Honestly, this is already happening, but before too long its going to become the industry norm. Superman in the comics is more in line with Zack Snyder's Man Of Steel blockbuster (grimdark in tone and minus those red underpants), and there's rumours that Marvel are looking to drop both X-Men and Fantastic Four from their publishing schedule since they don't own the film rights at the moment. There are plotlines that are easy to predict by the upcoming movie release slate, like when Spider-Man returned to the black costume for a while when the third Sam Raimi film came out, or how the Death Of Wolverine will be swiftly undone next time Hugh Jackman's due to strap on the claws. With the majority of the paying audience recognising the on-screen versions of their favourite characters instead of the ever-so-slightly different iterations in print, it doesn't make any sense to continue appealing solely to the dwindling fanboys. Instead, the comics will continue to hew closer to the films, perhaps even turning into nothing more than spin-offs of the Cinematic Universes which tell stories featuring those versions of their superheroes, playing on those backstories and previous plotlines in the same way current comics refer back to the previous half century of publication.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
