THE AVENGERS ASSEMBLE IN 2012

Are you as excited as I am?

Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger have all led to this.  A massive mission that needs the combined strengths of some of the greatest heroes we’ve ever seen on the big screen.  That’s a lot of pressure to deliver.  Since Marvel announced their grand scheme to create a unified series of movies that belong to the same universe, people have speculated on the potential of an Avengers movie.

XTRA | The Dark Knight Rises vs The Avengers vs The Amazing Spider-Man

What will be at stake?  Which villain could possibly have a chance against these heroes?  How can so many iconic characters exist on a single screen?

Recently, we were given our first glimpse at the team including our first look at Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk.

It’s a beautiful way to introduce The Avengers that immediately brought one question to mind:

Will The Avengers be the greatest superhero movie of all time?

In order to answer that question, you have to consider the film(s) you consider to be the current champ.  For me, the movie to beat is The Dark Knight, a near perfect movie that changed everything.  The Dark Knight had a gripping story, a fascinating villain, a flawed hero and incredible action.  In addition to the current champ, you should also consider movies The Avengers will be competing against: The Dark Knight Rises.

It’s Marvel vs DC.  The Dark Knight vs The Avengers in a winner take all battle for our imaginations.  Do The Avengers stand a chance?  Honestly, I was inspired when I saw the image above.  We don’t have to spend any time wondering about the origins of these heroes.  We just get to see them in action against the greatest threat they’ve ever faced.  What will that threat be?  More on that below.

The real challenge for The Avengers movie is director Joss Whedon’s ability to balance everything.  Each hero needs screen time and something to do.  There really aren’t any supporting roles here.  They are all stars in their own stories and nobody expects one or two to take a back seat now.

Will the first act be spent trying to tame the uncontrollable Hulk? What kind of dynamic will Nick Fury’s team develop?  Will it be Captain America’s Avengers or Iron Man’s? How will Thor factor in? We’ve been waiting years for answers and now that information is beginning to arrive, I’m encouraged.

Personally, I can’t wait to see the new Hulk in action.  If anything, he will be the best looking Hulk we’ve ever seen.

THE HULK

I think this poster says the most about the upcoming team up.  The contrast between the Mark Ruffalo and his angry half is amazing.  I think The Hulk will have a crucial role in the film, especially in the first act.  Getting him on the team won’t be easy.  I hope this will be the first time we REALLY get to see the Hulk go on a crazy rampage of destruction.  It’s going to be beautiful.

Will Mark Ruffalo be able to step into Edward Norton’s shoes?  I’m a massive Norton fan and loved his take on Bruce Banner.  It’s a shame he won’t be involved but I think Ruffalo is a fine choice to take over.  You can see it in his eyes on the poster.  The Hulk weighs heavily on him and I think portraying that struggle will be essential in order for this movie to become legendary.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

Captain America’s personal journey interests me a great deal because it has to address his familiarity with ‘today’.  (Being frozen for 70 years will do that.)  Not only does he have to let go of the past but he must also adapt to today’s fast paced world.

I didn’t flip out for Captain America: The First Avenger.  I suppose ‘flipping out’ would be a movie I would instantly want to see again.  I’m sure I’ll watch Captain America again someday but I’m more interested in his role in The Avengers than his origin story.  How will Captain America’s leadership skills clash with Tony Stark’s larger than life personality?  I can’t wait to see his reaction watching Bruce Banner transform the first time.  Will he be the one to inspire unity between the heroes?

THOR

I highly enjoyed Thor’s first big screen adventure.  One of the hardest parts of assembling this team of heroes is integrating Thor’s mythology into the mix.  Iron Man built his suite.  Captain America and The Hulk are both products of science.  As Thor so eloquently put it:

“Your ancestors called it magic, but you call it science. I come from a land where they are one and the same.”

Thor will play an integral role in this film not only because of his strength but because of his brother Loki.  The stakes have to be enormous in order to justify all these incredible heroes joining forces.  Loki instantly becomes a credible opponent with the cosmic cube in hand.  What will he use it for?  My guess is Thor will provide a lot of exposition and back story in the film.

IRON MAN

The first Iron Man is still my favorite Marvel film thus far.  It was the perfect place to start building towards The Avengers.  My only real complaint about Iron Man was the final battle.  It felt extremely rushed and a weakened Stark made it a lackluster finale.  Iron Man 2 was very disappointing.  What makes these movies great is how they incorporate The Avengers but still allow for the heroes to have their own story.  Iron Man 2 felt less like an Iron Man movie and more like a series of setups for The Avengers. (It also included a rushed ending)

I think The Avengers will be Iron Man’s playground.  A chance for Tony Shark to truly show off what he is capable of.  He is also the most well developed hero of the bunch so expect to see his personal journey take center stage at some point in the film.  Not too mention the humor he will no doubt provide.  Iron Man will play a big role in the film indeed but I’m looking forward to the action he’ll be a part of more than anything.

NICK FURY, HAWKEYE & THE BLACK WIDOW

Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing Nick Fury longer than 5 or 6 minutes per movie.  As the leader of S.H.E.I.L.D & The Avengers Initiative, he certainly must have a good reason for working as hard as he does.  I want to know more!  The same can be said for The Black Widow and Hawkeye.  It’s unfortunate that they will no doubt take a back seat to the big four but it will still be interesting to discover their places in the story.

The Villain.  Loki?

Loki has long been rumored to be the force The Avengers will go up against.  Not much is known about his role in the film but many sources believe he will use the cosmic cube to summon The Skrulls.  A powerful alien race.  Other rumors suggest that Thanos will play a small role as well. (Some even suggest that the movie will feature both theories.)

One thing is certain, the stakes will have to be enormous.  Something extremely evil and destructive is on it’s way to our world…  I can’t wait to find out what it is.

THE STAGE IS SET

We’ve now seen all the elements separately.  It’s time for all the work to pay off.  It’s time for everything to come together in one massive movie event.  At some point, we will get our first glimpse of all of the heroes on screen at the same time.  I think that will be a huge moment in cinema history.  Never before has a studio spent so much time and effort (and money) to put together this type of movie.

The Marvel Universe is about to collide and we’ve spent years wondering about the possibilities.  For me, the anticipation alone is going to make the coming months crawl.

Will The Avengers deliver on incredible promises Marvel’s films have made?  Will it be the greatest superhero movie of all time?  The battle between Batman & The Avengers is going to be absolutely fantastic to witness not too mention the return of Spider-Man.

XTRA | Why the last shot of The Dark Knight Rises teaser kicks ass.

Summer 2012 can’t get here fast enough.

What do you think?  Will The Avengers deliver all the action and moments you’re hoping for?

XTRA | Life after The Avengers? (via IGN)

I believe we are entering a Golden Age for superhero movies.

There are so many incredible films on the way with loads of potential.

How good are the upcoming superhero movies?

Here are 10 of the biggest and best.  Check them out and count how many you’re looking forward to.

*Be sure to come back as I will be updating this page with new images and trailers as they are released.*

Thor

Thor is probably my least anticipated film on this list because I really don’t know that much about the character.  However, Thor has a giant role to play in the upcoming Avengers movie so I’m definitely interested in learning more.  Part of me truly hopes it turns out to be a bad ass action adventure.

The first trailer has been released!  I’m officially pumped to see this movie.

The super bowl spot unleashes more action!

Cowboys & Aliens

The first poster for the film has been released and it looks amazing!

It looks like John Favreau and co. are unleashing one hell of an entertaining film next summer.

X-Men: First Class

Hardcore fans of Bryan Singer’s X-Men may not be so eager to embrace this reboot but I am.  I’m not sure what to expect from this adaptation but I’m a massive fan of the source material.  Plus I have enormous faith in Matthew Vaughn.  Kick ass was fantastic.

The Green Hornet

This movie sounded extremely strange when I first heard about it.  Could Seth Rogen really be a superhero? After seeing the first trailer, I believe the answer is yes.  He is a different kind of superhero but it still looks like an entertaining movie.

The Amazing Spider-Man

[UPDATE] The first official image of Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man has hit the web!  I have to say it looks pretty damn sweet!

The first two Spider-Man movies are among the best superhero movies of all time. Understandably, it was time to inject some new life into the franchise and I actually think that rebooting with a younger Peter Parker is the right way to go.

My only real concern is whether or not the filmmakers can balance the inevitable high school drama with decent action sequences. I’m already sold on Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man and now that we know he will face off against The Lizard, I’m even more excited about the possibilities.

Check out this amazing image of Andrew Garfield in costume with the legendary mask on!

Captain America: The First Avenger

Captain America is in the same category as Thor.  I don’t know too much about him but I’m extremely interested in how Marvel will tie all of their big franchises together.  If the movie is half as good as the image above we are in for one hell of a show.

Superbowl commercial…  I gotta say the shot with Cap running through a forest in the middle of battle was amazing.  So was Red Skulls reveal.  Still I wasn’t blown away by the spot.

Green Lantern

Ryan Reynolds is definitely on a huge roll right now. Every single Green Lantern image that I’ve seen has been amazing.

Now that the trailer has been unleashed, I have to say it does look pretty damn entertaining.

Check out the first 4 minutes from the film.

The Avengers

Did anyone ever think this film would have come together the way it did?

Count the superstars on that stage.  It’s truly remarkable what Marvel has done with their superhero franchises.

This is probably the riskiest film on this list as the amount of hype surrounding this movie is enormous.

It’s going to be extremely challenging to deliver something entertaining with that many heroes on the screen.

Again it all comes down to the story. They definitely have the star power but it’s up to Joss Whedon and his team to come up with something worthy of one of the best ensembles in history.

Whether they nail it or not, The Avengers is going to rewrite the superhero movie forever.

I can’t wait to watch Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk and The Avengers ‘marathon style’.

Unreal…

NOTE: This film isn’t released until 2012 but I didn’t think it would hurt to update it regardless considering so many movies on this list will affect the production.

Transformers: Dark Of The Moon

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen was terrible.

Click here to find out why Transformers 3 won’t suck.

I’m so excited to see more giant robot action on the big screen. Everything I’ve read about the film gives me more and more confidence that they will erase the memory of The Fallen from my mind.

I was so excited to see that movie and I was shattered when the credits rolled.  I wish it wasn’t the case but it’s true.  However, I’ll never give up on a franchise easily.

I’ll be in line on day 1 for this blockbuster event… In 3D.

The Transformers are back!  I loved the Superbowl commercial!  This is probably my most anticipated movie of the summer thus far!

Superman

[Update] Henry Cavill has officially been announced as the new Superman.  Nice!

Handing the keys to the Superman franchise over to Christopher Nolan was genius.  The guy simply knows how to tell a good story.

He’s easily my favorite directors right now and having his name attached instantly puts this film at the top of the list.

Then…

He went out and hired Zak Snyder to direct the movie with a screenplay written by David Goyer…

You hear that?  That’s the sound of the best Superman adaptation of all time.

Yes… I’m prepared to make that statement.

Get ready for a gritty slow motion filled adventure featuring one of the most iconic heroes in history.

The Dark Knight Rises

[UPDATE] Catwoman and Bane! Anne Hathaway and Tom Hardy are confirmed as the infamous villains in The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight is my favorite superhero movie in the history of the world.  Nothing against the amazing Batman Begins but The Dark Knight is THE definitive Batman movie.

This third and presumably final Batman film that Nolan will give us will pull out all the stops and raise the stakes like never before.

I like to think that he had a plan the entire time and was always building towards this third chapter.  Whether that’s true or not may never be revealed but I have no doubt Mr. Nolan has a few surprises in store for us.  It saddens me to think about his vision for The Joker and how he may have carried over to this film.  

It’s a shame we won’t get a chance to see Heath Ledger’s wonderful work on screen again.  The word ‘legendary’ comes to mind.

The next villain that Bruce Wayne faces will definitely have some giant shoes to fill.  Yet, somehow, I truly believe he/she will.

There’s no way this movie will fall flat even with the nearly impossible expectations people like me have.

I have a feeling this film will complete one of the greatest trilogies ever.

Which movie are you anticipating?  Are there several?

It truly is a good time to be a fan of superhero movies!