A brief stop at IMDB and one click-bait taken later...
Here's their list of upcoming and/or just dropped sci-fi and fantasy shows and movies. I was actually hoping it would include a date for the return of The Nevers, since I just watched the 6 episodes already released on DVD and thoroughly enjoyed them, much more than I did when I first viewed the series as it aired. Sadly, no luck. Still, here's some thoughts on what IMDB tells us to expect on the sci-fi and fantasy front over the next couple of years. I'm sure there are projects they didn't mention but it's a pretty impressive list, stretching into stuff planned for release in 2023 and probably beyond.
Rating range from:
"Day of" which means I'll watch this any way I can, as soon after release as humanly possible.
"DVD" which means I can wait until it drops on dvd but will be willing to pay full pop when it comes out.
"Filler" which means it'll be one I buy once the price drops and it will get me into free shipping range at that online giant...
"Bargain Bin" which means exactly that. Unless I find it for $5 one day, not that worried about it.
"Nope" which requires no translation.
Stars are so boring.
Most of these ratings will be subject to change one grade either way if reviews or word of mouth indicate...
Invasion. (Airing now) Nope. Gave it a go for a couple of episodes. Just about the dullest thing on tv right now up to the point that I bailed. Don't really care where it went from there.
Finch (out now) Bargain Bin. I like Tom Hanks and there's a dog. No idea beyond that but hey, you never know.
Star Trek Discovery (airing now) Day of. Season 4 is just getting going and I just finished watching Season 3 on DVD. It's grown into a pretty spiffy show and having the gang jump a thousand years into the future is a great way to keep injecting fresh spin into the Trek universe. There was a series of books I used to read that revolved around a Japanese aircraft carrier from World War II that got frozen in ice and somehow survived, crew and all, until being thawed in the late 20th Century. There's fun stuff to be done with old tech in the future as a story device.
Ghostbusters Afterlife. Filler. The first movie is classic but the franchise has never really impressed since.
Cowboy Bebop. DVD. This one looks interesting. I'm not a fan of anime in general so I've never seen the original source, but from what I've seen the live actions series has got a kind of Blade Runner meets Star Trek vibe with a little Dirk Gently thrown in.
Wheel of Time. DVD. I read most of the books but after about the third or fourth they started to run together in a weird, hazy deja vu kind of way. I'm betting the first few seasons will be great but they'll really need to step up the game if it goes more than three because the source material really tailed off.
Spider-Man No Way Home (Dec 17) Day of. Unless you're new here, this is known.
The Witcher (Dec 17) DVD. Okay, there's no guarantee it'll hit dvd but the first season was good but suffered from a serious case of time jump-itis. For me it was tough to follow what happened when but it was generally entertaining. No rush but I will get to it.
The Matrix Resurrections (Dec 22) Filler. See Ghostbusters.
The Book of Boba Fett (Dec 29) Day of. I loved The Mandalorian and have hope that this will be more of that kind of quality Star Wars back story love.
After Yang. (2021)Nope. Colin Farrell in a movie about a family dealing with losing their android. Or something.
Ms. Marvel. (Late 2021) Day of. Aren't we already in "Late 2021"? Another step in the right direction for Marvel as they widen their colour and culture palette. While I've never read the character's comics, I'm looking forward to this one as I've enjoyed the character in several Marvel cartoons in the last decade or so.
Moonfall (Feb 4, 2022) Nope. Halle Berry in movie about the Moon crashing into Earth. I guess Bruce Willis was busy...
Fantastic Beasts III (April 15, 2022) Nope. I got off the Harry Potter train after the last Harry Potter movie and nothing I've read or heard since has made me want to get back on.
Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (May 6, 2022) Day of. The first Dr. Strange is pretty far down my ranked list of Marvel movies but I have hope that it'll be a Wrath of Kahn level sequel upgrade.
Jurassic World: Dominion (June 10, 2022) DVD. The return of Sam Neill might be worth uplisting this to Day of but I find Chris Pratt irritating in everything he does, so no rush even though I love me some dino-carnage.
Thor: Love and Thunder (July 8, 2022) Day of. This is one of those moments in cinema where the filmmakers actually fell in line with my own ideas of where the franchise should go. That's rare and I am pretty excited about this one. Seeing Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) hoist Mjolnir will be almost as satisfying as seeing Captain America do it.
Black Adam (July 29, 2022) Day of. Dwayne Johnson finally (it's been a 10 year or so journey, well documented and torturous for fans of the character) will get to bring Shazam's BIGGEST Big Bad to the silver screen, obviously going the anti-hero route with him. Hopefully more anti than hero...
Lord of the Rings (Sept 2, 2022) Filler. I love me some swords, wizards, dragons and elves as much as any fan but Tolkien has been done as well as I could have ever have hoped for and this is someone else's idea of where to go with Middle-Earth. I'll watch it but I'm in no rush.
Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse 2 (Oct 7, 2022) Day of. Even if this wasn't Spider-Man, after how great the first one was, I'd line up to see the sequel. Probably the best Spider-Man film with the possible exception of Spider-Man 2 from the Tobey Macguire days, so hopefully an amazing sequel.
The Flash (Nov 4, 2022) Day of. If there's one movie that teeters on the brink of going from Day of to DVD for me, this would be it. I can't stand the guy playing Barry Allen/The Flash and only the inclusion of a couple of (Ben Affleck/Michael Keaton) Batmen has me willing to line up for this one.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Nov 11, 2022) Day of. Expect this to be pushed back since the production has shut down while Letitia Wright heals from an onset injury. Whenever it drops, I'm all in and cannot wait! They went the right way by not recasting T'Challa and I'm hoping that means that Wright's Shuri will be the new Black Panther since she was one of the best things about the first movie.
Aquaman and the Lost Kindom (Dec 16, 2022) Dav of. An early Christmas present for me!
Avatar 2 (Dec 16, 2022) DVD. I know Avatar was a BIG thing but it never struck me as much more than Last of the Mohicans in space. Pretty and impressive to be sure but I'm in no rush for the sequel(s) that are coming.
Untitled Super Mario project (Dec 21, 2022) Nope. I can't recall the last time a movie based on a video game was very good and this one has the addition of Chris Pratt. So a pass.
House of the Dragon (2022, sometime) DVD. Loved Game of Thrones but much like the Lord of the Rings project, this is a largely unnecessary journey into the Seven Kingdom's past.
She-Hulk (2022) Day of. Tatiana Maslany appeals to me in just about anything she does. She-Hulk has always been a favourite of mine, so this one might just be my favourite thing on the list.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022) Day of. Really looking forward to this. Anson Mount's Captain Pike is note perfect and I've gotten used to Rebecca Romijn's Number One. Word is this'll be more "crisis of the week" than the season long arc that has become the norm in Star Trek over the last few incarnations. With it being set on the original Enterprise, I was hoping for a 21st Century spin on the Original Series and it seems that's their plan. I can't wait!
Andor (2022) DVD. This one is the Star Wars equivalent of the Lord of the Rings/House of the Dragon scenario. The back story of a character that lived and died in a single movie seems small thinking in a universe the size of the Star Wars franchise.
The Adam Project (2022) Bargain Bin. Ryan Reynolds will travel back in time to work with his 13 year old self to save the world. First I've heard of it but it might be okay.
Hocus Pocus 2. (2022) Nope. Just no.
Skull. (2022) DVD. The next incarnation of the Predator franchise. First I've heard of it so it could go up or down depending on what information comes out over the next year...
The Last of Us (2022) Nope. Based on a video game AND zombies. Definitely not.
Anansi Boys (?) Filler. Spin off of American Gods. American Gods lost me about halfway through season 2. I missed Gillian Anderson and it just never really got off the ground for me. This one sounds interesting, so I will give it a go but no rush.
Moon Knight (?) Day of. Moon Knight is another one of those characters I dreamt of seeing done "for real" when I was reading and collecting comics as a teenager. Cannot WAIT for this one!
Avatar - The Last Airbender. (?) Nope. As mentioned earlier, not an anime fan and this one never appealed, at all.
The Power. (?) DVD. Dystopian future drama where the twist has the women developing a deadly new ability. It doesn't sound super original but might be fun.
The Sandman (?) DVD. Never read the Neil Gaiman comic but it's one of those comics that most other comic geeks will discuss endlessly if it comes up. I will check it out but it's not super high on my list.
The Marvels (2023) Day of. Captain Marvel gets a sequel and I'm all in!
Guardians of the Galaxy 3. (2023) Day of. If this wasn't Marvel, it'd be "Filler". I rank the two previous Guardians films just above Thor 2 on the Marvel list. Chris Pratt makes these almost unwatchable for me, but I do like Rocket and Groot.
Shazam - Fury of the Gods (June 2, 2023) Day of. Really looking forward to this. The first one was fun and DC did right by the character first time out, so I'm hoping this will be as much fun as the first one.
The Fantastic Four (?) Day of. No idea what direction this will take but honestly it's tough to imagine that it won't be a top flight Marvel flick.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (July 28, 2023) Day of. The light hearted side of Marvel gets another outing and I am happy about that. These ones are like a nice sorbet between universe saving cosmic scale courses.
Furiosa (May 24, 2024) Day of. Mad Max:Fury Road might just be the best action movie ever made and while I'm sad that Charlize Theron won't be playing Furiosa in the prequel, if it is half the movie Fury Road was it will be awesome!
Untitled Green Lantern Series (?) Day of. Please, please let this be great. Another one of those dream projects from my youth that I'm still a little amazed exists at all.
The Witcher: Blood Origin (?) DVD. A prequel to The Witcher. Would fall under that whole "unnecessary prequel to a story that is already nicely complete" umbrella except that the Witcher story isn't remotely complete AND this one will star Michelle Yeoh and therefore be awesome.
Untitled Chronicles of Narnia Project (?) Nope. Just not a fan.
Wonder Woman 3 (?) Day of. Just let it be better than 2 and I'll be thrilled. The first movie is about the best thing DC ever did but the sequel was bloated and I'm pretty much over the whole "make a speech to save to the world" thing that seems to be a DC staple. Still love Gal Gadot and have high hopes for a rebound this time out.
Dune sequel (?) Day of. Technically only the original movie is on this list but the sequel has now been greenlit and I am looking forward to seeing the complete picture.
Obviously, these are just my own opinions about what might be and therefore not in any way binding. Not even to me! I've said before that art is NOT a democracy and my opinion is not at all important either to the shape of art as it gets made or to anyone's enjoyment of it as it airs. I'm just telling y'all what I think and there's no reason my personal ranking system should influence anyone.
There's always the possibility that something I expect to be terrible will turn out to be fantastic and vice versa, so don't let my babbling influence your own desire to see or not see something. As a matter of fact, I would love to have some of you bring us some different opinions down in the comments.
2 comments:
Whoa! Furiosa? How did this not pop up on my radar? I'm in.
I'll skip the rest, with the possible exception of Fantastic Four. I've generally enjoyed the Marvel stuff but they've already wrapped up all the characters I care about and I have no urgent need for anymore.
I think your attitude is fairly indicative of the more casual fans out there in general when it comes to Marvel.
Between the "The End" vibe of Endgame and the pandemic I think that Marvel is on the downslope side of their climb. I'm sure fans will still flock to see the movies that interest them but as an overwhelming cultural force I think the MCU is on the decline.
They may be able to change that trajectory going forward but they'll need more interesting properties than Eternals to do it. Not saying it can't happen what with Black Panther II, Ms. Marvel and She-Hulk and a few others on the horizon but they're at least vulnerable to a new genre taking the movie house crown in the 2020s.
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