Born April 4th 1965, Robert John Downey Jr. is without a doubt one of the most popular actors right now. Very few have had comebacks as spectacular as his and even fewer were offered the chance to call themselves Charlie Chaplin, Tony Stark, a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude, or Sherlock Holmes. Actually scratch that, no other actors can claim such a feat.

With the release of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Robert Downey Jr. comes back to the big screen so I figured why not take a look at his past movies in order of their box office popularity in North America over the years. Me and myself pondered a good 2-3 minutes whether I should use unadjusted or adjusted for inflation numbers. The former won so here are the top 10 Robert Downey Jr. movies of all time, adjusted for inflation.

10. The Shaggy Dog (2006) $74.2 million ($61.1 million unadjusted) – I really tried to get this film out of the top 10 but there was no way to do so. You know how even the best actors have that movie they try not to associate themselves with? Well Robert Downey Jr. has a few of those and this is one. As I look back The Shaggy Dog might not be as bad as some other children movies today but that’s not saying much. If you have an 8-year-old that loves dogs, they should like this movie.

9. Gothika (2003) $78.7 million ($59.7M) – A forgettable supernatural horror that stars Halle Berry and Penelope Cruz alongside Robert Downey Jr.. It’s not a bad movie but unless you’re a fan of the actors, director (Mathieu Kassovitz), or genre, I can’t recommend Gothika.

8. Natural Born Killers (1994) $95.7 million ($50.2M) – In this Oliver Stone thriller Robert Downey Jr. plays a selfish TV journalist with absolutely no morals. Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis lead as husband and wife serial killers Mickey Knox and Mallory Knox. Natural Born Killers is a brutal film that deserves your attention.

7. U.S. Marshals (1998) $97 million ($57.1M) – I don’t think I ever saw this one so I should probably add it to my queue (not Netflix). Anyway, besides Robert Downey Jr. this film also stars Tommy Lee Jones and Wesley Snipes. Ok, now I definitely have to see it.

6. Due Date (2010) $99.9 million ($100.5M) – What happens when you take The Hangover director Todd Phillips and make a road trip comedy with Robert Downey Jr. and Zack Galifianakis? Well, it was supposed to be one of the funniest movies of the year. What we got instead was an R-rated version of Planes, Trains and Automobiles, a funnier and better movie with a lot more heart. So I say watch that movie and then catch Due Date sometime later when you’re really bored.

5. Tropic Thunder (2008) $122.5 million ($110.5M) – This movie is definitely not for everyone but for those that can appreciate its share stupidity, Tropic Thunder is an instant classic that makes fun of Hollywood like few flicks dare. Arguably one of the most quotable comedies of the last decade, Tropic Thunder features an impressive cast lead by director/actor Ben Stiller. Robert Downey Jr. plays Australian method actor Kirk Lazarus playing a black sergeant named Lincoln Osiris. This part actually got Downey Jr. his second Oscar nomination (first was for Chaplin). Also extremely memorable in his smaller role is an almost unrecognizable Tom Cruise.

4. Back to School (1986) $195.7 million ($91.2M) – I vaguely remember this movie mostly thanks to the late Rodney Dangerfield. Like many before, this is your typical 80′s comedy and if I’m not mistaking, Robert Downey Jr. plays a college student here. If you happen to catch this, look forward to that.

3. Sherlock Holmes (2009) $213.8 million ($209M) – Besides the accent, there’s really nothing to complain about Robert Downey Jr.’s take on the popular Arthur Conan Doyle character. British director Guy Ritchie creates a decent adaptation here with his unique style making for a fun if flawed movie. Jude Law plays an equally great Dr. Watson to Downey’s Sherlock Holmes. Actually the bromance between the two characters is the best part of this film.

2. Iron Man 2 (2010) $312.8 million ($312.4M) – The sequel to the extremely satisfying 2008 original, Iron Man 2 builds on that movie but not necessarily in better ways. A lot of the charm is lost here and what we get instead is a good sequel to a spectacular movie that follows below.

1. Iron Man (2008) $352.9 million ($318.4M) – This is the role Robert Downey Jr. was born to play and director Jon Favreau knows it, using that to the fullest extent. Iron Man is the perfect summer blockbuster and one of the best superhero movies of all time. In a year when The Dark Knight got the most accolades, Iron Man offered the most entertainment, at least that’s my opinion.

At the end I have to mention a very special movie that didn’t make this top 10, Chaplin, the 1992 biopic. Based on the troubled and controversial life of actor Charlie Chaplin, this film deserves your time if only to see Robert Downey Jr. in probably his best role yet. Before playing Iron Man or Sherlock Holmes, Robert Downey Jr. was the man that became Charlie Chaplin for a movie 19 years ago.

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SHH got their hands on a new batch of high-resolution images from The Avengers which feature Thor (with longer hair), Captain America (in his new costume), Tony Stark, Black Widow (with shorter hair), Nick Fury and Loki.

You can check the rest out by clicking here. Hopefully we get to see these images in motion in the form of a trailer soon.

The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon, will star Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Mark Ruffalo (The Hulk), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Chris Evans (Captain America), Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) and will be released May 4th, 2012.

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76 superhero movies have been mentioned one way or another over the course of our ‘Superheroes at the box office’ feature. The conclusion is here, with the last 8 superhero flicks that have been released on the big screen in the last 33 years. To get an idea just how much this sub-genre has grown over the years, just in 2011 we’ve had no less then six entries. Masked (or not) crusaders, vigilantes fighting for a cause, be it good or bad, for one last time, after the break.

We start with Iron Man 2, the sequel to the 2008 hit with the same name (minus the 2) and part of The Avengers. People expected something at least as good as the original so disappointment was high on its toes, lurking right around the corner. Unfortunately, while a fun movie, Iron Man 2 failed to match the sheer awesomeness of the first one. Despite less favorable critical and fan reception, Iron Man 2 manage to gross a mighty $312.4 million in North America, just shy of the $318.4 million made by Iron Man. Worldwide things were looking better with $623.9 million for the sequel versus $585.1 million for the original. Right now Iron Man 3 is expected to open in May 2013, but with Shane Black directing instead of Jon Favreau.

Continuing 2010, Megamind follows in November. You know how there are always trends in Hollywood, like one year we might get a bunch of penguin movies or maybe animated fish movies, you know what I mean. Well 2010 was the year of villains with a kind heart, misunderstood if you will. First it was Despicable Me, a story where one villain fights to regain the title of best super-villain in the world. The reason I’ve not included Despicable Me here is simple, there are no superheroes in that movie and Gru isn’t fighting to save the world or a city, he just wants the respect of his mother. Now Megamind, the titular character in the movie with the same name, is much more then just a villain or super-villain. Now I’m not going to spoil anything for you guys but let me just say that this movie has at least one superhero in it. Megamind grossed $148.4 million in North America and $321.8 million worldwide. Having cost $130 million to make, DreamWorks more then likely didn’t lose money on it but don’t expect a sequel out of this one.

And we are finally in 2011 and The Green Hornet is our starting point. This 75 year old hero sure took his time trying to get to the big screen. Starring Seth Rogen, Cameron Diaz and Jay Chou (playing Kato, a role Bruce Lee had in the original 1966 TV series). The Green Hornet almost made $100 million in North America and $227.8 million worldwide. Unfortunately for this fun yet flawed movie, that gross probably won’t be enough for Sony to green light a sequel since it cost $120 million to make..

A movie probably not many heard about is Super and yes, it came out this year, specifically on April 1st, a fitting release date some could say. Now this is a hard R, very independent superhero movie that I would only recommend to the most hardcore, probably those that liked Kick-Ass but also thought that it didn’t go as far as it could have. Let me just say this, Super is insane, if you don’t believe me just watch it and you’ll agree with me afterwards. Again, be warned, it makes Kick-Ass look like a PG-13 movie (so keep the kiddies away). Obviously, this is as far away from commercial as you can get and it only got a limited release in theaters. With that in mind, the $0.3 million it made in North America is not as surprising.

Next up is another movie leading up to The Avengers, Thor, directed by Kenneth Branagh. This was probably the hardest avenger to bring to the big screen so a lot of people expected it to fail, well Thor didn’t, quite the contrary. First of all, it was actually a good movie and while it had its flaws, Thor managed to deliver the goods in the end. It is right now the highest grossing superhero movie of the year with $181 million in North America and $448.5 million worldwide. The adventures of the God of Thunder will continue in The Avengers next year and in July 2013 in Thor 2.

X-Men: First Class opened a month later and it is the second X-Men spin-off, following the success of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Unlike that movie, First Class was very well received by both fans and critics alike, a return to the quality standard set by the first two X-Men movies. If only box office results would have been as impressive as the reviews. With a production cost of $160 million, X-Men: First Class only made $146.3 million in North America and $352.5 million worldwide. A sequel could happen but it will come down to DVD and Blu-Ray sales. So if you guys want a First Class 2, go out and buy as many copies of X-Men: First Class as you can, I know I will.

Two weeks later Warner gave us Green Lantern, the long anticipated Ryan Reynolds (starring) and Martin Campbell (directed) DC Comics superhero. They had the money ($200 million no less), they had time, talent, you name it, yet something happened along the line, something big enough to turn Green Lantern into a bust. When I say bust, I don’t mean only in regard to box office success, it just wasn’t a particularly good movie, ok, maybe not as bad as people give it credit. Having grossed $116.4 million in North America and $219.7 million worldwide (barely matching the production budget, let alone doubling it), one would think this series was gone yet Warner are actually still talking about a sequel, strange times we live in.

And now we are up to the last superhero movie, Captain America: The First Avenger. Like the title suggests, this is another avenger movie, the last avenger movie, a fitting spot since he was also the first avenger in the comics. Anyway, Captain was a very long time coming and now that it’s finally here I must say, me like it, me like it very much. They made it a period piece and we got a great take on the origin story of Captain America. It wasn’t campy and at the same time not too serious since it is after all, a superhero movie. With a gross of $173.4 milion in North America and $348.4 million worldwide (and still counting) Captain America, just like Thor and Iron Man, will return next year in The Avengers. The only thing that bothers me about this movie is the way it ends, there’s not a lot of place to make a sequel similar to it and I’d really like a second Captain America set in World War II.

After celebrating superhero movies of the past, it’s time to take a brief look into the future and let me tell you this, there’s never been a better time for fans of this sub-genre. Next year Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is coming to haunt us. A few months later, the ultimate superhero mash-up, The Avengers, will be set to generate plenty of nerdgasms. Then there’s The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises, both in July. Tony Stark is back in Iron Man 3 in 2013 and Man of Steel should mark the return of Superman that same year. As mentioned above, 2013 also has Thor 2 and probably The Wolverine. Now these are just some of the bigger titles, there’s a lot more coming and who knows, maybe in a year or two you might read an 11th part of Superheroes at the box office, until then, keep superheroes alive and, just for kicks, list your favorite hero of all time in the comments. I was a Batman dude for a long time but once I discovered Spider-Man, I never went back.

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With Marvel bigger then ever, Superman and Batman back, superheroes were at their highest and surprisingly, they would not stop there, going above and beyond. Unfortunately there are certain steps that must be taken to actually manage to go above and beyond and, like every genre, the bigger they get, the more stinkers you have to shove to the side in order to get to the good stuff. Today we’ll do a bit of digging starting with My Super Ex-Girlfriend from 2006.

My Super Ex-Girlfriend was a comedy that tried to spoof the superhero genre, it wasn’t Elektra bad but it wasn’t good either. So it only made $22.5 million in North America and $60.9 million worldwide. Coincidence that Uma Thurman’s career took a nose dive after this with her only noteworthy appearance in the past 5 years being a very small role in Percy Jackson and the Olympians? I think not.

Next up is Zoom, a movie I had no idea even existed so I’m seriously scraping the bottom here. This came out in August 2006 starring Tim Allen and from the look of the poster it could be another The Incredibles rip-off… or not, I won’t bother looking more into it. Oh, almost forgot, $11.9 million in North America and $12.5 million worldwide (yes, it made only $0.5 million internationally).

Ghost Rider was the first superhero offering of 2007 and after opening with $45 million, it went on to gross $115.8 million in North America and $228.7 million worldwide. This had been a dream project of actor Nicholas Cage for years and from a financial point of view, it performed well enough but quality wise, the movie, well, it kind of sucked. There’s a sequel coming out next year, probably Sony thinking that people forgot the first one.

In May 2007 Spider-Man, the biggest player of them all back then, returned in Spider-Man 3, an overblown sequel that palled in comparison to the first two movies. What makes matters worse is previews made it look like the second coming and everyone was pumped, it was by far the most highly anticipated movie of 2007 and it showed just that opening weekend, scoring a record breaking $151.1 million. In North America it made $336.5 million, so a good deal less then previous entries but the 554.3 million it made internationally, made damn well sure that worldwide, this would become the new superhero box office standard with a whopping $890.7 million. What happened here was Raimi didn’t know if this would end up being his last Spider-Man flick or not, so he went all out, way all out, going overboard one to many times (emo Peter Parker is not something easily forgotten). What ended up as the highest grossing entry in the series would also bring the death of the Tobey Maguire-Sam Raimi Spider-Man in favor of a new take on the superhero, one very bold reboot slated for 2012 and simply called The Amazing Spider-Man. Naturally, this wasn’t a properly that Sony wanted to lose to Marvel anytime soon considering the Spider-Man movies were the top 3 highest grossing superhero flicks at the time.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, opening in June 2007, was the sequel to the 2004 Fantastic Four. Everyone returned for this and it showed, as it was that same movie we got three years before, just with a bigger budget. While it did make a decent amount of cash, $131.9 million in North America (down from the first one) and $289 million worldwide (also down), it wasn’t worth it to Fox to risk money on a 3rd movie that could have made a lot less. That being said, neither of these flicks were particularly bad, just really really average and sustaining such a franchise for more then 2 entries is not an easy feat. In other words Fox cashed out on Fantastic Four before the eventual hitting of the bottom.

While Fox avoided the bottom, we won’t, because what comes next is Superhero Movie from March 2008, an abomination of epic proportions, on the same level as Elektra and Catwomen. This is the very definition of a BAD movie. This was so bad that it actually tried to spoof movies that were not even out at the time, talk about a lack of ideas. A superhero spoof done right could be comedy gold but this movie doesn’t even deserve the bottom of a latrine. $25.8 million in North America and $71.2 million worldwide makes me really sad knowing that much better movies made a lot less money.

So there’s a saying, if you’re down, you can only go up and with Iron Man, released just 2 months later, we went way up. This movie really blew it out of the park with fantastic reviews (94% on Rotten Tomatoes) and phenomenal success. With $318.4 million in North America and $585.1 million worldwide, this was the movie that started the best summer superheroes have ever had. Not just that, it also relaunched Robert Downey Jr.’s career and put Iron Man on the map, showing the world that it wasn’t just Spider-Man, Batman, Super-Man and X-Men out there. Now that I think about it, there sure is a lot of “MAN” on there. Iron Man was also the first 100% Marvel produced superhero flick, not bad at all for a first try.

Now what Marvel were gearing for with Iron Man was an epic superhero team-up based on The Avengers comics. For that movie to happen, they needed to first introduce the heroes that would be part of that story in their own movies and hopefully, those movies would become hits. They obviously succeeded  with Iron Man and Hulk was next. Now this wasn’t just any Hulk cause you see, back in 2003 we already had a Hulk that didn’t exactly set the world on fire and wasn’t particularly faithful to the comics either. So Marvel tried their luck with something different, a reboot called The Incredible Hulk. Now because this only features the origin story in a few clips during the intro of the movie, it might as well function as a sequel to the 2003 Hulk. Starring Edward Norton, The Incredible Hulk made $134.8 million in North America and $263.4 million worldwide, hardly the level of success Marvel were expecting from the character. Now because I live in the future (not really) I can tell you that in the end, Marvel went with another Hulk for The Avengers, so that makes it three Hulks in just 9 years, crazy, right?

Next part, well, it’s all been leading to this so I might as well get it out of the way, The Dark Knight and also a bunch of other great and not so great movies.

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

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SuperHeroHype! recently spotted a promo poster for The Avengers at the Licensing International Expo in Las Vegas. The poster is only a drawing, but it does give us a preview of the team, and we get our first look at Jeremy Renner in his Hawkeye costume.

Check the poster out below: [Update: /Film got a clearer version]

The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon, will star Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Mark Ruffalo (The Hulk), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Chris Evans (Captain America), Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) and will be released May 4th, 2012.

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When studios produce tentpole movies they don’t just intend to create revenue from the box office. Merchandising, licensing and all the rest help create a brand that people will gladly throw money at. We’ve seen this over recent years with movies such as Transformers and G.I Joe increasing toy sales for Hasbro.

With Marvel releasing Thor, Captain America and The Avengers over the next two years they are making the most of their brand, and we can expect to see The Avengers pretty much everywhere:

From Advertising Age:

“You’re going to see ‘Avengers Assemble’ logos and icons take more prominent positions,” said Paul Gitter, president-consumer products for Marvel Entertainment. “On a lot of the packaging you’re going to see everywhere, Marvel does tie back into ‘The Avengers,’ and the umbrella platform we have set up.”

Among the goods set to roll out are a full line of action figures, vehicles and role-playing items from toy maker Hasbro; arts and crafts products from Crayola; die-cast toy vehicles and play sets from Maisto; and footwear from Brown Shoe. Additional licensees include Fruit of the Loom, Kids Headquarters, AME and Jem Sportswear.

Whatever Marvel learns in its efforts, expect to see lessons learned applied well beyond the release of “The Avengers” film, said Mr. Gitter. He alluded to a plan in development pegged to 2017, but declined to offer details. As they say in the comics, to be continued.

It looks like Marvel has everything covered, in the toy/kids department anyway. Now we just need to wait and see if they have the movies covered too.

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This isn’t the most surprising news as we have been hearing about Joss Whedon’s involvement in The Avengers since April, however the man behind Buffy and Serenity confirmed at Comic-Con today that he will indeed be directing Iron Man, Thor, The Hulk and Captain America in The Avengers.

For whatever reason Marvel has yet to announce it themselves, but I guess they don’t have to now.

According to Cinema Blend “Whedon admitted that he’s still in the outlining stages of the script, but explained what he loved about the Avengers story: “It’s totally counterintuitive. These people should not be in the same room together, let alone on a team, and that to me is the definition of family.”

Whedon and the team have just over 6 months before The Avengers starts filming in early 2011 with Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Samuel L. Jackson and possibly Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk.

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If Robert Downey Jr. decides three Iron Man movies along with The Avengers is enough for him then Marvel may decide to reboot the franchise in time with a younger, cheaper actor.

This video directed by Patrick Boivin titled ‘Iron Baby’ may provide inspiration for Marvel, although i’m not sure fans will be happy about Downey Jr. being replaced by a baby named Margaret.

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Upon its release in 2008 Iron Man was greeted with $585 million at the worldwide box office and 93% positive reviews. This meant that in order for Iron Man 2 to surpass its predecessor it would need to make $600 million+ and have at least 94% positive reviews at Rotten Tomatoes. That’s if you judge success like that anyway.

From the trailers and buzz making a sufficient profit doesn’t seem to be a problem, although on the review side of things it seems Iron Man 2 may have been hit by the ‘sequel curse’.

As I type there are currently 12 reviews on RT, and 3 of them are negative. This might not seem that big of a deal, although the reasons they are less than positive might be a worry.

From The Hollywood Reporter‘s Review:

Everything fun and terrific about Iron Man, a mere two years ago, has vanished with its sequel. In its place, Iron Man 2 has substituted noise, confusion, multiple villains, irrelevant stunts and misguided story lines.

Variety:

All told, ‘Iron Man 2′ suffers the same fate as many a sequel. Where the first film felt buoyant and occasionally inspired in helpfully demonstrating that, done right, there’s considerable treasure to be culled even from second-tier occupants of the Marvel universe, the new pic feels more duty-bound and industrial.”

Empire gave the film a 3/5 rating, and had this to say:

Rourke and Rockwell make satisfying, complementary villains, while Downey Jr. delivers again. Shame this sequel feels inessential, over-busy and a little, well, mechanical.

On the flip side the majority of sites have given Iron Man 2 more positive reviews.

From AICN:

We may not have a lot of Comic Book awesome coming this summer, but frankly – this is all I need. I’ll be seeing this a bunch – and I can not wait to see this movie destroy my nephew’s brain tomorrow night. Seriously – his 9 year old noggin just will not be able to process how great this is.

ComingSoon:

High expectations from the first movie may leave some wanting, but there’s enough brilliance on display to leave you wanting more as well.

IGN:

Like Tony Stark himself, Iron Man 2 is a sleek and cheeky number that almost certainly trumps the fun-factor of Jon Favreau’s 2008′s surprise hit

I suppose we’ll just have to see Iron Man 2 for ourselves to judge. This is still early days yet and those negative reviews may be the only few that get published. Even if it drops to 70-80% on Rotten Tomatoes it won’t be a disaster. As along as people have a fun time and it doesn’t derail The Avengers we’re good.

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Yesterday we got the news that Joss Whedon was in talks with Marvel to direct The Avengers, however Variety have since mentioned that not only will Whedon be directing, he will also be re-writing the script.

Zak Penn (Elektra, X-Men 3) had been given the task of combing the worlds of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Hulk in the form of a screenplay, which I imagine was quite a challenge considering we have yet to see Thor and Captain America on the big screen. Penn probably had directors Kenneth Branagh and Joe Johnston on speed dial so he could ask them about the characters, as there will need to be consistency between each film.

Many have said that Whedon is more of a writer than a director, so this should be good news for fans. Whedon has spent a lot of time writing comic books so he knows how to write superheros, and with input from other Marvel directors I expect the script to be nothing short of comic book movie excellence.

Whedon and the team have just over 9 months before The Avengers starts filming with Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Samuel L. Jackson and (hopefully, possibly, maybe) Edward Norton as The Hulk.

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