The beloved Marvel Universe has thrilled comic book readers for decades, but on the big screen, legendary superheroes like Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Hulk (not to mention The X-Men and Spider-Man at other studios) are only just beginning to capture the imaginations of movie-goers. The just-released trailer for the upcoming mother of all superhero films, “The Avengers,” has fan boys and girls in a tizzy, bombarding the Internet with questions raised by the short clip. The good news: Joss Whedon looks like he can handle the unwieldy cast that includes Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Samuel L. Jackson and Mark Ruffalo. The bad news: We still have more than six months to wait.
As for the rest of this week’s list…
October 13, 2011
1. “The Avengers” (Last week: No. 1)
Cleveland gets rocked by the Marvel superteam in the new trailer. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) may just redefine what it means to be the strong, silent type.
2. “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn” (Last week: No. 7)
A brand new :30 TV spot doesn’t reveal much more than we’ve already seen (well, there is more werewolf action), but any fleeting glimpse of RPatz, KStew or Taylor Lautner is enough to get hearts racing. If you have no idea what we’re talking about (ha!), catch the previous three films in the theater this fall.
3. “Django Unchained” (Last week: No.11)
The rogues gallery for Quentin Tarantino’s neo-spaghetti western keeps getting rogue-ier, with Don Johnson joining Leonardo DiCaprio, Christoph Waltz, Kurt Russell (and hero Jamie Foxx) in the film.
4. “Expendables 2” (Last week: Not ranked)
How much testosterone can you handle? Ah-nuld tweeted an onset pic of him with Bruce Willis and Sly Stallone. Print it up and put it up in your gym locker.
5. “A Good Day To Die Hard” (Last week: Not ranked)
A release date (Valentine’s Day, 2013) and a title? Yippie Kai Yay, Mister Falcon!
6. “World War Z” (Last week: Not ranked)
Having your “prop” guns seized by the Hungarian police is a pain in the neck for sure, but that won’t stop the Brad Pitt zombie epic — only severing the brainstem can stop it.
7. “Snow White“ (Last week: Not ranked)
The more family-friendly of the two competing Snow White films, new photos show Julia Roberts as an over-the-top Queen and Lily Collins (“The Blind Side”) as the title heroine.
8. Bond 23 (Last week: Not ranked)
Javier Bardem has confirmed he’ll be one of the series’ most memorable villains in the next 007 pic. Call it, Bond-o.
9. “Adventures of Tintin” (Last week: No. 4)
As the film is set to open soon in the U.K. we’re getting more and more peeks at Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s risky mo-cap actioner.
10. “The Dark Knight Rises” (Last week: No. 8)
Surprise! More on-set photos have popped up. In other Bat-news, “Batman Forever” and “Batman and Robin” auteur Joel Schumacher talks about his history with the Caped Crusader.
11. “Upstream Color” (Last week: Not ranked)
Shane Carruth, the long-dormant writer-director of the micro-budget sci-fi masterpiece “Prime,” is finally back, prepping his sophomore effort. We’re working on building a time machine, so we can see it sooner.
12. “Ghostbusters 3” (Last week: Not ranked)
Nope, there isn’t any new news about the long-awaited threequel, but with the 1984 original heading back to theaters this week, Sony could be swayed to finally power up the proton packs once again.
13. “The Wolverine” (Last week: Not ranked)
Things seem to be back on track after a long, bumpy road, and Hugh Jackman has an idea of how it can scare up more coin: Releasing two versions. Double-snikt, Bub.
14. “Man of Steel” (Last week: No. 2)
New pics reassure that you will believe Amy Adams can be intrepid reporter Lois Lane, hopelessly in love with Superman (Henry Cavill).
15. The Hobbit (Last week: No. 6)
Orlando Bloom is just as excited as your little sister is about Legolas’ return to the “Lord of the Rings” universe.
Movie Power Rankings appears weekly on HitFix. See last week’s rankings here.