Upcoming Superhero Movies To Keep On Your Radar

Matt Reeves' iteration of the caped crusader featuring Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz as Batman/Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle/Catwoman is easily the most anticipated movie of the year. Although Pattinson's casting initially made fans doubtful, "The Batman" trailer is evidence enough that the actor successfully represents a younger, and perhaps, a more twisted version of Bruce Wayne. Pattinson portrays the billionaire's inability to delineate from his masked vigilante personality and his reclusive persona with great competence. Unlike Ben Affleck's version of the character, this Bruce is a younger Batman, who is unable to control himself — and has ventured out to treat his rage by inflecting his kind of justice upon the many criminals in Gotham city. 

With a nearly three-hour runtime, the film will be the longest Batman movie yet, leaning into a noir-style detective story with multiple villains involved. For anyone who believes that superhero movies cannot be cinema, I really believe that "The Batman" will be another comic book inspired entry that proves otherwise. The star-stubbed cast includes also Colin Farrell as The Penguin, Paul Dano as The Riddler, Andy Serkis as Alfred, and Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon.

If you loved "WandaVision," "Loki," and "Spider-Man: No Way Home," it is likely that you've been waiting to watch "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" with bated breath. The MCU's first film of the year comes from Sam Raimi, who famously helmed the original "Spider-Man" trilogy and is bringing some major Raimi-esque vibes to the lives of Wanda Maximoff and Stephen Strange. The multiverse has ripped open following the events of "Loki" and "No Way Home," forcing Doctor Strange to recruit Wanda, the newly proclaimed Scarlet Witch, for help as they deal with a new threat. The film's teaser features trippy visuals and a glimpse of an angry-looking tentacle monster as one of the film's villains. Other cast members include the return of Chiwetel Ejiofor as Karl Mordo), Benedict Wong  as Wong (how convenient!), and Rachel McAdams as Dr. Christine Palmer).

"Black Adam" has been years in the making, much more than other superhero movies. Dwayne Johnson was cast as the DC antihero in 2014, and only now is the movie finally coming to theaters. The former wrestling star plays Shazam's archenemy Teth-Adam, and his alter ego, Black Adam, who is trying to redeem himself after being imprisoned for 5,000 years. "Black Adam" will also feature the introduction of the Justice Society of America, including Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher, Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone, Sarah Shahi as Isis, and Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate. Marwan Kenzari, who played Jafar in "Aladdin," is rumored to have been cast as Ishmael Gregor/Sabbac, the supervillain who will be going up against Johnson's superpowered character.

Ezra Miller will reprise his role as Barry Allen from "Justice League" in his own standalone superhero movie. Helmed by Andy Muschietti ("IT"), "The Flash" follows a storyline we've already seen in the Arrowverse television series. Inspired by the "Flashpoint" comic book arc, Barry Allen travels back in time to prevent his mother's murder — but we all know bad things happen when you mess with time. 

In the television series, which sees Grant Gustin as Barry Allen, the superhero grapples with the grief of losing his father and decides to stop the current chain of events by putting an end to the one that started it all. He runs back in time and stops Reverse Flash from killing his mom — but his actions bring unintended consequences. Instead of going back to the original timeline, The Flash creates a new one which is later named Flashpoint. In "The Flash" movie, Miller's version of the character will open a multiverse by also traveling back in time to save his mother, but he'll also run into Michael Keaton's Batman and Ben Affleck's Batman during his time travel missteps. "The Flash" will also introduce Sasha Calle as a new Supergirl.

For better or worse, DC fans can will a film into existence (see: "Zack Snyder's Justice League"), but it seems they can't campaign for an actor to be fired. The "Aquaman" sequel has been mired in controversy for the past year, after Warner Bros. decided to bring back Amber Heard, despite her involvement in a highly-publicized defamation and domestic abuse trial against her ex-husband Johnny Depp. The studio previously fired Depp from his role as Gellert Grindelwald in the "Fantastic Beasts" films, which generated an outcry from fans who called the studio to also fire Heard. 

Despite the unending Twitter trolling, Heard will be seen as Mera alongside Jason Momoa's Aquaman, along with Patrick Wilson as Ocean Master, Nicole Kidman as Atlanna, Temuera Morrison as Tom Curry, and Vincent Regan as Atlan, among others. There will even be some new VFX techniques used along side them.

James Gunn is bringing back the "Guardians of the Galaxy" for one final round. The studio has been pretty vague about the film's plot, but most of the original members are back for this one, and this will bring an end to their story.

Zoe Saldaña is Gamora — the character was killed by Thanos in "Avengers: Infinity War" but returned as a younger version of the character after the time travel shenanigans in "Avengers: Endgame." Chris Pratt is back as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Dave Bautista is Drax the Destroyer, and Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper return to voice Groot and Rocket. Karen Gillan (Nebula), Pom Klementieff (Mantis), Sean Gunn (Kraglin Obfonteri) and Sylvester Stallone (Stakar Ogord/Starhawk) will also be seen in the film. But the most exciting casting yet is that of Will Poulter as Adam Warlock, a powerful being created to destroy the Guardians. Nigerian-British actor Chukwudi Iwuji ("Peacemaker") has also been cast in an undisclosed role.

The title of Paul Rudd's latest outing as Scott Lang/Ant-Man suggests that a lot of quantum-related craziness awaits us next year. "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" will be directed by Peyton Reed (who helmed the first two films), and will see the return of Jonathan Majors ("Loki") as Kang the Conqueror, the creator of the Time Variance Authority. The actor has admitted that Kang is different from the time-traveling, multiversal adversary we saw in "Loki" and has a shifted psychologically due to the characters around him. He's still a villain, though, so we'll have to wait and see how he fits into Ant-Man's life. The film's cast includes Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne/Wasp, and Kathryn Newton as a grown up Cassie Lang. Bill Murray has reportedly also been cast in a secret role.