It has been quite a year for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming were big hits during the summer and both films have each raked in at least $300 million at the box office this year. In fact, it has been quite the year for superhero movies in general. As of this writing, five out of the top ten highest grossing films in the United States this year are superhero movies. Wonder Woman (#2), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (#3), Spider-Man Homecoming (#4), and The Lego Batman Movie (#10) have all done extremely well this year and, in some cases, better than expected.

The next big superhero movie everybody will have their eyes on this year is Thor: Ragnarok (November 3rd), the third film in the Thor franchise. Early reviews have some citing the new Thor movie as the best Marvel movie ever, which is quite the compliment considering how well their films have been reviewed over the years. The film will star the characters of both Thor and Hulk who were noticeably absent from Captain America: Civil War, which many fans considered an unofficial Avengers film because of all the superheroes they featured. Fans who were wondering where they were can now see them in action in the new film. Some notable casting additions for Ragnarok are Tessa Thompson and two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett. Thompson portrays the fierce warrior Valkyrie, while Blanchett will star as Thor’s villainous sister Hela. Part of the reason why Thor: Ragnarok has such great reviews is because of its humor, which many critics have pointed out in their reviews of the film. Ragnarok, like many other superhero films this year, is expected to do very well at the box office.

Superhero movies have been doing really well lately not only because of Marvel, which has been the top superhero movie franchise for about a decade now, but also because of the rise of DC Comics. For a while now, DC Comics has been known for producing movies weren’t known for being really good, including the first three movies of the new DC Extended Universe: Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Suicide Squad. In fact, if you were to look at the last twenty years of movies based on DC Comics, The Dark Knight franchise were the only films that were universally praised. This year, however, Wonder Woman changed things around with its staggering numbers at the box office and amazing reviews. Because of how well it did, people are really excited about the new Justice League film this November (let’s all hope it’s more like Wonder Woman than Batman v Superman, or Suicide Squad). Animated films have also contributed to the success of superhero movies, with films like The Lego Batman Movie and Big Hero 6 also being able to pull in big box office numbers and earn rave reviews.

Overall, the state of superhero movies is in great hands and will continue to be the biggest reason why people continue going to the movies.