The Bad Guys

"The Bad Guys" is a film by Dreamworks Animation that focuses on a crew of animals often associated with villainy, such as wolves, snakes, sharks, spiders, etc. However, the film wants to buck that stereotype as the characters want to put their bad ways behind them and try to be good. While the story doesn't seem that special the animation style is. The film marries both 3D and 2D animation in a splendid cell shaded style that's rarely seen in films. Here's hoping this is a good one.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

"Sonic the Hedgehog" released in 2020 after being delayed to fix it's controversial design and it was... O.K. Nothing great, an average kid's film with a few glimmers of what looked like Sonic love. The sequel, on the other hand, looks like a true Sonic movie. We have a more accurate looking Dr. Eggman, Sonic and Tails having great interactions together, and my favorite Sonic character, Knuckles, looks and sounds better than ever. While I don't know if the story will be any better, this film looks more like a true Sonic movie than the original did.

Lightyear

"Lightyear" is a film focusing on the "true" story behind the character Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story films. The film seems focused on fleshing out the backstory of this character considering the character we saw in the Toy Story films was just a toy based on this fictional character. It will be interesting to see how this film handles that angle. The trailer has shown beautiful locations, amazing space shots, and the use of David Bowie's "Starman" as the song really hit home for me. I hope Pixar can make a grand space epic from this concept, they showed us they were capable of it after "WALL-E".

Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

The next big event in the Marvel Cinematic Universe looks to be going in some crazy directions. The sequel to "Dr. Strange" looks like it's tapping into the magical side of the Marvel universe and, more importantly, the multiverse. The film looks like it's going to have a lot of crazy twists and turns with a lot of characters. I hope we get to see a lot of these "alternate realities" with wildly varying characteristics. This film has the chance to go in some bold new concepts and visuals. With Sam Raimi directing that seems like a given.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Part One

2018's "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" is one of my favorite super hero films of all time. It had action, heart, great visual gags, and one of the most unique art styles to grace an animated film. Now we have a sequel coming that looks like it's picking up where the last one left off. The trailer shows even more unique art styles as the characters hop from dimension to dimension and introduces us to new Spider-Men, like the future Spider-Man from 2099. I'm hoping we get more of what we got from "Into the Spider-Verse" but blown up to a bigger scale, but I also hope it maintains the heart of the original as well.