Superheroes, Baywatch and aliens: These are the upcoming Hollywood blockbusters you must see

FROM Marvel and DC superheroes, to a new Alien chapter and a Baywatch reboot — Hollywood is set to unleash some blockbusters this winter.

FROM Marvel and DC superheroes, to a new Alien chapter and a Baywatch reboot — Hollywood is set to unleash some blockbusters in the coming months.

APRIL/MAY

Guardians Of the Galaxy Vol. 2

APRIL 25

Stars: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista

They say ... While Awesome Mixtape #2 plays in the background, the ranks of the Guardians swell as they seek to unravel the mystery of Peter Quill’s true parentage.

We say ... The first Guardians tore up the textbook on how to set up a superhero franchise, becoming a nimbler, wittier counterpart to The Avengers along the way. With so many storytelling paths yet to be fully explored, a ton of fresh material is expected for the sequel. This will be BIG.

Close Up: Karen Gillan’s Nebula is no longer a villain, but a Guardian. The new bad girl on the block is Australian Elizabeth Debicki as a gold-covered warrior queen. Kurt Russell is the voice of Ego, rumoured to be a talking planet. The role of Sly Stallone is swathed in mystery. And Vin Diesel should steal the whole show as the voice of Baby Groot.

Daniel Kaluuya in the cleverly terrifying Get Out.

Get Out

MAY 4

Stars: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener

They say ... A young African-American man pays an uncomfortable visit to his white girlfriend’s mysterious family estate.

We say ... A cleverly terrifying horror movie with a lot to say about the state of race relations in 2017? Yes, please. Written and directed by Jordan Peele, half of the killer comedy duo Key & Peele? Where do we sign up?

Close Up: Has been hailed as a gripping game-changer in the US, and widely accessible as well. All kinds of box-office records have tumbled as Get Out has amassed a huge $200 million-plus gross in the States.

Can Katherine Waterston be the new Sigourney Weaver in Ridley Scott’s Alien Covenant?

Alien: Covenant

MAY 11

Stars: Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace, Billy Crudup

They say ... On the far side of the galaxy, the Covenant crew land at what they think is an uncharted paradise. When they uncover a threat beyond their imagination, they must attempt a harrowing escape.

We say ... Director Ridley Scott wants to end his career with a trifecta of definitive Alien films. Consider 2012’s Prometheus a dress rehearsal ... and last month’s knock-off Life an entree to the main meal.

Close Up: Casting choices are interesting to say the least. Fassbender plays two androids this time. James Franco is part of the crew, as are Danny McBride (cult TV comedy East Bound and Down) and Katherine Waterston (Fantastic Beasts).

Charlie Hunnam is Arthur as you have never seen him before in Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend Of the Sword.

King Arthur: Legend Of the Sword

MAY 18

Stars: Charlie Hunnam, Annabelle Wallis, Jude Law

They say ... Arthur comes up the hard way in the back alleys of the city. But once he pulls the sword from the stone, he is forced to acknowledge his true legacy — whether he likes it or not.

We say ... Let’s get one thing straight: this ain’t gonna be your granpappy’s King Arthur. Hunnam says to expect “Lord Of the Rings meets Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”, and with director Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes) at the controls, we should believe him.

Close Up: Advance footage strongly suggest Arthur and his Round Table posse — more lady-killers than dragon slayers — won’t be doing the noble knights thing much. Err, and is that ex-soccer star David Beckham fighting on the side of the bad guys?

Johnny Depp is back as Captain Jack Sparrow in the fifth Pirates Of the Caribbean movie, Dead Men Tell No Tales..

ALSO OPENING IN APRIL/MAY

Pirates Of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (May 25): Johnny Depp’s Capt. Jack Sparrow and entourage are terrorised by one of the best screen villains in the biz, Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men).

John Wick: Chapter 2 (May 18): The long-awaited return of Keanu Reeves as the ultimate lawless lone-wolf did huge box-office in the US, and is reputed to be a cracking good action flick too.

Snatched (May 11): Stand-up trailblazer Amy Schumer (Trainwreck) coaxed Goldie Hawn out of retirement to play her mum in this road-movie comedy timed to rule the Mother’s Day crowds.

Gal Gadot won plenty of fans as Wonder Woman in last year’s Batman V Superman.

JUNE

Wonder Woman

JUNE 1

Stars: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright

They say ... Before she was Wonder Woman she was Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained warrior. Now she must leave her mythical home to fight a war to end all wars.

We say ... Even considering Wonder Woman has been beating up bad guys for 75 years, this still feels as if it’s been a long time coming. The newer DC Comics flicks have been disappointments, but the charismatic Gadot lost no admirers after stealing Batman V Superman from the title players.

Close Up: Just as a solo female superhero movie is a rarity, so too is an action blockbuster directed by a woman (Patty Jenkins, who hasn’t helmed a movie since Charlize Theron’s Monster in 2003).

Expect Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron to work blue in the big-screen reboot of Baywatch.

Baywatch

JUNE 1

Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Alexandra Daddario, Zac Efron

They say ... Devoted lifeguard Mitch Buchanan butts heads with a brash new recruit. Together, they uncover a local criminal plot that threatens the future of the Bay.

We say ... The TV show was no classic, but still rated its bikini briefs off internationally for a decade. If anyone can sell these skimpy second-hand goods, it is Johnson.

Close Up: Of course, there will be obligatory cameos from Baywatch icons David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson. Director Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses) isn’t afraid of risqué humour, so expect all jokes to skew to the blue.

Rapper Tupac Shakur is getting the big-screen biopic treatment in All Eyez On Me, where he will be played by newcomer Demetrius Shipp Jr. Picture: AP/Photo/FILE)

All Eyez On Me

JUNE 15

Stars: Demetrius Shipp Jr., Dominic L. Santana, Jamal Woolard

They say ... A chronicle of the life and legacy of Tupac Shakur, including his rise to superstardom, as well as his imprisonment and prolific, controversial time at Death Row Records.

We say ... Tupac crammed a lot of living into his 25 years, so any biopic treatment will be under pressure to cover all bases. As with all Tupac matters in the wake of his tragic murder, there has been a lot of infighting behind the scenes on this ‘authorised’ life story.

Close Up: Lead actor Demetrius Shipp Jr. has no feature acting experience. The same factor didn’t hold Straight Outta Compton from becoming a hip-hop movie classic though. Who will the movie point the finger at for Tupac’s death?

The shapeshifting robots are back in Transformers: The Last Knight.

Transformers: The Last Knight

JUNE 22

Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Gemma Chan, Anthony Hopkins

They say ... Humans and Transformers are at war, Optimus Prime is gone. The key to saving our future lies buried in the secrets of the past, in the hidden history of Transformers on Earth.

We say ... Transformers number five is an all-stops-out attempt for a mid-series revitalisation like that executed by Fast & the Furious. After the last two duds (which did gross a billion each) the only way is up.

Close Up: Bay is so confident this new one will deliver the goods that he has already confirmed there are solid plans for another 14 (yes, 14) Transformers sequels.

The Mummy will kick off Universal Pictures’ “monster-verse”.

ALSO OPENING IN JUNE

The House (Jun 29): Will Ferrell is still having hit comedies, but it’s been ages since he’s done a good one. Perhaps a pairing with Amy Poehler (Sisters) will break the drought.

The Mummy (Jun 8): Reactivation of the ancient Universal monster franchise, with Tom Cruise now the one responsible for opening the wrong Egyptian tomb with the wrong cursed entity inside.

Rough Night (Jun 15): Scarlett Johansson and Kate McKinnon (Ghostbusters) are two of five women responsible for the sudden death of a male stripper in this edgy comedy reminiscent of Bridesmaids.

Tom Holland is the youngest big-screen Spider-Man Homecoming.

JULY/AUGUST

Spider-Man: Homecoming

JULY 6

Stars: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Angourie Rice

They say ... Following the events of Captain America: Civil War, Peter Parker must balance high-school life with learning to become the web-slinging superhero Spider-Man.

We say ... Holland is the third Spidey in 15 years, and much younger than his predecessors to boot. As his Peter Parker is still a student, there thankfully won’t be much time wasted on an origin story.

Close Up: Expect plenty of Avengers crossover business, with Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man to the fore as an unconventional mentor. Keaton is the villain of the piece as the mechanical-winged Vulture.

Edgar Wrighter’s Baby Driver comes with big wraps after festival screenings.

Baby Driver

JULY 13

Stars: Ansel Elgort, Lily James, Jamie Foxx

They say ... After being coerced into working for a crime boss, a young getaway driver finds himself taking part in a heist doomed to fail.

We say ... This is shaping as the coolest film of 2017, especially after a recent premiere at the SXSW festival whipped up a tsunami of five-star reviews. A return to the big-time awaits for director Edgar Wright after walking away from a sure-fire hit in Ant-Man.

Close Up: Many of the flashy stylistic flourishes that have set tongues wagging stem from an innovative use of music. Action sequences are synched to what is playing on the lead character’s iPod.

Revered director Christopher Nolan is looking to the past for the WWII epic, Dunkirk.

Dunkirk

JULY 20

Stars: Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Kenneth Branagh

They say ... France, 1940. Allied soldiers are surrounded by the German army, and must make a dangerous mass evacuation during the fiercest battle of WW2.

We say ... If anyone can breathe new life into the old war genre, it is director Christopher Nolan (Inception, the Dark Knight trilogy). Action sequences filmed with IMAX cameras will be a must-see for wide-screen enthusiasts.

Close Up: Big fuss will be made over One Direction heart-throb Harry Styles’ acting debut. However, after the success of Hacksaw Ridge, this ambitious project won’t struggle finding a wide audience.

Stephen King’s The Dark Tower could be a breakthrough for Idris Elba, who plays The Gunslinger.

The Dark Tower

AUGUST 17

Stars: Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, Katheryn Winnick

They say ... Gunslinger Roland Deschain roams a desolate landscape where “the world has moved on” in search of mankind’s only hope: the fabled Dark Tower.

We say ... Rabid devotees of Stephen King’s sprawling seven-volume saga have patiently endured a rocky development period stretching back a decade. Their reward? A new stand-alone adventure not found in the books.

Close Up: Idris Elba has long been poised to go overground as a major star, and this could be the movie to do it. Weirdly, there has been a ‘blacklash’ against his casting in some quarters, as Deschain is a white maverick in the King books.

Charlize Theron continues her hot run of action films in Atomic Blonde.

ALSO OPENING IN JULY/AUGUST

Atomic Blonde (Aug 3): Charlize Theron is a high-ranking British spy deployed to stop an influx of double agents about to flood Europe after the collapse of the Berlin Wall.

War For the Planet Of the Apes (July 27): Instalment three sees the Apes losing the upper hand in their war against humans. Woody Harrelson joins cast as mad, bad military strongman The Colonel.

American Made (Aug 24): Big wraps on Tom Cruise’s second film for the season. He plays a pilot who goes undercover for the CIA as an international drug runner in the 1980s.