Is 2018 the greatest year for superhero movies?

[Krutch]

Black Panther opens to massive critical and audience praise, shatters all kinds of box office records and is considered a huge landmark not only in superhero movies, but in progressive film making.

While it's still in theatres, Avengers: Infinity War is released and is one of the largest pop culture events in movie history. This is part one of a payoff thats been building for ten years, and it somehow didn't disappoint the mass audience. All while also breaking all kinds of box office records.

Months later, we get Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - a ****ing masterpiece that no one saw coming. Seriously, if Sony ever wants to compete with Marvel, this is the way to do it. It's a complete game-changer and a doorway to endless new possibilities. I can't get over how much I adore this movie.

And though it hasn't been officially released down here yet, Aquaman continues to crush records across seas and I've heard it compared to The Dark Knight and Wonder Woman - ****ing Aquaman. This exact scenario was considered so far fetched that it was a running joke in Entourage. And now it looks like it has a good chance of doing what it did in the show - beat Spider-Man at the box office. The scope of the movie looks absolutely unreal - and while i'm expecting the plot to be pretty by the numbers, it looks like a visual experience unlike any other.

And I haven't even mentioned Incredibles 2, Deadpool 2, Venom, Teen Titans GO, Ant-Man & The Wasp... none of which are regarded as bad movies (even if Venom is considered a "guilty pleasure" by most). Some of the ones I just mentioned are even considered great movies.

So... is this as good as it gets? I can't think of another year where so many varied types of superhero movies are all successful and dare I say revolutionary for the genre.

[Andrew NDB]

Aquaman is surprisingly -- nah, shockingly -- really good, too.

Maybe it is.

[Krutch]

Still haven’t seen Aquaman but as a long time fan and reader, I always thought he was ripe for some underwater Indiana Jones meets Game of Thrones type adventure flick.

Which is by all accounts what it shaped up to be. Glad to hear you enjoyed it.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Krutch

Still haven’t seen Aquaman but as a long time fan and reader, I always thought he was ripe for some underwater Indiana Jones meets Game of Thrones type adventure flick.

Which is by all accounts what it shaped up to be. Glad to hear you enjoyed it.

It succeeds on every level, it hits every ball it throws up. Even every joke landed (which isn't to say it's even overly jokey, which was one of the many things I was worried about). Way better than Venom. It deserves to do as well or better than WW.

On a script level the only thing you'll be scratching your head about is: "OK, now how the hell did they get out of that desert? They didn't even bring any water." But there was probably a deleted scene.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Has a CBM bombed this year? I can't think of one.

DC has Aquaman, like you said...

Marvel never bombs, of course. They're the golden child...

Sony somehow didn't fail this year...

Fox had Deadpool 2 and pushed out all their losers to 2019.

Wow. Pretty stellar. Next year should be pretty fantastic, too.

[Allio]

Apparently Kamen Rider Build’s summer movie has done the best since these past 5 years

[AquaParade]

I'd say you could easily argue that 2018 has been the the best year for comicbook movies. Not only has it been the most plentiful year ever, but there are still boundaries being broken within the genre.

Somehow, Marvel essentially re-created the response they got in the first Avengers/"Marvel Culmination" film, by upping the ante - even more of your favorite characters meeting, this time on a cosmic scale. Yet the trick worked even better than before. So, perfect or not (I happen to absolutely love it), "Infinity War" gets credit for bringing the "comicbook-event" to life, in spectacular fashion, even if the first Avengers' film will still be remembered for essentially birthing the cinematic universe concept.
That's not to mention the box-office records and pop-culture status it achieved. Just look at the memes.

To me, that's the cream of the crop, but it's great fun to list off all the other quality CBM's this year:

"Black Panther" - a boundary-breaking film with stellar set designs & costumes

"Deadpool 2" - I'm still loving Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool for his charm, even if half his jokes fall flat for me. Really appreciated the improved action-scenes and the fun soundtrack here.

"Into The Spider-Verse" - may be my second favorite CBM of the year. A huge surprise in quality, to most of us, which stands out a very fresh experience, due to it's unchained use of animation.

"Aquaman" (by most accounts) - I've yet to see this, but I'm looking forward to it. Seems like some people are ready to vouch for it though.

While "Ant-Man & the Wasp" was a personal disappointment to me, it would still be considered a success by most accounts.

Even Venom, probably the most divisive CBM of the year, killed at the box office, indicating the mass appeal of these films right now, if nothing else.

That's just to name the heavy-hitters, but I'm leaving some of the lesser-known ones out.

Is it my personal favorite year so far? Quite possibly.

I'll have to let it sink in before I truly know. Some of my very favorite's, like "Dark Knight", "Logan", and "Spider-Man 2" didn't come out this year. I still hold those films in extremely high-regard and would place them against any on this list.
And part of me, in a strange way, misses how special and eventful a comicbook film was back in 2000. It's a rose-colored glasses/Grass-is-greener type situation, but I can't deny the special feeling a comicbook film had upon release back in the early millennium.

What a great year though, huh? Growing up, I dreamt of a Spider-Man film, but I never imagined the CBM-train would pick up so much steam and so fast. People like me are feeling completely spoiled these days and loving it.

Looking forward to next year.

[Redeemer]

Originally Posted by CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy

Marvel never bombs, of course. They're the golden child...

Joke right?????

they have had a couple duds or just simply hated movies.
The incredible hulk 2008 movie was a financial failure.

failed domestically but were saved by world wide grossing.
Ironman 2
Thor
Captain America
Ant-man


Iron-man 3 is universally hated for that Mandrin stunt they pulled.
Civil War is a terrible betrayal of the comic book. It's honestly a bad movie.


Marvel has done defiantly had the most success, but are far from perfect.

I think Marvel had nailed all of their movies this year and were simply amazing. I hope they can keep this up.

Sorry I just hate when people claim marvel as perfect, I have to point out the few flops they have had.

[AquaParade]

Originally Posted by Redeemer

Joke right?????

they have had a couple duds or just simply hated movies.
The incredible hulk 2008 movie was a financial failure.

failed domestically but were saved by world wide grossing.
Ironman 2
Thor
Captain America
Ant-man


Iron-man 3 is universally hated for that Mandrin stunt they pulled.
Civil War is a terrible betrayal of the comic book. It's honestly a bad movie.


Marvel has done defiantly had the most success, but are far from perfect.

I think Marvel had nailed all of their movies this year and were simply amazing. I hope they can keep this up.

Sorry I just hate when people claim marvel as perfect, I have to point out the few flops they have had.

I don't want to speak for him, but I don't think he is claiming every Marvel film is cinematic gold. Just that Marvel movies don't tend to flop at the box-office, or even critically, really.

Say what you want about Iron Man 3 and Civil War, they didn't "bomb", in that sense of the word.

Also, I wouldn't pick on films for having to be "saved" overseas with worldwide box office. The films are intended to make money all over the world. If the film makes its money back, it's essentially a success. Just to different degrees, depending on how much it makes back.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by Redeemer

Joke right?????

they have had a couple duds or just simply hated movies.
The incredible hulk 2008 movie was a financial failure.

failed domestically but were saved by world wide grossing.
Ironman 2
Thor
Captain America
Ant-man

Iron-man 3 is universally hated for that Mandrin stunt they pulled.
Civil War is a terrible betrayal of the comic book. It's honestly a bad movie.

Marvel has done defiantly had the most success, but are far from perfect.

I think Marvel had nailed all of their movies this year and were simply amazing. I hope they can keep this up.

Sorry I just hate when people claim marvel as perfect, I have to point out the few flops they have had.

Not a joke; the truth of public perception. Whether or not they've had some duds, to the general public, they are batting 1,000.

Me personally, though? I despise Iron Man 3, but critics love it. Thor 2's saving grace is that it isn't Iron Man 3. Doctor Strange is pretty boring... it's just Iron Man 1, with magic. I won't agree with you on Civil War, though.

[Allio]

In Civil War’s defense. The comic sucked

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by Allio

In Civil War’s defense. The comic sucked

The only problem with the Civil War movie is that they used the title, and then didn't tell the story. They told a different story.

And Marvel's done that about... <quick count>...

Ragnarok
Civil War
Age of Ultron
Infinity War

Five major times. Six if you count The Winter Soldier, I guess.

[Redeemer]

Originally Posted by AquaParade

I don't want to speak for him, but I don't think he is claiming every Marvel film is cinematic gold. Just that Marvel movies don't tend to flop at the box-office, or even critically, really.

Say what you want about Iron Man 3 and Civil War, they didn't "bomb", in that sense of the word.

Also, I wouldn't pick on films for having to be "saved" overseas with worldwide box office. The films are intended to make money all over the world. If the film makes its money back, it's essentially a success. Just to different degrees, depending on how much it makes back.

When I say "saved" they were able to break even or make enough profit to warrant a sequel. And I don't think the movies were designed to make 65%-70% of their Revenue overseas its usually 50/50, pretty much in the Justice League category.

Also I didn't say Civil War or Ironman 3 bombed they were divisive movies that received some form of backlash from the fans. Iron-Man 3 people were pissed at the way Manderin was portrayed. Civil War received backlash because of how bad the villain was and bc Civil War was nothing like the comics. These movies were massively successful but so was Batman v Superman. Basically yes the movies were successful, but are not universally liked by the comic book community.

Originally Posted by CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy

Not a joke; the truth of public perception. Whether or not they've had some duds, to the general public, they are batting 1,000.

Me personally, though? I despise Iron Man 3, but critics love it. Thor 2's saving grace is that it isn't Iron Man 3. Doctor Strange is pretty boring... it's just Iron Man 1, with magic. I won't agree with you on Civil War, though.

Well we can't be friends anymore.... wait were we ever friends joking. I understand that everyone has their own opinion. With Civil War I was massively disappointed in the fact that the avengers were brought down by a random guy and the movie is nothing like the comic, it literally just took the name to raise hype.

[sdp]

The Incredibles 2 released this year.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by AquaParade

I don't want to speak for him, but I don't think he is claiming every Marvel film is cinematic gold. Just that Marvel movies don't tend to flop at the box-office, or even critically, really.

Sorry, I missed this post the first time. Yeah, that was my intent. Thanks, AP.

Originally Posted by Redeemer

Well we can't be friends anymore.... wait were we ever friends joking. I understand that everyone has their own opinion. With Civil War I was massively disappointed in the fact that the avengers were brought down by a random guy and the movie is nothing like the comic, it literally just took the name to raise hype.

We COULD be friends... you like Ninja Turtles, I like Ninja Turtles...

I get both those criticisms. I personally love that some nobody broke the Avengers with psychology and truth, but I'm pretty sure that dude was "Baron Zemo" in name only. Shoulda picked a different name for that character.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by sdp

The Incredibles 2 released this year.

Weird that we had to 14 years for... that.

[AquaParade]

Originally Posted by Redeemer

When I say "saved" they were able to break even or make enough profit to warrant a sequel. And I don't think the movies were designed to make 65%-70% of their Revenue overseas its usually 50/50, pretty much in the Justice League category.

Also I didn't say Civil War or Ironman 3 bombed they were divisive movies that received some form of backlash from the fans. Iron-Man 3 people were pissed at the way Manderin was portrayed. Civil War received backlash because of how bad the villain was and bc Civil War was nothing like the comics. These movies were massively successful but so was Batman v Superman. Basically yes the movies were successful, but are not universally liked by the comic book community.



Well we can't be friends anymore.... wait were we ever friends joking. I understand that everyone has their own opinion. With Civil War I was massively disappointed in the fact that the avengers were brought down by a random guy and the movie is nothing like the comic, it literally just took the name to raise hype.

I hear what you're saying about Iron Man 3, in that it received some hardcore fan backlash, due to it's treatment of the Mandarin. While you didn't exactly say it bombed, you replied to a post about Marvel films never bombing, and questioned it's logic while using this film as an example, so...
I still wouldn't measure it as a "failure" in any sense of the word though. Many hardcore Iron Man fan's, such as myself, did enjoy it. I'm not worried about the Mandarin whatsoever.

Civil War didn't receive any measurable amount of backlash, compared to the praise it received. While neither of us can articulate the true general consensus, it's my perception that most people who read the comic consider the film an improvement over it. I certainly do.

I mean you can't really compare the two fairly, but I'd say Civil War has that breathtaking Steve McNiven art, a fantastic concept, and terrible execution, when it comes to the script.
The Civil War film tells a much more emotional story, with mostly believable character moments, unlike the book where it's generally believed that Tony Stark went completely batshit crazy..

I'm getting into the nitty-gritty, but my point is, you really need a great argument to call out the Civil War film. Most people love it.

In regards to studio's making money overseas, I don't believe that they're all too concerned with where the money comes from. Would you be? They want to make their money back one way or another. In fact, many Hollywood films have begun to even pander to foreign audiences, by setting film locale's in places like Japan, in order to draw in more of the foreign market.

At the end of the day, I'm defending the original post claiming that Marvel are the "golden child" of the industry right now. Meaning that they receive mostly critical praise and do great in the box-office. I hear your criticisms about the films though and can respect them.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by AquaParade

I hear what you're saying about Iron Man 3, in that it received some hardcore fan backlash, due to it's treatment of the Mandarin.

It goes way beyond that. Yeah there's often trailers that are a little deceptive or misleading... but Iron Man 3's trailers are outright fraudulent. And it didn't even learn from any of the mistakes in Iron Man 2 (giant automaton army fight at the climax? check!).

Civil War didn't receive any measurable amount of backlash, compared to the praise it received. While neither of us can articulate the true general consensus, it's my perception that most people who read the comic consider the film an improvement over it. I certainly do.

Yeah, I don't remember hearing a significant number of people sh*tting on Civil War. Captain America not being shot in the head because that's what happened in the comics doesn't make it a bad movie or take anything away from it.

[AquaParade]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

It goes way beyond that. Yeah there's often trailers that are a little deceptive or misleading... but Iron Man 3's trailers are outright fraudulent. And it didn't even learn from any of the mistakes in Iron Man 2 (giant automaton army fight at the climax? check!).



Yeah, I don't remember hearing a significant number of people sh*tting on Civil War. Captain America not being shot in the head because that's what happened in the comics doesn't make it a bad movie or take anything away from it.

Yeah, Iron Man 3's finale was such a damn bore. I really feel the film fell off in the last third. But the rest of it, including Tony dealing with anxiety, was an interesting angle. The action scene involving the airplane is high quality. That and Robert Downey Jr being pretty on-point when it comes to the charm and comedy are what I enjoy about the film.
And it was a massive success. It seems most people did enjoy the film.

I just wouldn't use Iron Man 3 as an example of why Marvel isn't a "golden child, but maybe Redeemer and I were arguing two different points in the first place.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Plastron isn't here anymore to defend Iron Man 3, so I can hate on it all I want.

Making everything a joke in that movie really rubbed me the wrong way. And kid sidekicks. And giant weird DD-sized bunny inflatables. And fire-breathing humans.

Damn, I hate that movie.