1. The Dark Knight Rises
2. Superman reboot
3. Captain America: The First Avenger
4. The Avengers
5. Thor
6. Green Lantern
7. The Wolverine
8. The Amazing Spider-Man
9. X-Men: First Class
10. Iron Man 3
Superman is my favourite superhero, Henry Cavill looks perfect for the role, still have to see how the rest of the cast is going to look, but I like what I see so far (Kevin Costner as Jonathan and Diane Lane as the hottest Martha Kent ever? Nice). There are still so many unknowns about this movie - who will the villain be? Are we going to see another take on the origin (Superman Begins)?, etc. - but ultimately I'm looking forward to this movie because Superman is the iconic, ultimate superhero and by the time it comes out I'll have been waiting for six years for something to erase the memory of Superman Returns. I remember how much I was looking forward to that movie, only to see Singer exploit our goodwill with a weak Donner retread, lame soap opera-ish melodrama, Superkid, and so on. Snyder has proven himself a master of visuals and faithful comic book adaptations with 300 and Watchmen, but we still have to see if he truly gets Superman.
In the end, though, The Dark Knight Rises edges out Supes because it's the follow-up to the greatest comic book movie ever, the standard by which all the rest are now measured. Its predecessor ended with a cliffhanger, so of course I want to see how things turn out. Christian Bale is coming off his Oscar - fittingly won in the same category as Heath Ledger as The Joker. But Anne Hathaway as Catwoman (talk about counter-intuitive casting) intrigues me, and the chance to see a GOOD version of Bane onscreen - played by master thespian Tom Hardy, no less - makes this a must-see for me. There are still more variables to be filled in with the Superman movie, starting with Lois Lane, moving on to Lex Luthor and the rest of the supporting cast, and culminating in the crucial choice of villain(s). It remains a "wait-and-see".
3. Captain America: The First Avenger surprisingly tops The Avengers (which I still see as the ultimate comic book "event" film) because, frankly, it looks like it's going to be fantastic. While I was initially uncertain about the casting of Johnny Storm as Captain America, the pictures I've seen and the Superbowl trailer have completely sold me: Chris Evans IS Steve Rogers. I'm something of a history buff, so a Marvel period piece set in World War II sounds awesome. Not to mention, Hugo Weaving looks incredible as Red Skull - totally Kirby-esque - and he's never disappointed me in any role, especially a villainous one. Basically, everything I've seen so far seem to indicate that this might be a career highlight for the hit-or-miss Joe Johnston and a compelling illustration of why Steve Rogers has one of the best origin stories in comics.
4. The Avengers, as I said, is something that's never been done before. It'll be amazing, having introduced all the main characters in solo films, to see Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk and Captain America all interacting together onscreen, especially with Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye and a couple of hot S.H.I.E.L.D. babes to boot. However, there's still a chance that this movie is going to collapse under its own weight, and Joss Whedon, while apparently a solid TV and comics writer (I'm unfamiliar with most of his work), has yet to prove that he can handle an action blockbuster of this scale.
5. Thor is the superhero movie that most appeals to my inner metalhead and fantasy nerd - Norse gods man! The God of Thunder, Odin, etc. Having been an English major, I can't wait to see Kenneth Branagh, the master of Shakespeare adaptations, take on the world of Thor. Cast looks great - Natalie Portman also coming off an Oscar, Hopkins, Elba, and some young and hungry relative unknowns as Thor and Loki. Hiddleston has an impressive resume, and Hemsworth looks like he'll be a dependable lead, so here's hoping. We'll see if there aren't some boring patches on Earth or more ill-advised jokes (I'm totally fine with humour, that Facebook gag just made me want to, um, gag).
6. Green Lantern always seemed like it had so much epic cinematic appeal. When I first saw the trailer I watched it probably a few dozen times and thought it was just awesome that we were getting a GL flick that looked relatively faithful (i.e. no Jack Black parody). But I think some of the fanboy complaints on this board rubbed off on me and now I can't help but see a calculated Warner Bros. product trying to build off the success of Iron Man - the irresponsible wisecracking playboy who learns what it truly means to be a hero, etc. The CGI suit, while making sense from a story standpoint, looks a bit cartoon-y at times. Martin Campbell has proven he can make a good action movie with Bond and Zorro, but who knows, he could still misstep. Still, Martin Strong looks perfect as Sinestro, all the characters appear true to the comics in their design...I think my only problem might be Ryan Reynolds. Don't get me wrong, I really like Reynolds, and he's a strong actor (Buried should silence any doubters). But his known persona and look make it hard to disappear into the character. When I see him, I don't see Hal Jordan - I see Ryan Reynolds. Again, not really his fault and doesn't mean he won't be good in the role...I just feel he'll have to prove himself. Blake Lively looks wooden as Carol Ferris, but her ability to bring wood will probably make me enjoy her performance nonetheless, if you know what I mean.
7. The Wolverine will probably surprise everybody. Darren Aronofsky is finally getting his chance to direct a superhero movie, and since he tends to skew towards the darker side of human nature, I think he'll really get to the core of what Wolverine is about as a character. Unlike most people here, I can appreciate Origins as a fun popcorn flick. But it certainly wasn't what it could have been. Despite a lot of fanboy complaints that Hugh Jackman is too tall and handsome for the role, it's hard to deny that he's proved an iconic screen Wolverine. For me and most moviegoers, it's his signature role and he really brings a lot of Clint Eastwood-esque charisma to it. Jackman has worked with Aronofsky before, so hopefully they can come together and make something great out of what's a great story to begin with, the Japanese arc.
8. The Amazing Spider-Man is difficult for me to pass judgment on. Having seen and loved The Social Network, I think Andrew Garfield will be a great Peter Parker - he may even surpass Tobey Maguire as the best screen Spider-Man, although I'll probably always have more emotional attachment to the Raimi films because I grew up with them. But Mark Webb is a relatively inexperienced director, despite having the perfect name for this job. A CGI Lizard could be iffy, it might be too early for a reboot...the cast looks pretty good, but I'm unfamiliar with the work of the actors playing the villain(s). I'm fine with the suit. I'm just not that excited for another Spider-Man movie at this point. For me, the main goal of any Spidey film franchise was to see Venom done properly, and we all know how much Raimi screwed that up with SM3. We've had three Spider-Man movies in the last 9 years and the last one was a disappointment. But hey, it's still Spider-Man, one of the Big Three Superheroes, so of course I'll be seeing this.
9. X-Men: First Class seems like it'll be a decent prequel. The two leads are accomplished actors, January Jones is jaw-droppingly gorgeous as Emma Frost, and all of them star in a movie with...Kevin Bacon! I guess I just don't think it'll be a significant improvement on the last couple of X-flicks, even with the gifted Matthew Vaughn directing. It's mostly a bunch of little-known mutants we haven't seen on-screen before, whereas The Wolverine looks like it'll take the most universally-loved element of the old franchise and inject an Oscar-worthy director, who's a master of characterization, intense drama and offbeat cinematic techniques. I don't know, maybe Vaughn's movie will surprise me. The parallels to Martin Luther King and Malcolm X could prove fascinating.
10. Iron Man 3 brings up the rear and the chief responsibility for its low place on my list goes to Iron Man 2. Despite a great performance by Mickey Rourke, a strong dose of AC/DC and a couple good action scenes, that movie left a bad taste in my mouth. While Robert Downey Jr. is funny and charismatic as Tony Stark, after a while he's also very ANNOYING. The character is just way too full of himself and, unlike in the first movie, doesn't really seem to learn anything by the end. I also got very tired of the screwball comedy dialogue, with everybody talking over each other. They just took it to an extreme, and the sparse action scenes were a by-product of that. Scarlett Johannsen was great (and sexy) in that one action scene as Black Widow, but overall I'm just not a big fan of hers. She's not a very good actress overall, IMO - she speaks very quietly and barely emotes. The other big problem I had with this movie was the re-casting of James Rhodes. I like Don Cheadle, but he did not feel right for this role at all, certainly not as good as Terrence Howard, who I felt had real chemistry with Downey in the first film. Cheadle does his best, but he's just not Rhodey. Howard earned that War Machine armor, dammit! I felt that the plot about Tony dying felt contrived. What I would have liked to have seen was a deeper investigation into his character, starting with his drinking problem. Hopefully with a new director, the third movie will go the Demon in a Bottle route and bring in Mandarin. If we have those elements, I'm in. But the Iron Man franchise will have to earn back my trust after that second movie.
Mostly for Batman & X-Men stuff, but the others are cool as well.
