3. Justice League (June 2015)
If anyone should be scared right about now (especially following the news of Star Wars 7) it should be DC. DC is attempting to try and pull a Marvel, but will already be seen as the copy cats and from this perspective it is already at a massive disadvantage. Also, it has still yet to prove itself with any individual film, and if "Man of Steel" under-performs at the box office, with the critics, and with the audience then this film is potentially doomed two years prior to being released. It also has the difficulty in having to be that film that reintroduced a new Batman into its universe, and considering how universally loved Nolan's Batman was, and also considering that 3 years is a pretty fast turn around for a rebooted comic book character (even by Spider-Man's standards) if it fails to pull off Batman, then people will not be all that kind. Unlike The Avengers, "Man of Steel" is the only film to be released before, so the film will also have the difficulty in introducing to us a whole host of characters for the very first time, without the freedom The Avengers had of the audience already being comfortable with the actors in their roles. This all said, I find it difficult to imagine this film won't be huge at the box office... it certainly is hugely anticipated, and even if it ends up being a massive epic fail, most people will probably go to the cinema to see this movie any way. Unfortunately though it is bound to be compared to The Avengers and The Avengers 2 which is released a whole month before (probably)... so unless the film is equal or better than The Avengers, it is bound to receive harsh critiques from the audience. However, if "Man of Steel" blows people away (although considering Zack Snyder's previous films, it could go either way and is likely to be divisive) than The Avengers, and any other film released this year will have some major competition.