2026
FULL LIST: top 12 most anticipated movies of the year:
Avengers: Doomsday
Spider Man: Brand New Day
Masters of the Universe
Mortal Kombat 2
Ready of Not 2
Violent Night 2
The Odyssey
The Mandolorian and Grogu
Moana (Live Action)
The Drama (April)
The Adventures of Cliff Booth
Street Fighter
ARTICLE:
2026 is upon us, and this seriously looks like it’s going to be a great year at the movies. This is the year of the sequel and the fan service and IP. Now, on the surface, that doesn’t sound so good. Most people want to hear about original projects by directors they know and love. But those movies are so hit and miss that you often get flicks that are just completely forgettable. Like Megalopolis by Francis Ford Coppola last year. Or Killers of the Flower Moon by Scorcese two years ago. And let’s not even get started on the Coen Brothers who haven’t made a memorable film in about a decade (and aren’t even working together anymore,) or Wes Anderson, whose movies have gone off the reservation. No, there’s something to be said about nostalgia and connecting to other movies from the past, and IPs that are already established, for characters that we already love. Nearly every movie on this list does that.
THE ODYSSEY
So let’s start out by talking about the one movie on the list that doesn’t. Just to get it out of the way. The Odyssey. It’s probably the single movie this year that has the most acclaim behind it. Now, of course, this is not based on an original property, but on Homer’s epic story, and so there is IP behind it. But these aren’t characters we’ve seen on screen before in any capacity. This will be a new world brought to us by none other than Christopher Nolan. And let’s be honest… that’s the reason why everyone’s so excited about it. Nolan. The guy who tackles all sorts of nerd-genre movies, often sci-fi related or mystery related or both. His most recent movie, Oppenheimer, was a drama that cleaned up during the Oscars. And now with the Odyssey, he’s tackling fantasy. This movie definitely has everyone’s interest, and for good reason.
MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE
Next up is another fantasy. And this one has been very long awaited. A Masters of the Universe live action movie. Now, if we’re putting these in order of most anticipated movies, this one is probably first on the list. I’ve been waiting for a movie on this series for ages. In fact the only thing I’d prefer more is probably a Thundercats movie. But these are just for nostalgia reasons, and taking me back to childhood. The trailer looks fun, but I have no idea how good the movie will actually be.
So now let’s get to the sequels. There are three of them on the list. Three sequels and two Marvel movies. For the three sequels, we’re looking at Mortal Kombat 2, Ready or Not 2, and Violent Night 2. All B movies in a sense. Whereas the Odyssey is high prestige elite and epic fantasy, these three sequels are anything but. They are all pretty much based on guilty pleasure films.
READY OR NOT 2
Ready or Not 2 comes out first. This is a March release. One thing that makes no sense at all is that a movie that looks very similar, called They Will Kill You starring Zazie Beats comes out a week or so later. Spread the wealth guys. But with regards to Ready or Not 2, the first movie was the surprise hit of the horror world. Not since Get Out was there such a cool, smart scary movie. It took the mansion murder concept to a whole new level, combining video-game / Clue ideas (everybody got their own unique weapon,) with game ideas (it was a family who made their money on board games.) There were even spirits involved. It took the classic book, “The Most Dangerous Game,” and set it in a mansion. The result was a perfect fit. It’s gonna be hard to beat that, and I’m not really expecting the sequel to do so. At this point, I really just want to see where the story goes next.
MORTAL KOMBAT 2
Mortal Kombat 2 will continue what the first one (the reboot movie,) got started back during the pandemic. They finally figured out that these movies should be R rated and violent just like the games were. Granted the original 1995 film was a lot of fun in a very campy way, but it was Los got lucky. That sort of thing didn’t be captured easily and really only grows in appreciation over time. Plus the reboot had to be different. Going for a hard R was definitely the way to go. Not only did the first reboot movie have the action, but also the humor. And now with Karl Urban from The Boys being brought in as Johnny Cage, this sequel is sure to be a blast.
VIOLENT NIGHT 2
That brings us to Violent Night 2. The first one has become a modern Christmas classic. We all love watching Christmas movies, but the fact is plenty of them aren’t very good (cue all Vince Vaughn Christmas movies, and really most Christmas movies about Santa.) What Violent Night did is reimagine Santa as a badass warriors. He’s the new John McClane, and the first movie brilliantly combined Santa with Die Hard. As long as the sequel sticks to a single location premise, we should be in good hands.
AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY
That brings us to the Marvel movies. Two films that round out my top 7 of the year. Spider Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday. Between the two of them, the one I’m most excited about is Avengers: Doomsday. In fact, it’s my single most anticipated movie of the year. And here’s why… first off Robert Downey Jr playing Doctor Doom. No idea how this is going to work and what it’s going to look like, but I can only imagine. Secondly, there’s the X-Men and the Fantastic Four and the Avengers all in the same movie. Now we don’t exactly know who the Avengers are (is it the Thunderbolts? Is it a crew Anthony Mackie’s Captain America has assembled?) Regardless, to see the original X-Men in a Marvel movie is a huge accomplishment alone. Plus they will be donning comic accurate costumes for once. Should be incredible.
SPIDER MAN: BRAND NEW DAY
Spider Man: Brand New Day is also high up there on my list. The first reason for that is because they are bringing in the Scorpion. Finally. I’ve been saying for years that he’s the one cool Spidey villain we haven’t seen yet in any way. We’ve gotten two Rhinos already (Amazing Spider Man 2 and Kraven the Hunter.) Plus they set him up in the first Tom Holland Spidey flick, introducing Matt Gargan, complete with a Scorpion tattoo on his neck. So it’s about time they make good on this. But aside from that, there’s the promise of other MCU characters appearing in the movie. Namely Hulk and the Punisher. Plus there’s the overall curiosity of where this story is going after the ending of the last flick, where Peter Parker’s memory was erased from the world. What will his relationship with MJ and Ned be like now? With both of these two Marvel movies, there’s are a whole bunch of reasons to be excited.
And that brings us to the bottom of the list. Not really the bottom, but more like the second half. You see, I don’t have 10 movies on this list, I have twelve. And movies one through seven are the ones I am most excited about. Movies eight through twelve aren’t quite at the same level, but they are still up there. Let’s put it this way… with movies one through seven there are multiple reasons why I’m excited to see them. With movies eight through twelve, it’s generally one reason. So I’ll give one sentence for each of these movies. Here it goes. The second half of the list…
The Mandolorian and Grogu:
It’s Star Wars, and characters we know and like, in a space action movie, that will take what the Disney Plus show did and hopefully expand it.
Moana (Live Action)
The animated movie was great, and it will be interesting to see how they adapt it for live action, especially with the Rock (reprising his role of Maui from the animated movie,) on board.
The Drama (April)
This movie has the perfect second trailer that really makes you want to know what the secret is and how these characters handle it.
The Adventures of Cliff Booth
The story of a character we already know and enjoy from the last Tarantino movie, this one was written by Tarantino and is directed by David Fincher, and watching how their styles blend together should be a treat.
Street Fighter
Not much is known about this movie other than its likeable cast (including Jason Mamoa as Blanka,) and that it’s based on the classic videogame, which is enough to peek my interest.