Summer 2013 Preview: Battle of the Superheroes - Iron Man 3 vs Man of Steel

What a way to start! 

This Summer will see two releases, each featuring an iconic comic-book superhero, battle it out for supremacy at the box-office. On one side you have Iron Man appearing in Iron Man 3 and on the other you have Superman making a comeback in Man of Steel. 

What makes this battle even more interesting is that the two characters are from separate comic-book companies. Iron Man representing Marvel Comics and Superman representing DC Comics, each with their own set of die-hard fans.

The same occurred last year when Avengers Assemble took on The Dark Knight Rises at the box-office. A fight that Marvel came out just on top with their superhero ensemble bringing them in a whopping £1.5 billion.

How will things compare this year and what will be the key features for each film if they are to come out on top?

Iron Man 3

Director: Shane Black

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Sir Ben Kingsley, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Jon Favreau.

Budget: $200 million
 
Release date: April 26

Plot: Iron Man 3 sees Tony Stark up against a new threat in the form of The Mandarin. He faces a fight to keep both his technology falling into the wrong hands and to protect the people closest to him. However, unlike in Avengers Assemble, he is up against this threat all by himself.

After the major success story of 2012 that was Avengers Assemble, Marvel Studios have wasted no time in carrying on from where they left off. Iron Man 3 marks the start of Marvel's Phase Two, and if Phase One was anything to go by we are in for one hell of a ride. 

Phase One consisted of Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger and Avengers Assemble. A collection of films that made a staggering total of $3.8 billon at the box-office. 

Iron Man 3 is probably the best choice Marvel could of made as their next move as Iron Man was arguably the most popular character with audiences throughout the whole of Phase One. That may seem a little unfair though as we did see two Iron Man films in the build up to Avengers Assemble but let's just face it, that's how Marvel had planned it.

I am certainly looking forward to Iron Man 3 as I thought Iron Man was a great movie and I did enjoy Iron Man 2, even if it did feel a little rushed. 

There was one aspect of the first two films that worked so well for me and I am sure will be a highlight of Iron Man 3 and that is the performance of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. He has made the character his own, so much so that it would be hard to see anyone else playing the character. I am sure there are some people around the world who actually think he is Tony Stark in real life. 

He can carry a film by himself and with Iron Man being the film that kickstarted his career again I am sure he even feels that he owes a lot to this particular character and franchise.

This film is hotly anticipated and I am sure it will beat the box-office performances of its predecessors with the impressive cast it has assembled and the spectacular action it promises to deliver. 

Check out the trailer below.

Man of Steel

Director: Zack Snyder

Cast: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne.

Budget: $225 million (estimated)

Release date: June 14

Plot: A baby is transported to earth from the dying planet of Krypton and raised by his adoptive parents on Earth. Here he grows up as Clark Kent, trying to live a normal life whilst struggling to handle his superpowers, until Earth is attacked. He must then put his powers to use and become Superman to protect the Earth from its latest attack.

This is probably the riskiest of all the Summer blockbusters coming our way in 2013. Just because of the fact that Superman is probably the most iconic of all the comic-book characters. Get it wrong and the film could be awful but get it right and then we are looking at something that could be down right amazing!

Man of Steel is shaping up to be the latter.

This is the reboot that should have come seven years earlier in the form of Superman Returns. Instead they decided to make a sequel that sandwiched itself between Superman II and Superman III and became an almighty mess. Anyway moving on from that and back on track with Man of Steel. 

Superman has long been a character that has flirted with the directors and actors of Hollywood. Nicolas Cage recently spoke out about how he was set to star in a Superman film directed by Tim Burton and J.J. Abrams has also been one who has had a few ideas for the character.

Instead the reins have been picked up by what some may consider a 'dream team' for this character. Zack Snyder was brought in to direct, Christopher Nolan was named as a producer and has also had a helping hand in writing the story alongside David S. Goyer, the man who worked on the story and screenplays for The Dark Knight Trilogy. 

Zack Snyder is known for the stylish action in his films, most noticeably 300, Watchmen and Sucker Punch and with Nolan and Goyer on writing duty we all know what they are capable of with The Dark Knight Trilogy under their belts. 

If early screening reviews are anything to go by then we are in for something special with some claiming that the action from Zack Snyder and the narrative from Noland and Goyer combine so well to make one hell of a movie.

Check the reviews out at this site: http://screenrant.com/superman-man-steel-movie-early-reviews-2013/ - Source: Sandy Schaefer

Add that little teaser with the fact that this is has such an impressive ensemble cast and we could be in store for the best Superman movie ever!

Check out the trailer below.

I am excited about both of these films and if I was to decide on who I think will win the battle of the box-office I would have to say Iron Man 3 as it has the momentum with it following Marvel's Phase One.

That does not mean Man of Steel will be a failure in any way. In fact, one way in which I feel Warner Bros can learn from Marvel is to have other characters from the DC Comics universe make appearances in their films. 

For instance, Marvel got the anticipation building for Avengers Assemble four years before it appeared on the big-screen due to a simple 30 second appearance from Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury at the end of Iron Man where he briefly mentions the Avenger Initiative. I remember sitting in a screening where people were screaming "Yes!" and "Hell yeah!" when that happened.

And if Warner Bros are looking to have the same success with their proposed Justice League movie in 2015 then there is one character that surely has to appear in Man of Steel after the end credits. That character is Batman and in my opinion they have to bring back Christian Bale for the role. A simple scene of having Superman approaching a retired Bruce Wayne would certainly get the audiences excited about a Justice League movie.

Christopher Nolan has recently been asked about whether he or Bale would have any part to play in a Justice League movie and he gave a cheeky grin while not being able to deny it. I would love to see this happen and there is still hope!



There will be other films released this Summer that will provide plenty of competition for these two films and I will be previewing these in the coming weeks. It is just that I think that these two will be the biggest of the Summer, even the year!