Marvel fans can party a little extra hard on Free Comic Book Day this weekend because a handful of the universe’s most notable characters have now retuned home.

Comic book movies have been one of the biggest film genres for the last decade, but not every comic book film has been a success. In fact, a few have been outright duds. Though there is no exact science to why some films fail and other don’t, a look at box office receipts does allow for speculation. Though Marvel titles The Punsisher, Blade, Daredevil, and Ghost Rider have all found some success being adapted to film, it does not take much research to realize other titles such as The Avengers and Spider-Man have performed far better. One reason for this may be the popularity of the characters, but I’d argue the overall quality of the final product says a lot as well, and that responsibility falls on the studio. Marvel Studios have yet to let viewers down and as such, people support their features. People want to see good films, it’s simple economics. Unfortunately, all four of the aforementioned characters have not been treated too kindly in the world of film, but all those wrongs can now be corrected (just don’t hold your breathe on anything happening right away).

But can you erase memories like these?

In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Marvel chief Kevin Feige revealed that the film rights to The Punsisher, Blade, Daredevil, and Ghost Rider franchises have returned to Marvel. The company is now in control of the properties and able to create new films based on the characters whenever they desire. Hated Ben Affleck in Daredevil? They can fix that. Wish John Travolta wasn’t so awful in The Punisher? They can make another film with a new actor as the villain.

Thank you, Blade

Just because Marvel now has the ability to reboot these characters does not necessarily mean new films will be on the way anytime soon. As Feige explains, “Whenever a character comes back to us, it’s usually because the other studios don’t want to make the movies anymore — and that usually means the [previous] movies have not been well-received. They all have potential, but we’re not going to say, ‘We got it back — make it!”

Not exactly ‘Marvel Style,’ is it?

Not all of the films based on these characters have been all that bad, but it would be exciting to see Marvel do each franchise justice on the big screen. Daredevil, Blade Trinity, and both Ghost Rider films were particularly big misfires in my opinion, but what about you? Comment below and let us know if you think these films should be rebooted!

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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