An army of superheroes are duking it out in the cinemas this summer, including, clockwise from left, Batman, the Hulk, Hellboy and Hancock. (Warner Pictures, Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures)In the immortal words of the Thing, “It’s clobberin’ time!” This summer, multiplexes across North America will be invaded by an army of superheroes ready to slug it out for your entertainment dollar. Among those mixing it up: a classic cape-wearing do-gooder, a cigar-chomping Hell-spawn and a washed-up crime fighter who’ll put off saving the world to get his drink on.

They have a tough act to follow. Marvel Comics’ Iron Man, released last month, has already set the bar high, winning critical plaudits and rocketing box-office receipts into the stratosphere. Marvel hopes to work that same magic on June 13, when it unleashes The Incredible Hulk – the second attempt to put the angry green giant on the big screen. July 2 brings the debut of Hancock, a satirical take on the superhero genre with Will Smith as the super-powered rummy of the title. Then, on July 11, director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) revisits the Hellboy series with Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Finally, Christopher Nolan whips out The Dark Knight (July 18), his eagerly anticipated sequel to Batman Begins.

Will The Dark Knight deliver on its promise? Can the Hulk come back after the bruising he received on his last film outing? Does a no-name superhero project – even one starring Will Smith – stand a chance against the beloved Marvel and DC brands? Herewith, a guide to the Summer of Superheroes, in which we assess the aforesaid movies and their box-office muscle.

The late Heath Ledger's anticipated performance as the Joker has made The Dark Knight the must-see superhero film of the summer. (Warner Bros. Pictures)

THE FAVOURITE

The Dark Knight (July 18)

The superhero: Batman

His secret identity: Bruce Wayne, a wealthy industrialist

His superpowers: Famously the original superhero without super assets, he nonetheless possesses Ninja warrior skills, armour, a utility belt’s worth of gadgets and some cool wheels. (He’ll be taking the Batcycle for a spin this time out.)

The villains: The Joker, Two-Face

The romantic interest: Rachel Dawes

The background: Created by Bob Kane for DC Comics in 1939, Batman’s screen history includes a pair of 1940s movie serials and the famously campy 1960s TV series. The first major film franchise began in 1989, with Tim Burton’s memorable Batman, starring Michael Keaton as the Caped Crusader and Jack Nicholson as the Joker. It skidded to a halt eight years and three sequels later with Joel Schumacher’s laughable Batman & Robin.

In 2005, Warner Bros. rebooted the franchise with Batman Begins, directed by the gifted Christopher Nolan (Memento, Insomnia). Like Burton’s Batman, Nolan’s film drew on the comic’s dark, pulpy origins, but also dug deeper into its elaborate mythology. A bulked-up Christian Bale brought his customary intensity to Bruce Wayne/Batman, while an unflappable Michael Caine redefined the role of faithful butler Alfred. Gary Oldman, looking like Ned Flanders, was unrecognizable as Batman’s honest-cop ally, Sgt. Gordon. The A-list cast also included Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman and Katie Holmes.

For the sequel, Bale is back as Batman, along with Caine, Oldman and Freeman. Maggie Gyllenhaal replaces Holmes as Wayne’s childhood pal, lawyer Rachel Dawes, and Aaron Eckhart comes on board as district attorney-turned-vigilante killer Harvey Dent/Two-Face. The main attraction, though, is the late Heath Ledger, giving one of his last – and, perhaps, creepiest – screen performances.

The inside dope: Easily the frontrunner in this summer’s superhero race. The buzz began building over the holiday season, when the first trailer surfaced, focusing on Ledger's seedy, chillingly sardonic Joker. A deranged derelict with a red grin like a raw wound, this was definitely not Jack Nicholson’s preening novelty-shop villain. Then came Ledger’s tragic overdose death in January, with reports that playing the role had taken a heavy psychological toll on the 28-year-old actor. (“Well, I warned him,” said Nicholson.) Now The Dark Night is a macabre must-see.

The box office prediction: It’ll be huge.

Dr. Bruce Banner's mean, green (and digital) alter ego confronts Tim Roth (right) in The Incredible Hulk. (Universal Pictures)

THE COMEBACK

The Incredible Hulk (June 13)

The superhero: The Hulk

His secret identity: Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, a nuclear physicist

His superpowers: To quote the cheesy 1960s cartoon, “Doc Bruce Banner, belted by gamma rays, turns into the Hulk” – meaning he becomes a mean, green goliath with shirt-ripping muscles, mind-boggling strength and one helluva leap.

The villain: Emil Blonsky, a.k.a. the Abomination

The romantic interest: Betty Ross

The background: The Hulk has been a Marvel mainstay since he first rampaged across the pages of his own comic in 1962. A counterculture icon in the Vietnam era, the big fella bounded on to TV screens (in the person of body-builder Lou Ferrigno) in 1977. But unlike the popular series (which ran for five seasons), his 2003 feature-film debut was a bust. Directed by Ang Lee, Hulk had a buoyant visual style – Lee cleverly used split-screen to mimic comic-strip panels – but was freighted with a ponderous back-story. Eric Bana’s Banner was dullsville and, worse, his digitally animated alter ego drew unflattering comparisons to Gumby.

The new film, helmed by Louis Leterrier of the Transporter series, is clearly trying to erase that impression. Its Hulk looks a whole lot meaner, the veins in his neck bulging like overfed cobras. Edward Norton, a livelier actor than Bana, stars as Banner (Norton also had an uncredited hand in the script). Liv Tyler plays his befuddled love, Betty Ross, and William Hurt is her dad – the Hulk’s indefatigable military nemesis, Gen. “Thunderbolt” Ross. The main baddie, though, is Tim Roth as twisted soldier Emil Blonsky, who takes his own gamma dose to become a Hulk-worthy foe dubbed the Abomination. The picture was shot on location in Toronto (no word on whether the Hulk goes King Kong on the CN Tower).

The inside dope: Hulkophiles are regarding the new film warily. They weren’t reassured when news came out that Norton was squabbling with Marvel Studios in post-production. (Norton reportedly felt character development was being sacrificed to the CGI.) The trailers are action-packed, but there’s not a lot of humour in evidence, which was one of the winning qualities of Iron Man.

The box-office prediction: Let’s face it, no matter how good the FX are, the smash-’em-up Hulk has limited appeal to anyone other than adolescent boys. It’ll open big, then … pffft.

Will Smith is a reckless, hard-drinking superhero in the action comedy Hancock. (Sony Pictures)

THE DARK HORSE

Hancock (July 2)

The superhero: Hancock

His secret identity: N/A

His superpowers: Superhuman strength, supersonic flight and a super thirst for bourbon.

The villain: A surprise. (Click here if you’re not afraid of spoilers.)

The romantic interest: Mary Embrey

The background: Hancock, under one title or another, has been bouncing around Hollywood for more than a decade. Based on an original script (Tonight, He Comes) by Vincent Ngo, it was initially a directing project for Tony Scott, then for Michael Mann. Columbia Pictures finally acquired it as a Will Smith vehicle and Peter Berg (The Kingdom, Friday Night Lights) signed on to direct. It was rewritten by X-Files scriptwriter Vince Gilligan and retitled John Hancock before being reduced to just Hancock. (The fact that John Hancock was the first Founding Father to sign the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Hancock is opening in advance of the Independence Day weekend is surely pure coincidence.)

The film stars Smith as a hard-drinking superhero with a big image problem, who turns to PR consultant Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman) to get him back in the public’s good graces. Things get complicated when Hancock falls for Ray’s wife, Mary (Charlize Theron).

The inside dope: The movie has built a terrific buzz, thanks largely to its hilarious “whale” trailer. (A drunken Hancock rescues a beached whale by recklessly flinging it back out to sea. “I don’t even remember that,” he mumbles later when he sees the video footage. “Well,” says Ray, “Greenpeace does.”) But that preview may be deceptive. As director Berg told the New York Times, “The ad campaign for this movie is much friendlier than the film.” Word has it that Hancock’s satiric take on the downside of superherodom is edgier than you’d expect from a popcorn movie. Or it was. The filmmakers had to wrestle with the ratings board to avoid the dreaded R – the kiss of death for a summer blockbuster. (Apparently, scenes involving statutory rape and drinking with a minor have been cut.)

The box-office prediction: Will Smith fans aren’t afraid of edgy – the sombre I Am Legend was a massive moneymaker. Hancock will whip The Incredible Hulk’s ass.

Hellboy (Ron Perlman), the wisecracking demon with a heart of gold, returns in Hellboy II: The Golden Army. (Universal Pictures)

THE ALSO-RAN

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (July 11)

The superhero: Hellboy

His secret identity: The demon Anung un Rama

His superpowers: Infernal strength, fireproof flesh and a right hand made of stone.

The villain: Prince Nuada

The romantic interest: Liz Sherman

The background: A relative newbie to the super-ranks, Hellboy first surfaced in the pages of Dark Horse Comics in 1993. Creator Mike Mignola’s offbeat hero is a demon expelled from Hades as a child during an aborted Nazi occult ritual. Adopted and raised by the U.S. Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defence (BPRD), he’s become a force for good, fighting a plethora of supernatural scum. His mentor/father figure is British paranormal expert Prof. Trevor (Broom) Bruttenholm. His sidekicks include the human/amphibian Abe Sapien and the pyrokinetic Liz Sherman.

Guillermo del Toro, the Hitchcock of fantasy filmmakers, brought his signature arty/creepy style to the popular 2004 Hellboy feature, which also captured the comic’s Stan Lee-style sarcasm. Ron Perlman starred as the wisecracking, crimson-skinned HB, a superhero-as-ordinary Joe who goes about battling evil like a plumber fixing a leaky pipe. John Hurt lent some across-the-pond class as Broom, Selma Blair played a dark and damaged Liz and Doug Jones (the “Pan” of Pan’s Labyrinth) embodied the scaly Abe. Arrested Development’s Jeffrey Tambour co-starred as BPRD director Tom Manning, Hellboy’s antagonist-cum-comic foil. Hellboy II will find the whole crew back, this time to put down a rebellion of mythical creatures who want to take over the real world, led by elven troublemaker Nuada (Luke Goss).

The inside dope: After the multi-award-winning Pan’s Labyrinth, del Toro was able to pull out the stops for his Hellboy sequel. Expect a feast of Pan-type spirits and monsters, tapping into the director’s fascination with ancient mythology. But don’t expect it to outstrip its better-known competitors at the box office. The first Hellboy earned less than $100 million. In comparison, Batman Begins has grossed more than $371 million worldwide and even Ang Lee’s tepid Hulk made $245 million. Will Smith’s last movie, I Am Legend, took in a whopping $584 million.

The box-office prediction: On the other hand, del Toro and Hellboy now have greater brand recognition. The sequel will out-perform the original easily.

Martin Morrow writes about the arts for CBCNews.ca.