Superhero movies continue to dominate the box office, and studios continue to schedule sequels and new solo character films. With so many superhero films coming out over the next few years, we thought we’d take a look at all the release dates and reveal what we know about them so far.
Below you’ll find each superhero film slate from Marvel, DC, Fox, and Sony that has been scheduled through the year 2020. We’ve included the directors and cast for each movie (if we know them at this point), and we’ll be continuing to update the list as we learn who joins the cast as each film approaches its release.
In light of Dawn of Justice hitting theaters in March 2016 and pulling off an impressive box office, it’s clear that super heroes are as hot as ever. Here’s what lies ahead.
2016
‘Deadpool’
Release Date: February 12, 2016
Director: Tim Miller
Cast: Ryan Reynolds
How it performed: Deadpool was undoubtedly a huge success. It was self-aware, refreshing, and hilarious. The movie made gobs of money for Fox and was beloved by critics and moviegoers alike. Deadpool himself confirmed that the sequel will feature Cable, though Fox has yet to set a release date for Deadpool 2.
‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’
Release Date: March 25, 2016
Director: Zack Snyder
Cast: Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Jesse Eisenberg, Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne, Jason Momoa, Holly Hunter, Scoot McNairy, and Jeremy Irons.
How it performed: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was panned by critics. Review-wise it ended up being one of the worst Batman or Superman movies in cinematic history.
But those reviews didn’t stop moviegoers from turning out! The movie made $170 million domestically in its opening weekend, giving Batman v Superman the title of fourth-best opening for a super hero movie (not a bad title when your competition is the Avengers). The amount of money it earned is good news for Warner Brothers, who has a slew of DC films in the works (as you’ll see below).
‘Captain America: Civil War’
Release Date: May 6, 2016
Director: Joe Russo and Anthony Russo
Cast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Sebastian Stan, and practically every other cast member in The Avengers.
What we know: Captain America: Civil War wasn’t entirely a surprise, since we knew that at some point Cap would be involved in the Civil War storyline. What was initially surprising was that Robert Downey Jr. was set to have a co-leading role. Nearly every Avenger will be appearing in this movie, making it an “Avengers 2.5” of sorts. Adding to the anticipation, Tom Holland will be making his debut as Spider-Man before he gets his own movie.
‘X-Men: Apocalypse’
Release Date: May 27, 2016
Director: Bryan Singer
Cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, and Hugh Jackman.
What we know: This sequel looks to be a passion project for director Bryan Singer. The mutant Apocalypse is very unique, and unlike any superhero/mutant that we’ve seen on the big screen before, which should lead to some very interesting scenes. X-Men: Days of Future Past was a solid film, and we look forward to Singer revisiting the X-Men world which he has shown he’s very comfortable working in.
‘Suicide Squad’
Release Date: August 5, 2016
Director: David Ayer
Cast: Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ike Barinholtz, and Scott Eastwood.
What we know: All the promotional material for this film has been interesting to say the least. People are mostly excited to see the rag-tag crew featuring Jared Leto’s Joker and Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn. The trailer for Suicide Squad makes this look like one wicked tale. It’s safe to say that the movie has a good chance of being a lot better than Dawn of Justice.
‘Doctor Strange’
Release Date: November 4, 2016
Director: Scott Derrickson
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Michael Stuhlbarg, Mads Mikkelsen, and Tilda Swinton
2017
‘(Currently untitled) Wolverine’
Release Date: March 3, 2017
Director: James Mangold
Cast: Hugh Jackman
What we know: The currently untitled Wolverine film is simply a way to keep Hugh Jackman in contract for solo films. It will most likely see its storyline come from X-Men: Apocalypse, and we won’t know much about it until that film hits theaters.
‘Guardians of the Galaxy 2’
Release Date: May 5, 2017
Director: James Gunn
Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, and the voices of Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel.
What we know: We don’t know much about Guardians of the Galaxy’s sequel, but if it’s anything like the first film it will be pretty incredible. The original cast will be back, which knocked it out of the park in 2014, and we can’t wait to see this group of actors back in space. Keep track of the latest GOTG 2 news here.
‘Wonder Woman’
Release Date: June 2, 2017
Director: Patty Jenkins
Cast: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright
What we know: The Wonder Woman solo film should be one of the more inspired films by Warner Bros. We know Gal Gadot is introduced in epic fashion in Dawn of Justice, and she ended up being one of the best parts of the movie. Keep track of the latest WW movie news here.
(Untitled) ‘Spider-Man’
Release Date: July 7, 2017
Director: Jon Watts
Cast: Tom Holland, Marisa Tomei, Zendaya
What we know: It’s coming. Whether you want it or not, it’s coming. After Marvel managed to pull the rights to Spider-Man back from Sony, they decided to launch a new series starring Tom Holland. This’ll be the third stab at a Spider-Man film series in two decades. The Tom Holland Spidey makes his first appearance in the Captain America threequel Civil War.
To the disappointment of many Marvel watchers, the addition of the Spider-Man film in slate led the studio to push back Captain Marvel from 2018 to 2019.
‘Thor: Ragnarok’
Release Date: November 3, 2017
Director: Taika Waititi
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston
What we know: The third Thor film will have the brother duo back together, which should have Hiddleston fans excited, but will most likely be more of the same. Thor: The Dark World wasn’t especially good, and we can’t imagine that a third film will be much better. The one exciting thing is that Ragnarok (Thor’s clone) is being introduced, and it should help lift the film up to the standards that we expect from Marvel films now. The Hulk is expected to have a big role in this movie too.
‘Black Panther’
Release Date: February 16, 2018
Director: Ryan Coogler
Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Andy Serkis (Klaw)
What we know: Black Panther has been talked about for quite some time, and will be the first Marvel film starring a black actor. It’s some exciting progress, and we’re looking forward to seeing Chadwick Boseman in the role that Marvel seems very passionate about. Adding to the excitement, Ryan Coogler — the director of the beloved Rocky spinoff Creed — is helming this one.
‘Justice League Part 1’
Release Date: November 17, 2017
Director: Zack Snyder
Cast: Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, and Amy Adams.
What we know: Justice League Part 1 should be The Avengers for Warner Bros., and we imagine they’re hoping it will be just as successful. Dawn of Justice introduced most of their superheroes, so Justice League will be the first time their superheroes will be teaming up instead of fighting each other (Let’s be honest: They’ll probably be fighting a bit too. At least verbally). As long as the solo films go well, we look forward to seeing how this massively talented cast works together.
2018
‘The Flash’
Release Date: March 23, 2018
Director: Seth Grahame-Smith
Cast: Ezra Miller
What we know: The Flash film will be a great addition to DC’s superhero slate. It’s always been a film that fans have wanted to see be made, and now we have Ezra Miller starring. He’s an excellent actor, and should compliment the popular TV show based on the same character. The Flash made his first appearance in Dawn of Justice.
‘The Avengers: Infinity War Part 1’
Release Date: May 4, 2018
Director: The Russo Brothers
Cast: All your Avenger favorites.
What we know: This Marvel sequel will be the start of something pretty incredible. We can’t imagine how a film will be bigger than The Avengers: Age of Ultron, but Infinity War Part 1 may just take the cake. The film will be taking us into the war vs Thanos, who will be wielding the Infinity Gauntlet most likely and destroying worlds as the Avengers attempt to stop him.
‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’
Release Date: July 6, 2018
Director: Peyton Reed
Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas
What we know: The movie was added to Marvel’s film slate following the success of their first Ant-Man movie in 2015. As the film’s title implies, The Wasp will have a co-leading role in the Ant-Man sequel.
‘Aquaman’
Release Date: July 27, 2018
Director: James Wan
Cast: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard (Mera)
What we know: This will be a tough film to make, as it will involve a lot of water work, but with the character being introduced in Dawn of Justice and most likely Justice League P1, we think it could be a highlight of DC’s slate.
2019
‘Captain Marvel’
Release Date: March 8, 2019
Director: TBA
Cast: TBA
What we know: Captain Marvel will be Marvel’s first female superhero film in this new slate. It’s surprising and a tad disappointing it’s taking Marvel so long to get to this one, but we’re excited to see what the movie will look like. So far we don’t know much, and with it not hitting theaters until 2019 it’s unlikely we’ll know anything for a few years. One thing we know is that one lucky actress is going to be incredibly excited to be cast in this role.
‘Shazam’
Release Date: April 5, 2019
Director: TBA
Cast: Dwayne Johnson
What we know: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will be starring in the film, and with this film not coming out until 2019, that’s all we’re likely to know for quite some time. It’s a unique choice for DC, and we look forward to seeing how it pans out.
‘The Avengers: Infinity War Part 2’
Release Date: May 3, 2019
Director: The Russo Brothers
Cast: All your Avenger favorites.
What we know: TBA
‘Justice League Part 2’
Release Date: June 14, 2019
Director: Zack Snyder
Cast: Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, and Amy Adams.
What we know: TBA
2020
‘Cyborg’
Release Date: April 3, 2020
Director: TBA
Cast: Ray Fisher
What we know: Cyborg made a brief appearance in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice to tease audiences about the future. We expect to see him in Justice League and other DC movies before he gets his own movie.
‘Green Lantern’
Release Date: June 19, 2020
Director: TBA
Cast: TBA
What we know: Green Lantern is being rebooted after it failed miserably with Ryan Reynolds in the lead role back in 2011. It won’t hit theaters until 2020, and we most likely won’t hear about it for quite some time. One thing we know is Reynolds won’t be the Green Lantern.
Be sure to keep checking back as we update the superhero movie release date post, which will be updated each time cast members and directors are attached to each film, and most likely include a few release date adjustments.
In Limbo
Here are the movies that were slated for production but were then pulled.
‘Inhumans’
Director: TBA
Cast: TBA
What we know: The movie was originally slated for an opening in 2019 with a script by Black Panther writer Joe Robert Cole, but in April 2016 Marvel decided to hit pause on the project. Perhaps it’ll be pushed to Marvel’s Phase 4.
‘Sinister Six’
Release Date: TBA
Director: Drew Goddard
Cast: TBA
What we know: This project was taken off the schedule by Sony after they teamed up with Marvel to bring Spider-Man to Disney’s side of the MCU. This project currently sits in limbo.
‘Fantastic Four 2’
Director: TBA
Cast: Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, and Jamie Bell.
What we know: The movie was pulled off the schedule after the first Fantastic Four movie was absolutely destroyed by critics and moviegoers alike. The director didn’t like his movie either. Chances are that this one isn’t going to get made.
Which superhero movie release dates are you most excited for?
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in 2014 but was updated in March 2016 with the latest production information. This article will continue to be updated every few months as the studios make various announcements.