Im thinking this also may lead to more "serious" superhero films with little to no humor, especially if "The Dark Knight" is a success in TTL.
The way I see it, the Marvel Cinematic Universe put a ceiling on the trend of "darker and edgier" superheroes that Nolan's Bat-films popularized. It wasn't like in the late '80s and the '90s, where all the big trends in superhero comics were pointing towards increasing the gritty content. The success of the MCU films is like if, at the time of
Watchmen and
The Dark Knight Returns, there has been an equally successful and acclaimed graphic novel with comparatively light, family-friendly content. Without
Iron Man, Marvel's plans for a shared movie universe are delayed for several years, allowing
The Dark Knight to be this generation's defining blockbuster epic.
However, just how deep the "gritty,
Dark Knight-esque blockbuster" trend goes depends on one question: how do international audiences react? We all know about China's censorship; an R-rated superhero movie, filled with violence and T&A like a proper '90s comic book, probably wouldn't fly with the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television.