8 Films I'm Looking Forward To in 2017

We are well into the new year, which is usually a slow time for movies with mostly junk movies coming out until the spring.
With that in mind, I have written down the eight movies I plan or wish to see in the year 2017 and what my hopes are for these films.
I have also included the trailers or teasers for these films to go along with my thoughts.
As Heath Ledger's Joker would say, here we go:
Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 (May 5)
Sequels in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have tended to be weaker than their predecessors such as the Avengers: Age of Ultron, Iron Man 2, and Thor: The Dark World, but hopefully that will not be the case with Guardians.
The trailer looks promising in that the sequel could be funnier than the first one, especially with Rocket Raccoon now having to take care of Baby Groot.
Plus, I am curious what new songs will be included in this one.

Wonder Woman(June 2)
While the Marvel Universe has garnered praise from critics and fans alike, the first three films of the DC Universe have polarized these same people.
Hopefully, that will change with Wonder Woman, as Gal Gadot,who was one of the highlights in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and having Chris Pine(aka Captain Kirk from the Star Trek reboots) as Steve Trevor, Wonder Woman's love interest, should be an added bonus.
And by the looks of the trailer, this one might have a lighter tone than the previous DC movies, which some fans have complained about.(Click twice to play).

Transformers: The Last Knight (June 23)
I'll admit it, I have seen all four Transformers movies in the theaters, but to the haters out there I'll just say this: The Transformers is kind like of a 80s horror slasher franchise like Halloween and Friday the 13th in that you're not going to get much of a story, you're just watching for the action sequences.
However, this Transformers movie has the potential for an interesting story by the early marketing campaign indicating Optimus Prime has gone to the dark side.
Plus, Mark Wahlberg is an improvement over Shia LaBeouf.

Spider-Man: Homecoming (July 7)
While this is the third reboot of the iconic Marvel character in just 15 years, this one looks like it will differentiate itself from the previous five Spider-Man movies as it will include another Marvel comic book hero in Iron Man, played by Robert Downey Jr., and the fact that one of Peter Parker's friends will actually know that he is Spider-Man.
The inclusion of Spider-Man in Captain America:Civil War helped make that film in my opinion the best Marvel movie to date, and hopefully Tom Holland, the man playing Spider-Man, will once again provide a charming performance as the famous web-crawler.

Blade Runner 2049 (October 6)
This one has the most nervous because the original Blade Runner is considered one of the greatest films of all time and is one of my personal favorites.
But there is still great potential with director Denis Villeneuve's success from Arrival and Sicario, to go along with Ryan Gosling taking over the lead role.
I am curious, as many Blade Runner fans are, is to how they handle is Deckard(that's Harrison Ford's character) a replicant mystery and if Jared Leto will actually be consequential to the plot, unlike his Joker in Suicide Squad.
However, the visuals do look promising and my hope is that this will be what Mad Max: Fury Road was to the Mad Max franchise, a worthy entry in the series.

Thor: Ragnarok (November 3)
In my opinion, the Thor movies have been the weakest films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but that might change with the third solo Thor movie as it will include the Hulk, played by Mark Ruffalo, and Doctor Strange, played by Benedict Cumberbatch.
The hope is that these additions will give Marvel fans another Captain America: Civil War, in that we see some Avengers characters gave us another good movie.

Justice League (November 17)
This could be the film that makes or breaks the DC Universe  in its ongoing battle with Marvel.
We will get to see Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot as Batman and Wonder Woman again, respectively, plus be introduced to Aquaman, Cyborg, and the Flash(though we have seen him briefly in Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad.
But the biggest question going into Justice League is how do they bring Superman back from the dead and if the Man of Steel's reintroduction into the DC Universe will quiet critics of how he was been portrayed so far in previous DC films.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (December 15)
Ever since Disney bought Lucasfilm and decided to re-open the Star Wars franchise, they have hit back-to-back home runs with The Force Awakens and Rogue One, wiping the taste out of many months of Star Wars fans who were infuriated by the prequels.
With Han Solo out of the picture, now the focus turns to Luke Skywalker, as hopefully he will have at least one line in this one, plus advancing the stories of the new characters(Rey, Finn, Kylo Ren) and hopefully more Poe Dameron, the X-Wing pilot played by Oscar Isaac.
But with the death of Carrie Fisher, I think the biggest question will be what will happen to Princess Leia with who are Rey's parents now coming in second, though that one might not be answered till Episode IX.

So those are the movies I am looking forward to in 2017 and hopefully most of them, if not all will be awesome.