2023 is proving to be a year of action! Multiple studios have announced a slate of action films to be released this year. Marvel and Warner Brothers Discovery, both titans of the superhero genre, have announced multiple films for the summer of 2023.
Marvel will begin the year with a strong start with the third Antman film, Antman And the Wasp: Quantumania, which will be released on Feb. 17. Multiple cast members from the previous insectoid installments will return, along with newcomer Kathryn Newton as an older Cassie Lang, Antman’s daughter from the first two films. In the film, the cast gets sucked into the Quantum Realm, where they come into conflict with Kang the Conqueror (played by Jonathan Majors).
The month of March will be positively action packed as it will see the release of Shazam 2: Fury of the Gods, but also John Wick: Chapter 4. Shazam 2 features Billy Batson struggling with his legacy as the Wizard’s champion and the arrival of the daughters of Atlas (played by Lucy Liu and Rachel Zegler) threatening to destabilize the world. John Wick 4 will see Keanu Reeves return to his signature role as he takes on the High Table.
Marvel’s next live action film slated for release is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which will see the main cast return for a quest to protect Rockett when figures from his past reemerge, as well as the team dealing with the addition of Gamora from an alternate timeline (as seen in Endgame). Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is slated for theater release on May 5.
June will see the release of at least three major action films. On June 9th, the Transformers franchise makes a return to the big screen for the first time since 2018, and features an almost entirely new cast, save for Peter Cullen’s Optimus Prime. Set in the 1990s, the film will see the Autobots come into contact with the time traveling Maximals, lead by Optimus Primal (voiced by Ron Pearlman), and conflict with Scourge’s Terrorcons (voiced by Peter Dinklage). On June 16th, after a long and troubled production (and a controversial main lead), The Flash will finally see the light of day. Grieving the loss of his mother, Barry Allen travels back in time to save her, only to break the timeline and usher in a world without superheroes, Micheal Keaton’s Batman being the exception. In order to save the world, Flash must fix the damage he made as this new world is unprepared for a Kryptonian invasion. June 30th will also see the final installment of Harrison Ford’s version of Dr. Jones in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, in which the archeologist adventurer comes into conflict with Nazis who joined NASA.
Fall 2023 will also see Sony stepping into the superhero ring once again with Kraven the Hunter being released in theaters on October 6 with Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the titular hunter. Details on the plot of the film are few and far between, but early reports suggest that a version of Spider-Man will appear, though the actor is unclear. And on November 3, Dune: Part Two will be released to continue where part one left off to complete the story from the original novel. Only time will tell if 2023 can truly shape up to be the year of action.
