11 Comic Books Coming to the Big Screen in 2018

Black Panther (February 16)
We don’t have to wait long for our most anticipated comic book film of 2018, another crowded and promising year for adaptions. In deepest Africa, there’s a nation-state that’s kept itself hidden away from the world in order to protect its resources and advanced technology. But forces determined to bring down the kingdom could lead to consequences that extend beyond Wakanda. King T’Challa, introduced in Captain America: Civil War, teams up with the all-female warriors the Dora Milaje. They’ll all be back, come summer, in Infinity War.

The New Mutants (April 13)
Part of the most idiosyncratic of the super-franchises, the latest X-Men film (before Deadpool in June and Dark Phoenix in October) finds Game of Thrones‘ Maisie Williams trapped in a clandestine facility, discovering her powers alongside her fellow young mutants. All of the advertising suggests that they’re doing this up as a full-blown horror movie, based in part on Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz’s 1984 Demon Bear Saga.

Avengers: Infinity War (May 4)
Nineteen films in, the MCU is still doing blockbuster business. This one marks the beginning of the end…of the beginning? The threat of Thanos and the Infinity Stones, first teased all the way back in 2011’s Thor, finally comes to a boil when Josh Brolin arrives on Earth to collect the remaining gems and complete his all-powerful gauntlet. After recent movies, the Avengers are on the outs with one another, but they’ll need to get their s*** together in order to gather…pretty much everyone who’s ever been in one of these movies (and a few who haven’t) and stop Thanos.

Deadpool 2 (June 1)
We don’t know much about the plot of the sequel (which may or may not be subtitled “The Second Coming,” wink wink) but we have every reason to believe there will be even more swearing, violence, and butts. ‘Cause that’s how Deadpool do. Most of the gang from 2015’s blockbuster first film are coming back, alongside Josh Brolin as Cable and Zazie Beetz as Domino.

Ant-Man and the Wasp (July 6)
Less buzzed about than some of the flashier comic books sequels coming in 2018, but we’re looking forward to this follow-up to the quirky 2015 original all the same. Paul Rudd’s back, with Evangeline Lilly suiting up as the Wasp. Michelle Pfeiffer is onboard as Janet Van Dyne, meaning that we might see the character return from the Quantum Realm, where she’s been trapped since before the first movie.

Alita: Battle Angel (July 20)
The Robert Rodriguez-directed, James Cameron-produced film focuses on the first four volumes of Yukito Kishiro’s long-running manga about a cyborg who’s lost all of her memories, but not her kickass martial arts skills. While trying to uncover the truth of her past, she becomes a bounty hunter and meets a wide-variety of companions. On the plus side, Rodriguez and Cameron seem to have a deep affection for the original books (down to the choice to give the live-action characters oversized anime-style eyes). On the less plus side: this is yet another manga adaption with pretty much zero Japanese representation in the cast (which is otherwise fairly diverse). So we’ll see.

Teen Titans Go! To the Movies (July 27)
This one’s based on the silly, funny, hyperactive Teen Titans Go! animated TV show more than any particular comic, but does share DNA (and characters) with classic Titans comics. A trip to the movies turns into chaos when the team comes under attack and Beast Boy loses the tickets. Will Arnett and Kristen Bell are guest voices.

Venom (October 5)
Little is known about the long-gestating Venom project, once conceived as a spin-off of the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man trilogy, then as the beginning of a shared universe involving the Andrew Garfield Spidey. With our third big-screen Spider-Man series now being shepherded by Marvel Studios, Sony has moved ahead with this one as a (likely) separate entity, with Tom Hardy starring. Director Ruben Fleischer suggests it will be largely based on the Venom: Lethal Protector series from Peter David and Mark Bagley, which saw Eddie Brock take an anti-hero role in San Francisco. Given the convoluted licensing agreement between Sony and Marvel Studios over the Spider-Man character, it’s unclear how much crossover (if any) there will be with the world of Tom Holland’s wall-crawler.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix (November 2)
Longtime X-producer Simon Kinberg is to make his directorial debut with this second take on one of Marvel’s most beloved and iconic storylines (2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past retconned the previous try in X3: X-Men United out of existence). The younger team lead by James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, and Sophie Turner are all returning in what’s been billed as a more faithful take on Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s legendary Dark Phoenix Saga. Whatever its virtues and faults, the X-Men movies has always been the most unashamedly comic book-y franchise, so they might even pull it off.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (December 14)
Awkward title notwithstanding, the CGI animation in the early trailer for this film looks gorgeous. More than that, it’ll be our first big-screen take on Miles Morales, the younger web-shooting hero from a parallel universe in which Peter Parker died saving the world. Shameik Moore stars along Liev Schreiber and Mahershala Ali.

Aquaman (December 21)
There’s no question the films of the DC Extended Universe (as it’s sometimes called) have met with mixed reviews and decreasing box office. All, that is, except for Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, which hit all the right notes with fans and critics. Since Justice League was already well underway when WW was released, the question for future films is: have they worked out the kinks? Jason Momoa’s Aquaman, directed by The Conjuring and Furious 7’s James Wan, will be a big test. Arthur Curry is caught between polluters on land and his own people who are more than ready to invade.
What’s on your comic-book movie calendar for 2018?