to future North Carolina sportsbook promos.

Methodology

Using search volumes, firstly, we discovered the most popular DC/Marvel Films in each state by looking at the number of Google searches (over the last five years) for all movie releases associated with the Marvel and DC franchises.  

Using this data, we then moved over to Google Search Trends, where we took the top 5 most searched-for films and heroes (for both DC and Marvel), and compared them to one another. This highlighted the films and heroes trending the most on various sources, such as: news outlets, social media sites, and YouTube.

These were then ranked one to five, the higher the percentage the more that film or hero was trending over the last five years.