Comic book movies have appeared on the big screen since 1966, when Adam West and Burt Ward starred in “Batman: The Movie.” For years, directors struggled over how to adapt graphic novels into a palpable product, and we’ve seen several different takes. For example, the early “Batman” movies used comical sound effects and a touch of humor to draw the line between fantasy and reality.
On the contrary, “Superman” is a much more serious story, full of action but devoid of humorous overtones. More modern adaptations have played with special effects and character development. “Sin City” is a more serious film noir that is narrated very faithful to the comics, using black and white cinematography and very small splashes of color to accentuate. “X-Men” features very in-depth character representations that delve into the past, present and future psyche of all of their antihero complexes.
The published DC comics appeared to enjoy greater success on the big screen during the 1980s and 1990s, with “Superman II, III and IV”, “Swamp Thing”, “Batman”, “Batman Returns”, “Batman Forever “and” Batman and Robin “. Warner Brothers released all of these movies relentlessly, with a new debut every year apparently. The 1989 Batman movie, directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton as Batman and Jack Nicholson as the Joker, was the second highest grossing comic book movie until 2008’s “The Dark Knight” brought it down a bit.
The sequel “Batman Returns,” the third-highest-grossing film of 1992, again starred Keaton as Batman and was directed by Tim Burton, but added Danny Devito as the penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman. Writer / director Kevin Smith called 1992 “the summer of the bat,” when Batman merchandise filled every store and sold with astonishing efficiency.
While DC Comics dominated the 1990s with its “Batman” series, “Spider-Man” vied for superior superhero status in the new millennium. Until Christopher Nolan’s “Batman: The Dark Knight” (earning $ 522,106,180 at the box office) regained the winning spot for the caped crusader, Sam Raimi’s “Spiderman” trilogy was ranked # 1 (at $ 403,706,375, $ 373,585,825 and $ 336,530,303, respectively). ), when it comes to comic book movies.
All three Spiderman films set US opening day records, were the top 3 Marvel Comic films ever made, and were the most successful films ever produced by Sony / Columbia. Stan Lee was actively involved in the writing and shooting of the films to ensure success. Marvel’s “Iron Man” starring Robert Downey Jr. was the fifth most successful comic book blockbuster, grossing $ 318,223,785.
“You could tell that having seen Iron Man and seen Batman, the writers, producers and directors now know how to treat these movies,” said Marvel Comic creator Stan Lee. He added that comic book movies will keep getting better and better with new technologies and adaptations. Coming in 2009 is the highly anticipated Marvel prequel “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” starring Hugh Jackman, plus another “Punisher” movie. “Iron Man 2”, “Thor”, “The Avengers”, “Spider-Man 4” and another “Captain America” are also in development for the following years.
As for DC, “The Spirit” and “The Watchmen” are scheduled for release in 2008 and 2009, the latter of which has a lot of comic book fans talking. Several more movies have been in development over the past few years, including: “Superman (reboot),” “The Green Lantern,” “The Justice League of America,” “Wonder Woman,” and “Batman 3.”