I remember the Summer of 2008 very well. I had just graduated from college in May and I was treated to Iron Man, the first of the newly minted Marvel Studios films. It was followed in June by The Incredible Hulk, a film I liked as much, if not a little bit more. The Hulk was, of course, the biggest name Marvel Studios still retained, with Spider-Man and The X-Men off at other companies, making plenty of money. July soon rolled around and The Dark Knight was released. I saw it five times in theaters.

I remember thinking “Man, it’s a shame Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk had such stiff competition, I bet they would have been bigger.”

I guess, in my ignorance, I was right.

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