Iron Man

Iron Man blasted onto the big screen for the first time back in 2008 and saw Robert Downey Jr take on the title role while Jon Favreau was in the director's chair. The movie went on to gross in excess of $585 million and it kicked off Marvel's dominance at the box office.

In 2010 Downey Jr reprised the role of Tony Stark in Iron Man 2 while Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke, and Samuel L. Jackson were all also on board.

With a nice gross of $623 million Iron Man has become a billion dollar franchise and was the jewel in the Marvel Studios crown.

Iron Man's popularity has been cemented with the role of Iron Man 3 as the film broke the $1 billion barrier in just three weeks. Not only is the film set to be one of the biggest of 2013 but it is set to be one of the most successful of all time.