By rebuilding the superhero universe one movie at a time leading up to “The Avengers” and beyond, Marvel has undoubtedly kicked the super-powered trend back into gear. Now, a wealth of television shows and movies have swarmed the media to become the best thing since zombie outbreaks and vampires last took over the nation’s entertainment.

This year, there are six anticipated movies and shows announced — with more to come. If you’re confused by all the hoopla, here’s what you need to know about the people in capes swarming screens big and small:

For more of our superhero picks, visit upressonline.com.

Feb. 12: “Deadpool”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ1PDIG9Hgk

As the eighth installment of the X-Men series, “Deadpool” is an action superhero film about Wade Wilson, a former special forces operative who undergoes unorthodox experimentation in an attempt to cure his cancer. And the experiment succeeds — in a way.

Although his cancer is “cured,” Wilson becomes a superhuman with a drawback. He heals at an abnormally fast rate, which is good, but also leaves him with disfigured skin and severe mental instability, which can be very, very bad.

After the experiment goes awry, he goes on a mission to hunt the person responsible.

March 18: “Daredevil” Season Two

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5_A0Wx0jU4

“Daredevil” follows Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who has super human senses and uses them to secretly fight crime under the cover of night. After dealing with Kingpin in the last season, Murdock has a much more physical opponent to deal with this time around— The Punisher.

“Well, ever since the [previous Daredevil] movie, I’ve been waiting for a good revamp of his series and they finally delivered it,” said Ryan Millet, a junior studying communication.

As a Netflix original, the first season of “Daredevil” was successful enough to lead to a series of television shows that will eventually lead up to “The Defenders,” if everything goes according to plan. Similar to the Avengers, the Defenders are a group of street-level crime fighters who will come together in a mini-series in upcoming years.

The television lineup began with“Daredevil” season one, which premiered early last year. It followed up with “Jessica Jones” in November and will continue with “Iron Fist” and“Luke Cage” before they unite in “The Defenders.”

“The choreographing of the fight scenes, how in-depth they went into each character’s psyche, showing their internal struggles and how it affected them on the day-to-day was brilliant,”Millet said. “It showed that a superhero isn’t always super. It made it so much easier for people to connect with the characters and pull out all the sympathy and empathy we could manage to give.”

 March 23: “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”

This film features a faceoff between — you guessed it — the caped crusader and the man of steel. Batman leaves Gotham for Metropolis where me makes it very clear that he doesn’t trust Superman’s power and attempts to preemptively take him down. As they face off, the sinister Lex Luthor attempts to wipe out the city with Doomsday.

Ever since the film was announced in 2013, anticipation for “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” has grown, putting it at No. 1 of IMDB’s “Most Popular Feature Films Released in 2016.” Despite this Internet hype, not every student is familiar with the movie. “I didn’t hear about it,” said Alex Karavasilis, a junior studying public management. “I don’t really watch television, so I wouldn’t know.”

Henry Cavill, known for his previous role in the film “Man of Steel,” will be returning to play Superman. Joining him for the role of Batman will be Ben Affleck, a decision that caused a lot of controversy and led to a petition with 97,641 signatures requesting that Warner Bros. Studio remove Affleck from the role. Before it closed, the petition was 35 percentage points away from its 150,000 goal.

 May 6: “Captain America: Civil War”

Speaking of two do-good superheroes fighting each other, Iron Man and Captain America have beef in “Captain America: Civil War.”

One year after the events of “The Avengers: Age of Ultron,” the U.S. government wants to step in and govern the superhero team. The Avengers split off between those who want government regulation — led by Iron Man — and those who want to be free of control — spearheaded by Captain America. Meanwhile, a new enemy steps in to wreak havoc on the world.

“I don’t know much about it, but I’m looking forward to it,” said Amber Slack, a freshman studying criminal justice. “I’m into superhero films and it looks fun.”

The entire main cast from previous Avengers films will return, including Captain America-star Chris Evans, who was rumored to soon leave his acting career behind. However, in September 2015, he told an interviewer that he was eager to extend his contract and continue as Captain America in future Marvel films.

Aug. 5: “Suicide Squad”

Who thought it was a great idea to release supervillains from prison based on just a promise?

A secret government agency lets loose Gotham’s most dangerous supervillains to act as an anti-hero strike team — the Joker, Harley Quinn, Deadshot and more — to take on black ops missions in order to receive reduced sentences.

“I’m more excited for “Suicide Squad” because it has more original characters,” said Sebastian Cardone, a senior English major. “We’ve already seen Batman and Superman fight a billion times.”

The film gained wide recognition because of the controversy surrounding Jared Leto being cast as the Joker. With caps on his teeth and a forehead tattoo that reads “Damaged,” the Internet was widely unhappy with the Joker’s new look.

But not all students are displeased with the portrayal. “I actually like Jared Leto as the Joker,” said Cardone. “He fits a modern evolution of the classic Joker very well.”

April: “Luke Cage”

If you happen to plan your Netflix binge-

watching sessions, you may want to pencil in Marvel’s “Luke Cage” for later this year. Joining “Daredevil” in “The Defenders” series, this show is about an ex-convict by the same name with unbreachable skin and superhuman strength to boot.

In Marvel’s “Jessica Jones,” Luke Cage played a relatively minor role as Jessica’s ex-boyfriend. This series takes place before all that, when Cage undergoes an experiment that gives him his powers and he must break out of prison after being wrongfully accused.

The show follows Cage as he works as a superhero-for-hire while residing in Harlem. As with every Netflix original, all episodes of “Luke Cage” will be released on the same day. Although no official premiere date has been announced as of yet, the show is set to come out this year.