Iron Man and the Future of Comic Book Films

My son and I saw Iron Man the other day. It is the first of three high-profile comic book movies coming out this summer (the others being The Incredible Hulk and The Dark Knight). If Iron Man is an indication of things to come, then this will be a good summer indeed. The movie does an excellent job of capturing the essence of both Tony Stark (the man behind the iron) and Iron Man. What is intriguing about this film is that it is the first one produced by Marvel Comics, which recently decided to get more directly involved in the movie-making business. What is significant about this is that Iron Man represents a comic book movie made by the people who know comics the best. The problem with many comic book movies in years past is that they were often made by people who saw comic books as campy adolescent fantasy. These producers sought to force the comic book property into previously defined molds and often it was a poor fit. This resulted in atrocities like Batman and Robin and Elektra. 

By having comic book films produced by the company that made them, what we get in return (if Iron Man is an indication) is faithfulness to the original source material, a greater understanding of the characters, and a situating of the story within the larger Marvel universe (this is represented in Iron Man with the presence of S.H.I.E.L.D). It also, hopefully, may lead to a greater use of crossovers. Marvel recently released plans for an Avengers movie due out in 2011. The Avengers, for those not in the know, are a team of Marvel Superheroes, usually Iron Man, The Hulk, Captain America, and Thor. It's an exciting time for comic book fans. I just wish this development had occurred earlier. Daredevil has always been one of my favorite Marvel heroes and he has not gotten the cinematic treatment he deserves. Although I liked the Daredevil movie that came out several years ago, I would greatly have preferred to see what Marvel would have done with it.