2011 was a great year for superheroes. Well non-green super- heroes, that is. But as we conclude the summer blockbusters of mutants, super soldiers, thunder gods and intergalactic green police, we gaze hopefully onto 2012 as we see the first movie team-up of its kind and the conclusion to the greatest Batman trilogy ever made.

Which begs the question: how are we supposed to watch super- hero movies after 2012?

“The Avengers” represents the culmination of the riskiest idea Marvel studios has ever put onto the screen; a team-up of their biggest franchises and characters. Starting with 2008’s “Iron Man” and “The Incredible Hulk,” Marvel studios began weaving references and characters between all of their films, leaving little hints that one day all of Earth’s superheroes would be forced to band together to face a common enemy.

Three films later, Marvel has fans drooling at the prospect of a proper trailer for “The Avengers,” having only released a teaser trailer simply showing off the cast. The stage is set for what could easily be- come the greatest superhero film of all time. Boasting an all-star cast and a director who might as well be considered God to many nerds, “The Avengers” could be the dawn of a new age of shared continuity between superhero films and a huge pay off to fans.

Also releasing in 2012 is “The Dark Knight Rises,” the sequel to the critically acclaimed “The Dark Knight” and the conclusion of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. Shrouded in more secrecy than Area 51, “The Dark Knight Rises” is one of the most anticipated movies ever.

Very few details have been re- leased pertaining to the plot and people have even doubted who the cast members are playing. Christopher Nolan promises it will be an epic conclusion that won’t disappoint.

But with these two behemoth movie franchises both headlining the summer movie season, it makes me wonder: how are we supposed to watch regular superhero movies after 2012?

After seeing a movie with all of Marvel’s big names how am I sup- posed to watch a movie with JUST Dr. Strange? Or JUST Spider-Man?

I feel like Marvel and DC have shot themselves in the foot with how successful their films have been.

Marvel faces the problem of having to go back to a single hero headlining their films. People accepted one of Marvel’s more absurd heroes, Thor, because they knew that he would become one of the Avengers, but will audience accept rather obscure heroes like Ant-Man?

As for DC’s films, after their Batman movies wrap up, they plan to release a Zack Synder directed Superman reboot. They had planned to do a Justice League movie feature Batman, Super- man, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman, but with the huge flop that the Green Lantern movie turned out to be, there has been speculation that DC may have abandoned the Green Lantern franchise. DC also planned to reboot Batman in the near future in preparation for the Justice League movie because they claimed that Nolan’s Batman was a different Batman than the one they wanted in their films.

Speaking of reboots, “The Amazing Spider-Man” also comes out in 2012 and will be a darker reboot of everyone’s favorite web- slinger. In attempt to distance themselves from the previous Spiderman films, Sony-Marvel has chosen to follow the original line of comics with mechanical web-shooters, Gwen Stacy as the primary love interest and the Lizard and Proto- Goblin as his main villains.

But the surprise hit this summer came from Fox-Marvel’s X- Men reboot, “X-Men: First Class” a prequel and tonal reboot of the franchise. Matthew Vaughn’s “First Class” showed how dark, serious and emotional the X-Men could be after the missteps that were “X3: The Last Stand” and “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”.

For now, we can all speculate on the future of comic adaptations and look forward to Batman’s last stand and finally seeing our favorite Marvel heroes share the screen. It’s a good time to be a nerd.