Summer Cinema 

• Marvel Studios
• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Remember "summer movie season"? Movie theaters were practically shuttered in summer 2020, and 2021's blockbuster titles only started creeping back in late June. Now, in 2022, the months between May and August will once again be packed with sequels, remakes and franchise entries. Be careful what you wish for when you wish for "normal."

Here's an overview of what to expect in theaters and on streaming services this summer. And if we've learned nothing else from the past two years: release dates are subject to change.

May 6 Headliner: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. This latest Marvel Cinematic Universe entry comes with even more expectations than usual since it a) follows up on the multiverse-shattering events of Spider-man: No Way Home, and b) brings director Sam Raimi (the original Spider-man trilogy) back into the super-hero world. Also: Operation Mincemeat [Netflix], a fact-based World War II drama about a planned Allied attack on Sicily; Petite Maman, a French fantasy-drama about a young girl who encounters the 8-year-old version of her own mother.

May 13: Firestarter [theatrical/Peacock], remaking the Stephen King novel about a young girl trying to control her pyrokinetic powers; Senior Year [Netflix], a comedy starring Rebel Wilson as a woman who wakes up from a 20-year coma and goes back to finish high school; Memoria, director Apichatpong Weerasethakul's fantastical tale of a woman (Tilda Swinton) plagued by a mysterious noise

May 20: Downton Abbey: A New Era, with the cast of the popular British TV series traveling to the South of France; Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers [Disney+], bringing back the Disney Channel series in feature form, with Andy Samberg and John Mulaney voicing the animated chipmunks; Emergency [theatrical/Amazon Prime], comedy-thriller about a trio of college students whose crazy night gets dangerous by virtue of them being young men of color.

• Paramount Pictures
• Top Gun: Maverick

May 27 Headliner: Top Gun: Maverick. We'll see if the seventh announced release date is the lucky one for this long-in-development sequel to the 1986 military action drama, with Tom Cruise now a veteran pilot in charge of the new "Top Gun" grads, including the son (Miles Teller) of his old pal, Goose. Also: The Bob's Burgers Movie, giving a big-screen feature treatment to the long-running Fox animated series.

June 3: Fire Island [Hulu], with Margaret Cho and Bowen Yang starring in a non-white, non-straight contemporary adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

• Universal Pictures
• Jurassic World: Dominion

June 10 Headliner: Jurassic World: Dominion. The full "legacy-quel" treatment is in effect, as the latest rampaging dinosaur adventure brings back the original Jurassic Park trio of Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, joining Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard to deal with dinos in the wild. Also: Hustle [Netflix], Adam Sandler as a washed-up basketball scout who discovers a can't-miss prospect in Europe.

• Disney / Pixar
• Lightyear

June 17 Headliner: Lightyear. It's kind of a weird concept to build a story around "the real person who inspired the toy" when the real person is an animated character, but we'll see what Chris Evans does voicing the intrepid Space Ranger. Also: Cha Cha Real Smooth [AppleTV+], the Sundance Audience Award-winner about a young man navigating a new job and possible new romance; Good Luck to You, Leo Grande [Hulu], another Sundance alum with Emma Thompson as a widow who hires a sex worker.

June 24: Elvis, musical biography from Baz Luhrmann (Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge!), with Austin Butler as The King and Tom Hanks as Col. Tom Parker; The Black Phone, supernatural thriller about a kidnapped boy who starts receiving calls from his abductor's previous victims on a disconnected phone.

July 1 Headliner: Minions: The Rise of Gru. Steve Carell returns for a prequel story of the young would-be supervillain requiring rescue from his yellow, capsule-shaped associates. Also: The Princess [Hulu], with Joey King as a young royal who must save her kingdom from a cruel interloper.

July 8 Headliner: Thor: Love and Thunder. With most of the original Avengers retired or dead, Chris Hemsworth's Thor sticks around for a fourth solo adventure. Also: The Sea Beast [Netflix], animated adventure about an ocean-faring monster hunter, from Disney veteran Chris Williams (Big Hero 6, Moana).

July 15: Bed Rest, thriller about a pregnant woman who begins to suspect that her house is haunted; Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, about a widowed cleaning woman in 1950s London who becomes obsessed with couture fashion; Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, animated comedy about a dog who dreams of becoming a samurai.

• Universal Pictures
• Nope

July 22 Headliner: Nope. Writer/director Jordan Peele has become such a brand name after the success of Get Out and Us that he can get away with only hinting at the premise of his latest supernatural horror tale, starring Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer and Steven Yeun.

• Sony Pictures
• Bullet Train

July 29 Headliner: Bullet Train. Brad Pitt plays a veteran assassin whose assignment on a Japanese train gets very complicated; over-the-top action expert David Leitch (Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2) directs. Also: DC's League of Super-Pets, an animated tale of superheroes' animal companions; Vengeance, with The Office's B.J. Novak writing, directing and starring as a New York deejay investigating the death of his girlfriend.

Aug. 5: Not Okay [Hulu], dark comedy with Zoey Deutch as a young woman who fakes a trip to Paris for social media clout, just as the city becomes the location for a disaster; Luck [Apple TV+], animated feature that goes behind the scenes with mythical groups and creatures that affect human good and bad luck.

Aug. 12: Secret Headquarters, fantasy-drama about a boy who finds a mysterious room under his house and wonders if his estranged dad (Owen Wilson) might be a superhero; The Man from Toronto, starring Woody Harrelson and Kevin Hart as a killer and an ordinary guy who get mistaken for one another.