4) Guardians of the Galaxy 2
Ordinarily, a sequel for the sake of success would hardly be cause for celebration, but given the way in which Guardians of the Galaxy injected such a giddy joy into unsuspecting audiences last year, it’s difficult not to get excited about the prospect of a second installment. The original movie offered a plethora of captivating intergalactic characters, and not since Star Wars has there been such a rich platform to build upon to create an utterly mesmerizing cinematic universe.
Perhaps the best thing about the first Guardians of the Galaxy was how it astonishingly surpassed expectations. Director James Gunn’s resume hardly screamed “guaranteed success”; offering a mixed bag of thrills, chills and chaotic spills that ranged from a good screenplay for the Dawn of the Dead reboot to writing credits for the two disastrous live-action Scooby-Doo movies. But lo and behold did Gunn do right by Guardians, writing and directing the movie and pulling off the most surprising Marvel success of the year.
Tipped for a release in early 2017, Gunn has assembled the mouth-watering cast of Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Chris Pratt, Vin Diesel and Dave Bautista (who held a curiously compelling screen presence as Dax the Destroyer in the first movie) for the Guardians sequel. The director has admitted that the second film’s plot is so “risky” it managed to stun his Marvel bosses when he revealed it to them a short time ago. Whether you believe that’s a reason to get excited about Guardians of the Galaxy 2 is up to you. Either way, the prospect of seeing this colorful band or characters romp around in space has us waiting around with baited breath.