It was 1978′s Superman that finally did it – proved that a superhero movie could actually be good and contain real substance. Tim Burton’s Batman was another and these films sparked off a cinema love affair with superheroes that has culminated this year in the truly excellent Avengers Assemble. To get to the current point we have sat through a minefield of movies from the good, The X Men, to the bad, Elektra, and it’s worth remembering how risky the big budget Avengers Assemble actually was.
OK the waters were tested with successful versions of Thor, Captain America and Iron Man, but both of the recent Hulk movies didn’t exactly set the box office world on fire, and it is are for a superhero team up miovie not to stink. Granted the original X Men was excellent, but both of the Fantastic Four movies released recently were nothing more than OK. Spider-Man 3 bombed and neither Superman Returns or Ghost Rider were as successful as had been hoped.
Ironically it looks like it is the Hulk who has most benefited from the Avengers, and there is now plans for a stand alone Hulk movie with Mark Ruffalo, the screens best Hulk, in the role.
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| 1990′s Captain America |
Captain America is now firmly established in the movie fans mind – what with the successful first movie, his starring role in The Avengers and the forthcoming Captain America II, but the character had less than an easy road towards mega success, and there have been several bland Captain America movies produced, both for the cinema and as TV movies.
2012 though looks like being a big year for Superhero movies – we’ve had the mega successful, The Avengers and still have The Dark Knight Rises, and the new Spider-Man reboot to come. And next year this will be followed up with, Man of Steel (Superman), Iron Man 3, Thor 2, The Wolverine and Ninja Turtles. And 2014 also has several super hero flicks already scheduled including Captain America 2 and, if rumors are to be believed, the new Hulk movie. Though 1015 seems likely for a Hulk standalone movie as Marvel have with the exception of the already greenlit, Avengers 2, a clean slate for that year. This would mean we’d get Avengers 2 and a Hulk movie in the same year – that would work, though. After all this year we do get both Avengers Assemble and Iron Man 3.
“From Superman to Batman, superhero films have much to teach us about faith and humanity – as well as being terrific visual spectacle.” Tom Hiddleston
Superhero movies will be around for a long time and although most of the iconic superheros have now made it to the big screen, there are still many more waiting to take the leap. There is talk of a Wonder Woman and also an Avengers style team up for Justice League of America – A JLA movie would be interesting but the main characters Superman and Batman occupy very different cinematic worlds. Still it could be a possibility – after all who would have thought, The Avengers would work?
It’ll be interesting to see how Marvel handles a new Hulk film. With Mark Ruffalo they have the best actor ever to play him: the scenes as Bruce Banner are sad and nuanced, and the Hulk is believable as never before. This is largely because director, Whedon understood that we didn’t want a tortured Hulk, we just wanted a big green destruction machine. And allowing Banner to change into the Hulk at will was a smart move and gives much more scope for a future movie. There are only so many times we can watch Banner hunt for an antidote to his green skinned infliction.
