8. Iron Man 3/Thor: The Dark World
In Iron Man 3, Tony Stark faces his greatest adversary yet, Mandarin, who takes away everything Stark holds dear in the world. Left with next to nothing, Stark must survive by his own devices and fight his way back. In Thor: The Dark World, Thor returns to Asgard and must battle an ancient race of Dark Elves hell-bent on plunging the universe back into darkness.
Why We Are Excited: Marvel Studios can do no wrong at this point, and they have once again hired unexpected talent to inject their material with a unique, creative vigor - directors Shane Black (Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang) on Iron Man, and Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones, Mad Men, The Sopranos) for Thor. Though both of these films will exist as stand-alone stories, it will be interesting to see how they will fit into Marvels' Phase 2 Continuum, particularly as these will be the studio's first two films after the release of The Avengers last summer. Both Thor and especially the original Iron Man were pleasant surprises, so here's hoping these new installments continue in that same vein!