It’s a good time to be a fan of action movies. Next year, action fans will be treated to brutal new John Wick kills, new death-defying Mission: Impossible stunts by Tom Cruise, and a new globetrotting Indiana Jones adventure. Suffice to say, moviegoers won’t be short of thrills for a few months.
From new entries in the Marvel and DC franchises to original stories from directors like Michael Bay and David Leitch, there are plenty of highly anticipated action movies on the way for a 2022 release.
Ambulance (February 18)
Set to be released on February 18, Michael Bay’s Ambulance stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as a pair of bank robbers who steal an ambulance containing a paramedic (Eiza González) and a patient in critical condition.
The name Michael Bay might have alarm bells ringing, thanks to his big, bombastic, explosive Transformers movies, but Bay thrives with smaller-scale, character-driven action stories like Bad Boys and 13 Hours, so there’s plenty of hope for Ambulance.
The Marvels (November 11)
The sequel to Captain Marvel, The Marvels, set to hit theaters on November 11, 2022, will pair up Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers with two superheroes who idolize her: Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani), a shapeshifting Jersey City teen who will be introduced in her own Disney+ series, and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), who acquired superpowers in WandaVision.
Since the Captain Marvel origin movie ended with Carol venturing off into the cosmos to singlehandedly police the universe, it’ll be interesting to see where the sequel takes her journey.
Bullet Train (April 8)
It’s not easy for original scripts to break through in the franchise age, but in addition to Michael Bay’s Ambulance, David Leitch’s Bullet Train will be a star-driven action movie based on an original screenplay. (Alright, technically, it’s not completely original, as it’s based on Kōtarō Isaka’s novel Maria Beetle, but still.)
Brad Pitt is starring in the movie, which sees five assassins arriving on a Japanese bullet train and realizing they may have been set up. If Leitch brings the same intensity to Bullet Train that he brought to Atomic Blonde and the first John Wick movie, this will be a must-see for action fans. Bullet Train is due to hit theaters on April 8, 2022.
Mission: Impossible 7 (May 27)
Tom Cruise has been busy one-upping himself with a bunch more death-defying stunts for Mission: Impossible 7. Marvel mainstays like Hayley Atwell and Pom Klementieff have joined the cast of the seventh movie, which is scheduled to arrive in theaters on May 27, 2022.
The movie is being written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who joined the franchise with 2015’s Rogue Nation and set a new benchmark with 2018’s wildly acclaimed Fallout. An eighth movie, also helmed by McQuarrie, is set to be released on July 7, 2023.
The Flash (November 4)
Ezra Miller’s Flash is finally getting a solo movie after years of directors dropping in and out and the DCEU constantly switching up its strategy. If all goes to plan, the Flash will finally appear in his own movie on November 4, 2022. The plot will revolve around the multiversal ramifications of a grief-stricken, time-traveling Barry Allen’s attempts to undo his mother’s murder in the past.
There’s plenty of buzz surrounding The Flash, but very little of the hype has to do with the Flash himself. Instead, fans are more excited about the return of Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck’s Batmen and the introduction of Sasha Calle as the DCEU’s Supergirl.
John Wick: Chapter 4 (May 27)
The saga of Baba Yaga is set to continue on May 27 with John Wick: Chapter 4. The stage is set for a rollicking action thriller following the bombshell cliffhanger ending of the last movie, Parabellum, which saw Wick getting shot off the roof of the Continental and teaming up with the Bowery King to bring down the High Table.
This will be the first John Wick movie with no writing credit for franchise creator Derek Kolstad, but director Chad Stahelski is back (as is super-committed star Keanu Reeves), so hopefully it’ll still retain the kinetic spirit of the first three films.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (July 8)
Tragedy struck the upcoming Black Panther sequel, subtitled Wakanda Forever, when its beloved star Chadwick Boseman unexpectedly passed away in 2020. Out of respect for the irreplaceable star, Marvel won’t be recreating Boseman with CGI or recasting the role; rather, supporting players like Letitia Wright’s Shuri and Danai Gurira’s Okoye will take center stage when the sequel hits theaters on July 8, 2022.
There’s a lot riding on Wakanda Forever to both follow up the cultural landmark of the first movie and honor Boseman’s legacy, but Ryan Coogler and his cast and crew are fully committed to getting it right.
Indiana Jones 5 (July 29)
More than a decade after the polarizing release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Harrison Ford is donning the fedora yet again to reprise his role as Indy in the as-yet-untitled Indiana Jones 5. After many delays, it’s set to finally reach audiences on July 29, 2022.
This will be the first Indiana Jones movie not to be directed by Steven Spielberg, who is instead just producing this one. Indiana Jones 5 is being directed by James Mangold, who will hopefully give Indy the same kind of bittersweet swansong he gave Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in Logan.
The Batman (March 4)
In addition to bringing the return of Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck’s Batmen via The Flash’s multiversal madness, 2022 will also bring the introduction of a brand-new Batman. Matt Reeves’ The Batman will star Robert Pattinson as a younger Bruce Wayne just starting out his career as a masked crimefighter.
Paul Dano is onboard to play the Riddler, while an unrecognizable Colin Farrell will play the Penguin. The Batman is set to arrive in multiplexes on March 4, and if the gritty trailers are anything to go by, it’s going to be a dark, noir-tinged vision of the Caped Crusader.
Thor: Love And Thunder (May 6)
As Thor passes on his superhero mantle to ex-girlfriend Jane Foster and Valkyrie searches for a queen, Thor: Love and Thunder – set to arrive on May 6, 2022 – is shaping up to be a quirky romcom wrapped in an action-packed comic book blockbuster.
Taika Waititi’s second Thor movie is set to be even wilder and wackier than his first. While Waititi’s contributions to Ragnarok were limited by the fact he joined the project late into development, he’s worked on Love and Thunder from scratch.