2012 is set to be a clash of comic book titans as both the Avengers and Batman 3 will come out that summer. This has lead to many to wonder which film will perform better. One of my good friends wrote up a piece on his blog about why Batman 3 would be bigger than the Avengers (http://tinyurl.com/349gs7f) and while I respect his opinion, I am going to take a different stance.


While I am an unabashedly passionate Superman fan (and don’t really like Batman), I have to concede that Chris Nolan’s Batman films are among some of the best of the superhero genre. What he was able to with The Dark Knight was amazing although I found it to be too long.

However, as seen by countless 3rd films in trilogies (Spiderman 3, X-Men 3 *shudders*) the 3rd film is ALWAYS far weaker than the first two. People build up ridiculous expectations and filmmakers strive to top the previous films. Even the 3rd Lord of the Rings wasn’t as good as the first films. It basically won the Oscar for the trilogy of films and goodwill built up in the industry.

This is one of the factors that make me think Batman 3 won’t be bigger than the Avengers. The critical and box office love for that film was enormous and I have a strong suspicion that the film was the closest a superhero film will come to getting a Best Picture Oscar nod. And lets be real, how is anyone gonna top or equal Heath Ledger’s performance? That is going to be a large burden on the next villain to at least be as good if not better than the Joker. Another issue I foresee is the storyline.  Nolan is striving to make his films less “superhero” and more “crime drama” which is very admirable. But I feel that when superhero films are focused on being true to themselves, they are better for it. Its what made Spiderman 2, X-Men 2, and going much further Superman with Christopher Reeves so great. When you strive to go beyond that, the ambition can be too great. The scene on the boats in The Dark Knight and the introduction of Two Face was a perfect example. They wanted to make this grand statement about the human condition when all it really did was add some suspense and extend an already long movie. I think that the Avengers will be better for the fact that we aren’t going to go into it thinking that it is a prestige pic/crime drama/Oscar bait. We know its gonna be about major superheroes getting together to fight evil.

Another plus for the Avengers is in the audience. While Batman fan boys are a passionate group, the Avengers has the advantage of bringing in several groups of stans. It is almost guaranteed that they will have a bigger audience than Batman 3. Even if one of the films leading up to The Avengers isn’t a smash hit, this is an ensemble film, meaning that one character will not make or break the film.Also they will have Joss Whedon behind the camera, and he is revered amongst fan boys having been the creative mind behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dollhouse.

However where I think The Avengers has a bigger edge than Batman is in the cast. The Batman films have had fantastic casts (yes even Katie Holmes was better than people give her credit for). The problem is that Christian Bale and his villains (Cillian Murphy, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart) are the only people who have anything real to do. Upon deciding to write this post, I realized how one note Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine (two Oscar winners!) can be because they are just there to give Bruce Wayne a speech or advice.


And look at the Avengers cast, I mean its ridiculous when you think of how starry it is. Think about this there is a:

Comic book film staple and popular actor – Sam Jackson
Captain Kirk’s father and fan boy favorite – Chris Hemsworth
Former superhero, comic book film staple, and beefcake – Chris Evans
Independent Spirit Award nominated (and possibly Oscar nominated this year) actor – Mark Ruffalo
TONY winner and 4 time Golden Globe nominated – Scarlett Johannson
and two OSCAR nominees – Robert Downey Jr and Jeremy Renner

I will take this cast’s potential over the proven Batman model (and Christian Bale’s fucking growling). 

While I expect both films to be good, I am going to give Avengers the slight edge. But I can guarantee that ill be in attendance for both films.