From the beauty to the geek, a superhero captures the imagination of all demographics. The alter-egoes, the super cool powers, the desire to uphold justice, are some of the many traits that everyone fantasises about, dreams to achieve. Aunt May's message in Spiderman 2 'I believe there's a hero in all of us, that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble, and finally allows us to die with pride', sinks in each one of us. Asking you to search for the hero within you. And that is why a superhero movie is never simply a movie. It is another world altogether, another dimension that you want to reach out to. The characters are legends, timeless heroes, living across generations, relentless in their pursuits. And no wonder then that a superhero movie, or call it movies based on comic characters, live ages, appeal to the masses, and also earn the "big bucks".
The turn of the century gradually saw the reemergence of the comic book heroes. It began with X-Men releasing in July 2000 to a fine reception from the audience and the critics. The movie earned $335 million in worldwide ticket sales, propelled Hugh Jackman into
stardom as the 'less-talk more-action' hero Wolverine, and ushered in three more films of the franchise, each of which performed better than the original on the box-office. But it was in 2002 that a comic book hero really took centre-stage. None other than the web-slinging, 'friendly neighbourhood' Spiderman. The character that Stan Lee created in 1962, had a smashing movie debut 40 years later as it took the world by storm, leaving everyone gushing for more. The two sequels that came later were hardly disappointing and the franchise collected a whooping $2.5 billion in worldwide revenues. As of now, the three Spiderman movies are ranked in the top 20 list in terms of their US box-office revenue collections.
The turn of the century gradually saw the reemergence of the comic book heroes. It began with X-Men releasing in July 2000 to a fine reception from the audience and the critics. The movie earned $335 million in worldwide ticket sales, propelled Hugh Jackman into
stardom as the 'less-talk more-action' hero Wolverine, and ushered in three more films of the franchise, each of which performed better than the original on the box-office. But it was in 2002 that a comic book hero really took centre-stage. None other than the web-slinging, 'friendly neighbourhood' Spiderman. The character that Stan Lee created in 1962, had a smashing movie debut 40 years later as it took the world by storm, leaving everyone gushing for more. The two sequels that came later were hardly disappointing and the franchise collected a whooping $2.5 billion in worldwide revenues. As of now, the three Spiderman movies are ranked in the top 20 list in terms of their US box-office revenue collections. In comparison to Spiderman's mind boggling numbers, release of Hulk in 2003 with Eric Bana as the lead, paled. The movie collected only $245 million in worldwide revenues, causing the production house to reboot the series in 2008 with release of The Incredible Hulk starring Edward Norton as the angry green guy. The movie could however perform only marginally better than the original.
It was not before 2005 that one of the greatest ever comic characters saw his reel rebirth. A series that many had lost hope for. A character few believed would ever emerge back from the darkness. Batman! The previous century had seen four Batman films hit the screens, and while 1989's 
Batman starring Michael Keaton had been a huge success, little said about the other three that followed, the better. After the disastrous Batman & Robin of 1997, it took Christopher Nolan's genius to revive a lost cause and give the world a treat to savour. Batman Begins was released in 2005 and as the name suggested, it revisited the beginnings of the superhero. The movie earned a respectable $372 million, enough to push for a sequel, and established Christian Bale as a star. What followed next is what you will define as the best possible mix of creative story-telling and superlative performances, so engrossing that one loses touch with everything else around him. That was the wonder called The Dark Knight! As Batman took on his greatest nemesis Joker in this sequel, a performance that landed Heath Ledger a posthumous Oscar, the producers laughed all the way to the bank as audiences piled on and on. The Dark Knight earned nothing short of $533 million at the US box-office (#3) and $1.2 billion worldwide (#7) making it the biggest superhero blockbuster of all time.
Batman starring Michael Keaton had been a huge success, little said about the other three that followed, the better. After the disastrous Batman & Robin of 1997, it took Christopher Nolan's genius to revive a lost cause and give the world a treat to savour. Batman Begins was released in 2005 and as the name suggested, it revisited the beginnings of the superhero. The movie earned a respectable $372 million, enough to push for a sequel, and established Christian Bale as a star. What followed next is what you will define as the best possible mix of creative story-telling and superlative performances, so engrossing that one loses touch with everything else around him. That was the wonder called The Dark Knight! As Batman took on his greatest nemesis Joker in this sequel, a performance that landed Heath Ledger a posthumous Oscar, the producers laughed all the way to the bank as audiences piled on and on. The Dark Knight earned nothing short of $533 million at the US box-office (#3) and $1.2 billion worldwide (#7) making it the biggest superhero blockbuster of all time.
While Batman had a smashing return to the big screen, the same was not the case for an equally popular superhero, Superman. Chrisptopher Reeve had made the Superman 
franchise a popular series during the period 1978 - 1987. There were attempts in the past to revive the series but it was not until 2006 that the next Superman movie hit the screens starring Brandon Routh as the famous Kryptonian. While the movie earned $391 million worldwide, higher than the earnings of Batman Begins, the studio termed it as disappointing due to the much higher production budget on which the movie was made and so no sequel was immediately followed. As of now, the Dark Knight has outdone the Man of Steel!
In 2008, it was a not-so-famous superhero that would resurrect an actor's career back in the A-list and revolutionise a comic book franchise. Not many were in awe of The Iron Man prior to Robery Downey Jr.'s depiction of the superhero in the movie with the same name. But the quick-talking and science-loving character created quite a first impression on the big screen earning $582 million worldwide and about $620 million in its sequel released earlier this year, making it one of the most successful superhero franchises of all time. The success of the movie has also paved the path to bring together any fan's dream team 'The Avengers' - Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America and Thor.
While the past decade has been exciting , the next two years should be grander when these superheroes will walk amongst us once again. The X-Men series has disintegrated with focus towards spin-offs and prequels. X-Men: First Class is slated to be released in 2011 that would focus on the earlier years of Magneto and Xavier. The sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine is also underway and shooting for the movie is expected in 2011. The hugely successful Spiderman series will also see a reboot with Tobey Maguire not reprising his role as the famous web-crawler. The fourth movie is scheduled to be released in July 2012 with a new director and new cast. If anyone was worried whether the Batman series will suffer the same fate, then have no fears. Christopher Nolan is back at the realm of things for his final instalment of the franchise while Bale would be back in the guise of the Dark Knight. The movie is also slated for a July 2012 release. Christopher Nolan will also be involved in reworking on the Superman series though not in the capacity of a director. The next Superman movie may come out in late 2012.
While some great superheroes will return in 2012, the year 2011 is going to have its mouth savoring moments too. June 2011 will bringforth the Green Lantern starring Ryan Reynolds as the superhero carrying the power ring and reciting the famous oath
'In brightest day, in blackest night, No evil shall escape my sight, Let those who worship evil's night, Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!' Before that we will be introduced to one of the Avengers, the hammer-yielding God banished to Earth, Thor, releasing in the month of May (remember the appearance of Thor's hammer in the post-credits scene of Iron Man 2). The First Avenger, Captain America, will make his appearance in the month of July completing the Avengers list. The grand meeting of these superheroes in Avengers is slated for a May 2012 release. So mortals, be ready to fall in awe... The Superheroes are coming...
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