Summer of the superhero

BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor: Finally tonight, on this Friday heading into the weekend evening, thoughts often turn to the movies. And as the season takes its big final turn into summer and the big studios hope to fill up movie theaters , starting this weekend, they are reaching back a bit to some classics, hoping to refire our movie imagination. Our report tonight from NBC 's Kristen Dahlgren in Los Angeles .

KRISTEN DAHLGREN reporting: When it comes to summer blockbusters, Hollywood is pulling out the big guns . The studios hoping superheroes have the power to lift ticket sales on their way to saving the world. If it all looks pretty familiar, that's the point. Filmmakers are hoping to recapture the magic of iconic comic characters like Thor , Iron Man , Captain America , the Black Widow and the Hulk , this time all together in " The Avengers ."

Mr. MORGAN SPURLOCK (Director, Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope): To see kind of all those people come together in one movie, like first time ever something like this happened, is kind of epic.

DAHLGREN: But the supergroup is just the first in this season of superheroes. In July, Spider-man gets another reboot, then Batman makes his repeat performance in "The Dark Knight Rises," the latest installment for the caped crusader.

Mr. ADAM KUBERT (Artist, "Avengers vs. X-Men"): I think the genre is something that we all deep down wish we could do ourselves. I mean, who wouldn't want to fly?

DAHLGREN: It's not all old school. Tinseltown is turning the page on some character traits. In the comic book , superheroes were always larger than life; but here in Hollywood these days, they're a lot more like you and me, complex characters who are not always perfect.

Mr. SPURLOCK: In a way we're all outsiders, especially anybody who grew up up loving comic books . We were those geeks in the corner. The people that, you know, that didn't really have a lot of friends, that, you know, had creative abilities that people didn't really understand. You know, we are each kind of our own avenger, and I think that's why people really respond to it.

DAHLGREN: And the studios are appealing to female audiences. In the tradition of Wonder Woman , this summer's offers feature powerful women like Anne Hathaway 's Catwoman , Emma Stone as Spider-man 's love interest, and Scarlett Johansson 's Black Widow . Comic book legends meet modern times in what Hollywood hopes will be a super summer . Kristen Dahlgren, NBC News, Hollywood .