“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” — June 2
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” was a fantastic film, beloved by essentially all who watched it; it received 97% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. It featured gorgeous, unique art, and brought character Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) for the first time. The film is based on the premise of a multiverse of Spider-People, from Morales’ Spiderman to others such as Gwen Stacy/Ghost-Spider (Hailee Steinfeld), Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), Spider-Man Noir (Nicholas Cage), Spider-Ham (John Mulaney), etc. In “Into the Spider-Verse”, Morales is introduced to the existence of the multiverse and meets many of the other Spider-People. He closes the film by embracing his new role and life as Spider-Man, and bids farewell to the other Spider-People, although he is able to keep in contact with Stacy.
“Across the Spider-Verse” retains some cast members from its predecessor, specifically Morales, Stacy and Parker. New characters are set to be introduced, such as Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman (Issa Rae), Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya) and Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Issac). The film introduces a new villain, the Spot (Jason Schwartzman), who poses a risk to all of the Spider-People. Stacy and Morales enter the multiverse and encounter a group of Spider-People known as the Spider-Society, who are led by Spider-Man 2099. Morales and this society appear to be at odds. The movie also seems set to focus more on Morales’ relationship with his father and mother, with his mother especially being prominently featured throughout the released trailers.
If “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is able to reach even some of the greatness “Into the Spider-Verse” did, the film is poised for immense success and acclaim.
“Elemental” — June 16
Pixar films are a part of all of our childhoods. It was impossible to go through one’s youth in the 2000s-2010s without watching movies such as “Inside Out”, “Monsters, Inc.”, “Toy Story”, “Finding Nemo”, “Cars”, etc. Pixar films are known for their emotional storylines and detailed animation. “Elemental” is the latest film from the studio, and it will hopefully continue the beloved nature of Pixar movies.
“Elemental” is set in a world made up of humanized natural elements — water, fire, air and land. The elements live amongst each other, but from what has been revealed of the movie, they appear to keep to themselves. The film follows a fire element, Ember Lumen (Leah Lewis) and a water element, Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie). Despite not being able to touch each other, the two realize that they have a lot in common and fall in love. Throughout the film’s duration, they will attempt to overcome the barriers forced upon them by society, as well as the prejudice of Ember’s father, Bernie (Ronnie del Carmen).
“The Flash” — June 23
The Flash has been featured in a wide range of entertainment, with the character’s origin lying in comic books. On the silver screen, the character’s primary appearance has come in “Justice League”, and on television the character has most prominently been featured in “The Flash (2014)” on The CW. It is unclear if the TV show will be connected to the film, though, but “Justice League” and “The Flash” feature the actor and character.
In “The Flash”, Barry Allen/The Flash is portrayed by Ezra Miller. It is impossible to talk of this movie without speaking about the controversy surrounding its lead actor. Miller has been in many popular films, such as “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” and its sequels. Beginning in 2022, Miller was frequently in the news for increasingly negative reasons. On March 8, 2022, they were arrested for and charged with disorderly conduct and harassment at a bar in Hawaii; Miller was again taken into custody on April 19 of the same year for a charge of second-degree assault. In June 2022, Miller was accused of grooming and manipulating Tokata Iron Eyes, an activist who was 18-years-old at the time, making her 10 years younger than Miller themselves. The accusation came from Iron Eyes’ parents, who said that the relationship between the two had begun when Iron Eyes was only 12 and Miller was 23. Miller has faced a variety of other charges since this, including more harassment charges and a charge for felony burglary. Miller has managed to evade jail time in all of these incidents. Due to these controversies, the future of “The Flash” was uncertain for a period of time, but Warner Bros. Discovery (the movie studio behind the film) eventually decided to go through with the film’s release.
Setting aside all of Miller’s controversy, the movie itself has been well-received by critics. All public reactions to the film, such as those by James Gunn and Stephen King, have been incredibly positive and laudatory. The film promises to be a fascinating one, involving time-travel, Michael Keaton’s return as Batman, the appearance of Supergirl, alternate realities and more.
“Barbie” — July 21
“Barbie” boasts both an incredible cast and an incredible director. With Greta Gerwig — director and writer of many works including “Lady Bird” and “Little Women” — at the helm, the film has been heavily anticipated. “Barbie” stars Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, with various other well-known and beloved actors closing out the ensemble, including Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Dua Lipa, Emma Mackey, Simu Liu, Michael Cera, John Cena, Will Ferrell and more.
The movie’s marketing campaign has been expansive, teasers and trailers accompanied by intriguing character posters for the film’s cast. The cast have also been giving many interviews, leading to the utterance of quotes such as Gosling’s well documented “Up until this point, I only knew Ken from afar. I didn’t know Ken from within. I doubted my Kenergy.” Due to a combination of the cast, director and the popular nature of the character of Barbie, the internet has been alight with chatter about the film.
The film’s premise is intriguing — Barbie is expelled from “Barbie Land” for not being perfect, and journeys to the human world with the goal of finding true happiness. With the movie’s talented cast and Gerwig’s prowess, “Barbie” is not one to be missed.
