Geeks Rejoice At Comic-Con Over News For Upcoming Blockbuster Sequels

[Jack-Hammer]

Comic book geeks throughout the world let out a shout of triumph at Comic-Con yesterday as information was revealed as it pertains to a couple of anticipated sequels.

It was revealed by Warner Bros. yesterday that DC Comics intends to use the next Superman film to begin establishing it's own connected, cinematic universe the way Marvel has done with Captain America, Thor, Iron Man & The Incredible Hulk, which ultimately led to the massively successful Avengers film. The announcement is that the sequel to Man of Steel is going to be a crossover between Superman and Batman.

There was talk several years back of making "Superman vs. Batman" film, which could be where they're going with this one, though I suspect it all comes down to the two iconic characters eventually putting whatever philosophical differences they have aside in order to team up. I don't follow DC all that much but If I'm not mistaken, there was a regular monthly series several years back that featured that very theme. One reason I'm thinking this will be the case here has to do with the logo for the film that was debuted last night: http://www.superherohype.com/news/a...an-of-steel-sequel-announced-batman-to-appear

The logo is almost identical to that used on the cover of said comic book series, which feature a large Batman "Bat" symbol with Superman's "S" across its center.

Marvel Comics also officially announced that the title of the Avengers sequel will be "Avengers: Age of Ultron". The Age of Ultron title has been taken from a current Marvel Universe spanning crossover in which a future version of Ultron winds up conquering Earth in the future and does so by ultimately sending back advanced Sentinel type versions of itself, with vastly greater technology, back into modern times. In order to stop Ultron, mistakes are made that wind up causing tears in reality itself, causing various aspects of alternate worlds to merge with the mainstream Marvel continuity.

If it sounds complicated, it kinda is. That's par for the course when it comes to stuff involving time travel & alternate universes. I'm sure changes will be made in the film that will cause it to be significantly different. For instance, whereas the comic crossover featured pretty much every major Marvel character, the movie will be heavily toned down in that respect as it'll only be about the Avengers characters, so it'll also probably considerably less complicated. At least, that's what I'm hoping because films that focus heavily around tampering with reality or changing the past or future and all that turn into one massively complicated clusterfuck that leaves viewers lost as to what's going on.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

The Superman/Batman crossover film is going to have some huge expectations, and big shoes to fill. For the most part, Nolan's Batman trilogy received nothing but godly praise, and The Dark Knight is praised as one of, if not the best superhero films of the past fifteen or twenty years. In a lot of ways, Bale has been immortalized as one of the best, if not the best Bruce Wayne/Batman's ever, and Heath Ledger's Joker will always be remembered as a legendary villain. So there's going to be a pretty big microscope on the Batman side of things.

And while I enjoyed it, Man Of Steel received a pretty lukewarm reception from critics. I haven't checked Box Office Mojo for the most current stats yet, but I remember Man Of Steel having a pretty big opening weekend, and then a very noticeable drop-off the next week.

Things won't be much easier for the Justice League film. The Avengers set the bar HIGH for extravagant and action-packed superhero films/summer blockbusters, featuring a collection of the best of the best. And who knows, they might have to outdo the upcoming X-Men film. Reputation wise, X-Men kind of went into the shitter after Last Stand, but the franchise made a comeback with First Class, and there's a good amount of buzz surrounding the new film.

The sequel for The Avengers? I'm looking forward to it. I'm sure we'll hear a good amount of "it's not as good as the original" complaints, but the movie itself should make a shitload of money regardless, and after the first trailer, I'm sure I'll be foaming at the mouth to see it.