\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
by RICK JAMESON<\/p>\n\n\n\n
….I’ve been feeling kind of meh about movie theaters for a while now. Like, yeah,\u00a0Oppenheimer<\/em>\u00a0was cool and everything, but the magic kind of faded after 2020, right? Well, the folks in charge must have sensed that, because the summer 2026 movie previews just dropped and holy crap\u2014they’re throwing everything at the wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We’re talking three massive franchises. Spider-Man. Toy Story. Star Wars. All coming in hot within like two months of each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And honestly? I’m kind of excited for the first time in years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let me break down what’s coming, because I’ve been digging through all these preview articles and trailers, and there’s a lot to unpack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Okay, so Tom Holland’s Spider-Man has been through it. Like, really through it. The end of No Way Home<\/em> basically erased everyone’s memory of Peter Parker. His best friend Ned doesn’t know him. His girlfriend MJ doesn’t know him. Aunt May is dead. The poor kid is completely alone in a crappy apartment, making his own suits, barely scraping by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That’s where Brand New Day<\/em> picks up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And here’s the thing that’s interesting to me. They’re not going big with this one. No multiverse stuff. No other Spider-people. Just Peter Parker alone in New York, fighting street-level crime. Destin Daniel Cretton\u2014the guy who did Shang-Chi<\/em>\u2014is directing instead of Jon Watts this time, and he’s apparently going for a much grittier, almost indie vibe. Some people are comparing it to the old Sam Raimi movies but darker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The cast is kind of insane. Obviously Zendaya is back as MJ, but she doesn’t remember Peter, so that’s going to be painful to watch. Jacob Batalon’s Ned is also back, same situation. Then you’ve got Jon Bernthal apparently playing The Punisher again, which is terrifying because Bernthal is scary good in that role. Mark Ruffalo shows up as Bruce Banner, which feels random but whatever, I’m here for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then there’s Sadie Sink from Stranger Things<\/em>. Nobody knows who she’s playing, but the internet is already losing its mind. Some people think she’s a new love interest. Some people think she’s a villain. I’ve seen theories that she’s Gwen Stacy or even Firestar. Honestly, your guess is as good as mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tom Holland said in an interview that the script is “a little different than anything we’ve done before.” That could mean anything, but given how secretive Marvel is, I’m guessing he’s not lying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The one thing everyone agrees on? This movie has to set up Avengers: Doomsday<\/em> which comes out Christmas 2026. So there’s probably going to be some kind of post-credits scene that breaks the internet. There always is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alright, I’ll admit it. When Disney first announced Toy Story 5<\/em>, I rolled my eyes. Toy Story 3<\/em> was the perfect ending. Toy Story 4<\/em> was… fine? It felt unnecessary. So a fifth one? Come on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But then I saw the teaser trailer and read the previews, and now I’m actually curious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here’s the setup: Bonnie, the kid who owns all the toys now, is totally addicted to this tablet called Lilypad. It’s basically an iPad but with a creepy AI voice (voiced by Greta Lee from Past Lives<\/em>). She doesn’t play with her toys anymore. She just stares at this screen all day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So Woody\u2014who we last saw staying with Bo Peep at the carnival\u2014hears about this and decides he has to go back and save his friends. Buzz, Jessie, Rex, all of them are just sitting in Bonnie’s room collecting dust, watching her ignore them for this stupid tablet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There’s a scene in the trailer where Buzz walks out of a shipping container and sees, like, fifty broken toy versions of himself washed up on a beach. It’s weird and kind of haunting. And honestly? That’s the most interesting thing Pixar has done in years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Andrew Stanton is directing this one. If you don’t know that name, he wrote the first three Toy Story<\/em> movies and directed Finding Nemo<\/em> and WALL-E<\/em>. So the guy knows what he’s doing. He recently said this might be the last movie he ever directs, which makes me think he’s putting everything into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The voice cast is all back. Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, Joan Cusack, Keanu Reeves as Duke Caboom. Plus some new voices I won’t spoil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The big question is whether this movie can justify its own existence. Toy Story 4<\/em> ended with Woody leaving the group to live with Bo. That was supposed to be his farewell. Now he’s coming back? It feels a little like they’re walking that back. But Stanton has earned the benefit of the doubt. I’ll be in the theater opening weekend, even if I’m grumbling about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This one is interesting because it’s the first Star Wars movie in theaters since 2019. That’s a seven-year gap. And Disney is not taking any chances\u2014they’re bringing out their biggest guns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Din Djarin and Grogu. The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda. Whatever you call them, they’re the most popular thing to come out of Star Wars since the original trilogy. Their show on Disney+ was a phenomenon. Merchandise flew off shelves. Everyone loves them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So putting them on the big screen? It makes so much sense that I’m almost mad they didn’t do it sooner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jon Favreau is directing again, which is good because he’s the one who made the show work in the first place. Pedro Pascal is voicing Din, even though he barely shows his face under that helmet. And Grogu is… well, Grogu is a puppet and CGI and magic, but you know what I mean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The plot, from what I’ve gathered from the previews, involves the duo hunting down Jabba the Hutt’s son. Yeah, Jabba had a son. His name is Rotta, and he’s being played by Jeremy Allen White from The Bear<\/em>. That casting is so random I kind of love it. Like, imagine Carmy from The Bear<\/em> as a Hutt. I can’t picture it either, but I’m intrigued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are also Empire remnants as the bad guys, because of course there are. It’s Star Wars. There’s always Empire remnants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What’s interesting to me is that this movie is coming out in May, which is earlier than the other big summer movies. Disney is clearly hoping it builds momentum and carries through the whole season. And honestly? It probably will. People love Grogu. My mom loves Grogu. My coworker who has never seen a Star Wars movie knows who Grogu is. That’s the kind of cultural penetration we’re talking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The only downside is that the other Star Wars movie\u2014the one with Daisy Ridley as Rey rebuilding the Jedi Order\u2014is still stuck in development hell. Ridley recently said it’s still happening but the wait will be “worthwhile.” Which is Hollywood code for “we have no idea when this is coming out but please don’t stop talking about it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n I can’t just talk about those three because the summer movie schedule is absolutely stacked. Like, uncomfortably stacked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey<\/em> comes out in July. Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland (again\u2014guy is everywhere), Zendaya (also everywhere), Robert Pattinson. It’s an insane cast. And it’s Nolan doing an epic ancient Greek story. You know it’s going to be three hours long and visually stunning and confusing in the best way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There’s also the live-action Moana<\/em>, which I have mixed feelings about. The animated one was perfect. Do we need a live-action version? Probably not. But Dwayne Johnson is back as Maui, so it’ll probably make a billion dollars anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Supergirl<\/em> is coming out, which is the next DC movie after James Gunn rebooted everything. I’m cautiously optimistic. The Supergirl<\/em> comic by Tom King was amazing, and if the movie captures even half of that, it’ll be great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And Minions 3<\/em>. Because of course. Those little yellow idiot machines never stop making money. My nephew will drag me to see it and I’ll pretend to hate it but secretly laugh at three jokes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here’s the thing. Movie theaters have been struggling. Streaming is eating everything. People got comfortable watching movies at home. The studios need a reason to get us off our couches and into the multiplex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Summer 2026 is that reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You’ve got nostalgia – (Toy Story<\/em>), superhero spectacle — (Spider-Man<\/em>), and beloved IP —(Star Wars<\/em>). Plus adult dramas from Nolan and random franchises like\u00a0Minions<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Moana<\/em>. Something for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Will it work? I don’t know. But I’m optimistic for the first time in a while. The previews look good. The directors have track records. The casts are stacked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’ll probably end up seeing all three of the big ones in theaters. Maybe not opening night because tickets are expensive and I hate crowds, but definitely within the first week or two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And honestly? That feels good. Like the movies are actually back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now sorry, I need to (re)watch the\u00a0Spider-Man<\/em>\u00a0trailer for the fifth time. That scene with him swinging through the rain? Chills.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 by RICK JAMESON ….I’ve been feeling kind of meh about movie theaters for a while now. Like, yeah,\u00a0Oppenheimer\u00a0was cool and everything, but the magic kind of faded after 2020, right? Well, the folks in charge must have sensed that, because the summer 2026 movie previews just dropped and holy crap\u2014they’re throwing everything at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[159,13168,13170,13169],"class_list":{"0":"post-148976","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-movies","9":"tag-spider-man","10":"tag-star-wars","11":"tag-toy-story"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148976"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148978,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148976\/revisions\/148978"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 31)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Toy Story 5 (June 19)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu (May 22)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
But wait, there’s more…<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
So what does this all mean?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n