The most exciting new films coming in 2022
We’re certainly not short on upcoming movies as we move into the second half of the year, and there will be even more in 2023. Having seen a lot of new trailers and first looks at everything from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever to Black Adam at San Diego Comic-Con, we’re certainly excited.
Don’t Worry Darling, Olivia Wilde’s intriguing drama, Halloween Ends, and Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical The Fabelmans all hit theaters this fall, joining superheroes in the spotlight. Check out our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies if you want more information about all the superhero movies coming up (and there are a lot). Here’s the lowdown on everything from John Wick 4 to David O. Russell’s first film in eight years.
Don’t Worry Darling
Release date: September 23, 2022
A psychological thriller set in the 1950s, Don’t Worry Darling. Olivia Wilde directs the film, which stars Florence Pugh as Alice, a housewife who’s unhappy. Harry Styles plays Jack, who’s hiding a dark secret. Is everything really as perfect as it seems in their neighborhood? It’s all so mysterious so far. Also starring are Chris Pine, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, Nick Kroll, and Wilde herself.
Halloween Ends
Release date: October 14, 2022
The final movie in the rebooted Halloween trilogy will be Jamie Lee Curtis’ last appearance as Laurie Strode, based on what she knows about it. There is nothing to do with dying. I’m talking about the emotional impact they have constructed. It will be a spectacular ending to this trilogy.
According to producer Malek Akkad, “the last one will be a lot more contained”, while director David Gordon Green suggests that Halloween Ends will be a departure from the previous films. My engagement comes from doing something different. If I had to be repetitive, I would hand it off to someone else. When you have that opportunity within an established franchise, it’s really exciting to think about how you can show different tones and perspectives and evolve,” Green says.
You’re in for a bloody good time, and a big ending for the characters we’ve loved for decades. I hope Green is able to give Laurie Strode the send-off she deserves.
Black Adam
Release date: October 21, 2022
The fact that Dwayne Johnson has never played a comic-book superhero is almost surprising, given his hulking frame and larger-than-life persona. Black Adam will disrupt the power hierarchy in the DC Universe by disrupting the power hierarchy.
But while the character might not be a household name (yet), Black Adam – or Teth-Adam – has been a passion project of Johnson’s for more than a decade now. The antihero is one of the most powerful beings in DC Comics. A slave from Kahndaq granted superpowers from the wizard Shazam, Adam chose a dark path of revenge against those who wronged him, looking to settle the score by any means necessary.
The character is, according to Johnson, “a bad motherf*cker”. And that’s what attracted him to hold out for 10 years to play him despite numerous opportunities to play superheroes in the intervening years.
“Official offers never happened. It was always conversations with studio heads,” he tells Total Film. “But there was always something unique, different about Black Adam. He was a villain, an antihero, depending on your interpretation of what a villain is. I loved this idea that his pain and rage comes from loss, and was fuelled by oppression. And at some point, he refused to be held down anymore. If you wrong him, his family, or his people, then you will die. Period. That is just that simple.”
One thing’s for sure: Black Adam is set to shake the DCEU to its foundations. On working with director Jaume Collet-Serra again after Jungle Cruise, Johnson says, “Right from the beginning, we gelled, because it was like: ‘OK, our goal and our North Star is the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe is about to change.’ Let’s have guts. Let’s get after it. And let’s be destructive.”
A new trailer premiered at SDCC, which sees the antihero face off against the Justice Society of America. “My powers are not a gift but a curse,” he says, “born out of rage.” We then see Black Adam in action as Pierce Brosnan’s Doctor Fate warns him he can either be the Earth’s destroyer or its savior.
Amsterdam
Release date: November 4, 2022
Director David O. Russell is set to return with Amsterdam, his first movie since 2015’s Joy. It follows three friends – a doctor, a nurse, and an attorney (Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, and John David Washington) – who become the prime suspects in a murder in the ’30s. The ensemble cast is pretty stacked, too, with names like Robert De Niro, Anya Taylor-Joy, Rami Malek, Chris Rock, Zoe Saldaña, and Mike Myers filling out the rest of the credits.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Release date: November 11, 2022
For director Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the profound challenge was how to make a sequel after the death of Chadwick Boseman. Backing up comments made by Kevin Feige, production and development VP Nate Moore recently clarified one point: “As hard as it is narratively to figure out what to do, because that’s a big hole, at no point did we consider recasting.”
Rising to the task will be returning stars Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, and Martin Freeman. Newcomers onboard include Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams, soon to lead Disney Plus’s Ironheart, alongside Michaela Coel as former Dora Milaje leader Aneka, and Tenoch Huerta as the underwater ruler Namor.
The movie’s first trailer, which premiered at SDCC, also shows someone new in the Black Panther suit. There are theories that it could be T’Challa’s sister Shuri (Wright) or undercover spy Nakia (N’yongo), but we’ll have to wait a little longer to find out exactly who has donned the iconci get-up.
However these pan out, Duke (M’Baku) describes the filmmaking experience as “emotional”: “We’re all a bit of a family now and we grieve together, and we’re making something really special.” Fit for a king, then.
Avatar 2
Release date: December 16, 2022
Avatar 2 is just months away from release, but production is still underway. Considering how long it’s been in the works, we’re not surprised. It’s been over a decade since Avatar first arrived and wowed us all with its incredible visual effects, and we have high hopes that the sequel will live up to its predecessor.
Producer Jon Landau has been keeping us up to date on the film’s progress, namely by posting updates on his personal Instagram. Recently, Landau revealed that work on the score has begun – with none other than James Cameron’s longtime collaborator composer Simon Franglen. Now that Avatar: The Way of Water has crossed this major production milestone, we can get ready to see it in theaters come December.
We’ve rounded up all there is to know about How to watch Avatar 2 right here, from who’s who in the cast to all that’s known about the plot. James Cameron is back in the director’s chair, and from the first trailer, he’s clearly brought that stunning CGI spectacle back for round two. So, to get up to speed on the sequel, scroll on and discover all there is to know about our return to Pandora.
