Superhero Movies Assemble!
Superhero movies have quickly went from a niche market to the most successful films in the world. In 2012 there were five big superhero movies, excluding the comic book inspired Men in Black III and straight-to-dvd releases like Punisher: Dirty Laundry. The five movies were The Amazing Spider-Man, The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and Dredd 3D. The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises alone made over $2.5 billion combined. I want to examine how this previously nerdy genre suddenly caught fire and exploded into mainstream popularity.
Superhero movies are nothing new, the first can be traced back to Superman and the Mole Men in 1951. The first successful superhero movie was the 1966 Batman, based on the 1960s television series starring Adam West. Then, of course, the hugely successful Superman movies arrived in the 1970s and made Christopher Reeve a household name. The Superman movie warranted three sequels over the next decade and the character grossed just under $600 million. However the last adventure, Superman IV: Quest for Peace, left a bad taste in movie-goers mouths that wasnt appeased until Tim Burtons 1989 Batman. This new take on the Batman Universe was much darker than the 1960s version, which satisfied most audiences and critics, although did infuriate many comic fans by having the Joker nonsensically kill Thomas and Martha Wayne (Which never happened in the comics, the real killer was known as Joe Chill). Burtons Batman broke many box office records and was DCs highest grossing film...until 2008. Several sequels were released to Batman, none of which garnered much critical success. The films became more camp and light-hearted with every movie and the fourth, Batman and Robin, with George Clooney as Batman, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze and Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy, despite earning respectable money, killed the series indefinitely.
Over the next few years fans were treated to comic-book adaptions like Blade and Spawn, the former performing modestly with the latter a major flop. After the turbulent years at theatre, superhero movies began to again gain traction in the early 2000s with X-Men and the immensely successful Spider-Man. The success of these two films inspired many more vigilantes to take to the screens including Daredevil, Hulk, Hellboy, The Punisher, Catwoman and many more, some performing well, others terribly. None however could mimic the critical or commercial success of Spider-Man. Both Spider-Man and X-Men warranted two direct sequels, all performing as well as the originals. 2005 saw a change in superhero movies, with the release of the great Batman Begins. Arguably the best superhero movie yet, at its time, Batman Begins marked a much darker, grittier movie that reinvigorated both Batman and the genre. The film was a commercial success but didnt rival Spider-Man at the box office. That was, until its sequel, The Dark Knight. 
The second instalment in Christopher Nolans Batman series went on to become the second highest-grossing movie of all time, behind Titanic, until Avatar eventually became number 1. The Dark Knight was incredible, fans and critics alike revered it and praised the entire film, especially the star of the show, the late Heath Ledger, and his portrayal of a more modern, psychotic Joker. Ledger stole the show and the film became a modern-day classic. However in the same year that DCs Dark Knight took the world by storm, Marvel quietly started a fire of their own with Iron Man. This was the cinematic debut of Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr. who fit the role of Tony Stark perfectly. Although not comparing to The Dark Knight in terms of reception or gross, Iron Man still performed great in both areas, receiving overall positive reviews and grossing almost 600 Million. However this wasnt just another superhero movie, it was the start of something much bigger. Iron Man gave way to the Incredible Hulk, then came Iron Man 2, Thor and finally Captain America. This onslaught of Marvel movies dominated cinemas from 2008 until 2011, with each movie performing very well. However the end goal of this series of movies was planned from 2005, which culminated in the 2012 blockbuster The Avengers. Each film laid the groundwork for what would become the first ever superhero team-up, and it paid off. As of 2013 The Avengers is the third most successful movie of all time, behind Titanic and Avatar, having knocked The Dark Knight off third spot. It proved that years of hard work and dedication with good actors and people who know a thing or two about comics can make a superhero team-up one of the greatest films ever. However there were many more superhero movies released between and after Batman Begins and the Avengers, wed also seen Watchmen, Superman Returns, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: First Class, Fantastic Four, Green Lantern, Ghost Rider, Jonah Hex and more Hellboy. However non-DC/Marvel superhero movies have also begun to grow, such titles as Kick-Ass, Hancock, Chronicle and Green Hornet. Its clear the superhero genre has built a lot of steam and influences many films in todays movie industry, Chronicle and Hancock showing that an original superhero story can be created and doesnt have to follow the typical hero guidelines. 
2012 also saw the final Batman film with The Dark Knight Rises, for me, a perfect conclusion to the greatest superhero films to date, the rebooted version of Spider-Man (The Amazing Spider-Man) and a reboot of the 1995 Judge Dredd. These were also massive successes, and along with The Avengers, meant that the majority overall gross for 2012 movies came from the superhero genre. Therefore its non-surprising to find that throughout 2013 we can expect to see Iron Man 3, Man of Steel (the promising reboot of Superman), The Wolverine, Thor: The Dark World and Kick-Ass 2. Each of which should be very successful and entertaining films. As someone who reads comic books and whos favourite movie genre is probably comic books, (or animation), I feel I can discuss this topic openly and with some proficiency. Im not biased, Im aware how bad superhero movies can be. Some superhero movies are fantastic but for every Dark Knight theres a Green Lantern, for every Watchmen theres a Superman Returns and for every X-Men First Class theres a Ghost Rider. However when a superhero movie is done right, it can be very good. Its not hard to understand why so many superhero movies get made each year, since the success of Spider-Man theres been an average of 5.4 superhero movies each year, the reason is money. Due to the success of some of these movies other companies try to cash in on the popular genre, most only moderate successes. The quality of superhero movies has improved over the last few years, with a few exceptions, but with Marvel aggressively planning their Phase 2, which sees another Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and a Guardians of the Galaxy movie culminating in the Avengers 2, we can expect the quality to stay high. Now that the Batman Trilogy has ended DC need a new superhero franchise to stake claim to, which could be Man of Steel. The new attempt at rebooting Superman looks good, really good, but Ive been fooled by trailers in the past (More times than Id like to recount), but with director Zack Snyder (Watchmen, 300 and Sucker Punch) and The Dark Knight team of Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer helping produce the film, its in safe hands. Itll take a serious mistake for Man of Steel to fail, however Superman Returns was bad enough for the scepticism to shine. Man of Steel is the first film in DCs attempt at bringing the Justice League to the big screen. Coming off the success of The Avengers it isnt surprising DC and Warner Bros want to take their chances with a superhero teamup. However Warner Bros seems much less prepared than Marvel and so are going about it the opposite way, by having the team-up come first, in 2015, with each hero/heroines individual movie coming out afterwards. This could work but Marvels method is tried and tested, it works, therefore its a safe bet. Despite this Warner Bros is going their own route, probably to make money quicker than wait years like Marvel did. 
It goes without saying that superhero movies are popular. Over the past decade theyve really burst into the mainstream and suddenly its cool to wear a Spider-Man t shirt or a Superman hoodie. The movies have inspired television shows like Smallville and Arrow and many movie-based video games like The Amazing Spider-Man and Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters. So as for the why have the genre became so popular, its simple, a great movie like Spider-Man is going to be very popular. That much is obvious, but the thing that propels these movies to even greater success is marketability. Superheroes are incredibly marketable, their likenesses and logos can be brandished anywhere and because theyre usually kid-friendly, toys can be made in the millions. So the reason superhero movies are so popular is because they became very good, which prompted mass-produced merchandise. And of course once a film becomes hugely successful it inspires many other heroes to don their tights. Based on the genres success throughout the years, and especially in the past two years, its safe to say that the spandex-wearing vigilantes wont be setting off into the sunset anytime soon.