In the year 2,000 Fox Entertainment produced and released Bryan Singer's "X-Men" and the flame of comic book movies was suddenly reignited! About 11 years earlier however Warner Bros and DC Comics released Tim Burton's "Batman" which to this day is considered a cult classic in all film. However the success of the Batman franchise was not to last as subsequent sequels chose the route of silly and campy rather than dark and serious, the films ultimately failed at the box office and it seemed neither "Batman" nor any other comic book property for that matter would ever see the silver screen again.

After the success of "X-Men" the rest of Hollywood was seeing dollar signs associated with the comic book genre and soon studios were clamoring to push out their own respective properties. The big three producers being Sony Entertainment which released "Spider-Man" one, two, and three between the years of 2002 and 2007. Fox which continued to focus on its "X-Men" roperties with the release of "X2" which was received overwhelmingly positive and "X-Men Last Stand" which has received mixed reviews. Fox also attempted to cash in on its only other Marvel Comics Property the "Fantastic Four" which was received adequately enough to warrant a sequel but not much beyond that. Warner Bros however owned the entirety of DC comics properties but was hesitant to jump into the fray based upon the monumental failures of the Batman sequels and they chose to instead focus on their animated superheroes. In fact during the early 2,000’s the only film they released was "Catwoman" starring Halle Berry. The film failed miserably at the Box office and has received continues scathing reviews for its complete disregard for the source material and cash grab execution. Fast forward back to Bryan Singer’s "X-Men" a film in which it is rumored that Fox had so little faith in that they did not even hold press screenings for it. However upon it’s under hyped release the low budget "X-Men" film wowed audiences much in the same fashion that Batman had done 11 years earlier. The film much like Tim Burton’s chose to adapt the famous comic book for the silver screen and give it a hefty dose of darkness. So much so that the film actually opens with a scene during the Jewish Holocaust! The film continues to hold a strong eighty one percent on Rotton Tomatoes and successfully established a franchise that to this day is successfully releasing new films. The latest sequel being "X-Men: Apocalypse" which has maintained the same dark tone of the original.

There are many more comic book films that were released between 2,000 and 2005 which under performed and never received sequels but we won’t list them all. So, what do all these films have in common? For the most part they were all treated as simple popcorn flicks for the studios to make fast cash off of. Most of these films are extremely forgettable and have aged poorly due to the overuse of CGI in all of them. In fact, one could argue the majority of these films were just experiments for the studios to test the feasibility of the emerging computer technology. That being said there were a few standouts in the bunch. Brian Singer’s "X-Men" and its sequel "X2" are still considered to be the best comic book films to come out of that era.

Let’s get back to 2016 the year of comic book films! Since January we have seen the release of "Deadpool," "Batman v. Superman" and "Captain America: Civil War" all in the span of a single season! What happened? If comic book films really were so unsuccessful in their early incarnations then why on earth are studios still investing millions of dollars into them? Well the answer is simple. They’ve cracked the formula. In 2005 DC comics and Warner Bros finally felt confident enough to attempt live action comic book films again, and what better character to flagship their comic book films than Batman? Famed director Christopher Nolan along with David S. Goyer presented Warner Bros with a dark and serious take on the caped crusader that found the film looking more like a crime drama than a super hero movie. The film in question was Batman Begins an adequate start to the reinvention of the comic book genre. Then, in 2008 DC released the critically praised and Oscar award winning sequel "The Dark Knight" in which Heath Ledger’s Joker took center stage against Christian Bale’s Batman. The film still had the heavy overtone of edgy realism, and played like a classic gangster film. Meanwhile over at the Marvel and Disney camp a new concept was in development which would bank all of its success on the reception of their next film. John Favroes "Iron Man" directly competed with The Dark Knight and although it did not outshine Christopher Nolan’s realistic comic book film it did succeed in planting the seeds of an untested concept that would pay off for Marvel films to come. The concept of the shared comic book universe. Soon like clockwork the partnership of Disney and Marvel were releasing comic book film after comic book film and interestingly as opposed to the films of the early 2,000’s which had little accuracy to the source material, these new Marvel superheroes were almost direct translations of their comic counterparts. This pleased comic book fans and was well received by casual viewers. Marvel successfully layed the ground work with the Iron Man sequel in which they presented the notion of the Avengers which is the comic book team up of Captain America, Thor, Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk. By this time each of these characters had had an interconnected solo film which would allow Marvel to eventually combine them into a large ensemble piece.

DC all the while was finishing up its Dark Knight Trilogy with the release of "The Dark Knight Rises" which under performed when compared to its award winning predecessor. DC in the same time frame attempted to release "Green Lantern" which failed miserably and fell prey to the same issues of early 2000s comic book movies. Too much CGI not enough storytelling. While Marvel was releasing the Avengers and crushing box office records, DC’s future in film looked bleak. Then came the release of "Man of Steel" a big budget action film aimed at revitalizing DC’s oldest superhero; Superman who had only had one film since its success in the 70’s with Christopher Reeve. The film was received with mixed reviews with some on the side of it being too dark and grim and others just happy to finally have an action packed Superman movie with a serious tone and dialogue. The verdict is still out. The success of that film however was enough to inspire DC and Warner Bros who used it to springboard its own interconnected universe for its comic book properties. Now we’ve come to a crossroads in which we are receiving several comic book movies a year from each studio and the interesting thing about each one is…they don’t seem like comic book movies. In fact Batman v Superman the sequel to Man of Steel, showcased two of the most famous superheroes in media squaring off and played very similar to a suspense thriller as it dealt with the concepts of God’s and men and the morality of being a superhero. Captain America Civil War dealt a similar concept as it played out more like a Jason Bourne film which dealt with conspiracy and the issue of government oversight and freedom.

We have come to an age in which comic book films have transcended their own genres. Captain America and Iron man are now household names. DC has successfully launched its dark, and gritty line of films leading up to the Justice League, and Marvel is showing no signs of slowing down as we draw closer the Infinity War two part film event! Whether you are a comic book fan who is beyond gitty to see your childhood heroes being given the respect they deserve or you are a casual movie fan who just likes to sit back and enjoy an action packed roller coaster that doesn’t make you feel like you left the theater dumber then you went in, then it is a great time to be alive.