2022 movies: Here are 9 releases to pique your interest

Pick a superhero, any superhero.

Chances are you’ll see them at the cineplex in 2022. Not only will the year dish out “Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (May 6), it’ll bring back two of my faves: Thor, in “Love and Thunder” (July 8) and the Black Panther, in “Wakanda Forever” (Nov. 11).

What’s most promising about those films is that each features the previous film’s director: Taika Waititi (“Thor”) and the East Bay’s own Ryan Coogler (“Panther”). If your allegiance lies with darker fare within the DC universe, Robert Pattinson is suiting up to brood in “The Batman” (March 4).

Sick of superheros? Here are here are few other promising scheduled releases:

An adult-only arthouse takedown of pious people, “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn” (Jan. 22 in the Bay Area).
A24’s wild, off-the-wall “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” with an ever-game Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis (March 11).
The 1960s-set, yet fiercely relevant French drama “Happening” (May 6) about the difficult choices facing a student who discovers she’s pregnant.
Robert Eggers (“The Lighthouse” and “The Witch”) sets sail with a Viking epic “The Northman” (April 22).
Emeryville-based Pixar offers not one but two heart-warmers: Domee Shi’s “Turning Red” (March 11) and Angus MacLane’s “Lightyear” (a Buzz Lightyear origin story, June 17).

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