La Ron S. Readus
patreon
All The Upcoming Movies I'm HYPE For In 2022 (VIDEO SCRIPT)
🕑 Added 2022-01-05 21:00:04 +0000 UTCGoing to the movies for the majority of 2021 was pretty much a deal-breaker for me.
Not only were the theaters closed for the majority of that time for obvious reasons, but people flocked back to them in droves when they reopened to the point that noticing the filled parking lot of my local theater whenever I drove by it caused me mentally to turn into Homer Simpson backing into a bush.
Eventually I was able to get over my fear of going to the movies while in the midst of a Pamela Isley by utilizing some cheapskate life-hacks that kept my safety a priority.
/Things like, catching an early 5 to 6 dollar matinee where the movie in question has as few people in it as possible. Waiting 3 weeks to a month after the movie is released so the hype can die down and increase my chances of the movie having as few people in it as possible./
Buying my tickets online in advance so I can get a good idea of which showings to avoid if they end up being too crowded, ESPECIALLY if I have no other choice but to see a movie during the hype period
Which unfortunately did NOT work out for me when I saw Spider-Man: No Way Home, by the way
And D, all of the above.
And even though the CDC is being paid off by big business to say that you no longer need to quarantine-slash-isolate yourself for two weeks if you catch COVID because the american government cares more about utilizing us as the coal of industry to fuel their insatiable steam engine that is capitalism...
There are a few movies that are coming out only in theaters this year that I REALLY wanna watch, and I plan on utilizing these guidelines I established for myself in order to feel as safe as possible doing so.
Will I be late to the water-cooler talk with my fellow coworkers after the film’s opening weekend? Yes, I will.
But that ALSO implies that I care about keeping up with my coworkers, and there are reasons why I’m self-employed now.
Here are 9 of the movies that are coming out in 2022 that I can’t wait to watch.
________
Hey, Readers. La’Ron here. Offering you analysis and perspective on your favorite bits of geek and pop culture media
And there are multiple ways you can show some love if you end up picking up what I’m putting down here.
If you want to help financially support the channel, you can join my Patreon.
/There are multiple tiers that range from $1 to $20 that give you access to things such as copies of my video scripts, early video releases, and discount codes to my merchandise store./
Right now there’s currently a goal set where if we reach $1000 a month on the Patreon, I’ll give a wine-drunk review-slash-critique of the Venom sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage; a movie that I promised myself that I would never expose myself to after doing so with the original.
And if you want to know why, I highly suggest you check out the wine-drunk review-slash-critique I did on the original in order to give you a taste of what you’ll be expecting.
Also make sure you subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications. That way you’ll get a heads up on whenever I post a new video
That’s the syllabus. Now onto the lesson.
_______
So I need to start this off by saying that this list is in no particular order. I’m not going by release dates, going from most anticipated to least anticipated, or vice versa
With that being said, I want to start this list off with the movies coming out this year that I don’t have to risk my life in order to see. Starting with Rian Johnson’s follow-up to Knives Out
I didn’t see the first one in theaters. I saw it on Amazon Prime, around the time its star Christopher Lambert passed away. And ever since I saw it, I’ve been kicking myself in the ass for not seeing it sooner.
/And while I touched upon my takeaway from the movie in the video I made about how the Thrombeys reflect real-life individuals who use leftist and liberal political points and beliefs to hide their racism, prejudice and bigoted focused privilege, only for it to be fully revealed when they’re backed into a corner, the overall enjoyment of seeing Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc go over the entire mystery with a fine-toothed comb, see how he was able to successfully accuse Chris Evans’ character in real time since Twitter semi-spoiled Whodunnit for me, and just read this entire family for filth just gave me the amount of life necessary for me to step into 2021 on the right foot./
And considering that the first Netflix exclusive sequel for it is gonna include the likes of Edward Norton, Janelle Monae, Ethan Hawke, and Dave Bautista -- one of the best actors that has come out of the WWE to Hollywood pipeline to date -- I’m excited for the frickin’ TITLE reveal, let alone an official trailer.
/No release date has been announced for it yet, but considering that filming wrapped for it September of 2021, I -- and everyone else -- is anticipating a release sometime in 2022./
The next movie I’m pretty hype for is also going to be exclusive to streaming; specifically on Hulu and Disney Plus Star for those out of the United States who don’t have access to it, due to it being a 20th Century picture.
And considering how bad Shane Black and Fred Dekker fumbled the bag with the latest installment in the franchise, I was hella surprised to find out that this project was even greenlit.
I’m of course talking about the Predator franchise, and the fifth installment being released this year for it, “Prey.”
Prey is a prequel film set before the events of the Arnold Schwarzenegger one, with the human protagonist being that of a Native American woman of the Comanche tribe named Naru and set in America 300 years before ye olde porcelain people arrived on the Mayflower and ruined everything.
Written by Patrick Aison and directed by 10 Cloverfield Lane helm Dan Trachtenburg, protagonist Naru has to protect her tribe from a Yautja arriving to Earth for the first time
/She’s being played by Amber Midthunder, who you might have seen in FX’s Legion as Kerry Loudermilk, and the 2019 follow-up to Roswell, Roswell New Mexico as Rosa Ortecho./
Now I’ll be more than happy to admit that the reason why I’m hype to see this is because I love the Predator franchise. If I have to pick a favorite 20th Century alien species between the Xenomorph and the Yautja, I’m picking those dreaded head hunters every day of the week.
/And the reason why the Shane Black directed and Fred Dekker written “The Predator” left me with such disappointment is because of them wanting to do an adult version of the Goonies-slash-Monster Squad with its generic white bread male lead and its poorly developed ensemble cast -- the latter both were also involved in with just the roles reversed -- at the expense of minimizing the threat that the species has had on the universe for YEARS./
While I’ve definitely fumed about my frustration regarding Shane Black’s “The Predator” in video form in the past, a more in-depth explanation of what didn’t work for me is definitely necessary, so look out for that in the future.
For now however, the only thing about Prey that leaves me concerned is writer Patrick Aison’s lack of connection to the Comanche tribe that he’s gonna be writing about.
/And considering his body of work consists of one episode each of Wayward Pines, Kingdom, Treadstone and Amazon Prime’s Jack Ryan series, something tells me the only exposure he’s had to Comanche culture and customs is what the sensitivity consultant 20th Century Studios hired for him to oversee his work. If they even did that./
Either way, Prey taking place before the events of the first could be a welcome return to the franchise’s roots, and help reinforce what people love about 1, 2, the comics and Predators.
/No date has been announced for it yet, but at the time of this recording, Prey is slated to be released in summer of 2022./
Now. Let’s talk about Scream
It’s the 5th installment of the slasher horror franchise produced by series creator Kevin Williamson, written by Zodiac’s James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick, and directed by franchise newcomers Matt Bettinelli-Olphin and Tyler Gillett of Ready or Not after the passing of the late Wes Craven, and I’m fucking STOKED
/If you’ve seen my video essay on the first three installments of the franchise and how its meta commentary on horror also helps lay out the properties of successful sequels and proper trilogies, then you know how much I love the Scream franchise for the education aspect of storytelling alone./
But another reason why I love the franchise is its masked killer “who dunnit” feel that makes you feel like you’re a member of Mystery Incorporated -- or the Scooby-Doo Detective Agency if you like music that doesn’t sound like it was performed by The Beatles...
Trying to figure out for yourself who the Ghostface killer was and how they related to the Final Girl of the Millennial generation Sidney Prescott, played by Naomi Campbell.
/As you can imagine, another person or persons have taken up the mantle of Ghostface in Sidney’s hometown of Woodsboro. This time hunting down people related to both the killers and victims of the original movie. And because of how the marketing for the movie has been -- with multiple trailers purposefully distributing misinformation to keep people guessing and to keep peeps from accurately predicting who they possibly are -- franchise status doesn’t matter when it comes to who lives or dies, and the killer could legit be anyone, new or old./
And even if the majority of the trailers are in themselves red herrings in order to keep people from predicting or leaking the actual story -- which is genius by the way, considering the franchise's history of leaked scripts and on the spot rewrites to avoid said leaks from being accurate...
/The shots, costume design and ambiance that this new Scream gives off feels intriguing, suspenseful and draws you in immediately./
It’s obvious that part of it has to do with that -- albeit due to the tragedy of loss -- this is the first time in the franchise’s history that the directorial vision has shifted to a new pair of eyes in order to tell a brand new story in the life of Sidney Prescott, and I can’t wait.
/Scream is currently scheduled to be released January 14, 2022/
So I could make the pun of “now let’s swing into the superhero movies I’m excited to see” regarding how much I want to see Part 1 of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, but instead I’ll-
Wait... Shit.
I’ll be the first to admit that I wasn’t expecting much from Into the Spider-Verse when it was first released.
It was announced around the same time that the first Venom movie was and back when it was originally planned to be rated R thanks to the success of Deadpool...
And to me, it just seemed like Sony’s way of keeping Spider-Man movies in the pipeline without focusing on Peter Parker so that the rights wouldn’t revert back to Marvel.
/But then I SAW Into the Spider-Verse, and I fell in love IMMEDIATELY./
This movie is part of the reason Miles Morales is such a popular Spider-Man among casual movie-goers who didn’t read the comics, and those like me who knew about him because of the comics but weren’t really that attached to him like they were 616 or Ultimate Peter.
/The story was phenomenal, the universal reimagining of traditional Spidey villain and support characters were immediately intriguing. And the animation. Good god, the animation./
Considering this is part one of apparently a multi-movie arc, spawned from what I just thought was a clever nod to a Spider-Man meme /that was made into an end-credit scene starring Miguel O’Hara’s Spidey 2099.../
/I can’t wait for Miles and Miguel to have full-blown secret convos in Spanish, by the way/
I’m very interested in what the story is going to be about, how it plays off of said end credit scene, and what kind of threat Miles and co are gonna deal with that’s gonna cause these next two movies to go the route of Matrix 2 and 3, Pirates 2 and 3, and John Wick 2 3 and 4.
/Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Part One is scheduled to be released October 7, 2022/
Sticking with the Multiverse angle, let’s talk about pretty much the only Marvel Studios production I’m stoked for, Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness
Those of you who have been following the channel know that Doctor Strange is my favorite magic-based Marvel superhero. And that’s no thanks to the 2016 Phase 3 film.
Out of the two Doctor Strange movies currently available to the general public -- the other one being the animated movie Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme...
/The 2016 film was disappointing in how it dropped the ball regarding exploring the roots of Stephen’s arrogance and nihilism, solidifying the role that the Sorcerer Supreme plays in the MCU, and reducing the Eye of Agamotto -- one of the most powerful magic-based macguffins in the Marvel Universe that’s KNOWN for giving agency to the aforementioned title of Sorcerer Supreme -- to simply an Infinity Stone for the sake of convenience/
And while the depiction of Dormammu and how Stephen bested him in the movie is DEFINITELY comic accurate...
/Watching him be reduced to a Groundhog Day gag was just as disheartening to me as when I watched Taika Waititi turn Surtur in the beginning of Thor: Ragnarok into nothing but one big joke./
Now while I’m absolutely sure that Scott Derrickson had his hands tied regarding where he HAD to take the first movie in order for it to fit the Infinity Saga narrative -- which would explain why he stepped away from Multiverse of Madness because he didn’t want to be narratively limited again -- there is a part of me that is relieved to see Sam Raimi pick up the mantle.
And that’s mostly because Sam Raimi is a bonafide fan of Doctor Strange.
/As we’ve seen in his superhero character work with his Spider-Man trilogy, Raimi’s take on characters he deeply enjoys not only become excellent depictions of the character when it comes to progression, feel and development, but become immediate fan favorites and references for the rest of that character's lifetime in Marvel Comics./
Add the equation that Wanda’s multiversal search for Wiccan and Speed from the end credit scene of WandaVision may play a factor into the film
America Chavez being the sixth member of the Young Avengers to be introduced into the MCU
What If’s Strange Supreme making a live-action return, and the arrival of Shuma-Gorath
/No I don’t care what a Lego set says, this looks NOTHING like Gargantos, this is Shuma-Fucking-Gorath/
And this is shaping up to be the go-to live-action Doctor Strange movie to date.
/Not because of the cameos or its importance to the Multiverse Saga, but because we’ll finally get a chance to see Doctor Strange be what he’s supposed to be. Doctor Strange./
/Doctor Strange: In The Multiverse of Madness is scheduled to be released May 6, 2022/
Now let’s move over to the DC side of things and talk about a couple of movies I’ve been keeping my eye on pretty intensely. Starting with Matt Reeves’ “The Batman”
While I personally don’t really subscribe to them, there are a lot of reasons people nowadays don’t really care for Batman as a character.
The two most popular ones revolve around the recent spike of anti-capitalism movements regarding the 1 percent and reflecting that on Bruce regarding how he chooses to spend his resources to reduce the crime in Gotham
/Ironically enough a point that Bane used to his advantage when he took over Gotham during The Dark Knight Rises ala the No Man’s Land-inspired portions of the story/
And the hyperbole that people still end up taking seriously for some reason surrounding Batman’s supposed love of beating low-tier thugs and henchmen to a pulp and expecting them to give him valid and truthful information in an interrogation afterward.
I actually have plans on releasing a video essay this year regarding the first point, because not only do I find that an interesting point to tackle as a Batman fan myself, but it looks like we’re gonna get a bit of focus on that critique of his character in The Batman...
/Thanks to Jayme Lawson’s character, Gotham mayoral candidate Bella Rea’l./
However, one thing that’s a bit unanimous across the board when it comes to the state of Batman and Batman movies is that, since Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, there’s been a bit of an oversaturation regarding properties with him in it or being the primary focus.
And while I admit Matt Reeves’ The Batman adds fuel to that fire, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t look incredibly intriguing.
/Seeing Robert Pattinson as both Bruce Wayne and Batman in the trailers that are currently out for the movie at the time of this recording is incredibly impressive to me. Especially now that I know that part of his presence as the former is inspired by Nirvana’s late lead singer Kurt Cobain./
/Colin Farrel is 100% unrecognizable as Penguin -- both visually and range wise -- which is something that I haven’t experienced since I saw Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook for the first time as a kid./
And while I’m incredibly anxious to see her in her proper cowl -- hopefully with the goggles because the Jim Lee outfit is my favorite look for her -- I’m excited to see Zoe Kravitz rock Catwoman period.
Not only will be the first time we’ll have a live-action iteration of her character that’s inspired by the aspects of both Frank Miller and Jeph Loeb that don’t suck...
/But The Batman will make Kravitz the 3rd black woman to don the Catwoman title in live action media, the 2nd to do so in a feature-length motion picture, and the first to play Selina Kyle proper./
/Add the return to England for Gotham’s dark and gothic architecture as opposed to Chicago, New York and Detroit from Nolan’s films onward, the David Fincher/Andrew Kevin Walker inspiration for the take on Riddler that insist on a focus on developing Batman’s “world’s greatest detective” title, and the raw adrenaline-pumping action scenes, and you can see how a Batman fan like me can be curious, intrigued and hype as hell for this first of possible three installments in this universe./
/The Batman is scheduled to be released March 4, 2022/
Now in order to be fair, I have to have at least one superhero movie on this list that I’m both excited to see, yet cautiously optimistic about at the same time.
And while Thor: Love and Thunder definitely meets that criteria considering Christian Bale is playing a Taika Waititi directed Gor the Godbutcher in the film -- I may elaborate why I’m worried about that in some form or fashion later on down the line -- nothing has me more simultaneously excited and concerned than that, than DC’s Black Adam.
And that’s mostly thanks to -- you guessed it -- Dwayne The Rock Johnson.
If you’ve seen my review of the video game movie Rampage, along with my Film Friday video on the Netflix original movie Red Notice, then you know that one of my biggest critiques regarding how Dwayne tackles film projects nowadays is that he doesn’t really act anymore.
/He doesn’t challenge himself. He rarely shows emotions in his films that aren’t immediately linked to heteronormative stereotypical depictions of masculinity. He’s contractually obligated to win or take a certain amount of punches in every action film he’s in./
Basically, every role he’s taken on since, I don’t know...Agent Hobbs in Fast Five, maybe, has pretty much been tailored so that he’s basically playing himself. So I’m pretty concernicus that Black Adam is going to be another vehicle for his branded persona.
However, there’s a bit of benefit of the doubt there as well. Because “The Rock” has been wanting to play the Shazam villain for over 20 years, and his name has been attached to his casting regarding any and all projects that had the two in it back in the day when Billy Batson’s superhero name was Captain Marvel.
It’s clear that Dwayne has a deep appreciation for the character, considering he’s been able to successfully convince a lot of people that Adam is an anti-hero instead of the villain he actually is.
/I’m also incredibly curious about the type of story it’s going to tell, considering that it's going to involve the likes of Hawkman, Doctor Fate, and other members of the Justice Society of America./
Like, I may not have been a FAN-fan of the WWE, but I know the type of performer Dwayne was with his Rock persona. I know he’s capable of stellar performances and making others shine as a result.
It’s just been a hot minute since I’ve actually seen that same passion and drive in his theatrical performances, and that kinda disappoints me.
If it weren’t for the fact that Dwayne is a genuine fan of the character, I’d be 100% worried instead of cautiously concerned.
But I’d be lying if I said that the combo of his desire to play Adam and the story they’re alluding to doesn’t have me curious enough for it to place this higher on my priority list of superhero flicks coming out in 2022.
/Black Adam is scheduled to be released July 29, 2022/
And now to once again display my excitement to see a sequel for a movie that completely threw me off guard regarding how good it was when I initially saw it, Sonic the Hedgehog 2
/Now I’ve already stated my excitement for the film in my theory video regarding how I think the story is going to go down, especially since Knuckles is involved./
But despite my feelings and excitement for the film already being out on the internet in video form, this wouldn’t be a “for real-real” list of 2022 movies I’m stoked to see if I didn’t mention that I wasn’t excited to see this film. It’d be a “for play-play” one, and I’m not a child anymore
Y’know, despite this being a film franchise mostly targeted for children. But my statement still stands!
/Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is scheduled to be released April 8, 2022/
So as of the time of this recording, there’s no trailer for this 9th movie I can’t wait to see this year.
All we have are casting announcements, a title, a teaser poster, and a tweet I posted upon its reveal that was popular enough for other peeps to copy it and post it on just about every black nerd group on Facebook.
Oh, no; that last bit actually happened. At least 5 of my real-life friends and acquaintances made sure to let me know that such a thing happened damn near simultaneously.
I’m of course talking about Jordan Peele’s third film, simply titled “Nope.”
Now in case you need help understanding why I find the title of this film 100% perfect and absolutely hilarious, here’s what I tweeted the day it was announced.
/Jordan Peele chose the #1 word associated with black folk dissociating themselves from horror scenarios and made it the title of his next horror scenario. Fucking ICONIC/
So not only was the title reveal for the movie enough to get me on board, even if there’s a possibility that I COMPLETELY over-exaggerated the reasoning behind why it’s named that upon first seeing it...
But the main cast consisting of Walking Dead’s Steven Yeun, Get Out’s Daniel Kaluuya and Keke-fucking-Palmer makes me hella interested to see how well these three powerhouses work together on-screen.
Especially since the teaser poster for the movie succeeds in illustrating the mystery for its tone while also refusing to give any context for its premise at the same time.
When the teaser poster presents just enough atmosphere and curiosity regarding what the movie COULD be about in order to get you interested in a movie -- just the teaser POSTER, not the teaser TRAILER -- you’ve done something right. And from what I know about Nope so far, Jordan Peele’s done a lot of things right.
/Nope is scheduled to be released July 22, 2022/
So those are nine of the movies I’m the most excited to watch in the year of 2022 -- both theatrical and home releases.
And that’s not to say that there aren’t any honorable mentions if one YOU’RE looking forward to the most wasn’t on my list, because I definitely have those. And I do plan on sharing with you all what those are in some form or fashion.
But until then Readers, your homework assignment for the day:
Let me know in the comment section below which movies you’re most excited to catch that are coming out in 2022
Whether we’re on the same page or your list is different from mine, I’d LOVE to know your thoughts.
/A HUGE shoutout to my Patrons both big and small for helping make this channel possible.
Make sure you check out the card at the end of the video to see if you want to join, or click the link to it or any of my affiliates in the description box below.
Until next time, this is Readus 101. Class dismissed./
