The Most Exciting Comic Book Movies to Look Forward To in 2020
Comic books were, for a long time, a predominantly American form of entertainment. While they were not foreign to other countries either – there are many examples of acclaimed comic books and graphic novels from France, for example, especially in the era of “Métal Hurlant” – their popularity never reached the level seen in the US (or in Japan, for that matter, where “manga” is still a major thing). In the age of connected popular culture, comics have stopped being a typically American form of entertainment, growing into a global phenomenon. Today, even comic conventions have expanded globally“, and even those who don’t have a taste for this type of entertainment are pulled into the many other forms of media based on them. Especially TV series and movies.
The “comic book movie” is one of today’s most popular genres, thanks in a large part to the success of the decade-long story arc of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This story arc has come to a conclusion this year, though. So, we are starting a new decade with new stories to tell, new comic book heroes to root for – and new movies to see at cinemas. Here’s a small bouquet to expect in 2020.
Marvel
The Marvel comics universe actually consists of several interconnected ones built around a certain superhero – or group of superheroes. To make things even more complicated, the movie rights for some of these are scattered across several studios. Today, Disney owns the rights for its majority, including the X-Men, Blade, Deadpool, and several others formerly under Fox’s umbrella, while Sony still retains its grip on Spider-Man along with its entire comic universe. The only superhero still at large is the Hulk – the rights to release a solo movie featuring him and She-Hulk are still owned by Universal (that’s why there was no solo Hulk movie in the MCU).
Next year, Marvel will reach deep into its superhero bag and pull out a few more – Black Widow will finally get her solo movie (May 1st), The Eternals make their big-screen debut (November), while Thor will hand over the hammer to a female successor as well (November). At the same time, we’ll see heroes like Doctor Strange, the Scarlet Witch, and several other beloved MCU characters in various forms, either at the cinema or at Disney+.
Outside the MCU, we’ll be reunited with Tom Hardy in the role of Eddie Brock/Venom in the movie’s sequel (October) and we’ll meet another antihero from the Spider-Man universe: Morbius, the living vampire. The movie led by Jared Leto is expected to drop in July.
DC
Warner/DC was not very lucky when it comes to its comic book movies. The only truly successful one they’ve recently made was Wonder Woman – Diana Prince will return to the big screen next year in a sequel set in the 1980s. We’ll also have the chance to reunite with some beloved gals from “Suicide Squad” on the big screen: in the upcoming “Birds of Prey” movie, several female DC heroes and villains (like Harley Quinn and the Black Canary) will team up to do bad things for a good cause.
There are many other sequels and reboots in the works, including a new “Batman” movie, a film called “Gotham City Sirens” that will feature Harley Quinn, Catwoman, and Poison Ivy, a Deadshot movie, and several others.
The comic book feature film market will likely be saturated in the coming years by productions based on DC and Marvel properties alone. Let’s hope they’ll be at least as great as they have been in the last decade.