Today, I had to stay home to help around the house since my wife is sick. I notice that last month’s cover of Entertainment Weekly, Melissa’s favorite magazine, shows an exclusive called “Meet The New Superman” making we wonder if yet another Superman launch is wise, but it actually looks pretty interesting. Even more interesting is the list of comic book hero movies set to release the next two summers. I love talking about comics and it has everything to with the print universe.

Green Lantern – June 17th 2011

Story: A test pilot is granted a mystical green ring that bestows him with otherworldly powers, as well as membership into an intergalactic squadron tasked with keeping peace within the universe.

Conclusion: Belonging to the DC Universe, the Green Lantern played by Ryan Reynolds will take flight June 17th 2011. I’m pretty sure this movie will make a lot of green at the box office. Blake Lively, Tim Robbins and Angela Bassett co-star. Whether it’ll be good is an entirely different story.

Thor – May 6th 2011

Story: Thor, played by Aussie actor Chris Hemsworth, is disgusted that he has been cast out of the heavenly realm and must warm us to the human race, thanks to an astrophysicist played by Natalie Portman.

Conclusion: I’m a little mixed by this trailer, but a few scenes look incredible and Im always rooting for Marvel leading up to The Avengers. Like many other films, this is most likely a story of a selfish brat who matures to become heroic which we’ve seen in Iron Man, Green Arrow and upcoming Green Lantern.

X-Men First Class – June 3rd 2011

Story: Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-MEN.

Conclusion: The trailer for this movie is almost as good as it gets. Its smart, set in 1963 and invites us to perceive historic events differently. After initially hearing about this movie I was skeptical, but now I’m excited. James McAvoy plays the professor and Magneto by Michael Fassbender. Kevin Bacon also stars as Sebastian Shaw.

Captain America: The First Avenger – July 12th 2011

Story: After being deemed unfit for military service, Steve Rogers volunteers for a top secret research project that turns him into Captain America, a superhero dedicated to defending America’s ideals.

Conclusion: This movie is going to have to surprise me because right now, it looks pretty painful. Chris Evans, who previously played the Human Torch, is Captain America and the suit looks horrendous. Hopefully, director Joe Johnston do the time period justice as it is set during WWII. Tommy Lee Jones also stars making the film more interesting for me despite his poor rendition of Two Face years ago in 1995′s Batman Forever.

The Avengers – May 4th 2012

Story: Not enough is known about the story yet.

Conclusion: Its exciting when movies bring many stars together, but this is strikingly more intriguing as it will be the first movie to host the characters already played in individual hero movies. Roll Call: Robert Downy Jr as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury, Scarlett Johansson as seductive Black Widow, Chris Hemsworth as Thor all return. Better yet, Mark Ruffalo joins in as Hulk and Jeremy Renner introduces us to the archer, Hawkeye while writer-director Joss Whedon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer directs. Need any more reasons why we should go see this movie?

The Wolverine – TBA 2012

Story: We know that Hugh Jackman returns as Wolverine. The movie will delve into Logan’s adventures as a Samurai and is probably not a sequel.

Conclusion: Its Wolverine, and Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) directs so it better be good. Entertainment Weekly will have to grade it an “F” to stop me from going to see it.

The Dark Knight Rises – July 20th 2012

Story: There isn’t enough to go on yet. This is Christopher Nolan’s last Batman movie as director.

Conclusion: We’ve heard that Johnny Depp is being vetted for the role for The Riddler, but Nolan recently confirmed he won’t add the character. We do know that Anne Hathaway has signed on to be Selina Kyle (aka Cat Woman) and Inception‘s Tom Hardy will play Bane, the chemically enhanced strongman who broke Batman’s back in 1993 comics and was poorly portrayed in 1997′s Batman & Robin. Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Michael Cane are expected to return (do I have to even mention Christian Bale?) At one time, we thought Christopher Nolan would be including some old unused scenes of Heath Ledger’s Joker, but that isn’t happening after all. This is probably the most anticipated hero movie for 2012.

The Amazing Spider-Man – July 3rd 2012

Story: Unknown. Its a reboot of the previous popular Spider-man movies, but will take place within the same framework and not erase the earlier films. Rather than retelling an origin, we’ll move on to new stories.

Conclusion: I have hundreds of Spider-Man comics, and I’m pleased to see the original comic book name, The Amazing Spider-Man, being used to reboot the movie franchise. This time The Social Network‘s Andrew Garfield will wear the Spidey suit.

Superman: Man of Steel – TBA 2012

Story: We only know that the Man of Steel may take on General Zod, the escaped Phantom Zone inmate formerly played by Terence Stamp on Superman and Superman II and may be played by Viggo Mortensen. Lindsay Lohan and Kevin Costner are rumored to star.

Conclusion: I thought Brian Singer’s 2006 Superman Returns was a nightmare. The casting of Brandon Routh was fair for Superman, but he’ll be replaced by British actor, Henry Cavill. I think General Zod is a fantastic villain for relaunch so we’ll see what happens.