Spiderman, Fantastic Fours, and Transformers: Comic Book Movie Adaptations - What to Look for in the Next Few Years

For those fans of comic books that love to see their favorite characters come to the big screen, there are some movies you will want to check out over the next several years. For the rest of us, comic book-based films usually put out a very entertaining film and story even if you don't follow their exploits in the comic book world.

Spiderman 3 is already out in theatres and this movie has gotten fair reviews overall. It is all about duality, with the hero's and his alter ego battling things out with the villains and each other. On the negative side, the plot is kind of convoluted and it just seems like too many things were cramped into the plot. I am sure die-hard Spidy comic book fans will have problems with some aspects of the film, but overall the special effects are great, there are some funny lines, and the action makes for a very entertaining film. Spiderman 1 and 2 are also well worth renting if you have not seen these movies yet.

The next big comic book adaptation is the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer that is due out on 6/15/07. This is the second movie based on the Fantastic Four. The heroes must face off against the Silver Surfer and Dr. Doom is supposedly going to make a return appearance. The first Fantastic Four movie was entertaining, but fans are hoping that the second movie takes the Human Torch, Invisible Girl, The Thing, and Mr. Fantastic to the next level.

July is of course, Harry Potter month, but the Transformersmovie will be released on 7/4/07. The Autobots and Decepticons are coming to Earth to battle things out, which will probably not bode well for the humans.

Many people probably won't realize that Stardust due out on 8/10/07 with Claire Danes and Michelle Pfeiffer is based on a DC Comics series by the same name. The main character searches for a star, which turns out to be a girl, and finds true love along his journey.

The next movie that shares its characters with the comic books is Aliens v.s Predator 2:Survival of the Fittest. This is the anti-holiday movie being released on 12/25/07, which has the Aliens and Predator battling it out once again in Colorado. There is not much information about this movie yet, though it's a pretty safe bet to expect a lot of suspenseful, gory action and special effects.

The Incredible Hulk will make another appearance in the theatres on 6/13/08, and we can only hope that it's a better movie than the first attempt a few years ago.

The sequel to Batman Beginscomes out on 6/18/08, as the Dark Knight. Batman will battle with the Joker while he tries to clean up Gotham City. The Batman movies can be slightly confusing since the Batman character played by Christian Bale is not tied in with the Batman's movies starring Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, and George Clooney. Michael Keaton's Batman had already dealt with the Joker, played by Jack Nicholson, in the first movie of that series.

Hellboy will leave the comics and animated DVDs to return to the big screen on 8/1/08, in Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. This time he will not be fighting Nazis and gods, but will delve into an alternative reality with his partners at the Bureau of Paranormal Research. Selma Blair will be back as Liz Sherman and the romance that was setup up at the end of the first movie will develop.

Other comic- based movies that you are likely to see in 2008 or 2009 are Superman- The Man of Steel, Iron Man, The Flash, Magneto (from the X-Men series), Wolverine (also from X-Men), Punisher 2, Sin City 2, Thor, Wonder Woman, and Spawn 2.