The first Hulk movie is unique amongst comic book movies in that it was directed by an Academy Award winning director. Yep, Ang Lee, twice best director winner took the reigns for this film in 2003 and for me that makes it a very special movie, despite its flaws, because I am a big fan of his work and obviously a massive Hulk fan. In 2003, Ang Lee was a big name in movie circles, following his seminal Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Following on from the hugely successful original X Men and Spiderman movies, hopes were high for that is arguably Marvel's most popular and iconic character, the Hulk. Here I declare an interest. In the 1970s, as a child, my devoutly Christian parents for reasons only known to themselves banned me from watching the original Hulk TV series. I have no idea why Hulk was barred when Wonder Woman was ok, but as you can imagine as a child I rebelled against this ban and the Hulk quickly became a massive favourite of mine. This love for the character has remained to this day and although I don't really have an out and out favourite character (Batman, Spiderman, Hulk, Superman, I love them all), I would say the Hulk is probably my favourite more often than not! Anyway, the Hulk movie. Ang Lee movies are never conventional and he served up 2 hours 12 minutes of art house comic book film, with ground breaking effects, as this was the first time the main character would be played out in CGI! The cast also included Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly, aussie ex comedian Eric Bana as Bruce Banner and Sam Elliott as General Ross. The film was neither a commercial or a critical success, but personally I love it, as it is so different from the other Marvel films. Why do I like it? Well it plays out the greek tragedy element of the Hulk story so well, for a start. Secondly, Ang Lee's version of the Hulk actually got bigger, as he got angrier, which I thought was pretty cool, even if it was a departure from the comic. He was also really, really big at about 10 feet tall!! The battle scenes in the grand canyon were epic and showed Hulk at his best. He was really fast, running at incredible speed, leaping for miles in one bound and able to deflect bullets with his hands. He was also properly strong, throwing a tank hundreds of yards away. Something that couldn't be said about the 2008 movie Incredible Hulk who was frankly disappointing in the power stakes! Indeed although it took some time to get going, there was a huge long part of the film which was basically Hulk smashing, jumping and raging against Ross's tanks, choppers and jets. In these scenes Lee took great pains to show the intelligence and cunning of the Hulk. He was certainly no brute, showing skill earlier in the movie when battling the four gamma powered dogs and then again, in using more than sheer brute force to dodge rockets, outrun helicopter gun ships and even save an out of control fighter jet from hitting the Golden Gate Bridge. Some of the best action scenes from any Marvel film actually. The flash backs with Bruce Banner's mum and Dad made for a poignant tale and the climax with the absorbing man enemy showed that the Hulk can take anything thrown at him. For me, it was special, being able to see the Hulk on the big screen for the first time and this film paved the away for other CGI characters in movies. Watching it again yesterday, although some of the camera work looks a little dated, I think it holds up pretty well for a 12 year old film. So, although the Ruffalo Hulk is undoubtedly the best Hulk portrayal to date, I save a big soft spot in my heart for the original Hulk movie. Its perhaps no coincidence that one of my other favourite Marvel films is the original Thor movie, which again tried to be different and was directed by another notable legend who doesn't normally go for the comic book movies, Kenneth Brannagh!

Grrr......!!!!

One of the owners of my comic book store believes Superman is an outdated icon, a figure of hope created in a simpler time to cheer up a country still rebuilding its confidence after the great depression. People don't want boy scouts any more, but darker grittier anti heroes, so he says. Well I don't particularly agree. So I am sat here composing this blog as a tribute to one of the least corruptible heroes in either the DC or Marvel universes during a week that a Jordan hostage was burned alive in a cage by ISIS and a report in the UK confirmed that 1 in 2 of us will get cancer at some stage in our life - and people say we don't need hope? Its coming up to the 36th anniversary of my introduction to Superman, by way of the big screen, in fact. Superman came to the UK in early 1979 and I still remember queuing down the road for it, in the days before online bookings, a year after Star Wars had caught the public imagination. Superman has always occupied a unique place for me, in the super-hero pantheon. When things go really, really wrong, who do you call to perform some heroic multiple life saving feat? Batman? Hulk? Wolverine? Nope, Superman. Supes is an earth based high tier flight capable powerhouse and that makes him stand out from characters in his own strength class, or even similarly heroic and incorruptible characters like Cap America or Spiderman. Neither of those can save a stricken Jumbo Jet! I feel almost guilty writing that comment a day after a plane clipped a bridge and landed in the sea in Taiwan. So, returning to 1979, for my 10th birthday treat I was taken to see Superman and watched in awe as he performed amazing feats and inspired hope in all around him. Its hope and his relationship with the people that really sets Superman apart. Your Sentry, Hyperion, Thor and even Wonder Woman just don't have that connection with everyday urban folk. Probably Spiderman is the only other hero who does have it and its no co-incidence that I am a big fan of that character too. This blog has been inspired in light of my forthcoming birthday, looking back on that Superman film and another forthcoming birthday and also by me currently reading the graphic novel "The world without a Superman", which in some ways is the best of the four DOS books. Superman isn't in it, but its an emotive tale of the void left after Superman's death. There are just so many heart warming moments in this book, which illustrate the place people had in their heart for Supes. So, here we are in 2015 and in an age of fear instilled by muslim fanatics and uncertainty resulting from globalisation and global warming Superman isn't relevant? Really? This fan reckons that more than ever, we can draw inspiration from a character who for nearly 77 years now has been giving himself freely to fight for his adopted planet and its people. A fight to the death even, when Doomsday came calling. Yes we might nit pick about his new suit and new powers, but Superman is in essence still super, someone who doesn't have blurred lines when it comes to right and wrong. There aren't actually that many good role models around right now without some major character flaw, so Superman is more relevant than ever to inspire the next generation. Cheers Supes, keep it up fella.

One of the owners of my comic book store believes Superman is an outdated icon, a figure of hope created in a simpler time to cheer up a country still rebuilding its confidence after the great depression. People don't want boy scouts any more, but darker grittier anti heroes, so he says. Well I don't particularly agree. So I am sat here composing this blog as a tribute to one of the least corruptible heroes in either the DC or Marvel universes during a week that a Jordan hostage was burned alive in a cage by ISIS and a report in the UK confirmed that 1 in 2 of us will get cancer at some stage in our life - and people say we don't need hope? Its coming up to the 36th anniversary of my introduction to Superman, by way of the big screen, in fact. Superman came to the UK in early 1979 and I still remember queuing down the road for it, in the days before online bookings, a year after Star Wars had caught the public imagination. Superman has always occupied a unique place for me, in the super-hero pantheon. When things go really, really wrong, who do you call to perform some heroic multiple life saving feat? Batman? Hulk? Wolverine? Nope, Superman. Supes is an earth based high tier flight capable powerhouse and that makes him stand out from characters in his own strength class, or even similarly heroic and incorruptible characters like Cap America or Spiderman. Neither of those can save a stricken Jumbo Jet! I feel almost guilty writing that comment a day after a plane clipped a bridge and landed in the sea in Taiwan. So, returning to 1979, for my 10th birthday treat I was taken to see Superman and watched in awe as he performed amazing feats and inspired hope in all around him. Its hope and his relationship with the people that really sets Superman apart. Your Sentry, Hyperion, Thor and even Wonder Woman just don't have that connection with everyday urban folk. This blog has been inspired in light of my forthcoming birthday, looking back on that Superman film and also by reading the graphic novel "The world without a Superman", which in some ways is the best of the four DOS books. Superman isn't in it, but its an emotive tale of the void left after Superman's death. There are just so many heart warming moments in this book, which illustrate the place people had in their heart for Supes. So, fast forward to 2015 and in an age of fear instilled by muslim fanatics and uncertainty resulting from globalisation and global warming Superman isn't relevant? Really? This fan reckons that more than ever, we can draw inspiration from a character who for nearly 77 years now has been giving himself freely to fight for his adopted planet and its people. Yes we might nit pick about his new suit and new powers, but Superman is in essence still Super, someone who doesn't have blurred lines when it comes to right and wrong. There aren't actually that many good role models around right now without some major character flaw, so Superman is more relevant than ever to inspire the next generation. Cheers Supes, keep it up fella.

Ok, let me declare an interest here. I was a wee child when Bill Bixby and Lou Ferringo burst onto our TV screens and that series is the reason why Hulk became my favourite character. It remains the only successful non animated TV series featuring a single Marvel character (the 70s Spiderman series lasted but one season) and has dated better than some other 70s TV shows (WW anyone?). Neither of the Hulk movies to date has been a commercial success. Ang Lee's art house effort followed a disappointing Daredevil early in the Marvel cinematic story and was perhaps a bit left field to be universally popular. The second Hulk film had some good moments, but lacked star quality, with Ed Norton not really convincing that well. Its a shame because the core elements were there, with an Abomination giving a super climatic battle, but for me the Ed Norton Hulk needed to do some weight training, as only at the end of that film did he show the true power of a Hulk! The Ruffalo Hulk has been a major success and had most of the funniest moments in the Avengers movie, but doubt still lingers as to whether another Hulk movie would deliver. So, with DC showing that a TV series can be successful, with their Arrow and Flash programmes, would a Hulk TV series actually be more sensible and replicate the success enjoyed by the original? Here's why I think it might. A key component of a good Hulk story is the relationship with Bruce Banner and the Hulk and it would be possible to build stories exploring that relationship in a TV series. The Hulk works well on screen when the anticipation builds in advance of Bruce "hulking out". Again this would be a core component of a TV show. The Hulk sometimes lacks a convincing villains roster, but it would be an opportunity to gradually introduce the Leader, Ross, Modok etc...Finally, the story of Hulk is essentially a greek tradegy, a modern day Jekkyll and Hyde tale and this might work better in gritty weekly episodes than in one of Marvel's movies, with their need to be bouncy and witty. Anyway, those are just my thoughts, obviously I would love to see a Hulk movie like anyone else, but a TV show, that could really work!

Okay, so July 23rd is Batman day. Not exactly 75 years since his first appearance, but the day on which DC is officially marking the anniversary of its most popular character. There will be mutters of "oh no, not more Batman" from fans of other characters, or those who feel that we have had just a bit too much Batman from DC lately, but really, who can blame DC. Batman is an icon. One of the most iconic characters of modern culture, someone who like Dr Who and James Bond transcends the genre from which he originated. He can't claim to be the first super-hero, Superman arguable holds that title, but he has over time become the most popular. So why is Batman so popular? Well firstly he has been around us a long time. My first memory of any super-hero is watching Adam West as Batman in one of the many re-runs of the TV series that were shown when I was a wee boy in the mid 1970s. Sure, the TV series was corny and campy, but it imprinted on my consciousness Batman, Robin, Alfred, the Bat Cave, the Bat Mobile, Baterangs and so on. One of my favourite toys was the corgi Batmobile I received for Christmas as a 7 year old, complete with firing torpedoes. The years passed and Superman films with Chris Reeve meant that I transferred my "favourite hero" badge to the big boy scout for a time. Then in 1989 Tim Burton released his film, at last a serious Batman replete in bullet proof costume, sans corny dialogue and fully able to despatch a hoodlum with a roundhouse kick or karate chop. That film was amazingly successful for the time, grossing over 400 million dollars. Following the iconic Frank Miller books Year one and the Dark Knight Returns, the Batman mythos was now fully established.

The woeful Joel Schumacher films couldn't dampen the publics enthusiasm for the Batman character. Whilst Superman was increasingly seen as a symbol for a bygone era of innocence, Batman seemed to touch a chord with a more serious and cynical age. Batman WAS superheroes. In 1996, the hugely successful British TV sitcom "Only Fools and Horses" even featured Batman and Robin in one of its Christmas specials...

The father's for justice movement in the UK, which campaigned for fathers against the child support Agencies often dubious practices featured various Batman clad dads climbing bridges and towers. Batman, notice, not Superman or Spiderman.

Then come the millennium and after 8 years away, Batman was back on the screen thanks to Christopher Nolan and his masterpiece Batman Begins, followed by the even more celebrated Dark Knight, which amazingly featured an acting performance worthy of a posthumous academy award. The first and only time an actor in a super-hero movie has been so recognised.

Marvel studios may rule the big screen right now, but Batman rules the comic book world and its hard to see him being topped any time soon. Just last month, the Batman comic shifted 130,000 copies and Batman eternal is shifting 60,000 comics a week, meaning that if you include Detective Comics, Batman and Ra's Ah Ghul as well as those two titles, sales of Batman comics are half a million a month.

So why is Batman so loved. Several reasons. Firstly, he is the most human of heroes. He has no super-powers, just his gadgets, his fighting skills and his brain. Hit him and he bleeds, he tires, he gets hurt, he has to use guts and cunning to beat more powerful foes. Secondly, his story is tinged with tragedy. Thirdly, the whole Dark Knight ethos sits well with the modern love of dark and gritty stories. Fourthly, some of the best writers in the business have written some awesome Batman stories and fifthly, well, he drives a cool car. What other super-hero has anything like the Batmobile?

As a child of the 70s, I grew up with Spiderman, Hulk, Wonder Woman and Superman as well as Batman and I am fond of all of these, but Batman is the one who makes me the most nostalgic. As they say, you never forget your first love.

So here is to another 75 years of Bat stories and I certainly hope in 2089, the dark knight is still in business.

I've just come back from DOFP and think its one of the best Marvel films yet. The way they bring the old and new cast together spanning 14 years of X Men films is clever and poignant. Is a superb blockbuster which borrows from the likes of Terminator and the Matrix, but with the usual Marvel humour and range of characters. Add this to the excellent Captain America Film this year, the Amazing Spiderman 2 and future Avengers pictures and its clear that Marvel dominates the big screen with both the number of films and number of characters shown.

Meanwhile DC trot out the same Batman and Superman based stuff and a JL film will be along in 2018...

I really do feel its too little too late, its game over as far as I am concerned. By 2018 a person born at the time of the first X Men film (i.e. my oldest daughter) will be 18, that's a whole generation who will have grown up with largely Marvel films....

As someone who longs for a Flash Movie, a Wonder Woman Movie and a decent Green Lantern film, this is mega frustrating! Here we have a D list Marvel character, Quicksilver being showcased in two different franchises (his scenes in DOFP are the funniest), yet DC are only just getting the Flash to the screen in a TV show this autumn. Fox have trotted out 5 X Men movies and the 2 Wolverine spin offs and you know watching DOFP, it feels like you've known the characters most of your life.

The added problem for DC IMO is that most of their famous characters were invented during WW2, whereas Marvel's are a product of the swinging sixties, the nuclear age. Against DC's more god like super beings, Marvel's were written to be flawed. This makes a difference, because Marvel's characters somehow seem more relatable to modern audiences than some of the DC ones which are usually straight down the line in terms of moral compass. David Goyer's recent ill-advised and disrespectful thoughts on the Martian Manhunter, a fan favourite, but largely unknown outside the comic book world, also don't give much optimism that WB/DC is going to venture far into the DC character catalogue for future films.

I know there's a school of though which says Marvel will be all burned out by 2018 just as DC gets going with their films, but I don't see it. I think if the films are burned out by 2018 it means audiences in general have had it with super-hero films and it will be bad news for DC AND Marvel.

Anyway, enjoy these great movies whilst you can. We've never had it so good. Its just a shame that only Batman and Superman have made a success of it from the DC side, whereas Marvel has three separate franchises doing the goods, involving dozens of characters.

Lets hope in four years time the landscape will have changed and there will plenty of DC films in the offing, but right now, I can't ever see them over-turning Marvel's enormous lead in the big screen championship.

..well, well. Daredevil, the most lambasted generally scorned film in Marvel history (although Elektra may take that honour). I watched it again yesterday and you know what, in parts I think it ain't bad. Now I am not a big Daredevil fan, in that I haven't read many comics but I've got a fair idea what he is about and the start of the film is quite promising. Its dark, its brooding, Daredevil is injured, being helped by his priest after a clash with Elektra and Bullseye. We then have the fight in a dark crowded bar, where DD demonstrates some truly epic fighting skills, dodging bullets, taking down machine gun toting bad guys and single handedly wiping out all comers. Batman fans may not like this, but in that one scene Daredevil exhibits far greater fighting skills than Batman has done in ANY of his films. So far, so good then. The next best thing I find is to fast forward the next half hour or so, as this is where it gets cringeing! The introduction with Elektra, the mutual martial arts display in the park, all crouching tiger wirework imitation rubbish that looks awful. We then have other other things I take issue with. Elektra easily beats Matt in their encounter and I mean easily and then just as easily, Bullseye takes her down. How does that happen? Just to confuse things, DD then finishes off Bullseye whilst wounded. But finally the film redeems itself with DDs meeting with Kingpin, played by the late great and wonderful Michael Clarke Duncan. Now Michael may have been black (when King pin was white in the comics), but boy was he an impressive beast of a bloke, an intimidating brute to have to scrap with! I remember him from the Green Mile and he Is certainly big enough to be ther "king-pin". Its a good scrap and I love the way DD breaks his kneecaps to finish it. A better scrap actually in some ways than Batman v Bane, where Batman inexplicably resorted to brawling with the big brawler. Here, DD uses his guile and skills to tactically defeat the huge crime lord. So what I am saying is this. If you watch the first part of the film and then fast forward to the last 20 minutes or so, Daredevil does deliver. People often complain that "all super-heroes are nerfed in the films", but I reckon Daredevil had some great fights with some superb durability and combat showings. Yes some of the fight choreography was ropey, but for bullet dodging ass kicking martial arts prowess, DD walked the walk. So my retrospective is that I actually quite parts of the DD film, always did, even though as a complete film, it was a bit ropey, to say the least!! I think it tried to stay true to the character (DD fans please correct me if I am wrong), which is a lot more than some of the X Men films have done.

Oh, boy do I love the first Iron man movie. Watched again today with my 8 year old as we do every 6 weeks or so! I felt it was time to write my own tribute to what I think in time will be viewed as THE stand out Marvel film of the naughties for a number of reasons. Firstly, its hard to remember now, but in 2008 Marvel needed a bit of a boost. The first Marvel film was the original X Men movie which was great, but the third one had been a bit of a disaster. The Hulk film had divided opinion, Daredevil had been pretty cringeing, ditto Elektra. The Spiderman films had been hugely successful commercially, but the third one in particular was a largely joy-less experience, more a greek tragedy than a comic book film. In 2008, Marvel took a huge gamble and released one of its B list characters in a stand alone film , with the previously troubled but enigmatic Robert Downey Junior as its star. What followed was a hugely successful movie taking 612 million dollars at the Box office and being the first of the link in to Avengers movies.

Why is the film great? first off its funny. Yep, RDJ is just brilliant as Tony Stark. He really is Tony Stark, with all the wisecracks, arrogant postering etc. It started a new trend for Marvel films to be fun with gags and references that only the adults would snigger at! Secondly, Iron Man was sooo 21st century. A character relying on up to the minute technology and gadgets, all microchips, guns, rockets, lasers and fizz bang wallop. Thirdly the film was socially relevant. Marvel cleverly updated the origin story to include a US v Afghanistan fanatic twist, which was so relevant at the time, coming after some high profile executions of western people live on middle eastern film. We had the somewhat touchy subject of a US arms firm selling weapons to the middle east and the repercussions for Stark. In parts it was touching, Stark the arrogant billionaire turned peace missionary with a conscience.

Fourthly, we had the first film scenes where a man really looked like he was flying! Yes I know Superman returns had a few scenes a couple of years earlier, but Iron Man is just superb in this film. The scene where he flies in tandem with the F-15 Jet fighters (I think that's what they were) was brilliant. Things had really moved on from the Donner Superman movies!

Next, Iron Man took out the baddies and put 'em down for good! Here for the first time we had a character who could target gun holding assassins and shoot them all at once, whilst the innocent captives walked away safe!

Then we saw how Iron Man took out tanks and the like with missiles and rockets, how cool was that! No need for any Hulk like temper tantrums here. All done in a second....he also tanked a direct hit from a tank gun and walked away...

penultimately, the film wasn't overly sad, it wasn't a soap opera, yes stane died, but we didn't spend half the fan weeping over the demise of a character, unlike the Spiderman movies and X2/X3!

Finally, it re-introduced some classic rock into comic book films!. The Iron Man sound track at the end of the movie, c/o Black Sabbath and Back in Black by AC/DC at the beginning of the movie. As a fan of 70s rock I loved that touch.

This movie was a stand out because it was the first really successful single character comic book movie that didn't involve one of the big 3, Spiderman, Superman or Batman. In fact it allowed a second tier character to become Marvel's flagship character and how... The Iron Man films are still the highest grossing individual character films not involving Superman, Batman and Spiderman (even Thor 2 probably won't change that). It proved that a film featuring someone who wasn't one of the big 3 could sell movie tickets. Iron man 3 has taken 1.2 billion dollars, obviously helped by the Avengers, but it outsold Batman Dark Knight Rises for goodness sakes, which was the final episode of a glorious trilogy featuring the most popular character in super hero Christendom. In fact I wonder when a film involving a single character will ever beat it, to be honest. MOS didn't get anywhere near it, which is amazing when you think about.

If Iron Man had flopped its arguable whether the Avengers would have really got off the ground or been so popular. Iron Man is a cornerstone of the Avengers' success and will be leaned on heavily in Avengers 2.

So I believe in many ways this film will stand as the most important in marvel's history. It was a game-changer and I for one love it to bits!!

As well as being a massive comic book/superhero fan I love cars and in Europe the most successful super sports car of all time is the Porsche 911. Its been running since 1963 and is arguably the complete package. Its a car that be driven every day, taken on the track, it always wins the sports car of the year contest. There have been many rivals/imitators but nothing has taken the 911 down. Similarly Superman was arguably the original Superhero. I know there are other so-called superheroes who pre-date him, but in 1938 his first comic was published and here was the first comic book hero with super-powers, ready for the masses. Over 75 years he has cast a shadow over the comic book world, standing for decency, hope, compassion and ultimately, power! Watching Thor the Dark World, a really enjoyable film, only highlights what a complete package Superman is. Thor has power, yes, but he doesn't move as fast as Superman. Other characters have come and gone but none combines the "swiss army versatility" of the big blue. People will argue all day long whether Hulk is as strong or stronger, but the big green monster cannot fly, or dodge bullets, or guide down a stricken jumbo jet. Thor has his hammer, but without it he is grounded. Spiderman throws out webs and moves like a ninja, but if he is tagged by a bullet, he is in trouble. Iron Man is cool, but the guy inside the tin can is just a guy. Superman divides comic book fans like no other. To some he is the ultimate fan boy dream, to others an outdated relic from a nobler age, to others still he is boring and over-powered. But in reality he offers no end of story possibilities. You see, the original writers were fairly clever. He does have a weakness, yes its over-done (Kryptonite) but it means he can be taken down. In fact, he has more than one weakness, so the bad guys always have a chance, in fact a mere human, Lex Luthor has arguably given Superman more grief than any super-powered villain. His love for Lois Lane and humans in general is something his opponents can seize upon. His origin story is interesting. He is not from around here. People talk about Hulk getting stronger the angrier he gets, but similarly Superman is a giant solar battery! More sunlight=more power, cool! One of the reasons I really think Superman Is hated by many is simply the fact that he is such an all round package that he is hard for any opponent to take down. In the battles forum he will always have a chance, because no other popular character has his mix of speed, strength and durability. Add in that heat vision and he is one bad assed dude to mix it with. Perversely this means that the characters relying on brains and strategy have a better chance against him than the brawlers. In this year's MOS movie we also had probably the most spectacular demonstration of power and speed in his battle with Zod. It was epic and a great way to celebrate 75 years of Superman.

So Superman, still the complete package, I salute you. In 75 years from now, will anyone have come along to take that title from the Man of Steel, I wonder?

He isn't the strongest, the fastest, the wisest, best looking, most heavily muscled or all powerful character, but I think Stan Lee's genius was in any many ways best shown when he created Spiderman. You see I haven't yet found anyone who dislikes Spidey. He may not be in every one's top ten but I sense an enormous amount of good-will for the web-slinger. Why is that? Here are some reasons why..

1. As Pete Parker, he is the young hard up struggling man so many of us identify with.

2. He has cool powers but he isn't invincible. Punch him and he bleeds, shoot him and he goes down, his victories are hard fought through guile and effort. However, he is stronger than any normal person, faster and has those amazing webs! Every skinny teenager would love to be Spidey, kicking ten bells out of big guys!

3. He is New York's own and he isn't afraid of accepting a little help.. I love Spiderman 1 & 2, where the normal people group together to try and protect and help Spidey. Similar thing happened in the last film with the crane drivers. Other heroes, such as Superman don't have that connection because they are too powerful to need the assistance of normal everyday folk.

4. Unlike Batman he isn't permanently miserable, doesn't have a chip on his shoulder and more often than not has an upbeat outlook.

5. He is weak enough to be put in a good story with a non super powered character, but has sufficient powers and skills to give a super-powered character a run for their money.

6. Some will argue, but none of his films have yet been duffers. They were all massively successful. Sure, Spiderman 3 went a bit heavy and serious at times, but it was the first Super hero film to really delve deep into the psyche and insecurity of what it means to be a powerful hero and how this impacts those you care about.

7. His parents weren't gunned down and he did have the benefit of a loving aunt and uncle bringing him up. He is generally a well balanced individual, but he has seen tragedy with the death of his Uncle Ben.

8. You could put him with any other super hero group such as X Men, Avengers etc and he would fit in nicely and wouldn't over shadow them. The same cant always be said of the all powerful characters such as Hulk or Superman.

9. He was Marvel's first big hero, created to be a more human and down to earth equivalent of the all powerful DC heroes. Its worked!

10. Unlike some super-heroes, the actor isn't massively important in a spiderman film. Sure you need a good actor, but I don't remember many protests when Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield were cast as Spidey!

I'm not saying Spiderman is the most popular hero, just that in many ways he is the most loved. Both Batman and Superman have those who really don't like them, but I have yet to find anyone who says "I really don't like Spiderman".