When Superheroes Attack

Is it just me or has the superhero film genre exploded during the last 10 years, with more films to come within the next 3 years?

Here's a list:

• Batman Begins (2005) *****
  
• Batman: The Dark Knight (2008) *****
  
• Blade (1998) 
  
• Blade II (2002)
  
• Blade: Trinity (2004)
• Catwoman (2004) *
  
• Daredevil (2003) **
  
• Elektra (2005) **
  
• Fantastic Four (2005) ***
  
• Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) ****
  
• Ghost Rider (2007)
  
• Green Lantern (2010)
  
• Hellboy (2004) ****
  
• Hellboy 2 (2008) ****
  
• The Hulk (2003) *
  
• Iron Man (2008) *****
  
• Iron Man 2 (2010)
  
• Justice League (2011)
  
• Superman Returns (2006) ****
  
• Spider-Man (2002) *****
  
• Spider-Man 2 (2004) *****
  
• Spider-Man 3 (2007) **
  
• Spider-Man 4 (2011)
  
• The Avengers (2011)
  
• The First Avenger: Captain America (2011)
• The Flash (2010)
  
• The Green Hornet (2010)
• The Incredible Hulk (2004) *****
  
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) *
  
• The Man of Steel (2011)
  
• The Punisher (2004) ***
  
• The Punisher: War Zone  (2008)
  
• The Spirit (2008)
  
• The Watchmen (2009)
  
• Thor (2010)
  
• Wonderwoman (2011)
  
• X-Men *****
  
• X2: X-Men United (2003) *****
  
• X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) *****
  
• X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

*skip it

**could be better

***it was "okay" and bearable

****it was good--just good, but there was still some thing missing

*****it was amazing! 

What is it with our obsession with superheroes? Is it their powers, their origins, their costumes that we are attracted to? Maybe it's because their stories is really about the classic battle between Good and Evil. Maybe it's our hope that Good will always win, and as a result, we invent these stories to settle our fears. What ever the case, our comic book heroes are our modern mythologies. You can learn a lot about a society by the mythologies people pass down from generation to generation. Mythologies reveal a society's sense of culture, and more importantly it's sense of morality. 

In ancient days, mythologies like The Odyssey, in which the hero Oedipus must endure several years of torture by the gods teaches the next generation about determination and strength. The story of Theseus  highlights the importance of being cunning. And in modern time, the Spiderman series teaches us that "with great power comes great responsibility. 

All I know is that since September 11, the world has become scared. It needs heroes more than ever. And perhaps our response is by creating fictional ones--more powerful than we can ever be. But these fictional heroes are just that--fiction. 

There are real heroes out there in the world. They may not don masks or wear skin tight outfits. They may not have superheroes or fanciful gadgets. But they're heroes nonetheless because they strive to do what is right. They strive for justice where there is evil.

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For now, I'm liking this superhero explosion, mainly because I'm a comic book geek. With Captain America being my favorite Marvel superhero, I hope they will announce who they've chosen to become the new Captain America in the 2011 film. I mean, I'm already cringing over who they casted for the new Justice League Movie.

 As for the Cap, I vote for this guy.

He looks like him, doesn't he? Hopefully he has great acting abilities as well.  Marvel, please get this guy to play Captain America and we'll forgive you for killing this beloved character in the comics.