2018 was another great year to be a comic book movie fan

As a worker in corporate America for a good portion of my life, I’m breaking this post up by quarter. The first quarter of the year was good, the second quarter was great, the third quarter was ok, while the fourth quarter has gotten off to a slow start. I’m hoping that the Christmas month closes out the comic book movie year with a bang.

First Quarter (January-March)

It starts and ends with Black Panther. Released on February 16, Ryan Coogler’s brilliant superhero odyssey followed the path of T’Challa after the events of Captain America: Civil War. The film not only connected well with the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it connected with audiences and critics alike. It raked in $1.3 billion worldwide and a near-perfect 97% Rotten Tomatoes score.

Second Quarter (April-June)

Given this quarter marks the end of winter in the U.S., it appropriately heated up the genre like no other.

On April 27, this happened.

Nothing else needed to come out after Avengers: Infinity War, but we got more. Although not as great as its predecessor, Deadpool 2 was a blast of a time. Ryan Reynolds continued to show why he was born to play the role.

I hope you did not think I would exclude Incredibles 2. Although it’s animated, it’s still a darn good movie. One could argue that only Batman Begins and The Dark Knight match the quality of the first two Incredibles movies, as a one-two punch in the genre.

Third Quarter (July-September)

I think that Ant-Man and the Wasp gets lost in the MCU shuffle because it came out in the same year as the aforementioned Black Panther and Infinity War. That is unfair. The fact that the first Ant-Man is very good is a marvel (pun intended), considering the character’s unspectacular powers. The fact that the sequel is arguably better than its predecessor is even more amazing. I had my doubts when Edgar Wright left the project, but director Peyton Reed has shown his craft and then some.

Fourth Quarter

I must admit. I still have not seen Venom.  Most people who have seen it have told me that I am not missing anything. While a few others have said that while it’s not great it has been a guilty pleasure. I guess I’ll wait until it’s on-demand television.

However, the year ain’t over yet! We still have DC’s lone movie release, Aquaman, Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and…

Check back in a month, as I will list the top three comic book/superhero movies of 2018!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!