The first main trailer that dropped this past week was for the next film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Strange. As the next MCU movie to come after the upcoming Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange is about the sorcerer supreme. Doctor Steven Strange, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, is an excellent surgeon, who loses his life-saving abilities after an accident renders his hands useless. In an attempt to regain use of his hands, Strange finds a group of monks who train him to manipulate the space around him and levitate objects. Strange uses his new found powers to fight those who put Earth in danger.

The first trailer for Doctor Strange looks like Marvel will once again bring a quality comic to life on the big screen. The addition of Benedict Cumberbatch to the MCU is a very exciting prospect, after Cumberbatch has already delivered excellent performances in Star Trek and Sherlock. Surely seeing Cumberbatch in a lead superhero role will be another excellent casting choice. Doctor Strange premieres November 4, 2016.
Coming out later in the month of November is the upcoming film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The first Harry Potter film since the series finale in 2011, Fantastic Beasts takes place seventy years before the first Harry Potter film. Newt Scamander is transporting magical animals to America for his research when they break out in 1920s era New York.

Starring Academy Award Winner Eddie Redmayne as Scamander, Fantastic Beasts will no doubt be a beloved return to the wizarding world. Helmed by Deathly Hallows director David Yates, it seems as though Warner Brothers is setting up another classic that will be just as adored as the previous installments.

From the other side of the ocean comes the first trailer for Godzilla: Resurgence. After Legendary’s 2014 American reboot made over $500 million worldwide as well as released to generally positive reviews, Japanese studio Toho is cashing in on the monster’s popularity and putting out their own reboot in the country where the 30 film universe all began.

This trailer seems to be yet another reimagining of the original story of the military’s efforts to deter the rampage of the titular monster, a radioactive behemoth awakened from a deep sleep by nuclear testing. There do not seem to be any other monsters in the film, yet the focus seems to be on the terror induced by the beast, which is parallel to the original film. Making a return to the portrayal of monsters through costumed actors rather the predictable CGI monsters of Hollywood, time will tell if Toho can make a film of comparable quality when limited by non-Hollywood budget and production values.

After the first American Godzilla film in 1998, which was generally panned by fans, Toho pulled a similar move coming out with Godzilla 2000 just one year later. The difference here is that, while Roland Emerich’s Godzilla was a one and done deal, Legendary already has Godzilla 2 in the works, with plans to cross over with the new Kong: Skull Island set for release in 2020. So, if all goes well, we’ll have two franchises going at the same time. The only concern is the director, Shinji Higuchi, who also brought us last year’s live-action adaptation of Attack on Titan, which was one of the worst films based off awesome source material to date. Yet Godzilla is like Dracula, in that every ten years or so, a new version is regenerated. If Godzilla Resurgence is bad, then at least audiences will still be able to look forward to Godzilla 2 in 2018.