There are many films coming out next year (as early as February). Some might be another "Avengers" while others might be another "Batman and Robin" (at least Affleck's Batsuit does not have bat-nipples) Here now, my list of studs, duds, and Maybes (films that can go either way/not enough has been released to form an opinion).
Studs
Captain America: Civil War (May)
This by far looks to be the most promising of the movies coming out in 2016. The third installment of the modern Captain America films will be based on the "Civil War" comics series in which teams of superheroes fought the Superhero Registration Act; however; in this film, the "Registration Act" will be called the Sokovia Accords, after the events of "Avengers: Age of Ultron". Teams will be led by Captain America (anti-regulation) and Ironman (pro-regulation). This film will also feature the Marvel Cinematic Universe debut of Spider-Man, whose role is not yet clear as well as featuring Black Panther, who will have a solo film coming out in the future. It was revealed in the teaser trailer that a character dies (though it won't likely be Captain America like in the comics) so I am curious to see who it might be.
Deadpool (February)
Ryan Reynolds is the only actor to ever get a mulligan on portraying a character. Ryan Reynolds first played The Merc with a Mouth in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," but was poorly received. Ever since the teaser trailer for the film coming out in February, fans have expressed their excitement as well as various posts on social media (mostly by Ryan Reynolds himself) promoting the film. Given Reynolds' wit and sense of humor, I believe he will do the character justice this time around.
Suicide Squad (August)
I've always loved the concept of the Suicide Squad. Villains working for the government while trying to undermine their squad cohorts. Couple that with the casting and you have one of the films I am highly anticipating. We will also get to finally see Jared Leto's portrayal of The Joker onscreen. Suicide Squad, like "Civil War" though haven't revealed everything so there is still a lot of room to surprise fans.
X-Men: Apocalypse (June)
I've been critical of X-Men movies in the past, but this one looks genuinely interesting. Taking a villain that has never been seen onscreen before. Curious too as to what direction the film might go with Psylocke, Storm, Angel, and Magneto being The Four Horsemen. I am also looking forward to seeing newer portrayals of Jean Grey, Cyclops, and Nightcrawler as well as bringing back many of my personal favorites.
Duds
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (June)
The second of Michael Bay's Ninja Turtles movies. That alone puts it on my list of duds. Given what Michael Bay did to the "Transformers" franchise as well as the abysmal first "Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles", I already hate this film. Not even Stephen Amell, who plays Casey Jones in TMNT and Oliver Queen on "Arrow", can save this film.
Warcraft (June)
Films based on video games normally don't do well anyways. Maybe it's just that I'm not a fan of World of Warcraft, but I was not too impressed with how the trailer looked aesthetically or the plot. Maybe it's just a lack of understanding on my part, but I think this film will bomb.
Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice (March)
It's probably a surprise that Batman vs. Superman is on my list of Duds to most people, but given the material that has already been released, I am incredibly nervous about the release of this film. The teaser trailer that came out looked amazing, the second released a lot more about why Batman doesn't like Superman and expands into the plot as well as showing fantastic action. The THIRD trailer is where it loses me. There is more action and more characters are exposed, including the "main villain" in Doomsday. Except that isn't where it stops. Warner Brothers had to reveal a statement saying Doomsday is NOT the final villain in the film. This revelation by Warner Brothers is turning this film into 2016's Spider-Man 3, trying to cover too many characters and stories. In a film that is already being perceived as trying to catch up to Marvel, that is a bad perception of your film to have.
Maybes
Dr. Strange (November)- Only one set photo has been released of Benedict Cumberbatch, but it's not how he looks as Dr. Strange. It's just a bit before. But what I know about the character and Marvel's willingness to go into magic, etc. make me excited to see more of this film.
Star Trek Beyond (July)- The first trailer released for this film didn't really offer much. Just a lot of action. Simon Pegg said there's going to be more though, so I'm willing to reserve my judgement.
Assassin's Creed (December)- I'm a fan of the "Assassin's Creed" games, but I'm unsure how a movie will turn out. A set photo of Michael Fassbender in Assassin garb and that looks awesome, but until a teaser trailer is released I'm unsure. And even then, the teaser for Avengers: Age of Ultron looked epic.....but we all know how that turned out.
