Marvel superheroes in film - in pictures

Captain America first appeared in print in 1941 and was hugely popular. The first part of a 15-chapter serial film was released in February 1944 with Dick Purcell as Captain America Photograph: Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy

Marvel fans had to wait until 1986 for the next theatrical release. Originally intended as an animation, Howard The Duck was a critical and box office flop Photograph: Moviestore Collection/Rex Features

In 1994 a low-budget version of The Fantastic Four, produced by Roger Corman and Bernd Eichinger, was completed. For reasons that have never been made clear the movie was never released.
Ben 'The Thing' Grimm was played by Michael Bailey Smith, Rebecca Staab is Invisible Girl, Alex Hyde-White is Mr Fantastic and Jay Underwood is The Human Torch Photograph: New Horizons/Allstar

In 1996 Marvel created Marvel Studios and things really picked up. The first film from the studio was Blade in 1998. Wesley Snipes plays Blade, a human-vampire hybrid who protects humans from vampires. A success at the box office, it spawned two sequels in 2002 and 2004 Photograph: New Line/Allstar

Another great success was 2000's X-Men directed by Bryan Singer and starring Hugh Jackman as Logan and Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier Photograph: 20th Century Fox/Allstar

2002's Spider-Man directed by Sam Raimi was nominated for 2 Oscars. Here Tobey Maguire takes evasive action from the Green Goblin's diabolical gadgets. Maguire starred in two more Spidey films in 2004 and 2007. The latter wasn't a great hit and it was deemed the franchise had run out of steam Photograph: Marvel Entertainment/Allstar

Daredevil in 2003 received mixed reviews. Ben Affleck starred as Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who fights for justice in the courtroom and out of the courtroom as the masked vigilante. Affleck has just changed sides to DC Comics – he is set to play the next incarnation of Batman Photograph: 20th Century Fox/Allstar

Fresh from his global success with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Ang Lee was the surprise choice to direct 2003's Hulk. The film grossed $245m worldwide but was still seen as something of a disappointment largely due to the CGI element Photograph: Universal/Allstar

Dolph Lundgren had appeared as The Punisher back in an unauthorised straight-to-video version in 1989. He didn't even wear the trademark skull T-shirt. In 2004 Marvel did their own version with Thomas Jane playing Frank Castle. It received mixed reviews mostly due to its grim feel. DVD sales were good Photograph: Lions Gate/Allstar

Jennifer Garner starred in 2005's Elektra, a spin-off from Daredevil. Even her sexy outfit didn't stop this from being, at the time, the lowest-grossing Marvel film since Howard The Duck Photograph: Marvel/Allstar

Fantastic Four was released in 2004. It starred Jessica Alba as Sue Storm, Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards, Chris Evans as Johnny Storm & Michael Chiklis As Thing. A massive success at the box office didn't stop Alba being nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Actress for her performance Photograph: 20 Century Fox/Allstar

Again, negative reviews but a box office success for Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze in 2007's Ghost Rider. Cage reprised the role in 2011's sequel Photograph: Columbia/Allstar

Former bad boy Robert Downey Jr's rehabilitation within the movie industry kicked off after his superb performance in 2008's Iron Man. Critically acclaimed the film was nominated for two Oscars Photograph: Marvel/Allstar

In 2008 Edward Norton took the lead as Bruce Banner in the well received re-boot The Incredible Hulk Photograph: Universal/Rex Features

Kenneth Branagh took the helm to direct 2011's Thor starring Chris Hemsworth. All building up nicely for The Avengers Photograph: Marvel Studios/Allstar

Chris Evans who had previously appeared in the Fantastic Four franchise took the lead in 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger. A classic tale of weed to hero with a lot of patriotism thrown in, the film was another huge success Photograph: Paramount/Everett/Rex

This is what the fans wanted. The Avengers, from left: Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Captain America, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man, Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk. The 2012 movie has it all and is the third highest grossing film of all time behind Avatar and Titanic Photograph: W.Disney/Rex Features

Actor Andrew Garfield was the man tasked with re-booting the Spider-Man franchise. 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man is similar to 2002's incarnation, covering the birth of the superhero, and Garfield's acclaimed performance means there is a sequel out next year Photograph: Columbia Pictures/Allstar

The popularity of the X-Men's Logan, played by Hugh Jackman, led to his own film, 2013's The Wolverine Photograph: 20th Century Fox/Allstar

So to now. Thor: The Dark World is about to hit the cinemas. No doubt it will be another big money-spinner as Marvel Studios goes from strength to strength. Treats in store? Captain America: A Winter Soldier, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man Photograph: Marvel Studios/Allstar