Every year, it seems like more and more superhero movies are coming out. Can anyone even remember the cold, bitter years of the 90s, when we didn’t have this glorious glut of comic book films? Those were dark days indeed. But are we reaching some kind of superhero movie zenith? When are we going to reach the peak and then start coming down again? It’s going to happen someday, could it be 2013? Because there are enough superhero and comic book movies coming out this year that I was able to make a list! And can any of them even possibly live up to The Avengers or The Dark Knight trilogy?

Especially considering at least three of the films are almost direct sequels or pseudo-continuations?

Avengers vs. JLA? Maybe someday…

When researching this list, I didn’t even know or remember that half of these films are even coming out this year. I try to stay abreast of such developments, but there are so many superhero movies being made or expected to be made that I just lose track. I can still remember when we marked our calendars to expect the next big comic book movie. Now I’m just going to relax and let them come as they will. I mean, we’re pretty set for new films and sequels for the next two to three years at least. For good or ill. But this year looks like it might have more winners than losers.

6. Kick-Ass 2

Does anybody else want Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl to fall in love?

I loved the first Kick-Ass movie, though I’ve only ever skimmed the comics. Which is probably a good thing, because from what I’ve seen of the comics, the story and twists aren’t nearly as good as they are in the movie. Which is kind of weird, considering writer Mark Millar probably had a movie in mind when he was writing Kick-Ass. And we know for a fact that when he was writing Kick-Ass 2 that everybody knew it was going to be made into a movie. I wonder how different the stories will be this time…though once again, I haven’t read any of the Kick-Ass 2 comics. Still, Kick-Ass brings a wild, spastic, real-world dynamic to superhero movies. These aren’t larger-than-life gods and geniuses fighting for the fate of the world. It’s a bunch of average dudes putting on costumes and beating the crap out of each other, which has always been entertaining.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Chloe Moretz are returning as Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl, and both were fantastic in the first film. In Kick-Ass 2, they decide to start and join an entire team of average guy superheroes, led by Colonel Stars & Stripes (played by Jim Carrey). No doubt he’s going to be absolutely insane. Christopher Mintz-Plasse is returning as the Red Mist (or his new name, The Mother Fucker). That means we’ll probably see more super-villainy instead of the average crime/mob stuff of the first film. I hope they don’t stray too far from the series’ grounded roots. There’s also going to be the side plot of Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl dealing with normal life, like graduating from high school or entering high school respectively. That part should be just as entertaining as the superheroics, I think.

Kick-Ass 2 will hit theaters on June 28.

5. The Wolverine

If the movie is half as cool as this poster, it will be a masterpiece

I’m actually kind of surprised that this movie ever got made. X-Men Origins: Wolverine is one of the worst mainstream superhero movies of the modern era. And it has the absolute worst name. Hugh Jackman was awesome as Wolverine, like always, and I loved the Blob. But the rest of that film was crap. Let’s not even talk about Deadpool. It was a lackluster spin-off of the already failing X-Men franchise. So why did anyone think it deserved a sequel? Especially after the success of X-Men: First class? I guess the people at Fox just want to make a good Wolverine movie. He’s arguably the most popular character at Marvel Comics. Surely somebody thinks they can make some money on that. But then a strange thing happened. The people behind The Wolverine decided to forgo the usual X-Men franchise superheroics and instead make a badass, artsier film about Wolverine in Japan. I’m actually kind of excited to see what happens.

Not much has been released yet about the plot, except that it’s going to be an adaptation of the classic 1982 story by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller Wolverine went to Japan, trained to be a samurai, fell in love and then lost her. So maybe director James Mangold will tell a really cool, really deep story about Wolverine’s search for inner peace and lost love. Or maybe the Silver Samurai will have optic blasts and his swords will extend from his forearms. It’s happened before.

The Wolverine slices its way to the big screen on July 26.

4. Thor: The Dark World

No good posters yet, the bastards

As we’ll see later on this list, most of the hype in this post-Avengers world is for Iron Man 3, and for good reason. But guess what, Thor has a sequel coming out this year as well. Fancy that. Kenneth Branagh has stepped down as director, but they tapped Alan Taylor from Game of Thrones to take over for him. And word has it we’ll be looking at a grittier, more viking-enthused project, which sounds good to me. I thought the first Thor was an alright film, but there were a lot of things I wasn’t too pleased with, at least in hindsight. I think giving Asgard and Thor a more Game of Thrones-feel is a brilliant idea. Put him in the thick of battle, in the mud and blood, raining hammer blows down upon his foes! That would make an awesome film!

The story is going to be loosely based on an old Walt Simonson masterpiece about Malekith the Dark Elf. Malekith (played by Christopher Eccelston) wants to bath the universe in darkness, I think, and only Thor and his pals can stop him. While at the same time, I’m sure we can see further development in Thor’s romance with Jane Foster. And Loki will be back, perhaps in some kind of wild card role. Maybe he’ll actually do something heroic. That would be pretty cool. And would it be too much to ask to see Thor bury his hammer into some evil dark elf skull? We shall have to wait and see. I expect this movie to be pretty neat, but I don’t think it’s success or failure is really going to alter the upcoming Marvel landscape any. Thor is probably the weakest of the Big Three solo Avengers franchises. At least in my opinion. But then how cool would it be if there are kids out there today who absolutely love Thor?

Thor: The Dark World will bring the thunder on Nov. 8.

3. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

Dames! Amiright, fellas?

Holy cow, you guys, the Sin City sequel is really happening. I didn’t think this day would ever come. I have never read Frank Miller’s legendary series, but I can still remember salivating over the first movie in 2005. Has it really been that long? The black and white, the sparse use of color, the mood, the noire narration, the powerful characters; the first Sin City was a cinematic masterpiece, as far as I’m concerned. It was pure gold. So the idea that they’re making a sequel has me very excited. Will they be able to capture the same sort of lightning in a bottle? Will magic strike twice? Something like that? I sure hope so. Both Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller are back as writers and directors, and most of the same actors are back. So everything is set up for a return to glory!

The story is going to mainly be about A Dame to Kill For, one of the original Sin City graphic novels that simply wasn’t used in the first film.  Clive Owen isn’t coming back as Dwight, he’s being replaced by Josh Brolin. But that’s supposed to make sense since Dwight underwent cosmetic surgery to change his face. Sadly, Michael Clarke Duncan passed away last year and won’t be back to play Manute, who has a bigger role in this film. That’s a real shame. But the movie should still be awesome. Miller has also written some new material specifically for the movie. But comic book fans know that Frank Miller kind of went off his rocker in the past 10 years. And Frank Miller’s The Spirit film in 2008 was terrible. But here’s hoping his new contributions are just as good.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For will smell like angels oughta smell on Oct. 4.

2. Iron Man 3

Sadly, Iron Man 3 doesn’t get a snazzy sub-title like Thor

This is probably going to be a very good movie. I know threequels have a tendency to be terrible, but the Iron Man films are on really solid ground. Robert Downey Jr. is coming back, all the other actors are coming back. Marvel is riding very high on the wave of Avengers love. And the sexy beast himself, Ben Kingsley, is stepping up to play the Mandarin. The trailers look awesome. Director John Favreau may be stepping down, but director Shane Black is stepping up. His film Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang was great, and starred Robert Downey Jr. So everything looks good for another stellar Iron Man movie. But as I’ve been alluding to in this list, I can’t really say that I’m excited for this movie. Not as excited as I was for previous superhero movies. Now they’re just kind of expected. And I expect Iron Man 3 to be very entertaining. But this will be Iron Man’s fourth starring movie. He’s just not very exciting anymore. The initial thrill of seeing an Iron Man movie is gone. Though I’ll probably be singing a different tune once I’m in the theater.

Not many specifics have been released about the plot so far, but it looks like the Mandarin is going to show up and lay waste to Tony Stark’s empire. Stark is already suffering some PTSD after battling aliens in The Avengers, and he has since invented Extremis, a new program that gives him mental command over his armor – which might be turned against him, as the trailers have shown one of his armors coming to life and attacking him. Basically it looks like Tony Stark is going to some very dark, very scary places, and I am totally cool with that.

Iron Man 3 kicks off the superhero movie season on May 3.

1. Man of Steel

Haven’t you always wanted to see Dark Superman?

As much as I may be a huge fan of The Avengers franchises, it’s Man of Steel that’s holding the top spot on this list. Because Man of Steel is an unproven vehicle, with so much riding on its success or failure. Can DC resurrect the Superman franchise? Can they even make a good superhero film that doesn’t star Batman? Can they get their act together and actually create a viable Justice League franchise, like they’ve been promising? Or will this film crash and burn, turning Warner Bros. into even more of a laughing stock? We just don’t know! So much could go wrong, but then so much could go right! I’ve been loving the trailers so far, and I am a huge fan of director Zach Snyder. Watchmen and 300 were amazing films, so I’m very excited to see what he does with Superman. I have hope.

Again, not much in the way of story has been released so far, even with a few trailers out. We know that it’s going to be another origin story, with a lot more emphasis on Clark Kent’s struggle to find his place in the world. And we know that General Zod is going to be the villain again. It looks to me like Clark’s going to be pretty wishy washy until Zod shows up and attacks the Earth, and only then does Clark find the strength within himself to use his powers to repel the invasion. He’s also going to spend some time in hand-cuffs, because the people of Earth will probably be very suspicious of him at first. Makes sense to me. I don’t mind seeing the origin story or Zod again, as long as Snyder does something fun with them. Of course, he better do something fun with the entire movie. But we shall see.

Man of Steel will decide the fate of the entire DC superhero movie universe on June 14.

Those are my choices, what superhero and comic book movies are you guys and girls most looking forward to this year? Are there any movies that I forgot to add? Do you think Man of Steel is going to soar or crash and burn? Let me know in the comments!