If you were to travel back in time just a few decades, look me directly in the eye and inform me that in 2016 there would be few, if any films hotter than comic book transfers.

It never seemed like a reality. Filmmakers were struggling to get the look and special effects up to snuff through the 90s, so when you saw a superhero movie, you knew it was a rarity. In 2016 however, it’s the expected, and the norm. Imagine pulling comic flicks from the lineup these days – raged out basement dwelling 30-somethings would overpower towns, torches and pitchforks wielded carelessly.

Well, don’t sweat it too much, nerds, we’re not going to see a drop-off of comic book films in the near future. We may never see comic book transfers fade into obscurity. This movement feels more like the birth of a new genre rather than the birth of a new fad.

Comic book movies are just too damn entertaining, gratifying and generally enjoyable to anticipate a departure from the Hollywood spotlight anytime soon.

Thank god. My inner Super Geek knows I’d cry two full rivers if the market began turning away from superhero movies. But as long as these pieces are doing the kind of numbers they’ve done throughout the first half of 2016, they’re here to stay.

Speaking of the success of these pictures, let’s take a look at how the focal four films released this calendar year have fared at the box office.