The top 10 continues where #11 left off, with an Avenger. The God of thunder returns in the wake of the events of The Avengers. Thor and his fellow Asgardians of Asgard must battle an evil alien race called the Dark Elves, who are led by a former Dr. Who (Christopher Eccleston). All main characters from the first film and the actors who played them return, with the exception of Josh Dallas who played Fandral, one of the Warriors Three. Dallas turned down the role to focus on his tv show Once Upon A Time. Taking over as Fandral is everyone's favorite accidental spy, Chuck (Zachary Levi)!
The Wolverine fits into the X-Men franchise, but not exactly a sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine as one might think. It actually takes place after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand. The story takes Logan to Japan where he will confront the Silver Samurai and battle inner demons. The film is directed by James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma, Walk the Line) and co-stars a cast of relative unknowns, which can sometimes be a great thing. This is the last of my Marvel Comics-based films, but there are two more films upcoming on this list based on other comics/graphic novels, so look out for that.
Inspired by the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, this film takes place before the events of The Wizard of Oz movie. Oz the Great and Powerful tells the story of how Oscar Diggs (James Franco) travels to Oz and eventually becomes the great and powerful Wizard. Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz co-star in this film directed by Sam Raimi (Spider Man Trilogy, Evil Dead Trilogy). In typical Raimi fashion, his brother Ted Raimi and good friend Bruce Campbell appear in the film in small roles/cameos. In fact Campbell and Sam Raimi have worked together on nine films (plus Hercules and Xena series) and Ted Raimi has appeared in those same nine films (and two shows) plus one more of his brother's film (Drag Me to Hell).
Machete began as a fake trailer from Robert Rodriguez, turned into a feature-length film and now has a sequel. Danny Trejo returns as the former Mexican Federali and is now being hired by the US President (Charlie Sheen) to take down a dangerous drug lord (Mel Gibson). Kills will no doubt follow the same format of the first film. There will be lots of action, blood and fun weapons. Jessica Alba and Michele Rodriguez reprise their roles and are joined by a bevy of beautiful women (Sofia Vergara, Lady GaGa, Alexa Vega, Amber Heard) and aging actors (Sheen, Gibson, Antonio Banderas, Cuba Gooding Jr, William Sadler). Rodriguez handles this type of material well and Trejo is the perfect fit in the starring role.
The sequels continue with a second installment of one of my favorite 2010 films, Kick-Ass. The story is about a boy who decides to be a superhero with the help of some other wannabe heroes. **SPOILER ALERT** Nic Cage's character, which was one of my more favorable Cage roles, was killed off in the first film so he won't be returning. The film is based on a comic-book and it look as if they are introducing new characters from the comic to the films. Most notably is Jim Carrey playing Colonel Stars and Stripes, who I believe is on the side of good. One thing I really liked about the first film was that unlike other superhero films, Kick-Ass was dark and very adult-themed. Hopefully they will stick with that for the sequel.