'Batman v Superman,' and that's just for starters

"Fearing the actions of a godlike Super Hero left unchecked, Gotham City's own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis' most revered, modern-day savior, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman and Superman at war with each other, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it has ever known before." - Warner Bros. synopsis for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Box office prognosticators are predicting big things for Friday's epic face-off, with two of the most iconic comic book characters-turned-film-franchises of all time sharing the screen and trying to take each other down, never mind the caped Kryptonian's obviously more-daunting skill set.

Ben Affleck is the grouchy Gotham City crime fighter with the nocturnal flying-mammal fetish. Henry Cavill is back for a second try as the Man of Steel, having failed miserably as Napoleon Solo in last year's The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Both have a lot to prove.

So does Warner Bros., which has had a string of expensive flops (including the aforementioned U.N.C.L.E. debacle). Although it cost a reported $250 million to make and market, Zack Snyder's Supey vs. Batty project looks poised to make a killing. Clearly, the idea of jamming two hugely recognizable, quintessential, paradigmatic names onto one marquee has something to do with it.

Here are some other battle-of-the-titans titles you can expect Hollywood to green-light if Dawn of Justice's power duo takes flight.

Buzz Lightyear v Shrek: August, Ogre County. Pulitzer Prize-winning scribe Tracy Letts is hired on to oversee this joint Pixar/DreamWorks production in which a cocky toy astronaut returns to his Midwestern home to sit down at the dinner table with his cowboy pal Woody (now a suicide-ideating drunk) and a distant relative from Fairytale Land, a large green monster with a taste for human flesh. Tim Allen, Tom Hanks, and Mike Myers voice the 'toons, and Meryl Streep plays a computer-animated iteration of herself, berating the neuroses-stricken guests (a Slinky Dog, a Potato Head, Geppetto, a princess) for acting like a bunch of spoiled brats at the dinner table, where the main course is angst.

C-3PO v Ava: AI Awakening. At first, it doesn't seem like much of a matchup: C-3PO, the nervous ninny "protocol droid" from the Star Wars franchise, and Ava, the sexy, sentient robot of the sleeper sci-fi gem Ex Machina. But the two have enough in common to keep things close. For one thing, Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac, Alicia Vikander's Ex Machina cohorts, have significant roles in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, too. For another, C-3PO is plated in polished gold, and the same goes for the Academy Award that Vikander has been clutching since she won for The Danish Girl.

They start out wary of each other, he bragging about his ability to engage "in over six million forms of communication," she ready to upload a search engine's worth of Star Wars trivia before heading to a bar to annihilate him in Quizzo. Then the clash of androids becomes a robot rom-com when they take a shine to each other. And anyhow, Vikander mulls, he's way cuter than Eddie Redmayne.

Katniss Everdeen v Tris Prior: This Intellectual Property Is Condemned. The formidable heroines of, respectively, a postapocalyptic, dystopian YA film tetralogy about a feisty young rebel who doesn't fit in and a postapocalyptic, dystopian YA film tetralogy about a feisty young rebel who doesn't fit in are dispatched to a radioactive wilderness for a to-the-death battle that will be broadcast to the brainwashed billions ruled over by a Serious Thespian cashing a big paycheck.

Shailene Woodley, better known as the Divergent series' Tris, is the underdog with the grudge - all she has to show for her career is a lone Golden Globe nomination, for The Descendants (OK, maybe she has Cannes kudos and some MTV Movie Awards, too). Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games' Ms. Everdeen? Three Golden Globes and an Oscar, plus more acting nominations than Panem has districts. Superior archery skills, too.

Melissa McCarthy v Amy Schumer: The Spy Who Came Down With a Cold. With a considerably larger body of work, McCarthy has the clear advantage here, though Schumer, in her 2015 starring debut, Trainwreck, displayed a remarkable knack for turning potty-mouthed one-liners into heartfelt rom-com fare. The thing that really puts these two funny female talents at odds, however, is the recent news that McCarthy won't be coming back to Stars Hollow, Conn., the fictional burg where the beloved series Gilmore Girls takes place. Netflix is reviving the 2000-07 show, but McCarthy is one of the few holdouts (she played Lorelei's best friend, chef at the town inn).

When Schumer, a raging Gilmore Girls fan, heard the Bridesmaids and Spy star was steering clear of the Gilmore reboot, the Trainwreck protagonist called her buddy Judd Apatow to complain. But Apatow is McCarthy's buddy, too, so here the conflicted producer/director drops everything to write the new McCarthy-Schumer vehicle, a claws-out film à clef. Lena Dunham, another Apatow collaborator, is expected to officiate, or at least invite the warring stars to make peace on a special episode of Girls. No, not Gilmore Girls, just Girls.

Ricky Bobby v Dominic Toretto: Fast, Furious, "I'm on Fire!" in Reverse. The knucklehead NASCAR star of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby takes his muscle car for a ride down some desolate L.A. alley, running smack dab into the mumbling muscle man of the Fast & Furious franchise. Will Ferrell, meet Vin Diesel. Isn't air-dropping cars over the Caucasus Mountains something better left to Ricky Bobby, anyhow?

srea@phillynews.com

215-854-5629@Steven_Rea