Marvel's Money

In my opinion some of the hardest information to find on movies is how much money they make. There are many different scales to look at, to decide how much the movie actually made. Some go by total domestic gross, some go by how much it made in their country. So I compiled all the Marvel superhero movies’ domestic gross in America.


Spiderman = $403,706,375
Spiderman 2= $373,585,825
Spiderman 3= $336,530,303
The Incredible Hulk= $134,533,885
The Hulk= $132,177,234
Ironman = $318,313,199
X-men= $234,362,462
X-men 2= $214,949,694
X-men; The last stand= $157,299,717

Punisher= $33,810,189
Punisher 2; War Zone= $5,016,964 (as of now)
Blade= $70,087,718
Blade 2= $82,348,319

Blade trinity= $52,411,906

Fantastic 4=: $154,696,080

Fantastic 4; Rise of the Silver Surfer= $131,921,738

Daredevil= $102,543,518

Ghost rider= $115,802,596

Electra= $24,409,722

Marvels total domestic gross in America is just fewer than 3 billion dollars, which is still more than DC by almost one billion. The average gross for a marvel movie is around 174,000,000. So if marvel keeps that pace with ten more movies on the way its total gross will almost rival that of Tony Starks.

Bright Future

Upcoming projects

Marvel has a very strong list of movies coming up in the next four years. Ten superheroes will get either their first shot, or another shot at the silver screen. I’ll start with the most recent upcoming movies. In 2009 we have a rather short list.

2009 will be the year of x-men. Two original x-men character will be getting their own spin offs in 09. Wolverine will get an origin story. This movie will dive into Logan’s past and explain how he became Wolverine. The next character is Magneto; his movie is also an origin. The movie will explore the friendship between Charles Xavier and Eric Lensherr (magneto), and also how they became enemies. Hopefully those two movies will prepare us for a very full 2010.

In 2010, marvel will be unleashing at least four more additions to the Marvel movie family. In no particular order, we’ll start with Thor. The Norse god Thor and his war hammer will get a swing at the movies. Thor is crucial characters in the development of the Avengers movie, if this movie fails then the Avengers momentum will lose some steam. Next, we have the Nick Fury movie. It is believed that Samuel L. Jackson will be playing Fury, as he did in the first Ironman. Nick Fury is the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and responsible for assembling the Avengers. After him we have the sequel of Ironman, cleverly titled Ironman 2. This movie will look more into the life of billion dollar playboy/ superhero Tony Stark. The script is still in the works, so not much is known. The last known movie for 2010, is Namor; The Sub-Mariner. The only thing I know about this project is that Namor is comparable to DC’s Aquaman.

2011 will be a very exciting year for American Marvel fans, as Captain America will be released. He is the final key character needed for the Avengers movie. Luckily the much anticipated Avenger’s movie will also be released in theatres in 2011. This will be a one of a kind, make or break deal for Marvel. Hopefully it will work out for the best.

There are also three movies whose release dates have not released yet. Spiderman was given the go ahead to make two more movies. These will be shot back to back, and are bringing back Toby McGuire and director Sam Raimi. The third is movie will be Antman, he is also an Avenger’s character, but he might not make the cut. He will be given a movie, but his status in the Avenger’s is still unknown. As you can see Marvel has a bright future, with a lot of quality movies on the way!

I am Ironman

Ironman




Ironman came out on May 2, 2008, and it is by far, in my opinion, the best movie that Marvel has released yet. There are many reasons why I believe that this movie is superior, starting with the superb cast marvel put together. I don’t think Marvel could have found a better actor for Tony Stark. Robert Downey Jr. does a spectacular of portraying Stark. Another cool thing about Downey being casted is, that like Stark he had an alcohol addiction too, making that part of the character very believable. But Downey isn’t the only actor, who did a great job; Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jeff Bridges also put on great performances. I also think that the story put together for this movie was phenomenal.

Tony Stark is a multi-billion dollar playboy, who just happened to be a genius as well. He is the head of Stark Industries, a corporation that makes weapons for the military. During a demonstration of a new weapon Stark gets kidnapped by terrorist. The terrorists demand that he builds them the weapon he was demonstrating earlier. Tony agrees, but in secret he is actually building a suit to help him escape.

While escaping he realizes that all the terrorist weapons are from his industry. Once he gets out of the terrorist camp he is rescued by his friend Rhodney (who later becomes War Machine). When he is back in civilization, he decides to perfect his suit and go fight the terrorist. Once he perfected the suit he went and fought the terrorists that captured him. Then the twist in the story occurs (SPOILER WARNING), Pepper, Tony’s assistant finds out that Obadiah, Tony’s partner in Stark industries, paid the terrorists to capture and kill Tony. Now that Obadiah’s secret is out he has to find a way to destroy Stark before the news gets back to him. So Obadiah constructs a suit like Tony’s and plans to kill Pepper with it, but Ironman comes and saves her. So the two men in robotic suits battle it out and ironman/Stark finally win when the arch-reactor blows up and kills Obadiah. After that S.H.I.E.L.D. comes and talks to Stark and gives him an alibi so people won’t think that he’s Ironman, but he tells them he is anyway, and that’s how the movie ends.

Although, after the credits there is a little clip that literally gave me goose bumps. It is Tony getting back to his house late after the press conference, and there’s someone waiting for him there. Nick Furey is there and says he wants to talk to him about the Avenger’s initiative! The Avengers initiative is Marvels Superhero team.

Incredible or not

The Hulk



















The incredible Hulk has gone through some changes in the last five years. In 2003 “The Hulk” came out, directed by Ang Lee. The Hulk grossed $245,360,480 worldwide, not the best, not the worst. Then in 2008 “The Incredible Hulk” came out, directed by Louis Leterrier. This adaptation of the Hulk has made $262,265,030 worldwide thus far. So both movies are pretty close in earnings, but very different make. There has been a lot of controversy if the 2008 version is a sequel or a reboot, as well as which ones better.




As for sequel or reboot, it’s still unknown. The studio hasn’t said anything on the matter, so the world my never know. Now for the harder question, which version is better? In my opinion the 2008 Incredible Hulk is much better, and I’ll tell you why.


First of all, Edward Norton is a fantastic Bruce Banner. Many, many people disagree with that, and their argument is simply he doesn’t look like Bruce, and there’s no way he could become the hulk. Well, let’s compare Bruce Banners; most importantly Norton is a better actor the Bana. Norton is around 35 and seems young and very smart in the movie, like Banner would be. Bana was 32 when filmed and comes across as young, uncontrolled, and under qualified as a scientist. But put all that aside, let’s think of the stereotypical scientific genius; he is scrawny because he doesn’t work out, and he would have an intelligent feel about him, Norton has both, Eric Bana has neither.

Secondly, he couldn’t turn into the Hulk….DUH, nobody could transform into a huge green monster. That’s what makes the Banner/Hulk so popular, it’s fun to think that a little scientist could transform into a huge cool monster. It’s the same reason Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are popular and the same goes with werewolves, people just like transformations.


Last but not least I just feel like The Incredible hulk is just a better movie. They casted better actors for it, and they put together a better story for it.


There are three things I liked in the 2003 Hulk that weren’t in the newer one. I liked the super cheesy transitions it had in between cuts; it gave it a strong comic book feel. I also liked that they incorporated that the angrier the hulk gets the larger her gets, and I also like that they put into the movie that the hulk can jump over mile.

hidden in plain sight

Hidden stuff in movies





In recent marvel movies there have been some hidden things for viewers to find. Marvels two summer blockbusters both of which had a hidden tribute to Captain America in them. Ironman and The Hulk both had it.

In Ironman, Tony Stark builds a fancy robotic suit to fight against evil. In one scene where his robot is attempting to take the suit off, you can see the Captain’s shield in the background. The exact scene is 85 minutes into the movie, when Tony’s robot is unsuccessfully trying to take off his special suit. At that moment Pepper, his personal assistant, comes in and is surprised. Then the camera changes to a medium shot of Tony and he say’s “Lets faace it, this isn’t the worst thing you’ve caught me doing.” While saying that Captain America’s circular shield is half way constructed in the background. This leads you to think that Captain America and Tony Stark might possibly team up. Maybe even form a team together, maybe a little team called the Avengers!

In the newest adaptation of The Incredible Hulk, Captain America is also present, or at his shield is. Although this movie does not actually show the Captain, it talks about him quite a bit. In the new Hulk movie they inject something called the Super Soldier Serum in a man to try and fight the hulk. This went very wrong for him but that serum is what made Captain America. So, that is another tie in to the Captain, but that’s not the hidden one I spoke of earlier. The hidden tribute to the Captain actually didn’t make the theatrical version of the movie; you will have to buy the special edition. In an extended scene in the very beginning of the movie, Bruce Banner (the hulk) goes to Antarctica and tries to kill himself, but the hulk has other plans. Bruce transforms into the hulk just as he tries to shoot himself, and as he transforms an avalanche occurs. In this avalanche you can see Captain America’s shield for a brief second. These two occurrences lead me to believe that a Captain America movie might be on the way.

The Captain

One of Marvels most iconic superheros is coming to the silver screen. Yes, Captain America is coming in all his blue tights, and flag waving glory! This movie is set to hit the screens in summer of 2011. Marvel was able to score a great director for this project in Joe Johnston. You might recognize his name from past jobs he’s done, such as October Sky, Hidalgo, Jumanji, along with many others. He has won an Oscar for his work in Indiana Jones; Raiders of the lost ark, where he worked the visual effects.


Marvel has done a great job of keeping this film under wraps. It is still unknown who will be playing the Captain, or any other character for that matter. There are many rumors of who will play him and the top three rumored actors are; Paul Walker, Ben Affleck, and Will Smith. I honestly don’t think that any of them will be picked, because Affleck and Smith have both already established themselves as heroes. Affleck is Daredevil, Smith is Hancock, and as for Walker, he’s just not a good enough actor in my opinion. Although it’s not confirmed, it is believed that some if not mostly all of the movie will take place during World War two; the time where Captain America first wore the red, white and blue.

It is also believed that this could be one of the most successful Marvel movies in America. I say in America because the whole point of Captain America is strengthen patriotism, because he is the ultimate American. Many don’t see this film doing well internationally because of that fact. I can understand that, although one of my personal favorite hero movies took place in Britain: V for Vendetta. (Even though it’s a DC movie.) So I hope the international boundaries can be broken for this movie, because it has the makings of a great flick.

Get over it

Spiderman 3

My all time favorite Super Hero is Spiderman, and here we are after three movies and many fans have a bad taste left in their mouth from the third movie. I will never talk bad about the Spiderman movies but I will say some things I believe would have made this movie better.
Let’s just get right down to it; we all wanted to see Venom. We wanted to see Eddie Brock turn into this huge, black, big tongued symbiote. We got big and black, but no tongue, I can deal with that. As for Eddie Brock, I wish Topher Grace would have added some muscle for this movie. Eddie Brock always came across as this angry, jealous, steroid using punk to me, and in the movie he was a little, scrawny, whiner. But once again I can compromise, because I feel like Topher did a great job with the character he developed for Eddie.


Now for everyone’s biggest problem; Venom was in only about 20 minutes of the movie. Well, let’s look into the movie itself for this answer. The symbiote comes from space and catches a ride on Peter near the beginning of the movie. So, now you have to redevelop Peter and Spiderman to see how the symbiote changed them both. That is how sandman comes into the film, and once in the film his character needed to be somewhat developed. The movie needed something (in this case someone) to show how the symbiote changed how Peter/Spiderman thinks, and he does a good job of doing that. Peter actually thinks he killed the Sandman, something Spiderman would never do in his right frame of mind. So the whole reason I believe Sandman is in this movie is to develop Symbiote Spiderman thoroughly. So that’s at least half the movie already. Then with this being Spiderman 3 it has to answer some questions from Spiderman 2 and that’s how Harry’s “New Goblin” comes in. So the movie has to pick up on that loose end from Spiderman 2. That is as well, another way of developing this “black Spiderman,” and it takes up another quarter of the movie. So if you do your math that leaves about twenty minutes of open time for Venom.

I believe that Venom should have gotten his own movie, where it’s just him and Spiderman. No distractions from, other villainous characters. But you can’t really end the Spiderman 3 movie where it was there; with Peter still in the Symbiote suit, still being bad. They also couldn’t just add another hour onto the movie to make fans happy. The only logical thing to do would be to rush the Venom character, and make the movies purpose to be about Peter’s personal battle within caused by the symbiote suit, and that’s what they did.