If you're looking for a hero, try your local comic store then go directly to the nearest movie theatre. With the success of X2, Hulk and League of Extraordinary Gentleman this summer, the red-hot comic book movie genre looks far from cooling anytime soon. In fact, with films such as Fantastic Four, Iron Man and the highly-anticipated Spider-Man sequel all gearing up, don't be surprised if 2004 is an even bigger year for comic book films than 2003 or 2002. Here's a quick rundown of where all the movies fanboys are waiting for stand from Hellboy to Batman to the long-awaited return of the Superman franchise.

Fantastic Four With director Peyton Reed ["Simon Birch") dropping out of the film after months of planning, Marvel Studio President Avi Arad says he's still hoping to see a big screen Fantastic Four debut shooting in December 2003 or January 2004 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Executive Producer Ralph Winters recently commented that he sees the Fantastic Four franchise as comparable to the white-hot X-Men franchise and he hopes to keep the campiness to a minimum and play up the action, adventure aspects of the team.

Iron Man Although screenwriters Miles Millar and Alfred Gough (the co-creators of "Smallville" and one of the teams that worked on the Spider-Man II script) say they didn't know much about Iron Man initially, the two are learning quickly. According to the team, they're about a third of the way through finishing their script for the Iron Man film, which is still hunting for a director.

"In Iron Man, he's putting on a suit of armor that protects his heart-I totally get it," producer Don Murphy tells Cinescape magazine. "To me it's always about, 'Can I see it as a movie?' So Iron Man works for me because of that very reason. He's not going to be Superman turning back the world. It's believable stuff."

Hellboy Already in production in Prague, Hellboy may be the surprise hit of the comic book genre. With Guillermo del Torro directing and staring Ron Pearlman (Blade II) as Hellboy, Selma Blair as Liz Sherman and Doug Jones as Abe Sapian, the movie seems to have such a buzz around it that Sony bumped the film up from a May 21, 2004 release date to April 2 launch.

"When I met with [Hellboy creator] Mike [Mignola], I told him that I'm going to make 'The Last Emperor' of cheesy monster movies," chuckles del Toro. "And to me, that's the comic book, in a way. The comic book, it's all about, how can you use your best artistic sensibilities to seriously render what is otherwise a really silly premise, with really outlandish creatures and characters? And with the movie, we take the approach that you have to take some licenses. We tried to make everything look oxidized or used or real, kind of like finding an origin and an explanation for everything."

Blade III David Goyer wrote the screenplays for the first two Blade films and now he's finally getting the chance to director his own vision of the vampire hunting, half human, half vampire Daywalker.

Goyer's currently planning to be in Vancouver to begin initial shooting by September and although most of the script secrets are kept behind lock and key by Goyer and his team, the director did say that the film will be much more open and takes place more in the world we all known, instead of the dark sewers that that last film took place in.

Batman Goyer's also teamed with director Christopher Nolan ("Memento") to write the screenplay for the new Batman film. According to Goyer, he's finished his draft of the initial script and it's now in Nolan's hands for tweaks and changes before it's turned in to the studio.

While everyone from Nolan's "Memento" star Guy Pearce to it-boy Ashton Kutcher have all been rumored to play the Dark Knight in the film, no star has been attached yet. But Nolan did give the London Metro some insight into his vision for the fifth Batman film.

"I think there is a tendency, particularly in Hollywood, to underestimate kids and the way in which they respond to narratives," revealed Nolan. "I think that if you show something incredible and take them to a different world, you don't necessarily have to be telling them the clearest or most obvious story."

Superman If Superman thought keeping his secret identity secret was tough, he should check out Warner Bros.' problems filling the costume and directing chair for his upcoming film.

With high-profile talent such as Ashton Kutcher to Josh Hartnet all being rumored to have passed on the part because of an implied three-picture deal to star as Superman, the film's still without a director and star. But all is not lost, according to sources as Warner Bros. the film may soon sign McG (Charlie's Angels) as the director and work off a draft of the script by Alias creator JJ Abrams.

Spider-Man 2 With production in full swing, director Sam Raimi's in high-gear as he plows towards another box office success. While Raimi and crew want to keep the details of the film's plot as secretive as possible a few nuggets of info have been revealed. First off, the Spider-Man costume has been slightly tweaked, Doc Ock will be the main villain in the film, Dr. Curt Connors will make an appearance but not as the Lizard and Mary Jane Watson will most definitely have a new love in her life for the sequel.

Want some more details? You're going to have to wait until the film opens on July 2, 2004, according to Raimi.

Mike Cotton is a staff writer for Wizard Magazine. For all the comic book news fit to print, check out Wizard on sale every month at comic book specialty shops and newsstands everywhere.

The Cotton Club Archive

August 7 , 2003 - HOLLYWOOD RUN DOWN July 31, 2003 - SPIDER-MAN 2 July 24, 2003 - BAG MAN July 17, 2003 - Moore or Less July 10, 2003 - Ink Test July 2, 2003 - HURRICANE WARNING June 25, 2003 - BANNER BANTER June 10, 2003 - PETER DAVID June 3 , 2003 - PAUL JENKINS May 28 , 2003 - GEOFF JOHNS May 21 , 2003 - BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS May 14 , 2003 - PHIL JIMENEZ May 9 , 2003 - Don't F[l]inch April 29 , 2003 - The X-Factors April 17 , 2003 - X2 Reviewed January 13, 2003 - Game Boy - WizKid’s HeroClix January 3, 2003- 2003 Bigger than 2002? December 20 , 2002 - Ring Bearer - A two-bit tour for ‘Two Towers’ novices December 13 , 2002 - ‘Sine of the Times December 6 , 2002 - Killer Read November 30, 2002 - Lex's World November 23, 2002 - Truth and Consequences November 15, 2002 - Triple X November 8 , 2002 - Giving the Devil his Due October 31, 2002 - Superhero DVD Preview October 25, 2002 - Mad Cow October 18 , 2002 - 80's a Go-GO October 11 , 2002 - Best Bets on Bats October 4, 2002 - Hunters & Pray September 27 , 2002 - The War Within September 19 , 2002 - Lee-Der of the pack. September 13 , 2002 - The Next Generation. September 6 , 2002 - Marvel Melee. August 30, 2002 - Breaking In. Joe Quesada reveals the ins and outs of getting work at Marvel. August 23, 2002 - Painted Into a Corner. An Interview with Greg Hildebrandt. August 16, 2002 - X-citing News on X-Men 2!