Lucy’s 5 Most Anticipated Movies of 2018

Another year means more movies!

Last year, I posted my list of ten most anticipated movies of 2017.  This year, I’m whittling that number down to five because, simply put, there just aren’t that many movies coming out next year that excite me.

Let’s check out the ones I am excited for!

5. Cloverfield 2017 (or whatever it’s called now)

Stars: Daniel Bruhl (still)
Comes Out:  February 2, 2018

Cloverfield 2017, God Particle, The Cloverfield Particle — it doesn’t seem the team behind the third Cloverfield movie has decided on a name for it.

Regardless, I want to see it.  In fact, it made my list of most anticipated movies for this year. Unfortunately, the release was pushed back for reasons unknown.

According to Wikipedia, shooting started last summer and wrapped at the beginning of the fall.  If the site is to be believed (which it sometimes isn’t), then a 2018 release should not be out of the question, even if the release is pushed back again.

4. Solo: A Star Wars Movie

Stars: Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Paul Bettany, Thandie Newton
Comes Out:  May 25, 2018

I wasn’t the hugest fan of Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, although I thoroughly enjoyed many parts of it. One of those parts was Rey and Luke’s relationship. Compelling as it was, it didn’t replace Rey and Han’s relationship in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

Han is one of my favorite Star Wars characters. I’d wager he’s one of many fans’ favorites as well. The fact that he is the main character of Solo: A Star Wars Movie alone makes me excited for this film.

The overall quality of Disney’s Star Wars movies (RE: The Force Awakens, Rogue One) and the inclusion of Lando Calrissian and Boba Fett don’t hurt either.

3. Deadpool 2

Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin
Comes Out: June 1, 2018
You can watch the trailers here.

2016’s Deadpool captured the spirit of its comic counterpart and fast-talking titular character perfectly.

While Deadpool isn’t the greatest film ever released, its humor was top-notch and paved the way for potentially better films starring mutate merc Wade Wilson.

Deadpool 2 reunites most of the original film’s cast and introduces two new faces familiar to fans of the Deadpool and X-Men comics: Cable and Domino. In fact, Deadpool and Cable received their own comic series appropriately titled Cable & Deadpool.

I’m a big X-Men fan and I love Deadpool (I’ve even met Deadpool writer Daniel Way!), so there’s no question about it: Deadpool 2 has to be near the top of my list.

2. The New Mutants

Stars: Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams
Comes Out: April 13, 2018
You can watch the trailer here.

My first big introduction to X-Men was the original X-Men film released in 2000.

To market the film to younger audiences, Marvel commissioned Warner Bros. Television (“The WB”) to create a new X-Men show. That show was 2000’s “X-Men: Evolution.”

“X-Men: Evolution” is a controversial entry in the franchise’s list of television adaptations. It features many beloved X-Men characters as teenagers dealing with common teenager problems. As such, it often feels more like a teen drama that happens to have X-Men characters in it than an X-Men show.

Regardless, my younger self latched onto the show. I loved the character development and well-written humor (among other things), and I still do.

One of the show’s strong aspects is its frequent feature of secondary characters. Many of the characters who appear in one or two episodes of the more popular 1992 show “X-Men: The Animated Series” got more prominent roles or at least more screen time in “X-Men: Evolution.”

The New Mutants stars many of those secondary characters. The film follows Wolfsbane, Sunspot, Cannonball, and Dani Moonstar, all of whom appeared in “X-Men: Evolution.” Their inclusion alone makes me extremely excited for this movie.

Leading them is the mutant Magik, who is also big metal man Colossus’s younger sister. It will be interesting to see if this movie ties in with the Deadpool movies.

Additionally, the movie is reported to have a horror-based tone akin to Stephen King’s stories.

I love X-Men, Stephen King, and horror, so The New Mutants is, without doubt, one of my most anticipated movies of 2018.

1. Tomb Raider

Stars: Alicia Vikander, Nick Frost
Comes Out: March 16, 2018
You can watch the trailer here.

It will probably be bad, but I don’t care. I love Tomb Raider and will watch a thousand bad movies if it means getting more of my favorite video game character, Lara Croft!

Angelina Jolie ruled as Lady Croft in the first two movies. In this movie, Alicia Vikander replaces Jolie as a younger Lara obviously inspired by the games’ latest incarnation of the character.

The trailer indicates Lara will be, once again, trying to follow in her deceased father’s shoes. Normally, I’d scoff at yet another story about Lara following in her father’s footsteps, but at least this story is in movie form — and the original 2001 movie is what introduced the idea of Lara and her father having a close relationship. Prior to the movie (that is, when the original game canon existed), Lara and her parents had a strained relationship due to Lara’s unconventional, unladylike lifestyle.

In fact, one of the 2018 movie’s trailers depicts Lara wearing the same braid that Jolie wore in the 2003 Tomb Raider sequel, The Cradle of Life. The studio can say, “Reboot!” all it wants, but I smell soft prequel.

What about you? Which movies are you most looking forward to in 2018?