2022 brought us an interesting crop of comic book movies, the two best being The Batman and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Beyond that, the rest of the movies have been relatively controversial, with some people loving them and others disliking them, such as Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Black Adam. One thing we can all agree on is Morbius being placed at the bottom. On a positive note, it seems that we have a lot of comic-book movies to look forward to watching in 2023!
1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
The third (and last) film in the Guardians trilogy, is set to wrap up on May 5th, 2023. This will be writer-director James Gunn’s final time at the helm of a Marvel movie, as he is now a co-CEO of DC Studios. If this third film knocks it out of the park, the Guardians franchise has the potential to be the best trilogy in the MCU, if not one of the greatest action trilogies of all time. The already great core cast of Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dava Batista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, and Sean Gunn is bringing back Elizabeth Debicki, and Sylvester Stallone, and introducing Will Poulter as Adam Warlock, Chukwudi Iwuji as The High Evolutionary, and Maria Bakalova as Cosmo the Spacedog.
2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
The first sequel to the Oscar-winning film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse from the brilliant minds of Christopher Miller and Phil Lord. The original film is revolutionary, combining multiple types of animation and the use of different frame rates to enhance the story. The iconic scene of Miles embracing his spider powers for the first time is one of the moments in cinema history that have been ingrained in my brain since I first saw it. In addition, the soundtrack of the movie is one of the most exciting and recognizable ones in recent years. The movie stars Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Oscar Isaac, Jake Johnson, Issa Rae, Brian Tyree Henry, and Daniel Kaluuya. It will be released on June 2nd, 2023.
3. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
The first time we will see Jonathan Majors as Kang in a major way. Considering he is the next Thanos-level villain of MCU, this first interaction will set the tone for the next couple of phases. The film follows Scott, Hope, Cassie, Janet, and Dr. Pym when they are accidentally pulled into the Quantum Realm and they learn there is more there than they ever could’ve imagined. The Ant-Man movies have always been cute and light-hearted fun, but now there is more at stake than ever before. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania stars Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton, Michelle Pfeiffer, Bill Murray, and Michael Douglas. This release is coming up relatively soon: February 17th, 2023.
4. The Flash
I certainly don’t expect The Flash to be great, but I can’t say I’m not interested in seeing exactly how all the controversy and issues will be dealt with and how the final result will turn out. Everyone knows that Ezra Miller has been running rampant across the world and causing chaos, and whether this movie is actually real or not still feels up for debate. And will there be any other changes to the movie now that James Gunn and Peter Safran are now co-CEOs of DC Studios? I enjoyed director Andy Muschietti’s take on the It movies, so I wish him the very best with his follow-up film. The Flash is expected to be released on June 16th, but I will believe it when I see a second trailer. The movie stars Ezra Miller, Kiersey Clemons, Michael Shannon, Ben Affleck, Michael Keaton, Ron Livingston, and Temuera Morrison.
5. The Marvels
A follow-up to Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel. Unfortunately, both of these properties have been review-bombed by internet trolls despite being successful movies and shows. Kamala Khan’s love for Carol Danvers in Ms. Marvel was one of the cutest, purest parts of the show. We will also get a chance to see Monica Rambeau officially as Spectrum, with the powers she gained from Wanda Maximoff’s hex in WandaVision, and Samuel L. Jackson back in his iconic role as Nick Fury. The Marvels is directed by Nia DaCosta and will be released on July 28th, 2023.
6. Shazam! Fury of the Gods
The sequel to the 2019 film Shazam! The original film is a secret favorite of mine. It felt like a breath of fresh air compared to the rest of the DCEU. It would be higher on the anticipation list, but who knows what will come of these films now that James Gunn and Peter Safran are the new leaders of DC, especially considering they’ve already gotten rid of Henry Cavill’s Superman. Either way, I am so glad to see this film coming out after a four-year gap. New to this film are Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu, Rachel Zegler, Diedrich Bader, and P.J. Byrne.
7. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is expected to be released on December 25th, 2023. Ben Affleck is supposed to have a role in this movie as Bruce Wayne, so this is still connected to the old DCEU. I’m looking forward to seeing Yahya Abdul-Mateen II back as Black Manta. I truly think he is such an excellent talent, and I’m happy to see him get a bigger role, and hopefully a bigger paycheck. And without a doubt, Jason Momoa coming back as Aquaman will be a fun time, especially the press tour, considering the recent antics he’s had on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Besides that, there is very little we know about the plot.
8. Kraven the Hunter
Kraven the Hunter has a surprisingly stacked cast including Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Russell Crowe, Alessandro Nivola, Christopher Abbott, Ariana DeBose, and Fred Hechinger (The White Lotus). Like these last few movies on the list, there is very little information on the movie. It’s directed by J.C. Chandor and written by Art Marcum, Richard Wenk, and Matt Holloway. The most exciting part of this movie is the potential to overlap with Spider-Man because the two characters have a comic history and are set in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe.
9. Blue Beetle
The last film on the list is Blue Beetle, which doesn’t actually feel like a real film yet. I have barely heard anything about the movie. It is supposed to star Xolo Maridueña, Susan Sarandon, Raoul Max Trujillo, Harvey Guillén, and George Lopez. The main character, Jamie Reyes, discovers a scarab that allows him to wear a battle suit and fly in space. Despite the limited information on the film or the character, we will have more Latino representation in film, which is always a plus! The movie is expected to release on August 18th.
Special Mentions: There is a lot of wonderful comic book television coming out next year, too! The first seasons of Secret Invasion, Echo, Ironheart, and Agatha: Coven of Chaos premiers on Disney+ as well as the second seasons of Loki and What If…?. Finally, Gen V, a spinoff of The Boys on Amazon Prime, is also expected to be released in 2023.
The Music City Drive-In 
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