2012: The greatest year for comic book movies ever? On December 31st, 2010, I'm sure many of us all said the exact same thing about 2011. After all, Captain America, Green Lantern and Thor were all on the way to making their first ever big screen appearances, while the X-Men prequel/reboot was looking particularly (and perhaps surprisingly) good in the capable hands of Matthew Vaughn. And despite the disappointing Green Lantern, it DID indeed turn out to be quite the year for comic book fans.
2012 opens up with
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and although it currently seems to be
The Green Hornet of the year (in other words, the comic book movie that no one really cares all that much about but hopes is good all the same) the latest trailer shocked many by actually looking rather good! However, it's in April/May that things get
really exciting as
The Avengers finally assemble on the big screen. It's an event that has been building since 2008's
Iron Man and even as we head into the New Year, we still don't know who the villains are and have yet to get a proper look at many of the most anticipated sights - the Hulk and Helicarrier being two prime examples.
In the second half of the year, we have the return of Spider-Man to the big screen in reboot,
The Amazing Spider-Man. Taking the iconic Marvel superhero back to his teenage years, director Marc Webb looks set to inject all new life into the franchise as Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker romances Gwen Stacy and takes on The Lizard (another villain we still haven't had a proper look at). Shortly after, it's the third and final Batman movie from Christopher Nolan with
The Dark Knight Rises. Anticipation is at an all time high for the movie and questions such as whether Bane will "break the Bat" or whether Nolan will actually kill off Batman at the end of the movie are keeping fans on the edge of their seats.
But wait a second! That's just the superhero offerings of 2012. We also have
Men in Black 3,
John Carter,
The Bourne Legacy,
Prometheus,
G.I. Joe: Retaliation,
DREDD,
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and many, many more to look forward to. Comic book movie news is going to really start ramping up over the course of the next few months with new stills, trailers, clips and details all on the way. Stay tuned to CBM for all of those and be sure to sound off with your thoughts below.