Marvel and DC’s History of Intercompany Comic Crossovers, Explained

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2025 was a fantastic year for fans of both Marvel and DC Comics, as Deadpool and Batman teamed up again after a long hiatus. The stories in Deadpool/Batman #1 and Batman/Deadpool #1 brought together some of today’s most beloved characters. While this isn’t the first time Marvel and DC have collaborated on crossover stories, these events are often exciting, though not always memorable.

DC and Marvel are planning more team-ups! In March 2026, DC will release Superman/Spider-Man #1, followed by Marvel’s Spider-Man/Superman #1 the next month. These comics celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first time these iconic heroes met. It’s a good opportunity to revisit the history of DC and Marvel crossovers, from their initial pairings in the 1970s, through the many team-ups of the 1990s, to the long-awaited collaborations fans finally got in the 2000s.

Marvel and DC First Officially Crossed Over in the 1970s and ’80s

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man: The Battle of the Century, a landmark comic created by Gerry Conway, Ross Andru, and Dick Giordano (with help from artists like Neal Adams and John Romita Sr.). It was a historic event because it was the first official crossover between DC and Marvel Comics – while characters had appeared together unofficially before, this was the first time a fully realized story was published by both companies.

The initial Treasury Edition promised an epic battle between Superman and Spider-Man, but they surprisingly joined forces to defeat Lex Luthor and Doctor Doom. A 1981 follow-up, Superman and Spider-Man created by Jim Shooter, Marv Wolfman, and John Buscema, reused the team-up format with a different pair of villains – Parasite took the place of Lex Luthor. This sequel also offered exciting confrontations, like Superman versus the Hulk and Spider-Man versus Wonder Woman.

The story Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man introduced “Crossover Earth,” a unique setting where characters from both Marvel and DC Comics could interact. This world didn’t require any complicated explanations for how these heroes met – they simply existed together as if they hadn’t before. This approach worked well because Marvel typically uses real cities in its comics, while DC usually creates fictional ones, making the combination feel more natural.

In 1981, a special crossover comic, Batman vs. The Incredible Hulk, was published. This story, which didn’t fit into the main continuity of either series, featured Batman winning a fight against the Hulk after the Joker provoked Bruce Banner’s transformation. Though an impressive story by Len Wein and Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, it was quickly followed in 1982 by The Uncanny X-Men and the New Teen Titans, a team-up created by Chris Claremont and Walt Simonson, which garnered more attention.

When the two biggest comic publishers teamed up, their most famous superhero groups joined forces to battle their universes’ greatest threats: Darkseid and the Dark Phoenix. The story was a memorable and exciting event that fans continued to talk about for years. Plans for a follow-up were made, but they were canceled after another large-scale team-up didn’t perform well.

The crossover resonated with fans, especially since it was one of the final official collaborations between companies in the ’80s. This meant fans had to wait until the ’90s for another similar event. Nobody could have predicted how these crossovers would change over the next decade, which was already becoming crowded with too much content.

The Crossovers Exploded and Evolved in the ’90s

The 1990s were a golden age for comic book crossovers, offering fans more team-ups than they could have imagined. However, the comic book world was also changing, with new characters like Jean-Paul Valley temporarily becoming Batman, which led to some unusual and unexpected crossover stories in 1994.

The team-up between Batman and the Punisher happened twice. First, in a story by Dennis O’Neil and Barry Kitson, Frank Castle clashed with the then-current Batman, Jean-Paul Valley, as they battled Jigsaw and the Joker. Later, Chuck Dixon and John Romita Jr. wrote a story featuring Bruce Wayne teaming up with Castle to end a gang war orchestrated by those same villains. Both stories took place on a shared alternate Earth, but the first crossover was specifically referenced within the main Batman comic book series by Jean-Paul Valley himself.

In 1996, fans were thrilled to see Spider-Man and Batman team up in a story by J.M. DeMatteis and Mark Bagley. The two heroes connected through their difficult pasts and joined forces to defeat the terrifying duo of the Joker and Carnage, who were threatening Gotham City. A year earlier, in 1995, John Byrne created a massive cosmic battle in Darkseid vs. Galactus: The Hunger, featuring Galactus, Darkseid, Silver Surfer, Orion, and other characters from Jack Kirby’s New Gods universe.

In 1996, the ‘Sentinel of the Spaceways’ series saw another team-up, this time between Green Lantern and Silver Surfer, written by Ron Marz and illustrated by Darryl Banks. Since both heroes had new versions in the ’90s – Kyle Rayner as Green Lantern and Norrin Radd as Silver Surfer – they joined forces. They were opposed by a dangerous group of villains – Cyborg Superman, Thanos, and Terrax – and had to contend with the corrupted former Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, who had become Parallax.

This story stands out from previous team-ups because the heroes genuinely come from separate universes and have crossed into each other’s worlds. Combined with a remark made by the villain Parallax within a regular comic book storyline, this suggests the events could be officially part of the established story, and it ultimately led to one of the most significant comic book events of the 1990s.

DC vs. Marvel Changed Everything and Created the Amalgam Universe

For years, team-ups between Marvel and DC heroes happened on a separate, unofficial world. But in 1996, things changed. The two comic publishers collaborated on an official story that brought their universes together in a massive conflict. This storyline revolved around a long-standing rivalry between two powerful brothers—the creators of the Marvel and DC universes. To resolve their argument over which universe was superior, they decided to let the heroes from both worlds battle it out to prove their creation was the strongest.

The ’90s comic series DC vs. Marvel (originally released as two issues called Marvel vs. DC) by Ron Marz, Peter David, Dan Jurgens, and Claudio Castellini gained a lot of attention thanks to a unique feature: fans got to vote on the winners of each battle! While most matchups were decided by fan votes, the creators determined the outcomes of a few. The event was very popular, and it ultimately led the heroes from both universes to realize they were equals and should work together.

So, DC and Marvel could’ve just mashed their worlds together, right? But instead, the guys running things decided to completely blend the heroes and their universes into one brand new reality – they called it Amalgam. It was wild! Think Batman mixed with Wolverine to become Dark Claw, or Superman and Captain America becoming Super-Soldier. They even combined Storm and Wonder Woman into this awesome hero called Amazon. It was a really popular story, and it actually came back later with another set of one-shots and even more merged characters, even after they split the universes apart at the end of the original event.

In 1996, a sequel series called All Access continued the story of Access, a new hero with powers similar to those of a cosmic being. Then, in 1997, Unlimited Access, another mini-series, brought back “The Man Who Walks Between Universes” and explored the Amalgam universe again.

In 1997, the trend of comic book crossovers continued with the release of Silver Surfer/Superman, a story that maintained separate universes for the two heroes. A special deal between the mischievous characters Mister Mxyzptlk and Impossible Man allowed them to travel to each other’s worlds, posing as the heroes’ most famous enemies to challenge them.

In 1997, John Byrne’s Batman/Captain America brought back the idea of a shared universe for these heroes, while also showing them as rookies. That same year, J.M. DeMatteis and Graham Nolan teamed up Batman and Spider-Man again in a single story where they battled both Kingpin and Ra’s al Ghul.

Superman ended the 1990s with two memorable team-ups with Marvel’s Fantastic Four. In the first, released in 1999 and created by Dan Jurgens and Art Thibert, it was revealed that Galactus, not a natural disaster, was actually responsible for the destruction of Krypton. Superman then enlisted the Fantastic Four’s aid to prevent Cyborg Superman from controlling Galactus and potentially destroying Earth, just as Krypton had been.

Roger Stern and Steve Rude finally gave fans the epic showdown they’d been anticipating with The Incredible Hulk vs. Superman. While it was technically a continuation of a previous meeting in 1982’s Superman and Spider-Man, many fans consider this the first true battle between the two heroes, especially considering changes to continuity over the years. It ultimately fulfilled a long-standing debate about who would win.

Fans Finally Saw a Long-Awaited Team-up Crossover in the 2000s

In the early 2000s, fans finally got the team-up they’d been waiting for with Batman/Daredevil, a comic book written by Alan Grant and illustrated by Eduardo Barreto. Batman and Daredevil joined forces in Gotham City after Catwoman made off with Kingpin’s blueprints, intending to give them to the Scarecrow. While a fun story, this single issue was quickly eclipsed by another, more hyped crossover released the same year.

I remember hearing that plans for a Justice League/Avengers team-up actually started pretty quickly after that Superman vs. Spider-Man crossover came out! Apparently, Gerry Conway and George Pérez were the first ones thinking about it way back in 1979. It was going to be a huge story with Kang and Epoch messing with time, but sadly, it fell apart because of disagreements between the editors. It was officially canceled in 1983, which was a real bummer for fans like me who were excited about the possibility!

In 2003, the highly anticipated miniseries JLA/Avengers—also known as Avengers/JLA for its first two issues—brought together the Justice League and the Avengers in a brand new adventure. The story involved the merging of their universes, caused by the schemes of the powerful villain Krona.

The limited series brought together heroes from both the Avengers and the Justice League, who teamed up to find powerful artifacts from Marvel and DC’s shared history. They battled numerous villains in an attempt to save their universes, and the story ultimately delivered on the hype after over two decades of anticipation from fans.

Marvel and DC Reunited in 2025 For a New Series of Team-Ups

After the hugely popular JLA/Avengers crossover, it was a long wait for another official team-up between Marvel and DC. Fans were therefore excited when Deadpool/Batman #1, by Zeb Wells and Greg Capullo, came out in 2025. This was quickly followed by Batman/Deadpool #1 from Grant Morrison and Dan Mora, which incorporated the concept of Crossover Earth and its alternate realities, alongside the main Marvel (Earth-616) and DC (Earth-0) universes.

Beyond the main storyline, each issue included several team-ups between popular characters, created by well-known writers and artists. These included pairings like Deadpool and Batman, Wonder Woman and Captain America (by Chip Zdarsky and Terry & Rachel Dodson), Krypto the Superdog and Jeff the Land Shark (by Kelly Thompson and Gurihuru), Daredevil and Green Arrow (by Kevin Smith and Adam Kubert), Rocket Raccoon and the Green Lantern Corps (by Al Ewing and Dike Ruan), and Batman and Wolverine (by Frank Miller). The series also introduced a brand new character, Logo, a combination of Wolverine and Lobo (by Ryan North and Ryan Stegman).

Following this, more team-up comics were created. Jeremy Adams and Adrian Gutierrez’s The Flash/Fantastic Four digital comic debuted on DC Universe Infinite, and simultaneously, Thor/Shazam! Infinity Comic by Al Ewing and Jethro Morales launched on Marvel Unlimited.

The Batman/Deadpool series included several extra team-ups after the main storyline. These pairings featured John Constantine with Doctor Strange (written by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Joshua Williamson, and Hayden Sherman), Nightwing with Wolverine (Laura Kinney) by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo, Harley Quinn and the Hulk (by Mariko Tamaki and Amanda Conner), and Ms. Marvel and Static (created by G. Willow Wilson and Denys Cowan).

We don’t yet know if there will be any extra stories included with the first issues of Superman/Spider-Man and Spider-Man/Superman. However, considering how popular the recent Batman/Deadpool team-up was, it’s likely fans will enjoy even more crossovers between DC and Marvel characters in the future.

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2025-11-28 05:46