2025 May Be The Best Year For Superhero Films
Are comic book movies a dying breed, or is the golden age of superheroes just getting started? If 2025 is anything to go by, things could be looking rosier than you might think.
The past two years have been absolutely brutal for the DC Comics arm of Warner Bros. From Black Adam to Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom to The Flash, the powers that be quickly turned an unreliable yet intriguing universe into a dysfunctional mess played by cringeworthy behind-the-scenes drama and abysmal box office returns. In the midst of this Kryptonian disaster, however, the decision to bring aboard Marvel Studios’ prodigal son, James Gunn, as DC’s new creative lead was one of the boldest, smartest moves Warner could have made.
Gunn’s work within the Marvel Cinematic Universe cemented his reputation as one of the defining voices in modern superhero cinema, with The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker confirming that his talent as a storyteller was no fluke. Even amid the DC Extended Universe’s spectacular 11th-hour nosedive, fans were blessed with the promise of an impending, rebooted continuity carefully crafted by one of the most passionate creators in the genre: Superman. The first theatrical release in Gunn’s New World is due out July 11th, 2025. And while we won’t know whether or not it succeeds until then, its release marks an exciting new chapter for DC. For the first time in many years, DC won’t be fighting against its past but building a future, and with a largely respected creative mind at the helm to boot.
First Family
Speaking of historically troubled intellectual properties, Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four will be hitting cinemas on July 25th, 2025. It’s almost unanimously agreed among fans and critics alike that there’s never been a good comic-to-film translation of Marvel’s first and most beloved family. The 1994 film was a shoddy, artistically dubious product that was allegedly only made to keep the rights to the characters. The 2000s Tim Story films are charitably of their time, and Josh Trank’s 2015 version was, well, let’s just say it wasn’t great.
It’s fantastic. Say that again. But while it’s not necessarily true that setting the Fantastic Four into the MCU will make them fantastic again, it might solve many of the problems they once faced. The upcoming film stands in stark contrast to its 1994 counterpart, for example, as it appears to be one of the most high-priority projects currently in development at Marvel. Harmonious, fully committed production at a studio that actually understands superhero stories is precisely what a Fantastic Four film needs. It also helps that a recently revealed cast is stacked with prestigious talent, and there’s even a rumor that Marvel Studios wants Javier Bardem to play the main villain Galactus. All in all, Marvel’s First Family seems to finally be in good hands.
The MCU line-up
2025 arguably marks Marvel’s most ambitious theatrical slate ever, and certainly since 2021 when they released Black Widow, Shang-Chi, Eternals, and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The key difference between the two years is that Marvel was more or less forced to release four films in 2021 to steer the universe back on track after months of COVID-19 delays. On the other hand, 2025 seems like a more confident play for the studio, evoking the “too big to fail” swagger Marvel Studios enjoyed throughout its first three phases. Is this confidence a good thing? Not necessarily, but it’s reassuring that it stems from historically reliable creatives like Kevin Feige, whose only major stumbling blocks with Marvel stem from COVID-19 production issues and the hubris of two difficult Disney CEOs. Right now, Marvel is due to release Blade, Captain America, Brave New World, Thunderbolts, and Fantastic Four in 2025, all of which are meant to establish new franchise-leading characters or to elevate supporting characters to franchise leads. These movies have a lot more riding on them than your average Marvel project, so if Disney and Marvel are confident about releasing them in the space of a single calendar year, they must have an exceptional amount of faith in their lineup.
Brave new worlds
The fact that Captain America, Brave New World, and Thunderbolts are scheduled to release one after the other might give us all another reason to be cautiously optimistic about Marvel’s future. Notably, both films are anchored by one of the two stars from The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, and both seem to be set within the SHIELD-adjacent spy thriller world softly established by Captain America: The Winter Soldier. As such, Brave New World and Thunderbolts could easily be closely related to one another, potentially even acting as a duology of sorts. These projects placed in the release schedule could indicate that Marvel might return to the interconnected narrative style that made their first three phases so popular. “Nick Fury, director of SHIELD: I’m here to talk to you about the Avenger initiative.” The majority of films released in Phases 4 and 5 are all largely isolated, robbing the MCU of arguably its most attractive quality. And while Fantastic Four and Blade will likely follow suit, at least Brave New World and Thunderbolts might have a chance to strengthen the franchise’s continuity.
Enter the Daywalker
There are a number of good reasons to be worried about Marvel Studios’ Blade, but Mahershala Ali isn’t one of them. Whether featuring in grounded prestige dramas like Moonlight or stepping into fantastical roles like those of The Hunger Games, the two-time Academy Award winner has proven again and again that he’s one of the most versatile talents working today. Ali is also responsible for two of the most compelling comic book performances of all time: Cottonmouth, the tragic villain of Luke Cage season one, and Miles Morales’s Uncle Aaron in the Spider-Verse movies. “I’ll find them. You know me, Sir. I don’t ever quit.” Yet, despite his obvious talents, it’s been a while since Ali had a theatrically released film. For almost a decade now, his best work has been confined to the small screen, and while those projects are more than worthy of his talent, it’s been far too long since he’s been allowed to lead a project meant for the movies.
Even if Blade turns out to be the messiest release of Marvel’s 2025 slate, Ali’s performance as the titular Vampire Hunter will no doubt make it worthwhile.
Man of Tomorrow
Whatever you think of Zack Snyder’s DC films, at least some credit should be given for having the bravery to tackle a character as iconic as Superman in the wake of The Dark Knight. But the results were mixed, not least because Christopher Nolan’s Bat trilogy had established a darker, more adult approach to DC movies. Snyder’s response to this new style was to give us a Man of Steel who was stoic, brooding, and hopelessly introspective. Though the Henry Cavill iteration of the character certainly has its fans, Snyder’s Superman struck a tone far from that of his comic book counterpart. This is why it’s so exciting that James Gunn’s Superman will be given one thing that was largely missing from Snyder’s: a sense of humor. Speaking to The Associated Press in 2024, Lois Lane actor Rachel Brosnahan shared that the cast and crew were intently focused on telling a Superman story that was true to the source material.
In part, this means allowing David Corrin’s Clark Kent to enjoy a stronger sense of humor than Cavill’s. And for those worried that
This means Gunn will be utilizing the kind of jokes you heard in the Guardians trilogy, fear not, the writer-director confirmed long ago that the tone of Superman will be very different from his past work.
Spawn
Marvel and DC may be dominating the comic book movie landscape these days, but they’re not the only companies out there by a long shot. A new film based on Todd McFarlane’s groundbreaking Image Comics character Spawn is eyeing a 2025 release date, and while 2023’s WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike seems to have put a halt to production for a while, the estimates are still likely within reach. Spawn was previously brought to the big screen in 1997 in a movie directed by Mark A.Z. Dippe and starring Michael Jai White. Unfortunately, Spawn drew a harsh critical reception at the time and failed to make an impression at the box office. Nevertheless, the upcoming reboot should hopefully fare much better, allowing McFarlane’s work to benefit from modern effects and storytelling sensibilities.
The age of the ensemble
Avengers Assemble!
Much must change if the superhero genre is to survive, and this includes casting. We don’t mean casting in the traditional sense, however, but rather in how writers, directors, and producers select which characters appear in a given film. The current formula is incredibly limiting. A modern comic book movie usually features one headlining superhero, a love interest and/or best friend, a supporting character with spin-off potential, and a villain. Many great superhero movie premises have been sadly dampened by the genre’s strict adherence to this formula. Excitingly, however, the films of 2025 appear to be favoring ensemble casts, allowing each story to be populated with a vast array of colorful characters. This goes for Fantastic Four, Thunderbolts, and even Superman, as Gunn recently announced a film featuring DC’s brutal superhero team, The Authority. Even Captain America: Brave New World seems to be taking a step in this direction as a movie.
The supporting cast features characters such as the Leader, a new Falcon, and possibly even Red Hulk. It seems that these movies have been written to feature a majority of superheroes and supervillains in their respective stories, rather than depicting a lone hero alongside a bunch of ordinary civilians. Will this be enough to rescue the genre from its current dire straits? Maybe, maybe not. But it’s certainly worth a shot.
