Over the last weekend, Marvel Studios released the first trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and the internet is alive once more in anticipation. Marvel movies are often cheesy and always subject to blatant “sequelizing,” but people love them anyway. According to the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), movies like Iron Man 3 and The Avengers have shattered records, grossing over $600 billion and $400 billion respectively in their lifetimes. Most Marvel films might be shameless crowd-pleasers, but that’s what most people want from an action flick. Like it or not (and who doesn’t like it) Marvel films will be dominant in popular culture for years to come.

However, Marvel is not the only one swimming in this cash pool. DC Comics has also been involved in the superhero film business for a while now. Sure, they’re responsible for absolute atrocities like Catwoman and Jonah Hex, but they’ve definitely hit gold in some places. Christopher Nolan gave us a near-perfect Batman movie. Zach Snyder took Watchmen, one of the best and most unorthodox superhero tales of all time and gave it a film wholly deserving of its name. With all of the classic characters and great filmmakers they have contributing to their cause, DC Comics definitely has all of the fundamentals it needs to square off with Marvel on the same playing field. That being said, there are reasons why they just don’t seem able to keep up with the pace.

One of the biggest problems with DC Comics is they always seem to take the plot of every movie they make so seriously. Movies like The Dark Knight turned out fantastic, but not all superhero movies can be dark and foreboding. How do they ever expect to make a serious movie about the Flash or Aquaman? The Dark Knight movies and Man of Steel had brief moments of humor, but it ultimately was lost in a deep dark sea of gritty action and intricate speeches. Marvel knows how to have fun with its characters and that’s often what makes their movies so enjoyable. Who would want to watch three consecutive Iron Man movies if Robert Downey Jr. wasn’t constantly indulging audiences with witty one-liners?

Again, serious superhero movies are a good thing, just not all the time. The harsh realism of Nolan’s Batman trilogy made the classic hero’s tale even more captivating than it already was, but this approach won’t work for everything. People don’t watch Marvel films for deep narrative or mind-blowing practicality; people watch them because they’re entertaining. It may be a step down from their biggest hits, but DC needs to start making some crowd-pleasers.

For reasons unknown, DC has spent the entirety of its involvement in the film industry pushing some of their classic franchises into the shadows and focusing almost exclusively on the big dogs, Batman and Superman.

Probably the best example of this is The Green Lantern. It’s been over 70 years since the Green Lantern’s creation, but all that they have to show for him is a horrible Ryan Reynolds movie that blew through the entire origin story and jumped the shark in one go.

And I haven’t even mentioned Wonder Woman yet. In a time when so much focus is on social equality, doesn’t it sound like a great opportunity to make the first legitimate blockbuster starring a female superhero? Yes, we can’t just ignore the existence of Catwoman, but Wonder Woman serves as the perfect opportunity for redemption.

On top of all this, a plethora of DC’s most famous heroes haven’t even been touched. Neither the Flash nor Green Arrow has ever been on the big screen. If Marvel has branched out so far as to make a movie for Guardians of the Galaxy, isn’t it about time that these classic franchises get the Hollywood renditions that they deserve? Longtime fans have been waiting for a lot of these characters to get their own films, and so has their money.

Another thing that gives Marvel a leg up on DC is that they know when to reboot. Horrible films about Daredevil and The Fantastic Four didn’t stop them from expanding on these beloved superhero franchises. Instead of trying to keep these ill-received movie mistakes alive like DC is trying to do with Man of Steel and The Green Lantern, they shrugged it off and got right back down to business. Reboots for Daredevil and The Fantastic Four are in the works, both with all new casts.

If Man of Steel was anything, it was a message to DC that they can’t simply rely on Christopher Nolan and Zach Snyder to get things done. They might be revolutionary filmmakers, but even the best can drop the ball.

Now, I’m not saying that DC Comics doesn’t have a successful film studio. IMDb lists The Dark Knight as the current fourth highest-grossing film ever made. Even so, there is no denying Marvel’s higher ground in the film industry. Not only do their films often gross much higher than DC Comics’ endeavors, but they are also usually more well-known.

DC Comics has plenty to compete with; they’re just not using all of their tools. Until they start recognizing their copious amounts of memorable characters and understanding that not every movie has to be serious, they won’t be able to compete with Marvel on the large scale.