Alright! So today I will be going through my Top 10 Upcoming Superhero Films. Superhero films have been a huge part of the cultural zeitgeist for the past decade, and should the typical movie market presume after COVID passes, as in the time gap between movies hasn't totally destroyed the MCU, it looks like these movies will be continuing for... forever.
So, a couple of rules: They should have release dates, which excludes movies like Guardians Vol. 3 and Fantastic Four. Second, I'm trying to not choose anything that'll be R-Rated, which excludes The Suicide Squad and Blade. Now, there is some question with Blade, as how the MCU has been completely PG-13, but The Suicide Squad? Well, after the success of Joker, yeah. That'll be R. And there is some debate with The Batman, but whatever.
It looks very generic. The 80s has been beaten to death with a nostalgia stick, bringing Steve Trevor back isn't enticing since I know he's dead, and I would rather see a Wonder Woman movie set in the present.
I absolutely love the costumes though! Wonder Woman looks great as always, Steve Trevor looks dope, um... Pedro Pascal as Maxwell Lord is... good? And Cheetah is surprisingly comic accurate, for better or for worse. A sequel should have something you really want to see in it, instead of, "You liked the first one. Watch this."
Now, there is stuff to look forward to - Presumably, we'll be getting some more Spider-Man 2099 action, they've confirmed Supaidaman, and presumably, we'll get more memorable Spider-Ham and Spider-Man Noir scenes. And the directors said that visually, the second one will completely blow away the first one, which is a pretty tall claim since that one was visually stunning. Whatever happens, I can't wait to see it. If it's half as good as Spider-Verse, it may be the best movie of 2022.
So, there should be some debate right now: Will Shazam be fighting the very hungry caterpillar Mr. Mind or Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam? Because either of those sound amazing. Those would definitely make me want to see the movie.
And, yeah. Jane Foster in the first Thor movies was an extremely boring character, but hey, so was Thor until Taika Waititi reinvented him. If he can do it again, I will have no complaints.
And, Valkyrie, the new King of Asgard, will be searching for her Queen. I don't have a problem with gay characters in movies, if it's done well. Since we've known Valkyrie is gay since 2017, it shouldn't come off as forced (IE, an ancient law that says she has to take up a Queen, like a 90s sitcom). But, I have faith in Taika Waititi. Whatever he comes up with should be really good.
Unless there's studio interference to make sure it's progressive enough, like Rey or Captain Marvel, who don't seem to have human traits and more, "Far-left focus groups say they want this stuff." I normally wouldn't be concerned, since those two characters had a lot of responsibility, and thus more scrutiny - the face of the new Star Wars, first Marvel movie starring a woman. But since Valkyrie will have the first major LGBTQ+ plot in a Marvel movie, who knows.
Especially based off of the trailer. It seems very superhero-y. A dude imprisoned for 5000 years for being mean comes back to put the world how he sees fit. And Dwayne Johnson is a huge movie star. So this is most likely a PG-13 end of the year tentpole blockbuster, akin to Aquaman, which was also released around the same time and had similar epic vibes.
But, the first superhero movie starring the Rock? That was all I needed to hear. Oh wait, he's also going to interact with Shazam in the future? Cool. And the Justice Society of America, with members including Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Cyclone, and Stargirl will appear? That sounds dope! Sign me up!
No, Shang-Chi looks exciting to me because the MCU's never done anything like it before. I assume it'll take place in Asia, which is great because that opens the movie up to some beautiful production design. It also will have the real Mandarin, which is dope. And, I'm excited to get to know this Shang-Chi guy. Is he cool? What are his powers? Is his origin story tragic or stoic?
I also have this idea that he'll have to fight Fin Fang Foom in the movie, which, while a long shot, would make me die of excitement. I want to see more dragons in movies that aren't about dragons.
That's one heck of an ensemble. And, I guess I should mention firsts. This will be the first Marvel movie to have an openly gay superhero, portrayed by Brian Tyree Henry. It will also have the first deaf superhero, Makkari, portrayed by Lauren Ridloff. That's cool because most of the time we don't get disabled superheroes (Is is offensive to list being deaf as a disability now?). I would love to see more heroes in wheelchairs like Oracle, or mute characters like Cassandra Cain.
So that's something I am excited for, because every blockbuster seems to tack on a token gay guy, but none of them deal with those who are disabled. So that's cool. That's something that definitely brings diversity to the MCU.
But, for the actual movie, I am excited to see Black Knight, a very underrated comic book character, and just sort of the movie? The plot is described as spanning thousands of years, so that should be dope. And, the first concept art suggests some larger than life... robots?... which I am very excited to see on screen. And they finally dropped the "The" in the title.
Because, in the last Spider-Man movie, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spider-Man's secret identity, Peter Parker, was revealed to the entire world by the Daily Bugle.Net. So this immediately opens up an entirely new setting, situation, villains, and movie for Peter Parker. This will be a Spider-Man unlike anything we've ever seen.
And that sounds pretty cool. I'm excited for Tom Holland's Spider-Man to become his own character. His suit, his villains, his resources have all been Tony Stark's - I thought it would end with Tony Stark's death in Avengers: Endgame, but no. But, hopefully the two year gap after his death will provide new evil motivations for Spidey villains, like Kraven the Hunter. That would be cool to see on screen. Kraven. You know, I had actually written a Spider-Man 4 script in my head when I was little, maybe 8. Kraven and the Rhino were a big part of it.
But, whatever happened is in the past now. It's on track for 2022, it's had concept art, a stable director, it's getting a cast, including Ezra Miller, Ben Affleck, and even Michael Keaton as Batman. There are even rumors it might have Tom Welling and Nicolas Cage as Superman. I would love to see that.
The Flash has basically been my favorite DC hero since I was little. I thought that Grant Gustin absolutely nailed the role on the Flash show, and even though that has sucked since season 3, and failed to grab my interests after season 5, that was basically perfect casting. Ezra Miller in Justice League was... underwhelming.
But I am confident that the right team, a time travel Back to the Future feel, and a possible adaptation of Flashpoint, that The Flash will succeed. It's Barry's time to hit the ground running.
So, a couple of rules: They should have release dates, which excludes movies like Guardians Vol. 3 and Fantastic Four. Second, I'm trying to not choose anything that'll be R-Rated, which excludes The Suicide Squad and Blade. Now, there is some question with Blade, as how the MCU has been completely PG-13, but The Suicide Squad? Well, after the success of Joker, yeah. That'll be R. And there is some debate with The Batman, but whatever.
10. Wonder Woman 1984, December 25th, 2020
Starting off the list is Wonder Woman 1984, which will be the next superhero film to come out, with a release date of October 2nd as of now. But why isn't WW84 higher up on my list? Well, I'm simply not that excited. Yeah, the first Wonder Woman was pretty good, but I'm just not digging the vibes I've been getting from this one.It looks very generic. The 80s has been beaten to death with a nostalgia stick, bringing Steve Trevor back isn't enticing since I know he's dead, and I would rather see a Wonder Woman movie set in the present.
I absolutely love the costumes though! Wonder Woman looks great as always, Steve Trevor looks dope, um... Pedro Pascal as Maxwell Lord is... good? And Cheetah is surprisingly comic accurate, for better or for worse. A sequel should have something you really want to see in it, instead of, "You liked the first one. Watch this."
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| Also not a huge fan of the eagle armor. It looks like bad CGI when moving. |
9. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2, October 7th, 2022
What? Why? How could you rank Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse as one of your favorite movies and one of the greatest of all time and not be excited for a sequel? Well, simple answer: For a masterpiece like Spider-Verse, which hit the mark so close to perfect I may as well just call it that, a sequel can only detract.Now, there is stuff to look forward to - Presumably, we'll be getting some more Spider-Man 2099 action, they've confirmed Supaidaman, and presumably, we'll get more memorable Spider-Ham and Spider-Man Noir scenes. And the directors said that visually, the second one will completely blow away the first one, which is a pretty tall claim since that one was visually stunning. Whatever happens, I can't wait to see it. If it's half as good as Spider-Verse, it may be the best movie of 2022.
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| Some cool ideas for new characters: Venom, Silk, Scarlet Spider, Cosmic Spidey, Julia Carpenter |
8. Shazam! Fury of the Gods, November 4th, 2022
Shazam! was a great movie. A pretty good movie full of bright colors, comedic moments, a great cast, and some good vfx, as well as some bad vfx. I really liked it. But, as I said before, the main reason I want to see a sequel shouldn't be that I liked the first one.So, there should be some debate right now: Will Shazam be fighting the very hungry caterpillar Mr. Mind or Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam? Because either of those sound amazing. Those would definitely make me want to see the movie.
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| Just more childish wish fulfillment in the sequel would be cool |
7. Thor: Love and Thunder, February 11th, 2022
Thor: Love and Thunder seems to be bringing a ton of reasons to see the movie: The Guardians of the Galaxy will be making an appearance and Christian Bale has been cast as the villain. Natalie Portman is also returning as Jane Foster, who will be taking on the mantle of Thor in the movie. But whether or not that's permanent is going to be the question.And, yeah. Jane Foster in the first Thor movies was an extremely boring character, but hey, so was Thor until Taika Waititi reinvented him. If he can do it again, I will have no complaints.
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| The title is Thor: Love and Thunder. Could this mean Enchantress is the main villain? Please let it be so. |
And, Valkyrie, the new King of Asgard, will be searching for her Queen. I don't have a problem with gay characters in movies, if it's done well. Since we've known Valkyrie is gay since 2017, it shouldn't come off as forced (IE, an ancient law that says she has to take up a Queen, like a 90s sitcom). But, I have faith in Taika Waititi. Whatever he comes up with should be really good.
Unless there's studio interference to make sure it's progressive enough, like Rey or Captain Marvel, who don't seem to have human traits and more, "Far-left focus groups say they want this stuff." I normally wouldn't be concerned, since those two characters had a lot of responsibility, and thus more scrutiny - the face of the new Star Wars, first Marvel movie starring a woman. But since Valkyrie will have the first major LGBTQ+ plot in a Marvel movie, who knows.
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| Let's also keep up the awesome visual flair found in Thor: Ragnarok. |
6. Black Adam, December 22nd, 2021
Black Adam's a question mark. On one hand, the directors and people involved have said that the film will be grittier and violent than normal. But on the other hand, it's a superhero movie starring the Rock, full of superheroes, big action scenes, and occupies the coveted December slot, where billion dollar blockbusters are made. It doesn't exactly feel like it should be the character drama that movies like Joker and The Batman will be.Especially based off of the trailer. It seems very superhero-y. A dude imprisoned for 5000 years for being mean comes back to put the world how he sees fit. And Dwayne Johnson is a huge movie star. So this is most likely a PG-13 end of the year tentpole blockbuster, akin to Aquaman, which was also released around the same time and had similar epic vibes.
But, the first superhero movie starring the Rock? That was all I needed to hear. Oh wait, he's also going to interact with Shazam in the future? Cool. And the Justice Society of America, with members including Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Cyclone, and Stargirl will appear? That sounds dope! Sign me up!
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| Now this looks pretty dope |
5. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings , July 9th, 2021
I don't really have a lot of reasons to like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. For one thing, the title is way too long. For another thing, the Ten Rings have been a very minor threat in the MCU, with the last time they were mentioned being Iron Man 3 in 2013. And I don't care if it's the movie to "First" something. No one cares. Black Panther was popular because it was cool, it wasn't even the first superhero movie to star a black dude. That was Blade.No, Shang-Chi looks exciting to me because the MCU's never done anything like it before. I assume it'll take place in Asia, which is great because that opens the movie up to some beautiful production design. It also will have the real Mandarin, which is dope. And, I'm excited to get to know this Shang-Chi guy. Is he cool? What are his powers? Is his origin story tragic or stoic?
I also have this idea that he'll have to fight Fin Fang Foom in the movie, which, while a long shot, would make me die of excitement. I want to see more dragons in movies that aren't about dragons.
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| This is what Shang-Chi looks like. I've never heard of him. |
4. Eternals, November 5th, 2021
Eternals is another original superhero movie.Who are they? I dunno. What are they like? I dunno. All I know is the A-List ensemble, including Richard Madden (Game of Thrones, 1917), Kumail Nanjiani (Who got shredded for the role), Brian Tyree Henry (Spider-Verse, Joker, Godzilla Vs. Kong), Angelina Jolie (You know who that is), and Kit Harington (Game of Thrones, How to Train Your Dragon). |
| Sorry for blurry image quality. This is based off of photos from 2019's Comic Con. |
That's one heck of an ensemble. And, I guess I should mention firsts. This will be the first Marvel movie to have an openly gay superhero, portrayed by Brian Tyree Henry. It will also have the first deaf superhero, Makkari, portrayed by Lauren Ridloff. That's cool because most of the time we don't get disabled superheroes (Is is offensive to list being deaf as a disability now?). I would love to see more heroes in wheelchairs like Oracle, or mute characters like Cassandra Cain.
So that's something I am excited for, because every blockbuster seems to tack on a token gay guy, but none of them deal with those who are disabled. So that's cool. That's something that definitely brings diversity to the MCU.
But, for the actual movie, I am excited to see Black Knight, a very underrated comic book character, and just sort of the movie? The plot is described as spanning thousands of years, so that should be dope. And, the first concept art suggests some larger than life... robots?... which I am very excited to see on screen. And they finally dropped the "The" in the title.
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| I have no clue what Eternals is. But this... this looks cool. |
3. Untitled Third Spider-Man Movie, December 17th, 2021
I could refer to this as Spider-Man 3, but that movie already exists, and dang. It's... okay. No, Untitled Third Spider-Man Movie is hitting theaters next December, after being delayed twice, and even though this is a sequel, I am very excited for this movie. Why?Because, in the last Spider-Man movie, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spider-Man's secret identity, Peter Parker, was revealed to the entire world by the Daily Bugle.Net. So this immediately opens up an entirely new setting, situation, villains, and movie for Peter Parker. This will be a Spider-Man unlike anything we've ever seen.
And that sounds pretty cool. I'm excited for Tom Holland's Spider-Man to become his own character. His suit, his villains, his resources have all been Tony Stark's - I thought it would end with Tony Stark's death in Avengers: Endgame, but no. But, hopefully the two year gap after his death will provide new evil motivations for Spidey villains, like Kraven the Hunter. That would be cool to see on screen. Kraven. You know, I had actually written a Spider-Man 4 script in my head when I was little, maybe 8. Kraven and the Rhino were a big part of it.
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| This was a good cliffhanger. Excited to see what happens next. |
2. The Flash, June 3rd, 2022
The Flash's standalone movie has been in development hell for basically ever. I mean, it's gone through, like, 6 directors - Including Robert Zemeckis and the Miller Duo - and I'm pretty sure it was supposed to come out in 2018, two years ago. That's a lot of production errors, and then there was even uncertainty about Ezra Miller reprising his role as the Flash because of... events... and that probably almost killed the movie.But, whatever happened is in the past now. It's on track for 2022, it's had concept art, a stable director, it's getting a cast, including Ezra Miller, Ben Affleck, and even Michael Keaton as Batman. There are even rumors it might have Tom Welling and Nicolas Cage as Superman. I would love to see that.
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| This is cool. It reminds me of the title sequence for the Justice League television show. |
The Flash has basically been my favorite DC hero since I was little. I thought that Grant Gustin absolutely nailed the role on the Flash show, and even though that has sucked since season 3, and failed to grab my interests after season 5, that was basically perfect casting. Ezra Miller in Justice League was... underwhelming.
But I am confident that the right team, a time travel Back to the Future feel, and a possible adaptation of Flashpoint, that The Flash will succeed. It's Barry's time to hit the ground running.
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| Whatever this is looks cool. |
1. The Batman, October 1st, 2021
I have been so stoked for The Batman ever since I started hearing about the cast. Apparently, a lot of people reacted negatively to Robert Pattinson being cast as Bruce Wayne, but I had known that since Twilight, he has slowly been building up his street cred as a really good actor, and is only now reappearing in blockbusters, with this year's Tenet and next year's The Batman. So I'm smart.
But, let's take a moment of cast appreciation - Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth (Yes), Jeffrey Wright as Jim Gordon (Yes), Colin Farrell as the Penguin (Yes), and Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman (Yes). It looks like a huge ensemble, definitely something closer to a comic book, where instead of one villain, he has three. We also have Paul Dano as Riddler. I'm unfamiliar with his work, however, and thus cannot pass judgment on his casting.
But, let me just say: I've seen a lot of backlash online about casting non-white actors as Catwoman and (Especially) Jim Gordon. But, I am really looking forward to it. Gary Oldman gave us a completely perfect Jim Gordon in The Dark Knight Trilogy, so I'm up for something new. And Catwoman has been increasingly depicted as non-white in media, what with Harley Quinn, Super Hero Girls, The LEGO Batman Movie, and, should you choose to acknowledge it, Halle Berry in Catwoman.
So that's not a huge deal. But one of the comic book sources for this movie is reported to be Batman: The Long Halloween. That's my favorite comic book of all time.
And if anything, the trailer has just made me more excited. It looks dark, a visual masterpiece in production design, a very edgy action movie, and a possible serial killer thriller. Based on the trailer, this is a younger Batman, in his second year of being Batman. He's figuring things out. And, since Batman Begins skipped out on that, instead having a completely self-confident Batman, this Batman seems to be making mistakes. He takes off his mask and it actually looks like he spent the entire night beating criminals to a pulp.
And, the fighting doesn't look like a well-choreographed dance number. It looks like Robert Pattinson lost his crap over an extra referring to him as Edward Cullen again. He fights like a younger man. And, on the villain side, the Riddler is perfect for this Batman, even if he is more of a Jigsaw-type character and not a riddling mastermind. This is definitely a character-defining role.
And, the only thing I have against the film is that it might be R-Rated. Between Pattinson's brutality and the Riddler's psychotic Se7en sensibilities, and just the fact that it looks completely serious. It looks more like a character study about a man who beats up serial killers instead of a big superhero movie about saving all of Gotham.
And you can have a good character-driven film without an R-Rating, they just throw in a bit more violence and language to get it eligible for the Academy Awards. Like Joker. That wasn't the actual Joker. That was its own thing. But after all of the violence in the director's last two Planet of the Apes films, this should be covered.
So, I'm cautiously optimistic for The Batman. It looks good. It looks smaller, a bit more intimate than previous Batman movies. Other generations have their Batmen (Boomers - West, Gen-X - Burton, Millennials - Nolan), and I can't wait to see what Matt Reeves has in store for Gen Z.
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| Robert Pattinson as Batman, or, as the internet has declared, "Battinson" |
But, let's take a moment of cast appreciation - Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth (Yes), Jeffrey Wright as Jim Gordon (Yes), Colin Farrell as the Penguin (Yes), and Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman (Yes). It looks like a huge ensemble, definitely something closer to a comic book, where instead of one villain, he has three. We also have Paul Dano as Riddler. I'm unfamiliar with his work, however, and thus cannot pass judgment on his casting.
But, let me just say: I've seen a lot of backlash online about casting non-white actors as Catwoman and (Especially) Jim Gordon. But, I am really looking forward to it. Gary Oldman gave us a completely perfect Jim Gordon in The Dark Knight Trilogy, so I'm up for something new. And Catwoman has been increasingly depicted as non-white in media, what with Harley Quinn, Super Hero Girls, The LEGO Batman Movie, and, should you choose to acknowledge it, Halle Berry in Catwoman.
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| Fun fact: The lady who voiced Catwoman in the LEGO Batman Movie is going to play Catwoman in the Batman. |
So that's not a huge deal. But one of the comic book sources for this movie is reported to be Batman: The Long Halloween. That's my favorite comic book of all time.
And if anything, the trailer has just made me more excited. It looks dark, a visual masterpiece in production design, a very edgy action movie, and a possible serial killer thriller. Based on the trailer, this is a younger Batman, in his second year of being Batman. He's figuring things out. And, since Batman Begins skipped out on that, instead having a completely self-confident Batman, this Batman seems to be making mistakes. He takes off his mask and it actually looks like he spent the entire night beating criminals to a pulp.
And, the fighting doesn't look like a well-choreographed dance number. It looks like Robert Pattinson lost his crap over an extra referring to him as Edward Cullen again. He fights like a younger man. And, on the villain side, the Riddler is perfect for this Batman, even if he is more of a Jigsaw-type character and not a riddling mastermind. This is definitely a character-defining role.
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| And this Batmobile looks... cool? |
And, the only thing I have against the film is that it might be R-Rated. Between Pattinson's brutality and the Riddler's psychotic Se7en sensibilities, and just the fact that it looks completely serious. It looks more like a character study about a man who beats up serial killers instead of a big superhero movie about saving all of Gotham.
And you can have a good character-driven film without an R-Rating, they just throw in a bit more violence and language to get it eligible for the Academy Awards. Like Joker. That wasn't the actual Joker. That was its own thing. But after all of the violence in the director's last two Planet of the Apes films, this should be covered.
So, I'm cautiously optimistic for The Batman. It looks good. It looks smaller, a bit more intimate than previous Batman movies. Other generations have their Batmen (Boomers - West, Gen-X - Burton, Millennials - Nolan), and I can't wait to see what Matt Reeves has in store for Gen Z.
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