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Max Braden: Are we limiting this to just Marvel? Because even after all this discussion I still don't know which universe Superman, Batman, or Spider-Man belongs to, and I don't really care. As a moviegoer I just know I want two things from a comic book movie: good writing, and the wow factor. I think the mature renaissance in comic book movies began with Blade and then X-Men, with some help from Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. These projects had the look of serious studio backing, and also took themselves seriously. It just takes a glance at the trailer to see that Punisher: War Zone isn't in the same league. Ghost Rider came across as a lame attempt to cash in on the genre, but its box office success was at least attributable to the wow factor.

Sean Collier: Let's not overlook inspired casting choices. Everyone not named Katie Holmes in either Batman film was a stroke of genius, as was Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man. Ben Affleck as a superhero? No. Nicolas Cage? Also no. Even Tobey McGuire as Spider-Man was breaking the mold enough to turn heads. Contrary to popular belief, action films of all stripes benefit tremendously from having great actors on board - this is why Jurassic Park is awesome and Road House is not. (And no Ben Gazzara debates, please.)

Scott Lumley: I know not a lot of people were impressed by Daredevil, but I actually feel like the studio and the director tried to be very respectful of the material in that one. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner were pretty good casting choices as Matt Murdock and Elektra Natachos. I'm not sure I can get behind Michael Clarke Duncan as the Kingpin or Colin Farrell as Bullseye, however. I didn't have any problems with the special effects in Daredevil, either, as I thought the "radar Sense" was quite well done and rather creative. The movie only really goes off the rails when Farrell comes into the scene as I thought he might have been the single worst comic book villain I'd seen yet.

Whatever the result, I don't think we can put the quasi failure of Daredevil at the feet of Affleck and I'm not even sure we can call it a failure. It did make $179 million worldwide against a $78 million production budget. $101 million seems more like a success than a failure to me.

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