The 2020s has been a pretty strong decade for Sci-Fi movies, and that shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. With releases such as Dune, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Avatar: The Way of Water, and Poor Things, we’ve seen some of the biggest and best the genre has to offer. This continues what’s been a strong run of form over the past 10-15 years, really, where we’ve particularly seen a lot of smart Sci-Fi, from the likes of Christopher Nolan, Alex Garland, and Denis Villeneuve.
Videos by ComicBook.com
It’s the latter, in particular, who was really dominated blockbuster Sci-Fi movies over the past decade, especially with his Dune movies. Dune: Part Two was a bona fide Sci-Fi masterpiece that will rightly go down as a classic in the genre (though, for my money, so should his Arrival and Blade Runner 2049), and given it pulled in well over $700 million at the box office, critical acclaim, and Oscars buzz, a sequel is inevitably on the way. Dune: Part Three will adapt Frank Herbert’s book Dune: Messiah, and is scheduled for release on December 18th, 2026, closing out what is a ridiculously stacked year for Sci-Fi fans.
What’s The Most Exciting Sci-Fi Movie Of 2026?
Dune: Part Two blew me away, and I can’t wait to see what Villeneuve does next with the franchise. At this point, it feels like he can do no wrong, though this will test that theory: Messiah is where the Dune books start to get even weirder, wilder, and more difficult to translate to the big screen, so it’ll certainly pose a challenge to pull off something quite as great as the second movie. Even without those mild concerns, though, there are other 2026 Sci-Fi movies that have piqued my interest even more.
There’s the post-apocalyptic The Dog Stars, which features Jacob Elordi in the lead role and takes place after a virus has almost wiped out humanity. The main point of interest there, aside from the great book of the same name it’s based on, is that it comes from director Ridley Scott, who is one of the true kings of the genre. The last time he made a non-IP movie in this genre was 2015’s The Martian, which is one of the best Sci-Fi movies of the 21st Century.
Speaking of The Martian, just one week prior to The Dog Stars‘ release is Project Hail Mary. Based on The Martian author Andy Weir’s book, the screenplay by the writer of that movie, Drew Goddard, and the trailer promises a somewhat familiar tone that blends its unlikely hero with humor and high stakes drama in outer space, as a high school science teacher is sent on a mission that could save Earth from disaster. Making that even more exciting is said teacher being played by Ryan Gosling, who already looks perfectly cast. And as if that’s not enough, the movie is directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. They were two of the most exciting voices of the 2010s, but haven’t made a live-action movie in 11 years – it’s about damn time that changed.
I do lean towards Project Hail Mary being the most exciting Sci-Fi movie of 2026, though perhaps its closest challenger is a movie that doesn’t even have a title yet: Steven Spielberg’s UFO movie. Those four words alone are enough to cause excitement. Like Scott, Spielberg is one of the legends of the genre, without whom it wouldn’t be the same today. That this promises to be something of a throwback to his classics like Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. makes it a must-see event, and even more so when you add in some thriller elements and Emily Blunt in the lead role.
It’s also worth giving a shout out to Flowervale Street, which comes from It Follows director David Robert Mitchell. While still shrouded in mystery, the movie will follow a couple – Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor – who start to notice strange behavior in their neighborhood and, reportedly, involves dinosaurs in some way. While original dino movies have proved tricky to get right (e.g. Adam Driver flop 65), it’d be amazing to find something that does work outside of just more Jurassic movies.
Outside of all those, there is, of course, plenty of franchise fare with a Sci-Fi slant, from The Mandalorian and Grogu to Masters of the Universe, and from Supergirl to Avengers: Doomsday, all of which are exciting in their own right. With all of those and plenty not even mentioned (and some that will no doubt come out of nowhere), 2026 is shaping up to be one of the genre’s most exciting years in recent memory. The release dates for the movies mentioned are as follows:
- Project Hail Mary – March 20th
- The Dog Stars – March 27th
- The Mandalorian and Grogu – May 22nd
- Masters of the Universe – June 5th
- Untitled Steven Spielberg movie – June 12th
- Supergirl – June 26th
- Flowervale Street – August 14th
- Avengers: Doomsday – December 18th
- Dune: Part Three – December 18th
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Warner Bros. Animation / Cartoon Network Studios -
Image courtesy of The CW. -
Image Courtesy of Disney+ -
Image Courtesy of Shueisha
