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Kim Hollis: With two post-Avengers titles released now, what are your current thoughts on the Marvel franchise?

Jason Barney: It is hands down the biggest movie product right now, and that doesn't take into account the toys. Keeping the discussion just related to the films, though, we have never seen this level of support for a group of characters or a long term storyline. Domestically, there have only been 14 films to make over $405 million dollars, 2 of them are Marvel products and were released within the last 18 months (Avengers and Iron Man 3).

Globally, the support is even more pronounced. Iron Man 3 and Avengers are two of the top five grossing films internationally....ever. You don't have to go that far down the list to get to Iron Man 2's $623 million worldwide take. We are two films removed from Avengers, and we are looking at another huge take. Sure Thor may not produce the numbers of Iron Man...but that is academic. Marvel and Disney are looking at a huge profit and movie fans get teased along the path to Avengers 2.

It is scary to think about the potential for future films. Just scary.

Edwin Davies: I think that The Avengers as a brand is astonishingly healthy, and whole none of the individual plays are as big of a draw as all of them together (though Iron Man gets pretty close) they have all become mightier through their association. This suggests that The Avengers 2 will have a shot at being the biggest film of all time, especially since Marvel is being very careful when it comes to ensuring that the lead up films are pretty good and don't piss too many people off (though there are elements of both Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World that have been pretty divisive). I'm not entirely convinced that this magic will extend to Guardians of the Galaxy, which seems too crazy to me for it to become a breakout success, but I'm not ruling anything out where Disney and Marvel are concerned at this point.

Felix Quinonez Jr.: I think that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is simply killing it from a commercial stance. They seem to be what Pixar was at its peak but on steroids. They are making so many smart moves. They definitely know how to market each movie as not only an event but also a continuing chapter in the Marvel saga so it seems like you have to see them all (I would have anyway). And the connection between these movies makes each one also a commercial for the next one. It almost seems like none of them really end, you just get a "to be continued" and then get ready to come back a few months later.

But from a creative point of view I have to say I'm a little concerned. And I am definitely someone who loves these movies and wants to see them succeed. I haven't seen Thor 2 yet so I can't speak about its quality but I hate to say that I was very disappointed with the way Iron Man 3 began Phase 2. When anyone has this kind of success it's obvious that they aren't going to want to rock the boat, which usually puts a damper on chances being taken, and it stifles creativity. It seemed to me that Iron Man 3 was a definite slide towards playing it safe. Where the original Iron Man was bold and fresh the third chapter just seemed too scared to deviate from the formula. Sure they added some buddy cop movie elements to the mix but otherwise it seemed like a total rehash. Even Robert Downey Jr.'s performance was starting to feel stale. It seemed like the nuance was removed and only the superficial elements were left. Even his trauma from the events of The Avengers was mostly played for cheap laughs. I thought that could have been a very interesting plot point but it wasn't the case. There's no doubt that they are doing a wonderful job at connecting these movies to create a "cinematic universe" but hopefully they also put energy into making each movie stand on its own.

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