References to Elvis made comeback since last year

Batman swung back into action on July 20. Pixar returned on June 22. “Titanic” was reissued April 4.

But Elvis — Elvis never went away.

The past year was a good one at the movies for an actor/singer/superstar who died in 1977, after selling millions of records and starring in 33 feature films.

By my reckoning, Elvis Presley could be found — by reference, by image, by quote — in almost two dozen movies released between Elvis Week 2011 and Elvis Week 2012, as the days surrounding the singer’s Aug. 16, 1977, death are known.

Since 1996, I’ve kept track of all the new movies I see in which Elvis makes some sort of “appearance.” Each year during Elvis Week, I write a column reporting my sightings.

Last year’s column reflected a drought: It featured a roll call of only 10 movies. But this year — as the King’s 1960 post-Army RCA LP reported — Elvis Is Back! Here’s the list:

In “Men in Black 3,” Agent J (Will Smith) tries to sum up the appearance of his missing partner, Agent J (Tommy Lee Jones): He says K has “sort of a surly Elvis thing happening with him ... .”

Without mentioning the King by name, unlikely hipster and computerdisdaining music producer Channing Tatum (who sometimes wraps his chiseled torso in a Stax T-shirt in this film), male star of the romance “The Vow,”

See The police officer played by Brendan Gleeson (right, seen here in a scene alongside Don Cheadle) wants to visit Tupelo, “Birthplace of the King,” in the wonderful Irish film “The Guard.”