All of which “Batman v Superman” lacked. Despite some arresting visuals, the film focuses so intently on the flaws that drive its titular superheroes into battle that it manages to undermine the appeal of both characters. That left me with no one to root for and indifferent to the outcome. What’s a superhero movie without a hero?

“Captain America” sidestepped that problem by never calling into question the essential goodness of its hero characters, instead having them take sides on an issue over which reasonable minds might differ: Should heroes be subject to United Nations oversight?

As the Times movie critic A. O. Scott put it, “Collegial Misunderstanding” or “Intramural Pickup Game” would have been a more accurate subtitle than “Civil War.”

But you don’t need to take my word for it, or that of the established critics who praised “Captain America” and panned “Batman v Superman.” After a big opening weekend, attendance at “Batman v Superman” plunged, suggesting bad word of mouth. On the website Rotten Tomatoes, 91 percent of the audience said they liked “Captain America.” Just 67 percent liked “Batman v Superman.”

The starkly different outcomes show how difficult it is to make a successful blockbuster, even for a studio with an enviable track record like Warner Bros. (“Harry Potter,” “Lord of the Rings”). Sony faltered with its latest Spider-Man installment and forged a partnership with Marvel allowing its superhero to return to the Marvel fold. Fox has at times struggled with its X-Men franchise.

But whatever secret code of art and science produces a superhero blockbuster, Disney seems to have cracked it. “Captain America” is the 13th consecutive successful installment in the Marvel film universe. After buying Marvel for $4 billion, Disney has turned even obscure comic book characters into box-office bonanzas (“Ant-Man”), and it has managed to combine them in unexpected yet captivating ways.