As if 2024 wasn’t amazing enough for film, 2025 is gearing up to be a monumental year for movies. Seemingly every week or two, there is going to be at least one extremely anticipated movie being released. Here are my top five most anticipated films of 2025.

 Honorable Mentions

With the number of exciting movies coming this year, it was tough to narrow it down. There are a few films I am dying to see that I just couldn’t fit into my top five, so I wanted to give them a special mention here. Those movies would be: “Mickey 17,” “Bugonia,” “The Smashing Machine,” “Marty Supreme,” “Wake Up Dead Man,” “After the Hunt” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”

5: The Fantastic Four: First Steps (July 25, 2025)

The public perception of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the years since “Avengers: Endgame” has seemed to be much more negative than it was prior. However, this has not stopped Marvel from still putting out some great movies and shows, and I find that their upcoming Fantastic Four film is by far the most exciting upcoming release they have scheduled.

The team that has been put together for this film is what has driven my enthusiasm. For starters, I am thrilled that Matt Shakman is directing. He directed every episode of “WandaVision,” which is my favorite Disney+ series from Marvel Studios by a huge margin.

Additionally, I think the four leads that have been cast are all amazing actors. I have loved Vanessa Kirby in the last couple “Mission: Impossible” films, so I can’t wait to see her interpretation of the Invisible Woman. I absolutely adore Ebon-Moss Bachrach’s work on “The Bear,” and I think casting him as The Thing is just so great. Joseph Quinn as The Human Torch is awesome as well; with terrific performances last year in “A Quiet Place: Day One” and “Gladiator II” (which I reviewed for The Daily Aztec here), he is clearly one of Hollywood’s biggest rising stars right now. And finally, I love Pedro Pascal in everything he’s in (shoutout to his performance in “Kingsman: The Golden Circle,” which is a movie not everyone loves but I very much do).

4: Untitled Film from Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Kendrick Lamar (July 4, 2025)

This is an interesting one. Paramount Pictures has kept details on this film fairly under wraps. The basic premise is that this film involves a black man working as a slave reenactor, who then finds out that his white girlfriend’s ancestors owned his. All that’s really known publicly about this film is that brief premise, the people involved, and the July 4 release date.

Trey Parker is directing this film, as well as producing it alongside his “South Park” partner Matt Stone, Kendrick Lamar, and Lamar’s creative partner Dave Free. I’ve never really watched “South Park,” so having creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone making this movie (as well as Vernon Chatman writing the screenplay) isn’t necessarily what draws me in. What intrigues me so much here is the involvement of Kendrick Lamar.

Kendrick Lamar is one of my favorite music artists of all time. Obviously, he just had a monumental year; his recent album, “GNX”, was without a doubt one of my favorite albums of 2024. Throughout his entire career, a lot of Kendrick Lamar’s music and music videos have had this larger than life, cinematic quality. Pairing Kendrick Lamar up with the “South Park” guys to make a feature film is very exciting to me. I’m anticipating that we will be getting something really great with this movie.

3: Sinners (April 18, 2025)

Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan are essentially a modern-day Hollywood dream team; Coogler has never directed a feature film without Jordan appearing in it.

Plot details on “Sinners,” Ryan Coogler’s first non-Marvel film since 2015’s “Creed,” have been kept fairly vague as of the time I’m writing this. I had heard about this movie being in development for a while, but I was really captivated when the first trailer dropped a few months ago. I love when a trailer can hook you and have you on the edge of your seat, yet it tells you absolutely nothing in regard to what the movie is about. This movie looks awesome.

Also, this film features Michael B. Jordan starring as twin brothers. If one Michael B. Jordan isn’t enough to get you excited, they treated us with TWO of him. What’s better than that?

2: Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (May 23, 2025)

I’m not the biggest fan of action movies. There are so many amazing action sequences in movies that I love, but action as a genre usually does not excite me. However, the “Mission: Impossible” series is a huge exception.

I am such a fan of these movies. I think they are exhilarating and the purest example of what the cinematic experience can be. There are at least two or three of them that I think are in the conversation for being the best action movie of all time.

I mentioned Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan being a Hollywood dream team, and I think I could say the same for Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie. They work so well together; since they first started collaborating, it seems like they have continuously pushed each other to become better and better each film they do.

I can’t even fathom what kind of craziness we’re going to see in this film. Judging by things that happened in the previous installment, I’m assuming there are going to be some underwater scenes; I don’t think I am prepared for how insane the underwater Tom Cruise stunts are going to be.

Something I find endearing about these “Mission: Impossible” movies is that there is a more human element to Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt than a lot of other action heroes. Ethan’s main priority in any given film in the series is the people around him that he loves, and I think this human connection is yet another thing that makes these movies more exciting than most other action films out there.

1: Superman (July 11, 2025)

I’m willing to say this: “Superman” (2025) is one of my most anticipated films of all time.

I have such love and reverence for James Gunn’s work. In terms of film and TV based on comic books, I think he is the greatest to ever do it. I love all three “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies so much (and “The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special” released in 2022). I love “The Suicide Squad,” as well as the first seasons of “Peacemaker” and “Creature Commandos.” He just doesn’t miss. So naturally, back when it was announced that James Gunn was taking over DC (along with Peter Safran), and he was making a new Superman movie, I was extremely thrilled.

I think Gunn is absolutely the perfect person to direct and write this film. Since the first “Guardians of the Galaxy,” he has been making all these movies and shows about the most obscure and wacky comic-book characters you could find. And he has found the beating heart of all of them and made the audience deeply care. How Gunn took bizarre characters such as Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Polka-Dot Man and Ratcatcher 2, and portrayed them so earnestly with such emotion and humanity is beyond me.

Now imagine that guy now writing and directing a movie about one of the most famous superheroes in the world, who also happens to be a character that is literally the pinnacle of earnestness and humanity

We have David Corenswet, who I loved in both “Pearl” and “Twisters,” in the titular role. Surrounding him is an extremely stacked including Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Isabela Merced, Skyler Gisondo, Edi Gathegi, Nathan Fillion, Wendell Pierce and Anthony Carrigan (star of HBO’s “Barry,” which is one of my favorite shows of all time).