Guide to 2007 Comic Book Movies

After the box-office success of movies like the two Spider-Man movies, the X-Men trilogy, and Batman Begins, among a list of many others, Hollywood producers have become more inclined to make more comic book movies. 2007 promises to be a full year of comic book movies. Although release dates are always subject to change, here is a brief list of some of the comic book movies fans can look forward to in 2007.

Ghost Rider (February 16): Ghost Rider has been heavily delayed, but will finally be released early in 2007. I'm still a little iffy about the choice of Nicolas Cage to play Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider, but that is mostly because I don't really like him. I've heard a lot of other fans who think that Cage can do the role justice, and perhaps they're right. Regardless, I think that the visual effects are going to be simply amazing for this movie--when I first saw the picture of Ghost Rider's motorcycle, I was awestruck. The only other reason to be leery of Ghost Rider is that it was written by and is directed by Mark Steven Johnson, who was also involved with Daredevil and Electra. Notice that I didn't mention those two when I was talking about successful comic book movies.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (March 23): Technically speaking, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would qualify as a TV show/comic book movie. I suspect that this one will have more to do with the TV show than the comic book, but I'm including it here anyway because it is at least marginally related to a comic book. I'm a little bit bothered by the fact that only two of the voice actors have been announced, but my excitement for this movie is enough to banish that worry. I secretly hope that they bring back the voice actors from the first three movies. Heaven knows that Corey Feldman could use the work. Director Kevin Munroe hasn't worked on any other major movies to date, so this will be an interesting test of his talents.