Alright! It's that time of the year again! And, as is customary the Tuesday before Christmas, I'm making a list of my most anticipated movies for the coming year. My fun twist is that I make the list proportional to the year's last two digits, so... this won't be a fun tradition by 2030.
Anyways, these are by far and away the most fun posts to write every year. I start the planning in July and then finish up a week or two before it's released... it's a lot of fun. Even more fun was redoing this list several times because they kept delaying stuff from Covid. But it looks like we're moving on from that and can hopefully continue living life normally. Or... at least we were...
And if you're interested, here are my lists for 2018, 2019, 2020, a second one for 2020, and then 2021. It's weird, I never think that time passes quickly, but before I know it it's been five years and I graduate high school in five months... how the time passes in hindsight...
So let's start with a quick and easy warm-up - movies that just didn't make the cut:
Moonfall - February 4th
Death on the Nile - February 11th
Uncharted - February 18th
The Northman - April 22nd
Bullet Train
Nope - July 22nd
Amsterdam - November 4th
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| Let's begin. |
22. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
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| For you baby? I could be. |
Like DreamWorks' The Croods: A New Age before it, a long-awaited sequel to a mid-tier 2010s effort is finally being made, despite years of speculation it might have been canceled and little news about the project. The first Puss in Boots was likable enough, nobody's favorite Shrek flick, but audiences are hungry for IP and nothing says IP better than a sequel to a spin-off to a sequel.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, however, is more exciting because of what it may represent - the second coming of Shrek, as was long prophecied in days of old.
21. Elvis - June 3rd
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| I dunno why, but I kinda have a Burning Love for this already. |
We're in the golden age of musical biopics with Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), Rocketman (2019), Respect (2021), and I Wanna Dance With Somebody (2022) giving the big-screen treatment to your favorite bands and singers. Next up is Elvis, which broke tradition and decided to not title itself after the singer's best-known song (Probably because A Little Less Conversation has less brand recognition than Presley's own name).
But hey, who doesn't love Elvis? Like most musical biopics, all it has to do is make the musical numbers dazzle and not be boring the rest of the movie. And it stars Tom Hanks! Who doesn't love Tom Hanks?
20. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore - April 15th
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I still think this should've been a trilogy of Fantastic Beasts, Quidditch Through the Ages, and then A History of Magic, linked around Dumbeldore cameos. |
If you told me four years ago that a Harry Potter film would rank this low on my list, I'd likely think you were crazy. But, hey, The Crimes of Grindelwald was a lackluster sequel to a decent franchise starter. It had the telltale signs of a dying franchise - a firm grip on nostalgia and references, unnecessary worldbuilding and explanations, and a stupid plot twist trying to dazzle audiences that don't care.
Like The Crimes of Grindelwald, this will rely heavily on Jude Law's scene-stealing Dumbledore and his relationship with Mads Mikkelson's Grindelwald (Replacing Johnny Depp for unfair reasons, but a solid recast nonetheless). But a big problem with "The Secrets of Dumbledore" is that it 1) automatically assumes that we care about his secrets outside of a tortured sister and 2) makes me think the emphasis is on Dumbledore instead of Newt Scamander, which is unfortunate considering Newt is the main character.
19. Top Gun: Maverick - May 27th
Look, the first Top Gun wasn't all that great if I'm being honest. Val Kilmer and Danger Zone playing repeatedly singlehandedly carry the movie. Throw in the iconic volleyball scene and the most steamy sex scene in a PG movie ever and you have an 80s classic. Do we need a Top Gun sequel? No, no we don't.
Will I watch it when it comes out? Likely not, unless the reviews are incredible. For now, it seems like a very "IP for the sake of IP" move from a desperate Paramount. It's honestly just more exciting to have Val Kilmer in a big movie again than anything else.
18. The Super Marios Bros. Movie - December 21st
There hasn't been a Mario movie since 1993's live-action movie, and we don't talk about that one. This one is looking to be slightly more of a faithful adaptation - like, Luigi is presumably Mario's twin in this one. I'm not a Mario fan by any means, but this adaptation definitely has me interested.
Most of that's due to the voice cast - Like I said for League of Super-Pets, a star-studded voice cast is 9/10 times a bad indicator. But you know what? Jack Black as Bowser sounds awesome, and I'm honestly excited to see what Chris Pratt brings to Mario. He's so cool. If anything, I'm just worried that it's being made by Illumination... they're not exactly known for making, you know, good movies.
17. Strange World - November 23rd
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| "You wish that I had died, and that Gigantic had lived?" "Yes. I wish that." |
My one hope is that the movie can break the Disney trend and shake things up. We don't need another stunningly lifelike movie like Frozen II or Raya and the Last Dragon where water effects are more captivating than the story. Give us something more akin to The Mitchells vs. The Machines - a stylized animation to fit the tone of the story. Don't let it get too homogenous.
16. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One - May 27th
I saw Mission: Impossible, like, six years ago, and Mission: Impossible - Fallout about two years ago. That's the full extent of my M:I knowledge (Plus a YouTube clip of Tom Cruise climbing the Burj Khalifa that I'm sure would look a lot cooler if I didn't watch it on my phone). But hey, Fallout was really good and full of intense fight scenes, so I'll take another.
Right now we know that the movie has a train action scene in it. Train action scenes are always the best action scenes (I cite Spider-Man 2, Shang-Chi, Skyfall, Indiana Jones, Superman, and The Fugitive as witnesses). So a train scene in the Mission: Impossible universe, the first since the 1996 flick? Shoot, I'd pay $10 bucks just for that.
15. Morbius - April 1st
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| But how do I know he's a vampire if it's not tattooed on his forehead? |
Sony's continuing a hot streak of flashy-looking villain movies with Morbius, based on the popular Spider-Man villain Michael M. Morbius, a doctor with a rare blood disease who turns into a vampire following a failed experiment.
Honestly, Morbius is just another win for Sony's marketing department. I wasn't really hyped for Venom: Let There Be Carnage until the excellent trailer, and, hey! I saw that in theaters! And the Morbius trailer was also awesome, so there's another ticket! I'm a sucker for trailers synced with 60s songs, I guess. All Morbius needs to do is deliver on some darker aspects of the plot and all the Spider-Man references in the trailer (Of which there are several from all three continuities).
14. Turning Red - March 11th
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| The animation looks ripped from a children's novel. It fits. |
Pixar strikes yet again, this time with an original movie. Turning Red is about a 13-year-old girl who, whenever stressed, turns into a giant red panda. The trailer makes it look light and fun, the animation is vaguely Wallace & Grommit-esque, and the basic hook of the movie is unique enough. It looks promising, but not special.
However, I'm giving Pixar the benefit of the doubt here. Each time I've thought a new flick looked just "okay," it's always turned out far, far better than it ever had any right to be (Onward and Coco come to mind). Throw in a solid plot twist and heart-wrenching emotional beat and you're on your way to Pixar glory.
13. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom - December 16th
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| If they made this costume look good, they can do anything. |
I really like 2018's Aquaman. It's just about the most move movie ever made - cliched lines, hot stars, giant CGI battles, a runtime that's just long enough to make it feel epic without feeling too bloated, and a redefining interpretation of Aquaman (Although long-term DCAU fans know he was always cool). So if this can somehow top the bonkers ride that the first Aquaman was, by all means, go ahead.
Not much is known about the movie at this point other than that the cast of the first movie is returning, surprise surprise. All we can do is hope that King Shark makes his DCEU return here.
12. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - November 11th
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| This article, unfortunately, aged very well. |
Marred by the death of its lead, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has a lot to answer, most of which has to do with Chadwick Boseman's legacy. Chadwick Boseman played the perfect version of Black Panther, his performance becoming integral to the success of the character and movie. Were it any other franchise, the installment would be canceled or the lead recast, but nothing stops the assembly line down at Marvel.
Now, if this movie has a shot in hell at pulling it off, it'll likely pass the mantle down to Shuri and have a long-rumored Namor as added elements, both of which were wanted, just... not this soon. Should they have recast? I think so. Black Panther was such an important part of that universe and a real-life inspiration in this one, it's terrible we only got him for four years. Be what it may, we'll just have to find out how they handle this.
11. Black Adam - July 29th
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| Black Adam boldly asks: Is it possible for the Rock to play anyone other than the Rock? |
10. Jurassic World: Dominion - June 10th
With the conclusions of Avengers, Daniel Craig's Bond, another 2010s blockbuster franchise is coming to a close this June with Jurassic World: Dominion. Like the aforementioned films, it's bringing back previous cast members from across the franchise - Sam Neill's Alan Grant, Laura Dern's Ellie Statler, and Jeff Goldblum's Ian Malcolm are the major draws here. Everyone loves the first Jurassic Park film, and maybe Dominion will finally get that old-school feel back.
Of course, there's always the sheer spectacle of seeing giant lizards eat folks while attractive movie stars do attractive movie star things. Jurassic World coasted off of that formula, so as long as Dominion doesn't go the Fallen Kingdom route and overcomplicate, it should be just fine. Keep it simple and scary.
9. Thor: Love and Thunder -July 8th
Thor: Ragnarok is one of the strongest entries in the MCU, hitting an uneven balance of visual flair, comedy, and action. If Thor: Love and Thunder can keep that up expect another defier of "superhero fatigue." Love and Thunder's throwing in a whole bunch of new draws - Valkyrie as the ruler of Asgard, Natalie Portman's return as Jane Foster with Thor powers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Sif, Christian Bale as the main villain Gorr the God Butcherer, Russel Crowe as Zeus and, of course, the returning gag of an in-universe play recap of the last movie.
The only place I'm a bit hesitant about this is that Tom Hiddleston's Loki is not currently set to return, which is a terrible loss to the Thor franchise and the dynamic that makes those movies work. There's also the always present fear that they'll try to go too "woke" with Valkyrie, but I have faith in Taika Waititi to make it plot-relevant and not just for brownie points.
8. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery - December 23rd
The first Knives Out shocked audiences and critics in 2019 when it, an original movie, made $300 million dollars, practically unheard of in an IP-dominant cinematic landscape. It was a fun murder mystery led by the ever likable Ana de Armas and Daniel Craig. Well, it's a complete switch this time, with Detective Benoit Blanc solving a new murder mystery for an all-new all-star ensemble, with the likes of Dave Bautista, Leslie Odom Jr., Edward Norton, Kathryn Hahn, Ethan Hawke, and Jessica Henwick playing a variety of wacky characters.
On an unrelated note, this movie will be released by Netflix, who snatched the rights for two Knives Out sequels back in March for $469 million, which makes 0 sense considering the first film cost $40 million. This is part of the reason why Netflix has $15.6 billion in debt, by the way.
7. Batgirl - TBA
I'm always happy for more Batman content, especially Batman content centered around characters who aren't Batman. Enter Barbara Gordon. I'm really excited to see how this ties into the DCEU, what with all the multiverses and whatnot, if we see Ben Affleck. J.K. Simmons is returning to his role as Jim Gordon, which is really exciting after his appearance in Zack Synder's Justice League was met so warmly.
Leslie Grace (In the Heights) is Barbara Gordon this time around, an iteration that's hopefully a bit less clueless. The main villain of the movie is Firefly, the timing of which is fortuitous, portrayed by Brendan Fraser, which, first of all, boosted Batgirl into the Top 10 almost singlehandedly. If one of these blockbusters casts Brendan Fraser the hype goes up incredibly. It's not often I'm really hyped for a superhero origin story, but a return trip to Gotham is always welcome.
6. Lightyear - June 17th
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| I'm vibing with this very hard. |
Do we need another Pixar expansion of a franchise they made two decades ago? No. Will I watch it anyway? Most likely. Right now we have a trailer that feels a lot like Pixar wanted to make a movie about a space man but tied it into a name for brand recognition. I don't blame them, Onward bombed and Soul and Luca both went to Disney+.
But you know what? I can forgive IP for the sake of IP. Incredibles II was good. Toy Story 4 was good. Sure, they were never as amazing as their predecessors, but they were still good and fun expansions. The trailer got my hyped for the movie and for all I know, this is an animated version of Interstellar and I end up bawling my eyes out at the origin story for a fictional toy. I wouldn't be surprised.
5. Avatar: The Way of Water - December 16th
Why is the highest-grossing movie of all time Avatar? Name the main character. Quote one line from it. You can't, but you're probably hyped for the sequel nonetheless. This is one of the rare times that science fiction and epic fantasy meld together to provide sheer spectacle entertainment that you only need 60% of your brain to understand, just watch the pretty pictures.
Avatar: The Way of Water is likely going to be the most epic movie of the year. Epic fantasies are the best, and hopefully, this one can fill the gap between Dune and Dune: Part Two. Long belated and technologically revolutionary, The Way of Water might go down in the record books.
4. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - October 7th
It's no secret that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is one of my favorite movies of all time, Top 5 in fact. So why is Across the Spider-Verse not my #1 pick? Simple. I have serious doubts that they'll be able to match the excellence of Into the Spider-Verse. I'm keeping my expectations a bit lower than I should, just so that way I can be absolutely be blown away in October.
Across the Spider-Verse is also throwing in some very cool added elements - the highly underrated Spider-Man 2099, Jessica Drew, Supaidāman, and, of course, the ever-pleasant prospect of another adventure with Miles, Gwen, and Peter B. Parker.
3. The Flash- November 4th
Flash fans (Including myself) have been waiting for a Flash solo movie since, well... basically forever... this one's looking like it's going to deliver and deliver hard. Ezra Miller proved himself as the Flash in Zack Snyder's Justice League, Ben Affleck's Batman still has potential, Supergirl's showing up, and Michael Keaton's return as Batman?
My goodness, Michael Keaton returning as Batman was enough to get the DC fans hyped (Especially after set photos show him in the classic Batman Beyond purple suit). And one can only get more hyped after the "At the Speed of the Force" scene. I think that scene was when I finally became truly excited for The Flash. Barring the terrible, terrible rumors that the movie would end with a new Justice League lineup with Black Canary, Supergirl, Batgirl, Shazam, and Flash, this is nothing but hype.
2. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness - May 6th
After the multiverse-hopping hijinks of Loki and Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is looking to be the next Civil War; I'm not technically an Avengers movie, but my cast is kinda getting big for a solo flick. Multiverse of Madness has a lot of elements I'm really excited to see play out - Benedict Cumberbatch's perfect Doctor Strange, more Wong, Scarlet Witch as a villain (?), America Chavez, a movie dedicated to the multiverse, some horror elements, the unique touch of Sam Raimi, and the alleged return of Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier. And hopefully Shang-Chi, I can't wait for him to show up again.
But mostly, I'm just here for the next step in the big MCU plan. Loki and No Way Home have both been great prologues in a multiverse story that'll probably bring in the X-Men and Fantastic Four. With the MCU about to hit a wall with Disney+ shows about Okoye and Agatha Harkness, enjoy the momentum of the MCU while you can.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is not only exciting because the character is fun, the first movie was pretty great, and that Sam Raimi is making another movie, but it's also exciting because it might signal the mutants and Fantastic Four. The MCU can do whatever they want and we'll watch it, just get us to the X-Men/Spidey/Avengers/Fantastic Four team-up flick against Doctor Doom.
1. The Batman - March 4th
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