New movies 2023: the most exciting films coming to theaters this year

Welcome to TechRadar’s new movies for 2023 guide. Here, you’ll find every piece of important information on the most exciting films set to arrive in theaters this year, including each one’s release date, most recent trailer, and more.

The past few days have seen a number of big trailers, for 2023’s most anticipated movies, drop online. The joint Sony and Marvel sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Warner Bros’ Barbie movie, DC flick Blue Beetle, and new Netflix movie Extraction 2 are just four such big screen flicks to receive the new movie trailer treatment – and you can view them all, as well as every other teaser for this year’s new movies, below.

From The Super Mario Bros. Movie to Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, then, here’s the latest news on all of the new movies set to debut in cinemas between April 5 and December 31, 2023.

New movies: April 2023

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Release date: April 5, 2023

The Last of Us, one of the best HBO Max shows, proved it’s possible to make a credible adaptation of a videogame in 2023. Now, The Super Mario Bros. Movie will continue to show – or, at the very least, try to – that game franchises are ripe for big screen adaptations, too. You know, just like Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, Sonic the Hedgehog, and The Angry Birds Movie have shown.

Everyone’s favorite Italian plumber was brought to the big screen back in 1993’s Super Mario Bros., but that videogame-inspired film was a critical and commercial flop for everyone associated with it. Nintendo, Universal Pictures, and Illumination will all hope that this latest Mario movie endeavor is received more warmly.

Is it any good, then? You’ll have to read our spoiler-free review of The Super Mario Bros. Movie to find out if it’s worth watching (the film is out now in theaters, by the way). Once you have seen it, be sure to read our Super Mario Bros. Movie post-credits scene explained article to find out more about the film series’ future.

Renfield

Release date: April 15, 2023

It’s such a magnificent piece of casting that it’s hard to believe Nicolas Cage has never played Dracula before – and the Renfield trailers suggest he’s loving it as Bram Stoker’s Vampire #1. 

Cage isn’t even the main attraction of this horror-comedy, though, as the story shifts the focus to the Count’s long-suffering familiar, RM Renfield (Nicholas Hoult). After decades of servitude, Dracula’s eponymous assistant has become disillusioned with his lot in life, and not even the superpowers granted by his master can lift his malaise. He senses a possible route to happiness when he meets traffic cop Rebecca Quincy (played by Shang-Chi star Awkwafina), but starting a new life is going to depend on finding a way to bump off his undead employer.

With The Lego Batman Movie‘s Chris McKay at the helm and a story from The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, Renfield seems set to be a lot of very gory fun.

Evil Dead Rise

Release date: April 21, 2023

Speaking of gore, the first Evil Dead film in a decade moves away from the familiar cabin in the woods setting, but that demonic book is still stirring up nightmares for anyone foolish enough to dip in. 

This time, the story relocates to a Los Angeles apartment, where a family is torn apart (figuratively and presumably literally) by those familiar trash-talking Deadites – and, while Bruce Campbell’s Ash is nowhere to be seen, there will be chainsaws.

The Hole in the Dark director Lee Cronin marshals the blood and guts – original helmer Sam Raimi is on board as an executive producer – and he believes that moving the action to the city made perfect sense. We’ll find out if everyone agrees with that opinion soon.

New movies: May 2023

Guardians of the Galaxy 3

Release date: May 5, 2023

The second Marvel Phase 5 project scheduled for this year (after Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania) is the third and final installment in James Gunn’s beloved Guardians of the Galaxy series – and one our most highly anticipated new movies to boot.

Guardians of the Galaxy 3 pick ups directly after the events of the titular group’s Disney Plus Holiday Special and sees the franchise’s biggest stars – including Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, and Bradley Cooper – returning for what’s expected to be their final MCU outing. Gunn is on dual writing and directing duties for the last time as a Marvel employee, too, with the The Suicide Squad director having been recently installed as co-head of DC Studios. In other words, prepare for this one to be an emotional roller coaster.

Need to catch up on the MCU? Check out our guide to watching the Marvel movies in order.

Fast X

Release date: May 19, 2023

Fast X director Louis Leterrier was a last-minute replacement for Fast & Furious stalwart Justin Lin, but it seems he has no plans to mess with a multi-billion-dollar formula. Well, aside from bringing things back down to earth after the franchise’s previous installment, Fast 9, literally blasted a car into space.

Vin Diesel and his surrogate family of street racers-cum-heist specialists are back behind the wheel for the penultimate time, and this time they’re bringing Captain Marvel‘s Brie Larson, The Suicide Squad‘s Daniela Melchior, and West Side Story‘s Rita Moreno along for the ride. Aquaman‘s Jason Momoa is on lead villain duties as the son of Fast 5 antagonist Hernan Reyes, though recurring Big Bad Cipher (Charlize Theron) is also back for more. Read our how to watch the Fast and Furious movies in order before you go to watch this one.

The Little Mermaid

Release date: May 26, 2023

Disney’s already given Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and Mulan the big-budget remake treatment. Now, the Hans Christian Andersen adaptation that kickstarted the studio’s ’90s animation renaissance is also going live-action. 

Grown-ish‘s Halle Bailey plays Ariel, the eponymous mermaid who falls in love with a human prince, and makes a pact with the devil – okay, Melissa McCarthy’s octopus-like sea-witch Ursula – in order to be *ahem* part of his world. The trailer suggests its underwater visuals will have more in common with the original cartoon than James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, although The Little Mermaid will be selling itself on the fairytale rather than reality. 

We’ll also get to hear Bailey and her co-stars (including Daveed Diggs as Sebastian the Crab, Awkwafina as Scuttle the bird, and Javier Bardem as King Triton) singing familiar tunes from the original, alongside a few new songs co-written by Hamilton‘s Lin-Manuel Miranda. Chicago and Mary Poppins Returns director Rob Marshall is behind the camera.

New movies: June 2023

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Release date: June 2, 2023

The first installment in a two-part sequel to 2018’s Into the Spider-Verse, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse will follow Miles and Gwen as they encounter different worlds (and characters) on their travels across the multiverse. 

The movie’s producers have already revealed each dimension in the second Miles Morales-led movie will have its own art style. And, judging by its official trailer, a Spidey civil war and more multiversal mayhem is on the horizon. Read our Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse trailer breakdown for more secrets housed within its near-three minute runtime. It’s definitely one of the most exciting new movies releasing this year.

What’s more, they’ve also revealed Across the Spider-Verse may be tied to the MCU after all, meaning we could see Tom Holland’s, Tobey Maguire’s, and/or Andrew Garfield’s webslinger in animated form for the first time. While we wait for confirmation on that, be sure to read our Spider-Man movies in order guide to get the lowdown on their respective live-action films.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

Release date: June 9, 2023

Michael Bay may have vacated the director’s chair but the Transformers franchise (all-conquering at the box office if not with critics) continues with its seventh installment. The big change this time is the introduction of characters from Beast Wars, a Transformers spin-off in which the robots in disguise’s alter-egos from animal-based. In all other regards this looks like business as usual.

Anthony Ramos (Hamilton) leads an all-new group of human Autobot allies, while Cybertron regulars Optimus Prime (once again voiced by Peter Cullen) and Bumblebee roll out again. Original Hellboy star Ron Perlman heads up the new cast of robots as Maximal leader Optimus Primal, while Game of Thrones‘ Peter Dinklage will play lead villain Scourge. 2018’s Bumblebee was a breath of fresh air for the franchise, so hopefully this will be more than initially meets the eye.

Elemental

Release date: June 16, 2023

2022 was a mixed bag for Pixar. They released the wonderful Turning Red, a sweet and clever coming-of-age story that bagged itself an Oscar nomination. However, Lightyear – a movie about the man who inspired the toy from Toy Story – proved a little too meta for audiences and critics alike (editor’s note: I liked it, though!). 

Elemental feels like it could be more solid ground for the Emeryville-based animation studio, because this is a return to the weird, high-concept territory Pixar has made its own. Elemental‘s latest trailer suggests Pixar will be pushing the boundaries of CG animation once again, too, which is always pleasing to see.

The movie’s set in a city where characters representing the four classical elements (fire, water, land and air) live together. At the film’s heart is an unlikely friendship between a fiery woman called Ember (The Half of It’s Leah Lewis) and a watery guy called Wade (Jurassic World: Dominion‘s Mamoudou Athie). We can only assume that things get *ahem* steamy when they’re together. Peter Sohn (who also voiced Sox the cat in Lightyear) calls the shots.

The Flash

Release date: June 16, 2023

The movie incarnation of the Flash already met another version of himself as part of a crossover event in the CW’s long-running Arrowverse. Now, the big-screen Flash is following the MCU’s lead, as well as that of Rick and Morty and multi-Oscar winner Everything Everywhere All At Once, by diving headlong into the multiverse.

Inspired by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert’s 2011 comic-book arc Flashpoint, The Flash will see Barry Allen (Ezra Miller, reprising their role from the Justice League movie) using his super-speed to meddle with history in the hope of saving his dead mom. In the best traditions of movie time travel, however, he inadvertently creates a world with no metahumans, and where Michael Shannon’s returning General Zod is free to run rampant. At least Barry can call on Michael Keaton’s vintage Batman and Sasha Calle’s new Supergirl (among other DC heroes) to help out.

With The Flash due to reset the entire DC Extended Universe (DCEU), this will be important viewing before James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new-look DC Cinematic Universe (DCU) begins. Our guide to watching the DC movies in order is also well worth reading before it debuts.

Asteroid City

Release date: June 16, 2023

The trailer for Asteroid City doesn’t look like Wes Anderson is trying to win over many new fans. The distinctive writer/director’s latest offering may be one of the most Wes Anderson things ever, with ahis usual hallmarks (beautifully framed shots, quirky dialogue, and awkward silences) turned up to the max. He’s also assembled one of the most impressive ensemble casts of his career – and that’s saying something – with Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, and Steve Carell joining Anderson regulars Tilda Swinton, Adrien Brody, Tony Revolori, and Willem Dafoe.

Asteroid City is set in 1955 in an American desert town built near a meteorite crater, where the Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention is interrupted by world-changing – possibly alien – goings-on. As ever with a film from The Royal Tenenbaums and The Grand Budapest Hotel‘s director, Asteroid City‘s plot is likely to be rather less important than the style of the delivery.

UK viewers will have to wait an additional week for a sighting of the film – it lands on British shores on June 23.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Release date: June 30, 2023

Cue the theme music: the world’s favorite collector of rare antiquities is back. Arriving 15 years after the less-than-stellar Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – which itself was the first Indiana Jones movie for 19 years – The Dial of Destiny will see Harrison Ford putting on the famous fedora one last time. 

Plot details are thin on the ground, but the film’s glorious first trailer teased the involvement of Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag), Mads Mikkelsen (Doctor Strange), Antonio Banderas (The Mask of Zorro), Toby Jones (Captain America: The First Avenger), and Boyd Holbrook (The Sandman), as well as a miraculously de-aged Harrison Ford. We can’t wait to see how one of our most eagerly anticipated new movies of 2023 sends Indy off into the sunset.

New movies: July 2023

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning: Part One

Release date: July 14, 2023

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning: Part One (or Mission: Impossible 7, if you’re in a rush) has endured so many scheduling delays that it previously featured on our list of 2022’s biggest upcoming movies. Thankfully, it’s finally set to arrive in July. Top Gun: Maverick hero Tom Cruise will have hit 60 by the time this entry hits cinemas, and it’ll also mark the penultimate outing for Ethan Hunt, the actor’s famous action hero. 

Having delivered the long-running franchise’s best instalments with Rogue Nation and Fallout, Christopher McQuarrie is also back behind the camera for number seven and its follow-up. Plot details are currently wrapped up tighter than a government vault, though the bombastic first Mission Impossible 7 trailer did give us our first glimpse at Hunt and company’s return to action. 

To best prepare yourself for the chaos to come, check out our ranking of the Mission: Impossible movies released so far.

Oppenheimer

Release date: July 21, 2023

Having messed around with our perceptions of time in the back-to-front, front-to-back Tenet, Christopher Nolan returns to reality with the first biopic of his career. The subject is J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist who led the Manhattan Project to develop the first atomic bomb during World War 2 – and arguably one of the most intriguing figures of the 20th century.

Regular Nolan collaborator Cillian Murphy plays the titular scientist, alongside a big-hitting supporting cast including Emily Blunt (as Oppenheimer‘s wife, Kitty), Matt Damon (as military supervisor Leslie Groves), and Robert Downey Jr (as businessman Lewis Strauss). 

Most eyes, though, will be on the superstar director and how he applies his ingenious storytelling tricks to real life. The structure of Nolan’s Dunkirk played around with the conventions of World War II movies, so don’t be surprised if he takes a similarly bold approach with this biopic. We’re also expecting Oppenheimer to be a big part of next year’s Oscar conversations.

While you’re here, why not start a rewatch of the director’s greatest hits with Christopher Nolan movies ranked guide?

Barbie

Release date: July 21, 2023

Having appeared in a couple of Toy Story movies, Mattel’s iconic doll is no stranger to the big screen. Even so, Barbie’s first outing as the headline attraction is a genuinely intriguing prospect, and its official trailer all-but-confirmed how surreal (and potentially brilliant) the whole enterprise could be.

The plot is surrounded by Christopher Nolan-like levels of secrecy, but rumors suggest it’ll involve the eponymous doll (played by Margot Robbie) and long-standing boyfriend Ken (Ryan Gosling) relocating to the real world. Based on the official teaser and the plethora of character posters revealed in early April, there’ll be tons of Barbies and Kens (and one Allan) to get to know as well.

Lady Bird and Little Women director Greta Gerwig is behind the camera (she also co-wrote the script with Marriage Story‘s Noah Baumbach), so Barbie promises to be much smarter than your average toy-to-screen transfer. Indeed, the 2001: A Space Odyssey-inspired Barbie teaser, which arrived in December 2022, suggests the film will be less a celebration than a satire on a doll whose original incarnation now feels incredibly outdated.

One to watch back-to-back with Opperheimer? Go on, why not.

Haunted Mansion

Release date: July 28, 2023

Disney continues its quest to turn theme park attractions into movies (see also Pirates of the Caribbean and Jungle Cruise) with its second crack at a Haunted Mansion adaptation.

Star Wars: Ahsoka star Rosario Dawson plays a single mom who moves into a creepy haunted mansion – the clue’s in the title – with her nine-year-old son (Chase W. Dillon). Exorcism advice will be available courtesy of an all-star cast featuring LaKeith Stanfield, Owen Wilson, Tiffany Haddish, Danny DeVito, and Jamie Lee Curtis.

This being the House of Mouse the scares are likely to be of the jumpy variety rather than the kind that gives you nightmares. But, with The Heat, Ghostbusters and Parks and Recreation writer Katie Dippold on scripting duties, there’ll hopefully be plenty of laughs, too. Haunted Mansion arrives in UK cinemas on August 11.

New movies: August 2023

TMNT: Mutant Mayhem

Release date: August 4, 2023

The world’s most fearsome fighting team has had as many big-screen reboots as Spider-Man, so it’s no surprise this fourth incarnation has seemingly taken inspiration from the brilliant Into the Spider-Verse. 

Shepherded to the screen by Seth Rogen and regular producing partner Evan Goldberg, TMNT: Mutant Mayhem brings a unique, almost painterly style to its animation. If the story’s as innovative as the visuals, which look totally cowabunga in its first trailer, we’re in for a treat.

Newcomers Nicolas Cantu, Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr, and Brady Noon voice a younger-then-usual Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Support comes from Jackie Chan on board as rat-shaped mentor Splinter and Ayo Edebiri as April O’Neil, the news reporter who befriends the heroes in a half-shell. Rogen also bags himself a role, teaming up with WWE wrestler-turned-Peacekeeper star John Cena to play mutant henchmen Rock Steady and Bebop.

Blue Beetle

Release date: August 18, 2023

With all the hype about James Gunn’s new slate of DC movies, and Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom all landing in theaters this year, Blue Beetle has slipped under the radar. It’s easy to see why, too, seeing as the movie – which was originally set for an HBO Max debut rather than a theatrical release – centers on a lesser known hero from the DC pantheon.

That said, Blue Beetle is of the same vintage of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, having made his first appearance back in 1939. He gets his powers (most notably an impervious suit of armor) from a magical scarab, and this big-screen debut will focus on Jaime Reyes (played here by Cobra Kai‘s Xolo Maridueña), the third man to bear the Blue Beetle mantle in the comics. 

The movie’s first trailer finally arrived on April 3, and it seems that the Tokusatsu-inspired Blue Beetle could be the best DC movie in years. Color us surprisingly excited for one of DC’s new movies for the year.

New movies: September 2023

The Expendables 4

Release date: September 22, 2023

Nearly a decade after their last mission, the gang’s getting back together for a fourth round of extremely muscular, ’80s-influenced action. Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, and Randy Couture reprise their roles from earlier adventures, and this time out they’ll be joined by new recruits 50 Cent, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, Andy Garcia and, as the lead villain, The Raid‘s Iko Uwais.

The team’s latest operation is currently filed under ‘top secret’, so the best intel we have to go on is an IMDb listing saying “the Expendables will square up against an arms dealer who commands the might of a massive private army”. Seeing as this is one franchise where you definitely know what you’re getting, fans probably won’t need to learn any more before snapping up their theater tickets.

New movies: October 2023

Kraven the Hunter

Release date: October 6, 2023

Sony dives back into the wallcrawler’s rogues’ gallery with their latest effort to expand the SSU (Sony’s Spider-Man Universe), which is simultaneously separate from the MCU and tenuously connected (all thanks to Spider-Man: No Way Home and Venom: Let There Be Carnage). 

In the ’60s, Kraven the Hunter was an original member of Marvel’s Sinister Six (alongside Doctor Octopus, Electro, Mysterio, Vulture, and Sandman), and was discussed as a potential big-screen foe for Peter Parker. Now, he’s following in the footsteps of fellow anti-heroes Venom and Morbius by headlining his own movie.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson (who has previous superhero form after playing Quicksilver in Avengers: Age of Ultron) plays the titular hunter, and the star told Variety that the character is “not an alien or a wizard. He’s just a hunter, a human with conviction. An animal lover and a protector of the natural world. He’s a very, very cool character.”

Sony are keeping their cards close to their chests when it comes to plot, but we know West Side Story Oscar-winner Ariana DeBose will play long-term Kraven associate Calypso. The Many Saints of Newark‘s Alessandro Nivola takes on lead villain duties.

New movies: November 2023

Dune: Part Two

Release date: November 3, 2023

The most disappointing thing about Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movie was its non-descript ending. But, as anyone who’s sat through David Lynch’s flawed 1984 movie will tell you, slicing Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novel in two was way preferable to squeezing it into a single film. And, while Warner Bros. weren’t prepared to gamble on shooting the two movies back-to-back, they got the cameras rolling pretty quickly when the first film performed wonders at the box office.

This follow-up will see an already impressive ensemble cast bolstered by Elvis‘s Austin Butler, Black Widow‘s Florence Pugh, No Time to Die‘s Léa Seydoux, and the needs-no-introduction Christopher Walken. Expect epic action, trippy sci-fi, and some very big worms when Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides resumes his mission to save the desert world of Arrakis. A worthy inclusion in our new movies list.

The Marvels

Release date: November 10, 2023

A direct sequel to a movie and two of the best Disney Plus shows, the MCU’s third big screen outing of 2023 brings together Captain Marvel‘s Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), Ms Marvel‘s Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) and WandaVision‘s Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris). 

We already saw Danvers and Khan inexplicably switching places in the Ms Marvel finale. Footage screened at last year’s D23 Expo also suggests Rambeau will be pulled into their time- and space-hopping adventures when The Marvels materializes in November.

Samuel L. Jackson reprises his role as near-ubiquitous overseer Nick Fury, so it’ll be interesting to see how the movie ties into upcoming MCU TV show Secret Invasion. Elsewhere, Fresh Meat and Velvet Buzzsaw star Zawe Ashton plays an as-yet-unnamed antagonist, while Goose – the cute cat/flerken sidekick who cost Fury an eye – is also set to return.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Release date: November 17, 2023

Don’t worry, Katniss and Peeta still get their happily ever after. Rather than throwing them back into the rough-and-tumble of the arena, this first return to Panem since 2015’s Mockingjay: Part 2 is a prequel, set during future-president Coriolanus Snow’s early days in the Capitol.

At this stage, he’s still a long way from the dictator played by Donald Sutherland in previous Hunger Games movies. With his family’s status diminished in a post-war Panem, Snow reluctantly agrees to mentor Lucy Gray Baird, a new tribute from District 12 (Katniss’ future home). He sees something in her, however, that might help him improve his status in the Capitol – and we all know how that’s going to turn out in the end…

Billy the Kid‘s Tom Blyth and West Side Story‘s Rachel Zegler play Snow and Baird alongside the sort of stellar cast that’s become a franchise hallmark – Jason Schwartzmann, Peter Dinklage, and Viola Davis are also on board. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is also based on Hunger Games creator Suzanne Collins’ novel of the same name, and will be the fourth film in the series directed by Francis Lawrence. In other words, you’ve got to hope the odds are very much in its favour.

New movies: December 2023

Wonka

Release date: December 15, 2023

In Hollywood, it turns out even chocolatiers have backstories. This Charlie and the Chocolate Factory prequel goes beyond the Roald Dahl source material to imagine what Willy Wonka got up to before he went into business manufacturing everlasting gobstoppers and Whipple-scrumptious fudgemallow delights.

Dune star Timothée Chalamet dons the top hat as a younger version of a character previously played by Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp, and has described the movie as “so sincere, it’s so joyous”. And while that could easily be PR fluff, we actually believe him. 

Wonka is directed by Paul King, the man who turned both Paddington movies into instant, heart-warming classics. Intriguingly, the movie’s also a musical, and features songs written by The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon. Here’s hoping it’s one of the best new movies to debut around Christmas time for a while.

Untitled Ghostbusters: Afterlife sequel

Release date: December 20, 2023

Ghostbusters: Afterlife brought a small-town, Stranger Things-like vibe to the veteran spook-hunting franchise, but this follow-up seems set to – at least in part – bring the action back to the Big Apple. Spoiler alert, but an Afterlife end-credits scene showed original Ghostbuster Winston Zeddemore taking Ecto-1 to the old firehouse, and that movie’s director Jason Reitman has since teased a return to one of the most famous locations in cinema.

Beyond that, details are thin on the ground. We know that Gil Kenan, director of the 2015 Poltergeist reboot, is replacing Reitman behind the camera. It’s also been confirmed that Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Carrie Coon, and Paul Rudd will return from the Afterlife cast, alongside franchise newcomers Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, Emily Alyn Lind, and British comic James Acaster. Will bustin’ still make us feel good? We’ll find out in December.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

Release date: December 25, 2023

Despite Aquaman 2 having been originally scheduled to hit theaters on December 16, 2022, it’s now due to wash up in December 2023. Going by the less internet-friendly title of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, this superhero sequel will continue the underwater adventures of Jason Momoa’s DC superhero. 

It’ll reunites the Game of Thrones actor with original co-stars Amber Heard, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Nicole Kidman, and Patrick Wilson – although the level of Heard’s involvement reportedly remains up in the air – and will see the titular character forced to “forge an uneasy alliance with an unlikely ally to protect Atlantis, and the world, from irreversible devastation.” Expect even more comic book carnage, then, though UK viewers will have to wait until December 29 to dive in.