Superheroes, sequels, and comebacks

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Friday, January 24th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day. Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: a preview of what to expect in theaters this year.

Last week, arts and culture editor Collin Garbarino gave us a rundown of upcoming kids and family films. Today he’s back to talk about some blockbuster hopefuls for grownups.

COLLIN GARBARINO: Five years ago, Disney’s Marvel Studios looked like Hollywood’s unstoppable force, and its Avengers franchise was smashing box office records like a big green hulk. The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 34 films have grossed more money in ticket sales than any other franchise, but once the Infinity Saga wrapped up in 2019, the studio struggled to keep audiences locked into its sprawling storyline. After The Marvels flopped in 2023, Disney yanked most of its MCU films from the 2024 schedule to retool the franchise. Now in 2025, Marvel’s back, releasing a full slate with three new movies. Will the new direction bring back audiences?

First up, Captain America: Brave New World hits theaters on Valentine’s Day. Don’t expect to see Chris Evans as Steve Rogers in this film. Anthony Mackie plays Sam Wilson, the new Captain America who used to be known as Falcon.

ROSS: Wilson. Thanks for coming in.

WILSON: Well, thank you for the invite sir. I have to admit, I’m still getting used to the new look. They said to lose the mustache or lose the election.

In this installment, Harrison Ford joins the MCU to take over the role of Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross from the recently deceased William Hurt. The new Captain America will find himself trying to find out who’s really behind an international incident, and the new Thaddeus Ross will become the Red Hulk. I was a little disappointed with Mackie’s Disney+ series, so I’m keeping expectations low for this movie.

Marvel’s May installment looks to be a more lighthearted entry. Thunderbolts brings together the franchise’s second-tier antiheroes as a covert-ops team sent on missions for the U.S. government. We’ll get Florence Pugh’s Black Widow Yelena, Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes, David Harbour’s Red Guardian, and Wyatt Russell’s Captain America–wannabe U.S. Agent.

GHOST: Pretty ludicrous, coming from the dimestore Captain America.

US AGENT: I’ll have you know, I was actually the official Captain America, so…

YELENA: Yeah, for like two seconds.

This movie looks promising to me because it’s clearly not taking itself seriously.

But the real test for Marvel’s future rests with its summer release, The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The Fantastic Four is one of the marquee titles for Marvel Comics, but each film adaptation of the series has been a disaster. We’ve had three Fantastic Four films in the last 20 years, and each was worse than the last. Marvel’s trying something new this time, going back to the team’s 1960s roots using a retro-futurist design. Director Matt Shakman claims you won’t need to know anything about the other three dozen movies in the MCU to enjoy the film, so if the movie’s good, maybe it can give the franchise a fresh start.

MUSIC: [Superman theme]

Speaking of fresh starts, Warner Bros’ newly rebooted DC Universe gets underway in July with a brand new take on Superman. The movie is simply titled Superman and it’s written and directed by James Gunn, the guy responsible for the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Superman stars David Corenswet as the Man of Steel. Prepublicity materials say Supes will embark on a journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing. I don’t expect the same brooding melancholy that afflicted other recent depictions of Superman. James Gunn is known for his irreverent humor, and in this film he’s even included Superman's super-powered puppy, Krypto.

So what else is coming out besides superhero movies? Lots of sequels.

MUSIC: [Mission: Impossible theme]

I’m looking forward to seeing Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning, the 8th installment of the almost 30-year-old series of movies. The last Mission: Impossible movie underperformed at the box office, so Tom Cruise has a lot riding on this film. In fact Final Reckoning cost an eye-watering $400 million, making it one of the most expensive movies ever made. This is one of my favorite franchises, but I’m pretty sure it will be impossible for the studio to break even on this film.

We’re also getting installments to a couple of other beloved mega-franchises.

MUSIC: [Jurassic Park theme]

In the summer, Universal Pictures will release a standalone sequel to the Jurassic World trilogy called Jurassic World Rebirth. That makes seven films for the Jurassic Park franchise. This one stars Scarlett Johansson as a covert operation expert. Sounds like a familiar role. And just before Christmas, the third Avatar movie comes out. Avatar: Fire and Ash introduces the Ash people, a less peaceful group of Na’vi.

And if you’re a Gen Xer interested in pure ’80s nostalgia a new Karate Kid movie starring Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio comes out this spring. There’s also a Naked Gun remake starring Liam Neeson this summer, and a new Tron movie in the fall.

If you’re looking for a crowd pleasing popcorn movie based on an original idea, you might be out of luck. But there are a couple of potential options. Lovers of disaster movies might want to check out Last Breath, which comes out next month. It’s based on a true story about deep sea divers who must pull off an impossible rescue. In the spring, Warfare releases. That one is a heart-pounding real-time film written and directed by an Iraq War veteran based on the memories of people who were there. Then this summer we get an original sports drama in F1, when Brad Pitt plays a Formula One driver who comes out of retirement.

Hollywood might be short on new ideas, but it sounds like there will be plenty of thrills on the big screen in 2025.

I’m Collin Garbarino.

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