Comic books and comedy combined for a night of roast battles, where comedians came in costume to battle each other in a flurry of jokes instead of punches.
The Marvel vs. DC comedy roast took place on Feb. 20 at the Comedy Bar on Bloor Street West.
The venue was packed with people excited to hear the comedians make fun of their favourite super heroes, while still adhering to the COVID-19 guidelines that were in place.
“It’s the combination of characters they know and just seeing them take the piss is fun,” said Toronto comedian Simon Rakoff, who was the host of the event.
The show included characters with a lot of backstory to pull from like Batman, as well as characters who just recently came into public view, like Peacemaker.
Marvel and DC are the two biggest comic-book publishers, with DC publishing stories about Batman and Superman and Marvel publishing Spider-Man and Doctor Strange.
One teen and his parent found something that made them happy to have come together to see the show.
“My son is a huge comic-book fan/superhero fan, so it seemed like a great opportunity to do something fun and different,” said Ian Schewey, an attendee of the event.
Following the roast performances, the host decided which side had won based on applause. When asked, most of the audience decided that Batman vs. Doctor Strange was the most entertaining.
Calls for more franchise showdowns
Some guests wanted to see the Comedy Bar tackle this concept with other franchises duking it out in a similar fashion.
“I’d love to see a Marvel vs. Capcom because I love Capcom,” said Simcha Genesove another guest of the comedy roast.
Capcom is a Japanese video game developer known for making games such as the Resident Evil franchise, Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom.
The next Marvel vs. DC roast will be on April 13, with a whole new group of costumed characters.