Look to the movies to make — or break — comic book champs

NEW YORK (AP) — "I want suit approval."

Who can blame Vincent Chase, the movie-star character on HBO’s "Entourage," for his Aquaman ultimatum? He understands that superhero films teeter on a precarious edge between laughable ("Catwoman") and arguably brilliant ("Spider-Man").

There’s no current plan for a King of the Seven Seas flick, but this year has already seen "Fantastic Four," "Batman Begins," "Sin City," "Constantine" and "Elektra." And waiting in the wings are dozens of superheroes, each poised to either make movie history ("X-Men") or get ridiculed into oblivion ("Daredevil").

On Thursday, tens of thousands of comic enthusiasts began descending on San Diego for the annual Comic-Con convention, where movie adaptations are among the hottest topics. But with so many cartoon superstars like Batman, Superman, the Hulk and the Fantastic Four already gone Hollywood, who’s left?

"Ha ha!" laughs Marvel Studios chief Avi Arad. "You know we have 5,000 characters?"

Next up for Marvel is "Ghost Rider," in summer 2006, with Nicolas Cage as a possessed motorcycle rider hellbent on justice.

"For the hardcore group, ’Ghost Rider’ is probably the most anticipated one," Arad says. "I think once the world gets to meet him, it will extend this community."

In various stages of development, Arad says, are movies for Thor (the hammer-welding Nordic hero), the Silver Surfer (who rides a flying surfboard), Captain America (the most patriotic hero, fashioned during WWII) and Namor the Sub-Mariner (one of the oldest superheroes — think a more cranky Aquaman).

Also in the pipeline is Iron Man (who’s protected by a suit of armor, to be directed by Nick Cassavetes), Doctor Strange (a sorcerer of the mystic arts), Nick Fury (a James Bond-like spy) and Black Panther (the first black comic book character, although he was beaten to the big screen by "Spawn"). Sexy, sacred ... and ridiculous

DC Comics — like CNN, a division of Time Warner — is similarly situated, with thousands of their own characters.

"Our properties span a really wide range of style and themes," says Paul Levitz, president of DC Comics. "We turn to them and look at what’s new and what’s in the stack and think how we can take advantage of it." Daredevil "Daredevil," with Ben Affleck as the hero and Jennifer Garner as Elektra, earned critical catcalls.

Queen among them is "Wonder Woman," which is still several years off. Joss Whedon, the brains behind "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," will direct — though the super-heroine may need some updating.

"The costume works phenomenally well in the comics, but is it going to work so well in a live-action film?" wonders Johan Weiland, executive producer of www.comicbookresources.com. "We know Linda Carter looked sexy (in the TV version), but she also kinda looked a little ridiculous."

Coming this November is "V for Vendetta," starring Natalie Portman (with shaved head) and Hugo Weaving. It’s written and produced by the Wachowski brothers, who made the "Matrix" trilogy.

Set in the near future, "Vendetta" is a series created in the ’80s by Alan Moore, one of the most respected writers in comics. Moore’s previous forays to the big screen haven’t gone well, with duds like "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" and "Constantine." He has already been very critical of the Wachowski brothers’ script, calling it "imbecilic."

A delay on the release date of "Vendetta" also seems possible given that the hero, V, blows up London’s Parliament and subway system.

Moore’s "Watchmen" is also in early preproduction, with Paul Greengrass ("Bourne Supremacy") to direct. The landmark graphic novel takes place in an opposite world where President Nixon enjoys extreme popularity as he leads the U.S. to victory in Vietnam. Superheroes are real and must register with the government.

"As sacred as ’Spider-Man’ is, ’Watchmen’ is even more sacred," says Weiland. "It’s probably the one all comic fans want to see made, but it’s also the one we dread the most. If they screw that one up, big trouble."

Another classic, the Flash, is also in the incubator. After penning the screenplays for "Batman Begins" and "Ghost Rider," David S. Goyer has been tapped to direct the speedster.

Closer to fruition are "The History of Violence" and "Aeon Flux," both out later this year. Aeon Flux Charlize Theron stars in "Aeon Flux," due this fall.

"Violence" stars Viggo Mortensen, is directed by David Cronenberg and comes from the same publishers of "Road to Perdition." "Aeon Flux" stars Charlize Theron as the futuristic secret agent. It will get a sneak peak at Comic-Con Saturday.

It doesn’t end with movies, either.

Stan Lee, who created so many Marvel heroes, has formed his own company, Pow! Entertainment. Aside from films, Pow! is currently creating an "urban superhero" for Vibe magazine, developing the animated show "Hef’s Superbunnies" for MTV (which he says "will finally reveal the true secret of Hugh Hefner’s existence") and has a reality TV show in the works that will be titled something like "So You Want to be a Superhero?"

Will comics remain popular long enough for all of these projects to flourish?

"The whole trick is taking a story that has a fantasy angle of some sort, but doing it as realistically as possible," says the 82-year-old Lee. "Saying, what if a fellow really could shoot a web and crawl on the walls? What would his day-to-day existence be?"

Whether the films in the superhero assembly line can achieve that balance won’t be clear until each hits theaters. For now, they might as well be "Aquaman" — which, as "Entourage" creator Doug Ellin says, "could be a really bad movie or a really good movie."