The Amazing Spider Man
The superhero movie has always been a big box office draw and with Avengers Assemble demolishing the competition and The Amazing Spider-Man already breaking records it looks like summer 2012 is going to, once again, belong to this genre.
So Marvel really have laid down the challenge to D.C. Comics with the success of Avengers Assemble and The Amazing Spider Man but no comic book movie is more highly anticipated than The Dark Knight Rises.
It has been four yeas since a Batman movie last graced the big screen - The Dark Knight going on to break $1 billion and become one of the biggest movies of all time.
The film marks the end of Christopher Nolan's involvement with the franchise and this will bring it to a close.
As for The Amazing Spider Man well Sony have revealed that it is the first in a trilogy of movies while, I have no doubt, that the Avengers will be back.
So to celebrate the success of this genre at the box over the years we take a look at just how much money these movies have made.
Avengers Assemble (2012)
Avengers Assemble has plenty of hype surrounding it at the beginning of the year but I don't think, and I happily include myself in this, anyone expected the success that this movie has enjoyed.
So far the film have grossed well in excess of $1.4 billion making it the third biggest movie of all time behind Avatar and Titanic.
The movie brought together an impressive cast that included Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo - cleverly bringing back familiar characters and actors and establishing new ones.
This film so easily could have been the Robert Downey Jr show with other actors just popping in but director Joss Whedon made a real collaborative movie and fantastically brought all the characters and storyline together.
Iron Man, Thor and Captain America are all set for further solo projects but a second Avengers movie is almost a certainty.
The Dark Knight (2008)
Yes it was back in 2008 when Christopher Nolan made the greatest comic book movie of all times - one that was action packed, dark and intelligent as well as made with an adult audience in mind.
Despite reservations around the casting of Heath Ledger the actor stole the show as the Joker as he delivered a very different performance to the one that Jack Nicholson did back in 1989.
The movie was a critical and commercial smash as it grossed $1,001 billion worldwide and is the twelfth biggest movie of all time.
The Dark Knight should have been nominated for a Best Picture Oscar but was sadly overlooked - Ledger however was awarded a posthumous Best Supporting Actor gong for his stunning performance.
The Dark Knight Rises is the third and final instalment from Nolan and actor Christian Bale and it promises to be the biggest and the best.
Spider Man Franchise (2002 - 2007)
Sam Raimi kicked off one of the biggest and most successful superhero franchises ten years ago as he brought Spider Man back to the big screen.
Tobey Maguire took on the central role of Peter Parker and together he and Raimi enjoyed huge box office success that saw the franchise gross well in excess of $2 billion.
Spider Man 3 is the most successful of the movies at the box office as it grossed $890 million during it's 2007 release.
Raimi and Maguire were set to return for a fourth movie but the project fell through a couple of years ago.
This week has seen the franchise re-booted with Marc Webb at the helm and Andrew Garfield playing Peter Parker.
Iron Man Franchise (2008 - )
The Iron Man franchise and the character of Tony Stark breathed new life into the career of Oscar nominee Robert Downey Jr back in 2008 as it turned him into a mainstream superhero.
No actor was ever more perfect to play this role than Downey Jr and he really has made it his own in the two Iron Man movies and Avengers film that he has starred in.
Iron Man was released back in 2008 and it broke $100 million in the U.S. in it's opening weekend before going on to take $585 million worldwide.
Two years later Downey Jr and director Jon Favreau were back with a movie that was bigger and bolder than the original - it went on to gross in excess of $622 million.
And Downy Jr is currently filming Iron Man 3 however Favreau is not in the director's chair and Shane Black will helm the project. The movie is set to be released next May.
X-Men Franchise (2000 - )
It was back in 2000 that Bryan Singer brought X-Men to the big screen as he assembled an impressive cast that included Ian McKellan, Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry.
Since 2000 movie that franchise has gone on to be one of the most successful of all time as X-Men, X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand and the two spin off films X-Men Origins: Wolverine and X-Men First Class have grossed in excess of $1.8 billion at the global box office.
A second Wolverine movie is set for a 2013 release and there has been plenty of talk about another First Class film - however nothing has yet been set in stone.
The Amazing Spider Man is out now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Christian Bale Batman Christopher Nolan Robert Downey Jr Scarlett Johansson Heath Ledger Halle Berry Hugh Jackman Iron Man Jack Nicholson Joss Whedon Tobey Maguire Mark Ruffalo Sam Raimi Sir Ian McKellen Patrick Stewart X-Men Spider Man Jeremy Renner Thor Marc Webb Captain America Jon Favreau Chris Hemsworth Andrew Garfield Shane Black Avengers Warcraft