For the first time in a long time Hollywood’s biggest comic book player, Marvel Studios, didn’t attend San Diego Comic-Con. (Though Marvel Television made an admirable showing.) This left an enormous power vacuum and presented an opportunity for the other studios with their own stable of caped crusaders to try to nab the crown from Marvel. Or at least borrow it for the weekend. On Saturday, the programming in Comic-Con’s biggest venue, Hall H, was bookended by lavish presentations from Warner Bros. Studios (home of DC Comics) and Twentieth Century Fox (home of the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, Marvel characters not owned by Marvel Studios proper). Over the course of those two panels, it became more evident than ever that WB and Fox know they can’t beat Marvel at their own, highly lucrative game. (As opposed to Sony who, in loaning the character of Spider-Man back to Marvel, seem to have adopted an “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” attitude.) Disney-owned Marvel built their brand on family-friendly heroes like the squeaky-clean Captain America and Thor. And while they recently got their hands a little dirtier with anti-heroes like The Guardians of the Galaxy and their popular and gritty Defenders series on Netflix, Fox and WB have a plan to go much, much darker. But will it be enough to capture the hearts and box office cash of the moviegoing public? If the reception in Hall H was any indication? Yes. Moreover, the living High Priest of Comics Stan Lee himself appeared with the Fox crew as a benediction to his non-Marvel Studios characters. While Stan the Man is a benevolent figure of peace with regard to the studio tug-of-war, he hasn't been a big presence for Marvel Studios in Hall H. Here’s how the new crop of Hollywood superheroes plan to battle Marvel. May the best spandex-clad man (or woman) win.

Going Dark: Zack Snyder’s grim Superman story, Man of Steel, launched Warner’s new era of superhero films from a very dark place. And it’s no secret that Warners plans to continue in this gritty direction as two of the most famous superheroes of all time will spend the duration of Snyder’s sequel Batman v Superman hating and beating on each other. Snyder promised the Comic-Con crowd that Batman—who Ben Affleck described as “at the end of his rope” and “a burnout”—would get “pummeled like a piñata” by Superman. Warner Bros. also presented the star-studded cast of their bizarro answer to The Avengers, Suicide Squad. Director David Ayer made it clear that his super villain team-up film is a direct reaction to Marvel’s brand. ”All this good vs. evil shit is kind of played out right now,” Ayer told the hyped-up audience, ”It’s time for bad vs. evil. Time for a movie about bad guys. And who’s got the best bad guys out there? DC comics. Best villains ever. I don’t want to start no East Coast/West Coast feud with Marvel comics now, but hey, someone’s gotta say the truth.”