22 Movies We’re Excited to See in 2022

LIGHTYEAR

Current U.S. Release Date: June 17

This Pixar spin-off/prequel to the Toy Story series stars Chris Evans as the “real” Buzz Lightyear — the character who inspired the Tim Allen-voiced action figure (and Woody’s BFF). Finding Dory co-director Angus MacLane takes the lead here with Lightyear, though few actual plot details (or co-stars) are known at this time. The spare, but superb, teaser trailer shows Buzz zipping around the sun using an experimental new spaceship speed tech, but does he actually head into deep space for alien adventures? If so, then Andy’s known world is waaaaay different from our own.

THE BLACK PHONE

Current U.S. Release Date: June 24

Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson returns to his ghoulish horror roots (as the man who brought us Sinister and The Exorcism of Emily Rose) for Blumhouse’s The Black Phone, about a kidnapped boy (Mason Thames) who’s trapped in a room with a phone that allows him to hear the ghostly voices of the killer’s previous victims. Ethan Hawke gets feral as the movie’s baddie, a child-napper known as The Grabber.

THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER

Current U.S. Release Date: June 24 

Thor: Ragnarok writer/director Taika Waititi is back for more cosmic God of Thunder zaniness with Thor: Love and Thunder, making Thor, officially, the first MCU character to get four solo films. What lies ahead for Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, post-Endgame? Well, after (presumably) bidding farewell to the Guardians of the Galaxy, who almost all appear in Love and Thunder in some capacity, Thor must square off against Christian Bale’s ghastly Gorr the God Butcher while Natalie Portman’s Jane becomes… the new Thor! Previous Thor-ites Tessa Thompson, Jaimie Alexander, and Jeff Goldblum also return.

NOPE

Current U.S. Release Date: July 22 

Not too much is known about writer/director Jordan Peele’s next horror flick, Nope, but if Get Out and Us are any indication, it’s going to be a masterclass in thoughtful scares and insightful creepiness. Get Out’s Daniel Kaluuya, who’s also now an Oscar winner, joins Peele once more, as part of a cast that also includes True Jackson’s Keke Palmer, The Walking Dead’s Steven Yeun, The Crow’s Michael Wincott, and Euphoria’s Barbie Ferreira.