In the Dark Reviews

What your reviewer will be watching 'In the Dark' in '25

Kirk Boxleitner | Jan 02, 20250

Courtesy photo count

David Corenswet suits up as "Superman" for 2025.

The New Year heralds the arrival of several movies and TV shows I'm looking forward to seeing, a number of which I might be able to review in this space.

On the big screen, Steven Soderbergh has apparently reinvented the haunted house subgenre with "Presence," set to release Jan. 24, which is filmed from the perspective of the ghosts.

When "Captain America: Brave New World" hits theaters Feb. 14, it will not only continue the story arc of 2021's "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," but it will also indicate whether Harrison Ford can work in any of Disney's franchises, after 2015's "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and 2023's "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny."

After his critical and commercial success with 2024's horror hit "Longlegs," Osgood Perkins' adaptation of Stephen King's "The Monkey" is due to arrive Feb. 21.

And Bong Joon-ho is following his streak of subversive sci-fi - 2006's "The Host" and 2013's "Snowpiercer" - plus class commentary (2019's "Parasite") with the wildly absurdist pitch-black outer-space comedy "Mickey 17" on March 7.

I doubt it will equal Kurt Busiek's surprising Marvel Comics series of the same name, but I'm still interested in catching "Thunderbolts*" on May 2, just as the more recent installments in Tom Cruise's long-running stunt-tacular series have made me curious to watch the ominously titled "Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning" on May 23.

After the final five episodes of the sixth and final season of "Cobra Kai" start streaming on Netflix Feb. 13, Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan are slated to return for "Karate Kid: Legends" on May 30, while Keanu Reeves appears to be passing his action-hero torch to the adorable Ana de Armas in "From the World of John Wick: Ballerina" on June 6.

On June 20, "28 Years Later" wraps up the trilogy initiated by the outstanding neo-zombie thrillers "28 Days Later" in 2002 and "28 Weeks Later" in 2007, while July promises to revamp a pair of foundational superhero franchises that have often been perceived as too stodgy, with James Gunn's "Superman" on July 11 and the Marvel Cinematic Universe's "Fantastic Four: First Steps" on July 25.

On Sept. 26, "The Bride!" reimagines James Whale's "Bride of Frankenstein" as a musical set in 1930s Chicago.

Meanwhile, October delivers a couple of sequels to some overlooked gems, with "Tron: Ares" arriving on Oct. 10 to complete the cyberspace trilogy of 1982's "Tron" and 2010's "Tron Legacy" - and hopefully outweigh the problematic casting of Jared Leto in 2025's three-quel - and "The Black Phone 2" following up on Joe Hill's superb supernatural suspense flick on Oct. 17.

Glen Powell, star of 2022's "Top Gun: Maverick" and 2024's "Twisters," aims to extend his run of reviving popcorn blockbusters from decades past, with a remake of "The Running Man" on Nov. 7, while James Cameron will almost assuredly make another mint at the box office with "Avatar: Fire and Ash" on Dec. 19, simply because of the "Avatar" films' admittedly spectacular visuals.

And sad news for those eagerly awaiting Matt Reeves' "The Batman, Part II." It's been pushed back from 2025 to Oct. 1, 2027.

On streaming TV in 2025, Disney+ welcomes back Ncuti Gatwa for a second season as the time-traveling 15th Doctor on "Doctor Who," while the next season of "Beavis & Butt-Head" shifts from Paramount+ to Comedy Central, and HBO/Max premieres "It: Welcome to Derry," a prequel series to Andy Muschietti's cinematic adaptations of Stephen King's "It."

The New Year also brings second seasons for Rian Johnson's crackerjack murder-mystery series "Poker Face" on Peacock, the Addams Family spinoff "Wednesday" on Netflix, and the post-apocalyptic video game adaptation "The Last of Us" on Max, as well as the fifth and final season of the beloved 1980s adolescent adventure series "Stranger Things" on Netflix.

I'll simply list the premiere dates of the remaining streaming series I'm anticipating in 2025:

"Severance" Season 2 on Apple TV+ (Jan. 17)

"Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" on Disney+ (Jan. 29)

"Reacher" Season 3 on Amazon Prime Video (Feb. 20)

"Zero Day" on Netflix (Feb. 20)

"Daredevil: Born Again" on Disney+ (March 4)

"The Electric State" on Netflix (March 14)

"The Studio" on Apple TV+ (March 26)

"Star Wars: Andor" Season 2 on Disney+ (April 22)

"Ironheart" on Disney+ (June 24)