Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 8-21-2013 12:00 AM Clash of the Industry Titans: Marvel, DC and the Battle for Market Dominance Caitlin Foster The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Dr. Joseph Wlodarz The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Film Studies A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Master of Arts © Caitlin Foster 2013 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Advertising and Promotion Management Commons, and the Film and Media Studies Commons Recommended Citation Foster, Caitlin, "Clash of the Industry Titans: Marvel, DC and the Battle for Market Dominance" (2013). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 1494. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/1494 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. CLASH OF THE INDUSTRY TITANS: MARVEL, DC AND THE BATTLE FOR MARKET DOMINANCE (Thesis format: Monograph) By Caitlin Foster Graduate Program in Film Studies A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment Of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada © Caitlin Foster 2013 Abstract This thesis examines the corporate structures, marketing strategies and economic shifts that have influenced the recent resurgence of the comic book superhero in popular Hollywood cinema. Using their original texts and adaptation films, this study will chronologically examine how each company’s brand identities and corporate structures have reacted to and been shaped by the major cultural and industrial shifts of the past century in its attempt to account for the varying success of these companies throughout their histories.