It’s a bit of an understatement to say that 2020 was a tumultuous year for film. Movies have either found new homes on streaming for a fraction of the money they were supposed to get or are resigned to a never-ending loop of delays (looking at you, No Time to Die). It forced studios to rethink their strategies, rolling out unprecedented schemes to the delight and ire of moviegoers everywhere.
All things considered, 2021 is looking a little brighter now that we’ve all tragically accepted that we will be watching most films, if not every film, from home. Release dates for films like Top Gun, Dune, and Black Widow are now looking immovable, which puts 2022 in a better light when it comes to awaited releases (either that or this article will age terribly). Check out the films you should watch out for in 2022:
The Superhero-verse
How are our heroes doing? I would say 2022 is looking to be another good year for them. For the MCU, we’re getting the much-awaited Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness early next year. The sequel will feature the Scarlet Witch, hot off the heels of WandaVision, and is directed by Spider-man 2’s Sam Raimi.
Thor: Love and Thunder is also back with director Taika Waititi, and so is Ryan Coogler for Black Panther II. Candyman director Nia DaCosta will take the helm for Captain Marvel 2 with Brie Larson reprising the role of Carol Danvers. She’s joined by WandaVision’s Teyonah Paris as Monica Rambeau and Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan from the Ms. Marvel series set to premiere later this year.
Meanwhile, DC will release the highly-anticipated film The Batman starring Robert Pattinson, directed by Matt Reeves. Promising footage has already been released, so here’s hoping for another solid entry to the Batman universe. Within the DCEU, The Flash finally finds its fourth new director in Andy Muschietti. They’re currently rounding out the cast (which features a new Supergirl) and are hinting at a Flashpoint storyline to reboot the DCEU. Aquaman 2 is set to end the year with returning star Jason Mamoa as well as returning director James Wan.
January will see the release of Sony’s Morbius starring Jared Leto as the titular vampire, sharing the same universe as Tom Hardy’s Venom. In the animation world, nothing has been more anticipated than the untitled sequel to Spider-man: Into the Spiderverse, which shows later in the year.
Action
Despite its troubled production history, the film adaptation of Uncharted is finally coming to screens early next year. It stars Tom Holland as Nathan Drake and is directed by Ruben Fleischer of Zombieland fame.
It’s begun. #JohnWick4 is now in production. pic.twitter.com/CBZSDreg0c
— John Wick: Chapter 4 (@JohnWickMovie) June 28, 2021
Keanu Reeves is back to star in John Wick: Chapter 4, but he’s already warning fans that it won’t be a happy ending (or ever, really). Worry not, the film will be shot back-to-back with Chapter 5. This was also once true for the Mission Impossible series but is no longer the case (you can thank the pandemic for that). Regardless, Mission Impossible 7 is still set for release this year as well as Mission Impossible 8 in 2022. The films see the return of Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, and Rebecca Ferguson with the addition of their newest cast member, Hayley Atwell.
Big Blockbusters
This is an exciting one: despite the shaky reputation of the new Jurassic Park trilogy, the third film should excite the fans of the first with the return of original stars Laura Dern, Sam Neill, and Jeff Goldblum. Not much is known about the plot as of writing (we assume dinosaurs get set loose again?) but Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, and BD Wong are set to reprise their roles as well.
Hello old friend. @LauraDern #JurassicPark #JurassicWorld #JurassicWorldDominion @BryceDHoward @prattprattpratt @colintrevorrow #DeWandaWise #JeffGoldblum #Dinosaurs #megafunosaurus pic.twitter.com/pwIlLIzpNt
— Sam Neill (@TwoPaddocks) August 5, 2020
Speaking of box office behemoths, James Cameron’s Avatar 2 will finally hit theaters 13 years after the release of the original. The sequel is set to explore new regions of Pandora as Jake Sully and Neytiri are forced to face an old threat. Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana reprise their roles. Expect another theatrical run for Avatar to beat Avengers: Endgame’s box office record.
Horror
2022 is the year of long-running horror franchises. Scream, the fifth film of its franchise, is set to release in January next year. It’s the first not to be directed by Wes Craven, who passed in 2015, but sees the return of its cast members Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Roger L. Jackson, and Marley Shelton.
On the other hand, Halloween will have Jamie Lee Curtis reprise her role for Halloween Ends, the thirteenth entry of the franchise. The 7th installment of Paranormal Activity is also underway with a streaming release scheduled for March 2022. In terms of horror auteurs, Jordan Peele is set to make a release in 2022 with another new (currently untitled) film starring Keke Palmer and his Get Out collaborator Daniel Kaluuya.
Everything Else
“The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise has had many twists and turns” is a sentence I never thought I’d write. From terribly-received character design to a delay to course-correct to a surprisingly well-received film which leads us to where we are now. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is scheduled for April 2022.
Meanwhile, animation powerhouse Pixar is set to release its 25th and 26th films in 2022. Turning Red is an original film directed by Bao’s Domee Shi. It’s set to release in March and is about a young teen that transforms into a red panda whenever she gets excited. Lightyear, on the other hand, dives into the mythos of the actual person that Buzz Lightyear the action figure was modeled after. Chris Evans is set to star.
Chris Pine to Star in ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ Movie for Paramount https://t.co/rNoPNcaDhI
— Variety (@Variety) December 14, 2020
Cult-favorite movies are also making a splash in 2022. Legally Blonde 3 is set to premiere in the middle of next year, 20 years after the original and 9 years after the sequel. Not much is known about it yet, but Reese Witherspoon is back as Elle Woods with Mindy Kaling and Dan Goor of Brooklyn Nine-nine penning the screenplay. Dungeons and Dragons is also getting another film adaptation from Game Night duo Jonathan Francis Daley (Sweets from Bones) and Jonathan Goldstein, both of whom also wrote the screenplay for Spiderman: Homecoming. The cast is slowly filling out with names like Chris Pine, Rege-Jean Page, and Hugh Grant, and you should expect to see the film around May 2022.
