Many were surprised to discover that Gantu, the antagonist of the 2002 animated movie Lilo & Stitch was absent from the new live-action remake. Gantu is the main villain, so it's a rather gutsy move from the live-action movie to not include him. Director Dean Fleischer Camp has explained that Gantu "was one of those things that just didn't work so well in live action," but still defends his decision. The new Lilo & Stitch is still enjoyable, but it's undoubtedly weird without Gantu.

Many of the blockbusters releasing in June 2025, like Ballerina and 28 Years Later, don't really appeal to me as much, but I'll definitely be seeing them. If I had to pick one release that I'm truly excited for, it's F1. This is Joseph Kosinski's follow-up to Top Gun: Maverick, and it looks to be just as high-octane and exciting of a movie theater experience. I'll be there on day one.

While Thanos is one of the most powerful beings in the MCU and the comics, I don't think he'd be able to take on Sentry. Even though he seems somewhat weaker compared to the comics version, Bob is likely still more powerful than the Mad Titan (though, of course, things would go down differently if Thanos had the Infinity Stones on him).

When the DCU is ready for a Justice League movie, I'd love to see someone like Vandal Savage as the villain, perhaps even adapting the classic Doom storyline where he steals Batman's contingency plans. However, I also like to see Legion of Doom/Injustice League idea, making up for the DCEU teases that never came to fruition.

Due to their existence in a retro-future 1960s reality, The Fantastic Four have suits to match the aesthetic in First Steps. However, I wonder if they'll end up getting new costumes once they make it to the more modern Earth-616 MCU. Personally, I hope they don't, as the costumes we've seen are so fun and unique.

Ryan Gosling has already made public that he would love to play the MCU's Ghost Rider. I think that Marvel Studios should just make that happen. Gosling is a popular name that is also constantly involved with awards circuit movies. The actor could bring out a nuanced version of Ghost Rider to life, thriving in the action and emotion departments. Gosling could easily stick around the MCU for a decade, and it would allow Ghost Rider to finally get a good role in live-action after two divisive Nicolas Cage movies.

Throughout the three live-action Spider-Man movie franchises, Peter Parker has donned quite a few different suits. Some of them have been more accurate to the comics than others. Out of them all, I would say that Andrew Garfield's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 suit and Tom Holland's costume from Spider-Man: No Way Home's final swing are the most comics-accurate so far. It really is a toss-up between the two, but my favorite overall is Garfield's.

Before he ed the MCU as Erik Killmonger, Michael B. Jordan starred in Chronicle. I think the superhero movie is great, and I'm a fan of the dynamic between Jordan, Dane DeHaan, and Alex Russell's characters. Chronicle used powers in an exciting way and I believe that the found footage element helps make it one of the most unique superhero films out there. Based on that, I think Chronicle is worth watching, and a lot of fans seem to be discovering the film, as it is on Max's top 10.

The Batman 2 has been delayed multiple times with few updates on the film's story and cast so far. Recently, DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn yet again responded to a rumor that claimed that Matt Reeves would no longer direct The Batman 2, revealing there was no truth to the rumor. It's been so long since we learned The Batman 2 was happening that I have grown tired of all the director and script rumors. It's clear that DC is making the movie with Reeves, and it will be ready when he is, so I hope the rumors stop.

A new rumor claims that Mark Ruffalo will appear as Bruce Banner in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. While I think the Hulk being in the next Spider-Man movie goes away from the street-level story, which I hope it will adapt, there is a precedent for how he could play a role in the film, as the Hulk could who Peter Parker was after Doctor Strange's spell, as something similar happened in the comics. I think that would be an exciting twist, and I would be interested in seeing the Hulk and Spider-Man finally work together in the MCU.

I really do think the delay for Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars is for the best. It should give Marvel more time to work on their overall quality, give audiences a break and overcome any "fatigue", gets them away from Disney's Star Wars releases in May, and should give the studio even more time to build hype and excitement.

Ryan Reynolds recently revealed that he toyed with the idea of Deadpool dying in Deadpool 3, and I think this would have been such a silly ending for his character. Sure, there's some emotional undertones to those movies, but I don't get the idea that it's what people come to the theaters for with a Ryan Reynolds movie. The core of those movies is the comedy, so I don't think Deadpool is a character who should ever die in the MCU. 

Steven Yeun was initially cast as Sentry in Thunderbolts*, though scheduling issues resulted in Lewis Pullman getting the role instead. However, Yeun has said he still wants to the MCU at some point in the future. If that does happen, I think he'd be perfect as Mister Negative, the major New York crime boss and Spider-Man villain.

Even if it's at the very end, I feel like the odds are high that we'll be seeing Supergirl in James Gunn's Superman to tee up her own movie in 2026. That said, I do like the idea that she might be inside the warsuit belonging to the mysterious new character known as "The Hammer of Boravia", the idea being that she's been co-opted as a living weapon against Superman.

Originally, the next two Avengers movies were going to be released the same month as The Mandalorian and Grogu in May of 2026 and Starfighter in May of 2027. Now, the Avengers movies are going to be released in December of their respective years, giving both franchises some space from each other. It does make me wonder how much Star Wars played a factor in getting the Avengers movies delayed. After all, there hasn't been a Star Wars movie in theaters since 2019, and I'd imagine Disney wants to especially give Mando and Grogu every advantage possible.

Apple TV+'s Fountain Of Youth starring John Krasinski and Natalie Portman is now streaming and while it, very clearly, has a great cast, they cannot save it from itself no matter how hard they try. The script is extremely generic, and the plot is very predictable. While Krasinski and Portman have chemistry, it is almost more romantic chemistry than sibling chemistry, which throws the vibe of the film off a bit. The adventure aspect is fun. Honestly, this would have been a hit in the 1990s, but unfortunately it falls flat in 2025. 

The Lilo & Stitch live-action remake is already raking in great numbers at the box office, and has a pretty decent Rotten Tomatoes score overall. Surely this is going to be a summer hit with families, which means there is a really good chance that Disney will greenlight a live-action Lilo & Stitch 2. While the ending was changed from the animated film, there are still infinite possibilities for where this story could go. It does not need to follow the story that the animated sequel does. I can't say for sure that I am one hundred percent on board for another live-action film, but if they make it, I would watch it.

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning has been rumored to be the final time fans will see Ethan Hunt, but who really knows for sure? This has been a big part of the marketing, but I just cannot imagine Tom Cruise stepping away from this role. The movie clocks in at nearly three hours long and should have been around two hours long instead. The plot is dragged out and there are a lot of dialogue breaks. I don't know about you, but I am going to watch a Mission: Impossible movie for the insane stunts. Thankfully, there are two epic and unforgettable sequences later in the film that make it more than worth checking out on the biggest screen possible. 

While I love Chris Evans' Captain America and definitely think it's his best role, I wish we had gotten more rom-coms from him at the same time that he was starring in MCU movies. I feel like What's Your Number? and The Nanny Diaries show the potential Evans has in the genre, and Materialists, which sees him in a love triangle with Dakota Johnson and Pedro Pascal, finally taps into that. Evans can play lovable, earnest characters well, and his comedic timing plus charm makes him the perfect rom-com material, so I hope he stays in the genre.

The Mission: Impossible films are best known for their epic stunts. It seems that with each film, the stunt sequences get longer, more intense, and more shocking. Tom Cruise is a master at what he does. There is no doubt about that, and that man likes to put himself in danger. He is clearly someone who likes a thrill, as we have seen over and over. Which stunt is the best though? It might sound cliché to say, but it has to be the final sequence of Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning. Fighting on planes while they are flying high in the sky is insane. Maybe it is recency bias setting in, but for me, I think that is the best one yet.