If someone had asked you at the start of 2020 whether Disney's family-friendly live-action remake of Mulan or Sacha Baron Cohen's frequently shocking Borat 2 would come closer to starting a major international incident, you'd have no doubt gone for the latter. However, we've been having the kind of year where Niki Caro's $200 million historical epic was coming under fire from all corners for publicly thanking a Chinese region accused of human rights violations, with the U.S. Senate even getting involved.
There might not be any Transformers movies on the immediate horizon despite multiple projects being in the works, but fans have been able to get their fix thanks to Netflix and the War for Cybertron trilogy. First installment Siege immediately won the fans over when it debuted on the streaming service at the end of July, instantly entering the conversation surrounding the best animated shows to ever feature the Autobots and Decepticons.
Vince Vaughn has spent the last few years playing firmly against type, and his newfound desire to challenge himself as an actor has resulted in a mini-renaissance of sorts. After portraying a World War II sergeant in Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge, Vaughn delivered a jaw-dropping dramatic performance in S. Craig Zahler's Brawl in Cell Block 99, before co-starring with Gibson in Zahler's Dragged Across Concrete.
Zack Snyder appears intent to gather together all of the DCEU's overlooked and almost forgotten characters for his all-new version of Justice League. Jared Leto's Joker and Joe Manganiello's Deathstroke have been confirmed, Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor has been heavily rumored and Ray Fisher will put his protracted battles with the studio to one side to finally get something meaningful to do as Cyborg.
After months and months of inactivity, the Marvel Cinematic Universe's roster of Disney Plus shows have roared back into life. WandaVision debuted a phenomenal first trailer, while shooting continues at pace on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, while even more projects were added to the upcoming slate with the announcement that Samuel L. Jackson would return to headline a Nick Fury series.
The Western used to be the single most popular genre in Hollywood, and while the glory days are well in the past, there are still more than a few minor modern classics available for those willing to seek them out. Netflix seem to have warmly embraced the genre, too, and their library is full of both longtime favorites and new additions that all put their own twist on the established tropes and archetypes.
No movie has had less of an impact on the Marvel Cinematic Universe than The Incredible Hulk, which was disregarded almost as soon as it hit theaters in the summer of 2008, just a few weeks after Iron Man had launched the franchise. In fact, if William Hurt's Thaddeus Ross hadn't returned in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and gone on to become a recurring character, you could wipe it from existence entirely and it wouldn't change a single thing about the complexion of the MCU.
Michael Chaves may be directing The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, but the entire shared horror universe is most definitely James Wan's baby. After helming Frank and Lorraine Warren's first two big screen adventures, the Aquaman director was forced to take a step back on the third installment as he instead focused on his upcoming original project Malignant.