The Summer 2012 Comic Book Movie Showdown

It's amazing to think that a little over a decade ago comic book movies were considered box office poison. But once the dawn of the new millennium arrived, studios began treating superhero properties with the respect they deserve, turning larger-than-life adventures into some of Hollywood's most profitable creations. And this summer should go down in history as the trend's highest point.

With hits like The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, and The Amazing Spider-Man all making serious bank at the box office, the genre has been extremely successful both monetarily and critically. But the debate between which one of those aforementioned films is the best is one that will rage well beyond this summer.

In reality, all three films succeeded in areas that the others didn't quite live up to, so it's a balanced competition. To compare and contrast what each of these films got right, we're presenting the The Summer 2012 Comic Book Movie Showdown.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Written by Jason Serafino (@serafinoj1)

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The Avengers: Where do we even begin here? The Avengers doesn’t just feature one or two superheroes battling against the baddies—it features six separate and unique characters to root for. There's the sarcastic Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.); the noble Thor (Chris Hemsworth) the heroic Captain America (Chris Evans); the misunderstood Hulk (Mark Ruffalo); the ultra-sexy Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson); and the somewhat pointless addition of Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner).

Put them all in one movie you have the recipe for a truly remarkable ensemble cast that seamlessly brought their comic book counterparts to life with style. This was one of the rare marriages of both quantity and quality.

The Amazing Spider-Man: It’s never easy to follow up on one of the most successful superhero portrayals in recent memory, but not only did Andrew Garfield live up to Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker, he improved upon it in many areas. Whereas Maguire's performance evoked the Stan Lee/John Romita-era Parker, Garfield's is firmly entrenched in the Ultimate Spider-Man persona that Brian Michael Bendis brought to the comic world.

He’s still supremely intelligent and socially awkward, but there's an anger smoldering just beneath the surface that we have never seen before from the character. He’s also incredibly sincere and relatable, as nearly everyone has experienced the ups and downs of high school that Garfield conveyed so perfectly.

The Dark Knight Rises: This was easily Christian Bale’s finest hour behind the mask after he was somewhat lost in the shuffle during The Dark Knight. The actor perfectly captured the Howard Hughes vibe of a reclusive Bruce Wayne at the film’s start, but he soon became the Batman we’re all familiar with once he got back into action.

Without a doubt, Bale brought more nuance and subtlety to his performance in this film, even though his raspy Bat-voice was just as bad as last time. And then there's the addition of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman, who took us completely by surprise by making Selina Kyle one of the film’s most intriguing characters. And while her heroic nature doesn’t come out until late into the flick, Hathaway is simply superb once it does.

Advantage: The Avengers

The Avengers: Ever since Marvel started releasing its own movies back in 2008, no villain has been as intimidating and Shakespearian as Tom Hiddleston’s Loki. His regal demeanor thinly veils his psychotic hatred for the human race and insane jealousy of his brother, Thor. His megalomaniacal presence perfectly drives the film's plot forward until the alien invasion begins during the film’s finale.

Unfortunately, those CGI creatures do very little to actually intimidate and seem to exist solely to get pounded on by Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. They lacked the soul and personality of Loki, which is a shame because the movie’s climax could have actually had some gravitas if the God of Mischief was the sole opponent.

The Amazing Spider-Man: After witnessing Willem Dafoe (Green Goblin) and Alfred Molina (Doc Ock) put their villainous stamps on Sam Raimi’s original Spider-Man trilogy, you can imagine how disappointed we were by Rhys Ifans' turn as the Lizard. For some inexplicable reason, the movie completely left Curt Connors’ family out of the story, which is one of the character's central motivations in the books.

Plus, for a Spider-Man reboot looking to be more realistic, perhaps featuring an 8-foot-tall Lizard wasn’t the best move. We’re sorry, but the next time we see a talking reptile with a British accent on the screen, it better be trying to sell us car insurance.

The Dark Knight Rises: It was always going to be a hard task for Tom Hardy to somehow top Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker, yet he managed to come closer than most people would have predicted. With a physique that would make John Cena envious, Hardy’s Bane is a pure beast who snaps necks, holds a city hostage, and literally breaks the Bat. Between the brutal physicality and his odd, yet perfectly fitting, voice, Bane is easily the most dangerous and intimidating foe Batman has faced in this trilogy.

But the big surprise came at the end when Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) revealed herself to actually be Talia al Ghul, the daughter of Ra’s al Ghul. She went from warm-hearted to cold-blooded in the span of one scene, and the transformation was truly startling. While we wish there was more of her throughout the film, she's a perfect addition to the Bat's rouges gallery of foes.

Advantage: The Dark Knight Rises

The Avengers: It doesn’t necessarily stick to the comics like a bible, but Joss Whedon’s version of the Avengers is pretty damn close to the original source material. Nick Fury recruiting all of these heroes for his Avengers Initiative is very similar to how it went down during the first volume of The Ultimates. And in 1963’s Avengers #1, the first foe the team battled against was Loki, much like the film. The personalities of the heroes were also spot-on and Whedon even hinted at the complicated backstory of the Black Widow and Hawkeye.

That being said, the way the Chitauri were portrayed in the movie was completely different than the books. In those comics, the alien invasion was more clandestine at first and the creatures had the ability to shape-shift, much like the Skrulls. Despite some little differences here and there, though, the spirit of the books were kept completely intact.

The Amazing Spider-Man: Much like Sam Raimi's original Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man follows the tone and spirit of the original comics, but it also veers off to better suit the film medium.

Sure, Peter Parker’s early days in this movie no longer include a stint as a wrestler, and there are some foggy details revealed about his parents that don’t jive with the source material; however, there's no doubt that this is the Spidey we all remember from the comics. Even the Peter Parker/Gwen Stacy/George Stacy dynamic is intact. However, as we mentioned earlier, the Lizard’s character suffers greatly from not pulling enough inspiration from the books.

The Dark Knight Rises: Look, we love The Dark Knight Rises, but anyone thinking that it's a word-for-word adaptation of the comics is completely off-base. It might have taken some inspiration from stories like The Dark Knight Returns, Knightfall, and No Man’s Land, but the four new additions to the cast barely resemble their comic counterparts.

Bane is no longer the fully-masked venom addict who could grow to the size of a Hummer; Talia al Ghul never called herself Miranda Tate, and her relationship with her father and Batman was much more complicated than what was shown; John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a.k.a. Robin, has a completely different backstory than either Dick Grayson or Tim Drake; and Catwoman doesn’t even have her whip.

But Nolan succeeds despite changing some characters around to suit his needs. This is one of the rare times that such sweeping changes actually work to a movie's advantage. Just don’t think that these characters—especially Bane—are identical to their comic versions.

Advantage: The Avengers

The Avengers: Though The Avengers falls flat in certain areas, the one thing that can be said about the movie is that it has some of the best action we have ever seen from a comic book movie. The battle scenes are off the charts, as Joss Whedon becomes the first director to actually capture the epic, citywide battles that are almost routine in the comic book world.

In fact, the last 45-minutes of the movie basically center around one climactic fight scene, and, really, it's what the entire story builds towards. Each character has his or her own moment to flex some muscles, so to speak, but it's the Hulk who has the biggest impact on the movie’s fights. Finally, after starring in three so-so movies, the Jade Giant is finally allowed to go completely berserk in a very merry Marvel way.

The Amazing Spider-Man: It’s astonishing that Spider-Man 2 came out eight years before this, yet it still had more pulse-pounding fights than Amazing Spider-Man. The dizzying sense of vertigo that we got while Spider-Man was swinging around New York unfortunately didn’t carry over into the new flick's fights, leaving the action scenes feeling very static and uninspired.

Also, all of the battles between Spidey and the Lizard are extremely short, especially the highly-anticipated Williamsburg Bridge brawl. We suggest the filmmakers depend less on CGI villains and put more of an emphasis on drama and suspense during these fights next time.

The Dark Knight Rises: During his tenure on Batman, director Christopher Nolan never delivered particularly spectacular action scenes. His films regularly feature a very statuesque Caped Crusader who never really goets to show off his supreme physical abilities. But in Dark Knight Rises, Nolan stepped it up with some brutal showdowns between Batman and Bane. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a fight executed with more visceral emotion and violence than the sewer fight from the middle of the movie. Pure comic book nirvana.

Advantage: The Avengers

The Avengers: The problem with a movie like this is that there isn’t much of a supporting cast in the first place. All of the heroes and villains are front and center, basically, which leaves Samuel L. Jackson, Clark Gregg, and Cobie Smulders as the de facto sideline folks. And, honestly, none of them really measure up to the lead heroes, or even the villainous Loki. We'd like for the sequel to give us a few more characters that aren’t either decked-out in costumes or members of SHIELD.

The Amazing Spider-Man: One area where The Amazing Spider-Man really caught us off guard was the terrific supporting cast—Martin Sheen in particular. His portrayal of Uncle Ben is so warm and honest that your heart instantly breaks once you realize the grim fate that is awaiting him. Sally Field and Denis Leary also round out a very fleshed-out cast that adds real gravitas to Peter Parker’s world.

But one aspect of the cast that disappoints is the complete lack of respect for Irrfan Khan. He does very little in the movie when he's around, and then he mysteriously disappears halfway through. The real shame is that he's one of the most talented actors in world cinema, so director Marc Webb missed a huge opportunity here; Khan could have brought such a rich performance to this film. And don't worry, we’ll get to Emma Stone later on in the list.

The Dark Knight Rises: Hands down, this movie has the best supporting cast of any comic book movie we have seen yet. Marion Cotillard, Gary Oldman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and a host of others line up an impressive roster of characters that, as a whole, is supremely well-written and magnificently acted. Caine, in particular, delivers one of the most powerful performances that you will see all year.

Even when Batman, Catwoman, and Bane aren’t on screen, there's more than enough talent to keep things moving. It’s amazing that in a Batman movie, the scenes including Alfred, Lucius, and Gordon are among the most memorable.

Advantage: The Dark Knight Rises

The Avengers: Where The Avengers fails in terms of depth and storytelling, it more than makes up for it with groundbreaking CGI. This is a true comic book world as aliens, gods, and mechanical menaces are all brought to life seamlessly, courtesy of Industrial Light and Magic. The blockbuster's most impressive aspect is the way the company brought the Hulk to life, which had, up until now, proven to be a headache for filmmakers and special effects houses everywhere.

The Amazing Spider-Man: There's little denying that this is the best looking Spider-Man movie yet. Gone are the weightless swinging scenes and Tex Avery physics from the old films; instead, we’re treated to some stylized CGI and practical effects that finally tie Spidey’s world down in reality.

Sony Imageworks even managed to make the CGI model for the Lizard look believable as each slimy scale and pointy tooth was crafted masterfully. Unfortunately, the character itself is a little bland, but that criticism has to be laid at the feet of director Marc Webb and his screenwriters.

The Dark Knight Rises: One of the great things about Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy is that there has never been a need for superfluous special effects; however, whenever they were necessary, they have always been spot-on.

The football field collapse during the film’s second act is simultaneously photo-realistic and terrifying, with every little detail being crafted to perfection by the film's special effects artists. Also, the addition of The Bat brings a bit of sci-fi/fantasy to the movie as the Caped Crusader cruises the sky in his ominous floating warship.

Advantage: The Avengers

The Avengers: Though Joss Whedon absolutely nailed a few things in The Avengers, he fell short on others. Most memorably, he was able to effortlessly combine great dialogue between the heroes and large scale action scenes that would make Michael Bay envious into one energetic package. However, because the movie relies so much on CGI battle scenes, there isn’t much room for him to shoot the film in a way that was different than any typical summer blockbuster. It seems like the majority of the third act is just a series of money shots and close-ups of Scarlett Johansson’s assets (not that we're complaining about the latter, of course, but still).

Also, Whedon brings absolutely no emotion whatsoever to the city of New York getting destroyed during the final act. Seeing the Avengers spouting one-liners as Manhattan crumbles around them completely trivializes everything about the climax.

The Amazing Spider-Man: Marc Webb is definitely the most intriguing director on this list because he’s the one that seems the most out of place. His only other feature film credit, (500) Days of Summer, was a well-received rom-com, but we’re not sure how that landed him the Amazing Spider-Man job. Even though he's able to bring the same type of sympathetic young love to the scenes between Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker as he did with Summer, it seems like he's very uncomfortable during all of the big-budget scenes, especially when they involve the Lizard.

But when Spidey is out of costume, Webb is simply brilliant. Watching the family drama in the Parker house unfold is worth the price of admission alone. It’s just a shame that he couldn’t combine those aspects with suspenseful action scenes and a coherent plot.

The Dark Knight Rises: By perfectly balancing action, spectacle, story, and character, Christopher Nolan has given us one of the greatest superhero epics ever on film. With every new Batman movie, he seemed to get even stronger, and now that his Dark Knight saga is over, the man is a full-on titan of blockbuster cinema. His inventive eye for photography—ided by cinematographer Wally Pfister—brings a sprawling scope to the various locales in the movie and gives it a sense of grandeur normally only seen in classic Hollywood epics.

His ability to quickly transition from scene to scene without ever jarring audiences is second only to Martin Scorsese. That editing method is what keeps The Dark Knight Rises feeling unpredictable and dangerous at every turn. By shrugging off conventional blockbuster techniques, Nolan brings us back to the days of Hollywood classics like Lawrence of Arabia and Ben-Hur.

Advantage: Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Rises)

The Avengers: Having established Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, and the Hulk in their own separate films, the folks at Marvel were fortunately able to jump right into the action. Unfortunately, when things aren’t blowing up, the main story in The Avengers isn’t anything different from what we have already seen a million times.

It has all of the classic comic book beats, but, most of the time, story and character development take a backseat to one-liners and bloated battle scenes. We would have liked to see a bit more depth and unpredictability, but we're sure that's coming in the sequel. Or at least we hope.

The Amazing Spider-Man: Didn’t we just see this movie only 10 years ago? Not only did we have to watch Peter Parker get bitten by the spider again, but we also had to experience Uncle Ben’s death again, and the tedious discovery of Spider-Man’s new powers as well. But the plot's most disappointing aspect is that the movie was advertised as being “The Untold Story” of Peter’s parents; however, his mother and father are barely mentioned after the first 45 minutes of the film.

This completely betrays the story's emotional core and just turns the whole thing into a string of back-to-back-to-back action scenes. It's a schizophrenic movie that can’t decide whether it wants to explore the history of the Parkers, act as a romance, or get the adrenaline pumping as a full-blown action flick. Because of that, The Amazing Spider-Man doesn’t fully succeed in any capacity.

The Dark Knight Rises: Building upon the stories of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Risesweaves the lingering threads together into one wholly satisfying conclusion. Everything from The League of Shadows to Harvey Dent’s death is given closure in this installment. Nolan has created the only great last part of a comic book trilogy in history.

There are also plenty of twists and swerves along the way that make it impossible for audiences to ever get too comfortable. Which isn't to say that the story is perfect, though.

There are times during the film's second act where events feel rushed, and Bruce Wayne all but disappears for alarge chunk of time. Not to mention, after a while, it becomes harder and harder to buy into Bane's plan; you really have to suspend your disbelief too much at points. But in the end, these are little nitpicks in an otherwise glorious package of big-screen entertainment.

Advantage: The Dark Knight Rises

The Avengers: Thanks to Scarlett Johansson and Cobie Smulders, The Avengers has a solid roster of beautiful women. Johansson oozes sex appeal as the Black Widow in her skintight black outfit and crimson hair. She's a femme fatale in every sense of the word, and she managed to pull off the role of Natasha Romanoff with style. Smulders, on the other hand, serves very little purpose in the movie, and she's only given a short, obligatory scene to show off her skills. Hopefully her role will expand next time.

The Amazing Spider-Man: In a movie with giant lizards, superheroes, and flashy action scenes, it’s Emma Stone’s performance as Gwen Stacy that is, arguably, most memorable . She’s grounded and believable as a high school kid, yet she is also driven and confident in a way that makes her more than just a damsel in distress.

In this one Spider-Man movie she accomplishes more than Kirsten Dunst did in three. Stone even goes a long way towards making us forget Bryce Dallas Howard’s ill-fated turn as Stacy from Spider-Man 3. Her radiant performance makes us wonder if the sequels will follow her tragic arc from the comics. If they do, this series will potentially become heartbreaking very quickly.

The Dark Knight Rises: Between Catwoman and Tali al Ghul, The Dark Knight Rises gives females something more to do than just simply look sexy. Anne Hathaway’s version of Selina Kyle is a sultry mixture of sex appeal and danger, and she even manages to trump Michelle Pfeiffer’s performance in Batman Returns.

As Miranda/Talia, Marion Cotillard is a completely different animal. At first, she’s incredibly subdued and grounded, but once her intentions are revealed, she quickly becomes an ice queen. But the fact that Cotillard is one of the most naturally beautiful women working in film today makes it easy for her to have men falling into her character's trap.

Advantage: The Dark Knight Rises

The Avengers: After The Avengers made over $1 billion worldwide, a sequel was all but inevitable. Once Thanos appeared in the mid-credits sequence, fans started to speculate wildly about the follow-up's plot. Now it’s not confirmed that Thanos will be the big-bad in the next installment, but Marvel will certainly have to aim high in order to top the grand scope of the first film’s finale.

Instead of another CGI alien threat, though, we would much rather prefer The Masters of Evil to make their debut, perhaps with Red Skull or Baron Zemo as their leader. And maybe Marvel can replace Hawkeye on the roster with someone like the Black Panther or the Vision. The possibilities are endless.

The Amazing Spider-Man: While we don't necessarily care for Peter Parker's rehashed origin story, The Amazing Spider-Man has unbelievable sequel potential. Not only do we want to see the evolution of Peter Parker’s relationship with Gwen Stacy, but the threat of Norman Osborn is looming just over his head like a green cloud of madness.

Plus, will we see Mary Jane come in and complicate things? Will the Black Cat finally make her movie debut? Is another version of Venom on the way? We’re not sure, but with storylines like “The Night Gwen Stacy Died” potentially on the horizon, we can only see good things in this franchise’s future no matter who the studio gets to direct.

The Dark Knight Rises: Despite absolutely loving what Christopher Nolan did with the Batman franchise, we would be more than happy to never see this version of the character again. Rises ended things on such a positive note that any further sequels or spin-offs would probably do nothing more than tarnish the series.

Instead, maybe seven or eight years down the road the studio can reboot the franchise totally and base it on one of the dozens of other versions of Batman from the comics. We would love a stylized big screen version of The Animated Series or the James Bond-esque Caped Crusader from the Denny O'Neil/Neal Adams comics.

Advantage: The Amazing Spider-Man