There’s no denying that the most popular genre around these days is the superhero movie. Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy proved that comic book adaptations could be just as dramatic and heavy as non-genre films, Marvel Studios jumpstarted a massive interconnected series of superhero movies that were significantly more colorful and humorous, and audiences have been turning out to both kinds of superhero films in droves. With nearly every major studio now working to turn its own comic book properties into the next big thing, and with Marvel Studios and Warner Bros. plotting out half a decade’s worth of material, it’s sometimes tough to keep track of what’s coming out when, who’s in it, and how it fits into the overall picture. Not to worry, though, because we here at Collider have you covered.
Below, you’ll find a comprehensive guide of superhero movie release dates for every major comic book adaptation on the calendar, going all the way up to the year 2024. Moreover, we’ll be updating this guide regularly with the most current information, so if you’re ever at a loss for when exactly The Flash is supposed to be in theaters, you can come right back here for a quick refresher.
Release Date: July 8, 2022
Director: Taika Waititi
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Taika Waititi, Russell Crowe, and Christian Bale
Marvel signed Thor: Ragnarokfilmmaker Taika Waititi to return to write and direct Thor: Love and Thunderin July 2019, but at Comic-Con a few weeks later Marvel broke the big news: the film will feature the return of Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, who becomes the MCU’s first female Thor! She’ll co-star opposite Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, who was deemed King of Asgard at the end of Avengers: Endgame. In January 2020, Christian Bale entered talks to join the cast as the villainous Gorr the God Butcher, and the Guardians of the Galaxy will also be making an appearance in the film.
Release Date: July 29, 2022
Director: Jared Stern
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Kate McKinnon, John Krasinski, Vanessa Bayer, Diego Luna, Natasha Lyonne, and Keanu Reeves
Black Adam isn’t the only project involving Dwayne Johnson and the DC Universe; July 29, 2022 brings the arrival of DC League of Super-Pets which will be directed by Jared Stern, from a script he co-wrote with John Whittington. Johnson will voice Superman’s loyal canine companion Krypto alongside his Central Intelligence and Jumanji co-star Kevin Hart as a new take on Ace the Bat-Hound. The film will follow Krypto having to join forces with a rag-tag team of super-powered shelter pets to save the Justice League after they’ve been kidnapped by Lex Luthor and Lulu, the hairless guinea pig.
Release Date: October 21, 2022
Director: Jauma Collet-Serra
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Noah Centineo, Aldis Hodge, Pierce Brosnan, and Quintessa Swindell
This project first surfaced years ago, when Warner Bros. secured Dwayne Johnson to play Shazam villain Black Adam. The idea was for Johnson to star in the Shazam movie, but in the spring of 2017 Johnson revealed that they had decided to make two separate movies: one for Shazam, and one for his antagonist/antihero Black Adam. Johnson will lead the latter while Shazam moved forward separately and became a success. This one’s been in development for a long time, but movement finally started to occur as Warner Bros. set Due Date writer Adam Sztykielto pen the screenplay. The film finally found a director in Jaume Collet-Serra, with whom Johnson worked on Disney’s Jungle Cruise movie. Filming was finally scheduled to begin in July 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 shutdown, but the story will involve characters like Atom Smasher, Cyclone, and Hawkman with Pierce Brosnan playing Doctor Fate. Filming was completed in 2021.
Release Date: November 11, 2022
Director: Ryan Coogler
Cast: Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Dominique Thorne, and Michaela Coel
Ryan Coogler is coming back to write and direct Black Panther: Wakanda Foreverand Chadwick Boseman was poised to reprise the starring role before his shocking death. Marvel has said they will not be recasting the role of T’Challa. Michaela Coel was cast in an undisclosed role, and filming began in July 2021 in Atlanta.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Release Date: December 21, 2022
Director: David F. Sandberg
Cast: Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Faithe Herman, Djimon Hounsou, Rachel Zegler, Adam Brody, Helen Mirren, Grace Fulton, and Lucy Liu
Director David F. Sandberg returns to direct the sequel to DC’s 2019 hit with Shazam! with Zachary Levi reprising his role as the titular youthful superhero and Asher Angel backas his young alter ego. This time, Shazam will have his foster family by his side to take on the daughters of Atlas, who will be played by Academy Award-winner Helen Mirren and the iconic Lucy Liu.West Side Story breakout star Rachel Zegler will also be joining the cast in an unspecified role.
Kraven the Hunter
Release Date: January 13, 2023
Director: J.C. Chandor
Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ariana DeBose, Russell Crowe, Fred Hechinger, Christopher Abbott, and Alessandro Nivola
Kicking off the 2023 slate of superhero movies is Kraven the Hunter, the fourth film in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. The film will be directed by Triple Frontier filmmaker J.C. Chandor from a script written by Uncharted screenwriters Art Marcum and Matt Holloway and The Equalizer screenwriter Richard Wenk. Taking on the titular role of the anti-hero will be Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who is no stranger to the world of superheroes having starred in the title role in both Kick-Ass movies and playing Quicksilver in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Joining Johnson will be recent Academy Award Winner Ariana DeBose as the character Calypso, The White Lotus breakout star Fred Hechinger as the classic Spider-Man villain The Chameleon, Christopher Abbott as the film’s main antagonist The Foreigner, as well as Russell Crowe, Alessandro Nivola, and Levi Miller.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Release Date: February 17, 2023
Director: Peyton Reed
Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton, and Bill Murray
In November 2019, Marvel Studios announced that Peyton Reed would return to direct a third Ant-Man movie. Rick and Morty screenwriter Jeff Loveless was subsequently hired to write the script, and Kathryn Newton has joined the cast as an older version of Scott Lang’s daugther Cassie while Jonathan Majors will play the villain Kang the Conqueror. Filming began in summer 2021 and wrapped in November 2021.
Release Date: March 17, 2023
Director: James Wan
Cast: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Patrick Wilson, Yahya Abdul Mateen II, and Pilou Asbæk
When Aquaman hit theaters in December 2018, it surprisingly became the highest-grossing film of the DCEU thus far, topping out at over $1.1 billion. With that in mind, Warner Bros. set about getting the wheels in motion on a sequel, though director James Wan cautioned that he wouldn’t move forward on it until the script was right. The studio has now set a far-away 2022 release date to give the film enough time to develop, and Aquaman co-writer (and frequent Wan collaborator) David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick has been tasked with writing the screenplay. Filming began in July 2021 and the film’s title is Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
Release Date: May 5, 2023
Director/Writer: James Gunn
Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Will Poulter, Elizabeth Debicki, Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Iwuji, Daniela Melchior, Maria Bakalova, Nico Santos, and Sylvester Stallone
The third Guardians of the Galaxy movie was originally supposed to start production in early 2019, but writer/director James Gunn was fired off the film last fall following the resurfacing of some bad jokes he made on Twitter years ago. Unbeknownst to the public, Gunn continued to meet with executives at Disney in the interim period, after he took a job writing and directing The Suicide Squad for DC, and it was announced in March 2019 that Gunn was being re-hired to direct the film. The intended 2020 release date was pushed back, and production wouldn’t begin until after Gunn finishes The Suicide Squad, but through all the turmoil Marvel Studios kept Gunn’s completed script. So he’ll get to close out the trilogy as he originally intended. Filming began in November 2021, and the film will be released in 2023.
Release Date: June 2, 2023
Director: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson
Cast: Oscar Isaac, Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Jake Johnson, Issa Rae, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Vélez, Rachel Dratch, Jason Schwartzman, Jorma Taccone, and Shea Whigham
Sony Pictures put into motion plans for a Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse sequel shortly after the successful launch of the Oscar-winning animated movie, but the creative team is a bit different. Phil Lord and Chris Miller are returning as producers and co-writers, but The Legend of Korra alum Joaquim Dos Santos is in the director’s chair alongside Kemp Powers (Soul) and Justin K. Thompson.
Release Date: June 23, 2023
Director: Andy Muschietti
Cast: Ezra Miller, Michael Keaton, Ben Affleck, Sasha Calle, Kiersey Clemons, Maribel Verdu, Michael Shannon, and Ron Livingston
The Flash movie has had a pretty long road so far. Back in April 2015, Phil Lord and Chris Miller were hired to write a story treatment with the hope that they would direct, but the duo departed to take the helm of Solo: A Star Wars Story instead. Ezra Miller remained attached to star, having been cast as The Flash for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and in October 2015 Dark Shadows screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith was hired to write the script and direct. Grahame-Smith was them removed from the project in April 2016, with WB wanting to take the film in a different direction, and Dopehelmer Rick Famuyiwa was hired as his replacement. Famuyiwa cast Kiersey Clemons as Iris West and Billy Crudup as Flash’s father Harry Allen, but by August 2016, Famuyiwa departed the project over creative differences.
While the film was supposed to start filming in early 2017, Famuyiwa’s exit threw a wrench into WB’s plans and the studio opted to slow things down while Miller went off to shoot Fantastic Beasts 2. Joby Harold (King Arthur) came on to do a page-one rewrite of the script, and in May 2017 Robert Zemeckis and Matthew Vaughn surfaced as WB’s top choices to direct. The studio revealed in July 2017 that the film would be titled Flashpoint, indicating the story will be adapting the famous comics arc that sees Barry going back into the past to save his mother’s life, thus creating an alternate timeline. Speculation then began that this Flashpoint twist could allow WB to “fix” some issues in the DCEU by altering the timeline.
At long last, Warner Bros. hired Vacation directors and Spider-Man: Homecoming co-writers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldsteinto take the helm in early 2018, based in part on the strength of their Warner Bros. action-comedy Game Night. But production was pushed once again, as Ezra Miller was originally due to shoot Fantastic Beasts 3 in Fall/Winter 2019. Filming on The Flash movie couldn’t begin before that.
In March 2019, a report surfaced there was creative tension between Miller’s vision (darker, gritter) and Daley and Goldstein’s vision (lighter, more fun), to the point that Warner Bros. allowed Miller to write a version of the script themself with the help of Grant Morrison to show what their take would look like. The implication was that if Warner Bros. wasn’t happy with the script Miller created, they could be out as Flash.
Well cut to July 2019, and Daley and Goldstein voluntarily left the project while ITand Mamafilmmaker Andy Muschietti entered negotiations to take over as director—the project’s fourth filmmaker in four years. Not only that, but Warner Bros. didn’t like Miller’s script after all and tossed it, albeit while keeping Miller attached as the lead character. Instead, Christina Hodson (Birds of Prey) is now writing a new draft of the screenplay.
At DC FanDome in 2020, Warner Bros. revealed the film will introduce the multiverse to the DCEU, with Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck reprising their roles as Batman from the previous films. Sasha Calle will introduce a new Supergirl to the DCEU, and Ron Livingston is replacing Billy Crudup as Barry Allen’s father, as Crudup had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. Filming finally began in April 2021.
Though recent legal troubles involving Miller, continue to loom over the project, making their future playing The Flash more and more uncertain.
Madame Web
Release Date: July 7, 2023
Director: S.J. Clarkson
Cast: Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O’Connor, Isabela Merced, and Tahar Rahim
Madame Web will mark the fifth entry in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, directed by esteemed television director S.J. Clarkson, who directed episodes of series such as Succession, The Defenders, Jessica Jones, and Orange Is the New Black, and written by Morbius screenwriters Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, alongside indie screenwriter Kerem Sanga. The film is set to star Dakota Johnson in the title role alongside a cast of some of the top rising young actresses working today including Euphoria‘s Sydney Sweeney, Ghostbusters: Afterlife‘s Celeste O’Connor, and Dora and the Lost City of Gold star Isabela Merced. So far no plot details have been revealed for the movie.
The Marvels
Release Date: July 28, 2023
Director: Nia DaCosta
Cast: Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, Samuel L. Jackson, and Zawe Ashton
Marvel tapped the director of the upcoming Candyman remake, Nia DaCosta, to helm Captain Marvel 2 which will co-star Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau and Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel, with Zawe Ashton playing the villain. The film’s title was revealed to be The Marvels in May 2021. Filming began in summer 2021 in London.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Release Date: August 4, 2023
Director: Jeff Rowe
Cast: TBA
A new animated feature film reboot of the pizza-loving, martial artist, teenage turtles is on its way to big the screen with the untitled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film. Produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and directed by The Mitchells vs the Machines co-director Jeff Rowe, the film will serve as a launching point for a new franchise of films focusing on the TMNT’s most iconic foes.
Blue Beetle
Release Date: August 18, 2023
Director: Angel Manuel Soto
Cast: Xolo Maridueña, Bruna Marquezine, Belissa Escobedo, George Lopez, Adriana Barraza, Harvey Guillén, and Susan Sarandon
Initially meant as an HBO Max exclusive movie, a Blue Beetle movie will be hitting the big screen in August 2023. Cobra Kai star Xolo Maridueña will be taking on the role of teenager Jaime Reyes also known as the superhero Blue Beetle. The film is set to be directed by Charm City Kings filmmaker Angel Manuel Soto from a script written by Miss Bala screenwriter Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer.
Batgirl
Release Date: TBA
Directors: Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah
Cast: Leslie Grace, J.K. Simmons, Brendan Fraser, Jacob Scipio, Ivory Aquino, Rebecca Front, Corey Johnson, Ethan Kai, and Michael Keaton
Warner Bros. pulled Joss Whedon over from Marvel to write and direct a Batgirl movie. He spent a year working on the script, during which time he was also spearheading reshoots and post-production of Justice League, but in February 2018 Whedon announced he was leaving the project because he “couldn’t come up with a story.” Bad Boys for Life directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are onboard to direct, and in July 2021 Leslie Grace signed on to play Batgirl. The film will be released exclusively on HBO Max.
El Muerto
Release Date: January 12, 2024
Director: TBA
Cast: Bad Bunny
Music superstar Bad Bunny was announced to be playing the title role in the sixth film in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, El Muerto, based off the obscure supporting character from the Spider-Man comics. No director or even a writer is attached at this point, but a release date has already been set for January 2024.