7 Awesome 2020s Sci-fi Movies That Still Really Need a Sequel

The 2020s have been kind to the science fiction genre on the big screen. Not only has it given us an original Christopher Nolan action movie in Tenet, but an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune that gives the dense novel its due (and was nominated for multiple Oscars and went on to box office success). James Cameron has also taken us back to Pandora with two Avatar movies, Godzilla has continued to be the king of the monsters, and Superman kicked off a brand new shared DCU on the film. We’re halfway through and the potential for sci-fi movies remains high.

There’s one place where sci-fi movies in the 2020s haven’t really kept up with what fans want, and it’s sequels. Dune: Part Two and the expansion of the MonsterVerse obviously buck this trend to a certain extent, but new sci-fi movies that have premiered this decade have largely failed to follow through with new stories. Collected here are seven awesome sci-fi movies that still need another chapter, and the good news is that some of them may actually get one.

7) Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Picking up from the ending of War for the Planet of the Apes was already a tall task for a new movie in this legendary series to accomplish, and Kingdom gambled further by pushing itself hundreds of years in the future to boot. What resulted was yet another stellar chapter in one of the best science fiction franchises of all time. Not only did Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes prove that there is still gas in the tank for the series commercially, but creatively. It’s been over a year and a half since Kingdom was released, and though the film delivered key set-up for another movie in the series, there has not officially been any movement on another Apes movie. Filmmaker Wes Ball has gone on to direct the long-awaited live-action The Legend of Zelda movie, which is proof that Kingdom was a hit, but also seems to be a big reason the sequel hasn’t arrived yet.

6) The Jurassic World Dominion Prologue

If you want to get technical, this short film piece was done as a setup for Jurassic World Dominion, so it did get a follow-up, kind of, but the potential that this brief movie showed for the world set-up by the trilogy of Jurassic World movies was squandered by the actual film itself. Even this past summer’s Jurassic World Rebirth failed to make the world of humans and dinosaurs coexisting all that compelling. As a result, this five-and-a-half-minute prologue is not only the best thing Colin Trevorrow has ever done with the series, but the most entertaining live-action Jurassic Park story in decades. There’s no chance that future installments of this billion-dollar series shrink the size of the canvas and go small, but this is proof that they could, and people would be excited by it.

5) Nimona

Initially scrapped by The Walt Disney Company after they acquired 20th Century Fox, and saved by Netflix, the Oscar-nominated Nimona, based on ND Stevenson’s graphic novel, is a mega franchise in the making. The filmmakers took the premise of a shape-shifting little ne’er-do-well and her “bad guy” boss and expanded on the potential of the comic to deliver a rich, unique world that flips everything audiences know about good guys and bad guys on its head. Even though the film had a clear ending, there’s still a string left to pull on, and hopefully Netflix realizes this. The fact that Nimona had a bit of a troubled production may prevent it from being seen as an asset for the future, but the potential is clearly there, and the world needs more chaotic little gremlins like her in them.

4) Prey

After Prey fully revitalized the Predator franchise in a way that previously seemed impossible, fans have been clamoring for more. Luckily, they’ve been rewarded with two movies in the series this year alone. Teases have been revealed about what comes next for Naru and the world of Prey, as the character made a surprise appearance in the animated anthology movie, Predator: Killer of Killers. That cameo has fans theorizing about what comes next for the character and the world that the 2022 movie created, but so far, nothing has been announced. We know there is a plan, but will we ever SEE that plan?

3) The Tomorrow War

The Chris Pratt-starring action sci-fi movie set up a wild world when it premiered; in fact the larger world-building of the movie was clearly its best asset. Not only did the series give us a new take on time travel, but the larger idea of building an army out of people from the past. On top of that, there’s a major question about the alien invaders themselves, and their origin on ANOTHER alien ship. The Tomorrow War may have been hindered by the fact that it had somewhat lackluster filmmaking, but the ideas, story, and characters gave fans something they’ve wanted for years: an original science fiction world. Now that the first movie has been released and a lot of the development has been finished, the franchise could, in theory, go in any number of directions and not worry about setup. Plus, there’s a clear title already there, The 2Morrow War.

2) Transformers One

After more than a decade (and billions of dollars in grosses) with live-action Transformers movies that most fans don’t even really like, the series finally went back to its animated roots. Though the box office numbers may tell one story, Transformers One not only dug deep into the larger mythology of the franchise but did it in a way that kept with the spirit of the original cartoons. The film also ended on a major setup for the next story, the war between the Autobots and Decepticons that has only ever been seen in glimpses on the big screen. Perhaps the world is just too conditioned to seeing the live-action VFX versions of these characters, but the storytelling prowess of Transformers One proved the series can exist elsewhere, and actually be better.

1) Ultraman: Rising

Ultraman: Rising found a new wrinkle to put on the long-running Japanese franchise from Tsuburaya Productions. The animated film not only gave fans a reluctant version of the title hero who had to find his way to becoming Ultraman, but an absolutely adorable take on the enemy kaiju with the precious and “never done anything wrong in her entire life,” Emi. The most impressive thing about Ultraman: Rising is not only how it’s able to remix the mythology of the series and find a fresh take on the material, but how it also balances both family-friendly adventure and hard sci-fi aesthetics. The world needs more of that. The good news is that a mid-credit scene made it clear that there’s an idea for another movie; the bad news is that nothing has been confirmed just yet.

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