Who are Marvel and DC's "Big Three?"?

Being in the big three isn’t about physical power. Batman is just a normal human, yet he is arguably the most popular member of DC’s big three.

Because being in the big three is about identifiability, popularity with readers, how central you are to the universe, and how many series you touch.

When presented that way there are only three answers that really fit

1) Spider Man.

Spider Man is, without question, the most popular Marvel character of all time. Hell he is the most popular comic character period. He personally accounts for more merchandise sales than the Avengers, Superman, and Batman combined.

If you were to ask a random person on the street who Spiderman is and what he’s about you would probably get a pretty decent answer. Because he is ingrained into the very fabric of our pop-culture at this point.

But beyond popularity, Spiderman is actually fairly central to the marvel universe too (as a result of his popularity) he has interactions and relationships with every major character, and participates in almost every major event. It is at this point common for in-universe characters to consider Peter a veteran even if he is significantly younger than them simply due to the amount of shit he has gone through.

So yeah, he is definitely number one.

2) Iron Man.

Previously this might have been questionable, but the existence of the MCU cemented it.

Iron Man has always been popular, but the degree of such has varied over the years. Stan Lee originally created him so that he could try and make as unlikable of a character as possible someone people would cheer for, and his success with that has varied. At times, like in the original Civil War Tony has become somewhat reviled by the audience, but at others he is beloved.

But loved or hated, he has always been central. He houses, organizes, feeds and funds the avengers, making him important by default. But he also participates in nearly every earth based event, and often plays a very central role. (Such as in Civil War where he leads one of the major factions).

That combined with the massive boost to his popularity following RDJ taking the role and the rise of the MCU and he solidly deserves a place on this list.

3) Captain America.

This third slot is a lot more debatable. Wolverine and the Hulk are both contenders for this spot in terms of historic popularity.

But while Wolverine Publicity is definitely a thing, and Wolverine remains very popular, his place in-universe is a bit more obscure, and he normally takes a smaller role in events, meaning his direct impact on the world is minimal.

Hulk is a bit better about that (having caused a few events himself) and he was a founding member of both the Avengers and the Defenders, but his popularity has been less in recent years, and he hasn’t gotten as much of a boost in the MCU due to his failed solo movies.

The Fantastic Four are some of Marvels oldest heroes, but they are more recognizable as a team than individuals, and they have not appeared in recent comics due to being extra-universal at the moment.

So that leaves us with Cap. Who is not a founding member of the avengers, though he joined quickly by issue #4.

But while he was not an original member, Cap has been a steady member and new founder of the avengers on multiple occasions. (recent series have him start the avengers in collaboration with Iron Man) He is also extremely iconic and easily identifiable from design alone, and has taken a large role in numerous event comics. (such as leading a faction in Civil War) and is very influential on people in-universe. (Many, many characters idolize cap as a heroic symbol)

That, combined with his central role in the MCU (Second only to Tony, thanks in part to the MCU wanting to dive into the Civil War storyline which featured them both heavily) allows him to just edge out the other characters that might claim this spot.

So that’s our definitive list, Cap, Spidey, and Stark. The three most recognizable and influential characters in marvel comics at the moment