Superhero movies coming to theaters in 2022

Superhero movies are returning to the big screen in force in 2022, with both Marvel and DC expected to release five movies each by the end of the year.

For DC, this year is all about new characters while for Marvel, it’s about the continuation and expansion of Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Fans can expect to see the debut of an all-new Batman this year, the next chapter in Sony’s Spider-Verse, three sequels from Marvel and a couple of animated movies for the entire family.

Sounds like a great slate of movies coming to theaters this year. So suit up, dust off your capes, and get ready for 10 months of superhero action with the following films:

THE BATMAN ( MARCH 4 )

First up this year is The Batman starring Robert Pattinson (Twilight) as the Dark Knight himself, with Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Andy Serkis as Pennyworth and Paul Dano as the Riddler. The movie was directed and co-written by Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) and comes in with a staggering runtime of 2 hours and 55 minutes.

The premise of the film is Batman, in his second year as the crime-fighting vigilante, pursues the deadly and mysterious Riddler, a serial killer who is targeting the key political figures in Gotham. Batman is forced to investigate Gotham’s hidden corruption and question his family’s involvement.

The film is intended to launch a Batman shared universe with two sequels planned and two spin-off series for HBO Max – one about the Penguin and the other focusing on the Gotham City Police Department.

As a huge Batman fan, it’s safe to say I’ll be in the theater on opening night for this one.

Morbius (April 1)

And that next step is the movie Morbius, starring Jared Leto (as Dr. Michael Morbius) – a man suffering from a rare blood disease. When Morbius attempts a dangerous cure, it afflicts him with a form of vampirism. The movie was directed by Daniel Espinoza (a Swedish director with no superhero chops) and was written by the same team who gave us the recent Lost in Space reboot.

So far, Sony has come through with its return to the superhero genre, releasing two better-than-expected Venom movies that I thought did the character well. Venom and its sequel made more than $1 billion at the box office, therefore a Spider-Man free Spider-Verse was the logical next step.

Morbius is a character with little mainstream recognition so this one might be a gamble for Sony. Hopefully, the movie makes enough cash for Sony to keep pushing its Spider-Verse , Verse, especially since the next film in the lineup is about Kraven the Hunter – a well-known and popular Spider-Man villain.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (May 6)

The Sorcerer Supreme returns for his second solo outing on May 6 – roughly one year later than originally planned – and will be the 28th entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movie was directed by Sam Raimi (the O.G. Spider-Man director) and written by Michael Waldron (writer of the Loki series).

Returning to this sequel are Benedict Cumberbatch at Dr. Strange, Elizabeth Olsen as the Scarlet Witch, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mordo, and Benedict Wong as Wong. Xochitl Gomez debuts as America Chavez, Patrick Stewart has been cast in an undisclosed role (my guess is Professor X) and the main monster is a tentacled-creature called Gargantos (modeled after the well-known Strange villain Shuma-Gorath).

The Hollywood Reporter reported a number of reshoots took place with the Multiverse of Madness, to allow the film to have “more fun with the multiverse” by adding more cameo appearances and variants of established characters. Could we maybe see the arrival of the X-Men?

DC League of Superpets (May 20)

Warner Bros. has been producing DC animated series and movies for more than 20 years, but very few of those have made it to the big screen. Thankfully, when we do it’s something to the caliber of The DC League of Superpets.

The movie stars Superman’s dog Krypto (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) and Batman’s hound Ace (voiced by Kevin Hart) and was written by the team who gave us the Lego Batman movie. So far, so good.

The story goes that when the Justice League is captured by Lex Luthor, Krypto forms a team of shelter-pets, who were given super-powers, to come and save the day. Rounding out the team is PB the pig (who can grow to giant-size), Merton the turtle (a speedster) and Ch’p the squirrel (who has electric powers).

Thor: Love and Thunder (July 8)

The Mighty Thor returns for his fourth solo film in Love and Thunder later this summer with a story apparently heavily influenced by the comics (as it should be). All of your Asgardian favorites are returning for this 29th entry in the MCU, including Taika Waititi, the director of Thor: Ragnarok.

Russell Crowe has been cast as Zeus, Christian Bale as the villainous Gorr the God Butcher and the entire Guardians of the Galaxy crew is slated to appear. After all, Thor did leave with them at the end of Avengers Endgame.

Waititi has said the film will adapt elements from Jason Aaron’s run on the Mighty Thor comic book, which sees Jane Foster take on the mantle and powers of Thor whilst suffering from cancer. All the while, Gorr takes on a mission to wipe out as many of the universe’s gods as possible.

Black Adam

The Mighty Thor returns for his fourth solo film in Love and Thunder later this summer with a story apparently heavily influenced by the comics (as it should be). All of your Asgardian favorites are returning for this 29th entry in the MCU, including Taika Waititi, the director of Thor: Ragnarok.

Russell Crowe has been cast as Zeus, Christian Bale as the villainous Gorr the God Butcher and the entire Guardians of the Galaxy crew is slated to appear. After all, Thor did leave with them at the end of Avengers Endgame.

Waititi has said the film will adapt elements from Jason Aaron’s run on the Mighty Thor comic book, which sees Jane Foster take on the mantle and powers of Thor whilst suffering from cancer. All the while, Gorr takes on a mission to wipe out as many of the universe’s gods as possible.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse [Part One] (Oct. 7)

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse came out of nowhere back in 2018 and rocked audiences with slick animation, a fantastic story and awesome characters. A sequel was a no-brainer.

Across the Spider-Verse is the first of a two-part sequel with release dates in October of 2022 and 2023. In addition to Miles Morales (Spider-Man from an alternate Earth), Across the Spider-Verse includes Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Issac), Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), Old Man Spider (Jake Johnson), Spider-Woman (Issa Rae) and a Japanese Spider-Man (Takuya Yamashiro).

Just Google the 1978 Spider-Man series about that last one. Trust me. The story of Across the Spider-Verse follows our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man as he travels across the Multiverse to team up again with Gwen Stacy and a whole new squad of Spider-People to battle an unknown villain.

The Flash (Nov. 4)

For a speedster, the Flash sure knows how to take his time getting to the big screen for his solo outing. First appearing (briefly) in Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Ezra Miller’s Flash has appeared in the Suicide Squad and Justice League movies and the Flash and Peacemaker television series. It’s past time the Scarlet Speedster had his own movie.

The Flash is the 12th film in the DC Extended Universe and according to news accounts, the movie is based on the Flashpoint series in the comics, where Barry Allen travels back in time to prevent his mother’s murder, which causes all manner of mayhem with the timeline (such as alternate versions of well-known characters showing up).

Andy Muschietti (It and It Chapter 2) directed the movie, while Christina Hodson (Bumblebee and Birds of Prey) wrote the screenplay. If there was ever a time to reboot the DC Extended Universe, this movie could do the trick.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Nov. 11)​

Superhero movies are returning to the big screen in force in 2022, with both Marvel and DC expected to release five movies each by the end of the year.

For DC, this year is all about new characters while for Marvel, it’s about the continuation and expansion of Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Fans can expect to see the debut of an all-new Batman this year, the next chapter in Sony’s Spider-Verse, three sequels from Marvel, and a couple of animated movies for the entire family.

Sounds like a great slate of movies coming to theaters this year. So suit up, dust off your capes, and get ready for 10 months of superhero action with the following films:

The world was stunned with the death of Chadwick Boseman back in 2020 and because of the respect Marvel had for the actor and his portray of the Black Panther, the company decided not to recast the King of Wakanda for the sequel.

As a result, the mantle of the Black Panther will be passed on to someone else, most likely T’Challa’s sister Shuri (as it happened in the comics). Wakanda Forever – the 30th film in the MCU – brings back all of your favorite characters from the first movie, plus the debut of Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams – a genius inventor on par with Tony Stark, who built a suit of armor and calls herself Ironheart.

As for the story, the rumor is the main villain will be Namor, the King of Atlantis, who sees Wakanda as weak and ripe for conquest given the recent death of its ruler. In the comics, Namor floods the African nation, so it’s possible we could see a similar story play out on the big screen. Plus, Namor’s introduction opens the door for other tie-ins, such as with the Fantastic Four and the X-Men.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (Dec 16)

The first Aquaman movie (2018) was a surprise hit. Grossing $1.148 billion worldwide, this made it the highest-grossing DC Extended Universe film and the highest-grossing film based on a DC Comics character. And all about a man who talks to fish. Go figure.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is seeing a lot of familiar faces – James Wan (Saw, The Conjuring) is returning to direct, all of the main characters are returning and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick is returning to write the screenplay (with some help from Jason Momoa himself).

As for the story, that’s a bit of a mystery. In Aquaman, the Lost Kingdom was only mentioned briefly as one of the Seven Kingdoms and was not referenced again. Obviously, this movie explores this lost kingdom in depth and one rumor is it’s the location of Atlan’s tomb, the Hidden Sea at the Earth’s core. Let’s hope the movie takes a deep dive on this possibility.