With things (hopefully) settling down in the world of cinema, it looks like we’ve got another bumper year ahead of us. From more superhero blockbusters to riveting biopics, disaster movies, innovative animations and more, 2022 promises to deliver the goods right across Hollywood.
So, now that we’re into the New Year, let’s take a look ahead, with my top 10 most anticipated movies of 2022.
Honourable Mentions
The 355 (7 Jan), Death On The Nile (11 Feb), Uncharted (18 Feb), Turning Red (11 Mar), Nope (22 Jul), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (11 Nov), Creed III (25 Nov)
10. Black Adam
UK Release Date: 29 July
With DC’s Extended Universe now finally shirking its efforts to copy Marvel, and doing something different, I’m increasingly looking forward to each new instalment that comes with it.
Black Adam is meant to be a spin-off of the absolutely hilarious Shazam!, and while we don’t yet know whether this will be just as gleefully silly, there’s one thing that you can certainly get excited for: Dwayne Johnson. Finally having picked up a superhero role, Johnson’s star quality is likely to be the biggest draw for Black Adam, and his always-irresistible charisma is sure to make it a brilliant watch.
No trailer yet…
9. Moonfall
UK Release Date: 4 February
Just because these are my most anticipated movies of the year, that doesn’t mean that they’re going to be good. Moonfall, for example, looks pretty terrible, but I can’t wait to see it.
From Roland Emmerich, director of Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow and 2012, this latest disaster movie follows the efforts of a team of heroes who try to save the world as the Moon begins hurtling towards Earth, with no signs of stopping it. A star-studded cast leads the film, but the most exciting thing about Moonfall is the fact that it looks like the kind of braindead, ridiculous disaster movie that was left back in the ’90s, and the kind of film that can delight audiences – even if it won’t be winning many awards.
Watch the trailer here.
8. Top Gun: Maverick
UK Release Date: 27 May
Endless delays mean that this is the third year in a row where Top Gun: Maverick has made it into my most anticipated list, but 2022 surely has to be the year when it hits the big screen.
Releasing an almost unbelievable 36 years after the original, this sequel promises to be entirely different to the ’80s classic. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Top Gun, but Maverick looks like a film more in line with what we know Tom Cruise for best nowadays: action. With Mission: Impossible – Fallout director Christopher McQuarrie penning the screenplay, you can rest assured that this will be a great action blockbuster.
Watch the trailer here.
7. Blonde
UK Release Date: TBD
We don’t know much at all about Blonde yet. Starring Ana de Armas as film icon Marilyn Monroe, this fictionalised account of the star’s private life will certainly throw up a lot of intrigue, and hopefully for the right reasons.
We’ve recently had a fantastic Monroe biopic in My Week With Marilyn, starring Michelle Williams. However, with innovative director Andrew Dominik on board, it’s likely that this film will be a lot further from the traditional biopic you might expect, and something a little more unconventional. Whatever happens, I can’t wait to see it.
No trailer yet…
6. Thor: Love And Thunder
UK Release Date: 8 July
Once the most boring franchise in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Thor movies were completely turned around by the release of the deliriously entertaining Ragnarok in 2017.
Now, five years later, and with so much having happened in the interim to the Avengers and the wider MCU, this movie promises to be an entirely different kettle of fish. With quirky director Taika Waititi on board once again, you can be sure that Thor: Love And Thunder is going to be full of laughs, not to mention the gorgeous visual style we saw last time around.
No trailer yet…
5. The Batman
UK Release Date: 4 March
With the departure of the Batfleck, DC are now going all out with a unique, bold portrayal of Batman, starring Robert Pattison and helmed by Cloverfield and War For The Planet Of The Apes director Matt Reeves.
In what looks like a brutally dark depiction of the Caped Crusader, the trailer teases an intense, gritty blockbuster more akin to the crime thrills of The Dark Knight, or the disturbingly real story of Joker. Exactly where this latest reimagining of The Batman fits into DC’s Extended Universe is up for debate, but here’s hoping the film prioritises a great story, great action and a triumphant return for Batman.
Watch the trailer here.
4. Mission: Impossible 7
UK Release Date: 30 September
Another delayed Tom Cruise film that appeared on last year’s list, I’m so looking forward to Mission: Impossible 7, which promises to be something altogether more enormous than the previous six instalments.
With the franchise having been fully revitalised over the last decade, director Christopher McQuarrie returns for the first of two movies filmed back-to-back. Mission: Impossible 7 will lead directly into 8, and that means the story will have an even more enormous scope than any film in the franchise before it. Plus, rumours abound that Tom Cruise has taken his stunts up another level, so that alone is already exciting me for M:I 7.
No trailer yet…
3. Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness
UK Release Date: 6 May
The events of Spider-Man: No Way Home really have kick-started Phase Four in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and in a post-Endgame world, the franchise now seems to be building towards something really exciting once again.
The first of three Marvel films hitting screens in 2022, Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness brings together characters and story lines from across this epic superhero franchise, as Scarlet Witch from the TV show WandaVision appears alongside Doctor Strange to fight against the impending doom of the multiverse. It’s safe to say that, if you haven’t seen an MCU movie yet, this may not be all too accessible, but for die-hard fans, this movie might just be the pick of the year.
Watch the trailer here.
2. Lightyear
UK Release Date: 17 June
I cannot wait for Lightyear. Yes, I would love Pixar to make more original movies each year – they’re the best in the business on that front – but there’s something so eye-catching about Lightyear, which is not the movie you might think it is.
This isn’t an origin story for Buzz Lightyear the toy, who we know so well from the Toy Story movies, but rather the film on which the toy is based. I know, it’s a little confusing, but this will act as a standalone film, and a seemingly gorgeous one at that. The trailer is filled with some of Pixar’s most jaw-droppingly beautiful animation yet, and complete with a charismatic voice turn from Chris Evans, sprawling space adventure and bucketloads of nostalgia, I don’t think I’ll be smiling at the cinema any more than when I see Lightyear.
Watch the trailer here.
1. Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse – Part One
UK Release Date: 7 October
In what could be a great year for animation, my most anticipated film of 2022 is surely going to be one of the year’s very best. The sequel to the spellbinding animation Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, you won’t find a more unique, ambitious and imaginative movie than this in 2022.
While its multiverse themes are coming intriguingly into line with those of the MCU, Across The Spider-Verse – Part One stands very much on its own, defined by its powerful storytelling, boundless imagination, and – most importantly – that utterly gorgeous animation. A brief ‘first look’ trailer points to more of a role for Gwen Stacy alongside Miles Morales, but that’s about all that you can make head or tail of.
It’s going to be different, but it’s going to be so exciting, and yet another refreshing addition to wide landscape of superhero movies in Hollywood. So, if there’s one movie you see in 2022, make it this one.
Watch the trailer here.
