The boundaries of what a big-budget animated movie produced by the Hollywood studio system can be, have expanded substantially over the last few years. For decades, North American animation has primarily been considered to be a genre of movies geared toward children. While there’s no denying that there have been, and continue to be, a lot of animated movies meant for kids, the medium of animation can be so much more than that. While animation from other parts of the world, namely Japan, has embraced more adult stories in the past, Hollywood is just starting to catch up.
In addition to the recent North American box office successes of Japanese anime films such asDemon Slayer the Movie: Mugen TrainandDragon Ball Super: Super Hero, other big-budget animated films from Hollywood likeGuillermo del Toro’s PinocchioandSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Versehave been paving the way for a wider appreciation for animation in the West.
Just recently,Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Versebecame one of the biggest hits of the year so far. TheSpider-Versesequel opened with $120 million in North America, which is higher thanGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3in early May and nearly three and a half times what the firstSpider-Versefilm opened to five years ago. TheSpider-Versefilms have proven to be a huge success, and they have shown general audiences that animation can be so much more than the latestDespicable Memovie. As all the major studies begin to look for ways they can jump into this realm of big-budget and adult-skewing animation, here are seven major franchises that could really benefit from an animated film inspired by the likes of theSpider-Versemovies.
7Wizarding World
Warner Bros. has been trying to figure out how it should move forward withHarry Potterand the broader Wizarding World franchise after the failure of theFantastic Beastsmovies and the numerous controversies surrounding the series’ creator J.K. Rowling. While they’ve already announced a rebooted telling of the coreHarry Potterfilms in the form of a Max original series, an animated film could be another great idea.
There are plenty ofother stories to tell within the world ofHarry Potter, and it’s a franchise that could thrive in animation. While the various fantastical creatures and battles between wizards and witches in the existingHarry Potterfilms were certainly impressive, those elements could make for some truly incredible animation.
6The Matrix
Believe it or not,The Matrixhas already delved into the realm of animation a bit withan anime film titledThe Animatrix20 years ago. That film is even pretty well-liked by the people who have seen it, but there’s no denying that it’s not nearly as well-known as the coreMatrixfilms. WB has already demonstrated a desire to keep theMatrixseries going with the release ofThe Matrix Resurrectionsin 2021, so it’s not a big stretch to imagine the studio revisiting the franchise again.
If an animatedMatrixfilm were given the time, care, and budget it needs, such a movie could be absolutely phenomenal.
5Star Wars
Star Warshas already expanded into the medium of animation pretty thoroughly through series likeThe Clone Wars,Rebels,The Bad Batch,Visions,and more. As all of these shows have proven, theStar Warsfranchise is a perfect fit for animation. The medium has allowed the series to explore its universe in all sorts of new ways, as it can really embrace the major science fiction and fantasy elements of its galaxy.
While the 2008Star Wars: The Clone Warsfilm may leave a bad taste in anyone’s mouth, we believe it’s time for the franchise to revisit the idea of theatrically released animated films.Star Warshas produced some truly outstanding animation in recent years, especially through shows likeThe Bad BatchandVisions, and a new big-screen animated adventure through the galaxy far, far away could introduce this corner of the franchise to a wider audience.
Related:Rebels: Why the Animated Star Wars Series is a Must-Watch TV Show
ThePokémonseries is one of the most widely beloved and successful franchises in the world. With countless video games, animated films, card games and more having been produced over the last three decades,Pokémonhas really grown into a brand with immense power. The series has already produced 23 animated feature films, but very few of them have received theatrical releases outside of Japan, and they are often considered (often unjustly) to be generic direct-to-video movies.
The Pokémon Company has already partnered with WB for the live-action filmDetective Pikachuin 2019, and we’d love to see the two work together to producea wide-release Pokémon animated filmthat could really do justice to the franchise.
3Green Lantern
Considering Marvel is currently finding a lot of box office success with theSpider-Versefilms, it seems obvious that DC should want to get in on this as well. Now, DC has already produceda number of great animated filmsbut, just like Pokémon, a vast majority of them have been direct-to-video. We would love to see WB and DC Studios, led by James Gunn and Peter Safran, take a page out of theSpider-Verseplaybook and bring some of their core characters to life in the realm of a big-budget animated film.
While Gunn has already promised some animation in the new DCU, it has generally been assumed that will be in the form of animated series. However, if they do branch out with an animated film, we think that Green Lantern in particular would be a great fit for the medium.
2The Lord of the Rings
Just a few months ago, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav made headlines when he said that the studio was looking to expand itsLord of the Ringsfranchise into a series similar toStar Wars. This means that there are likely numerous different films and series set within J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth in development. Thankfully, we already know that at least one of them is an animated film.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrimis an anime-styled animated film that will serve as a sort of spin-off and prequel to Peter Jackson’sThe Lord of the Ringstrilogy. The film is set for release theatrically in April 2024, and we have high hopes thatthis animated adaptation of Tolkien’s worldwill take the franchise in an exciting new direction.
Related:The Lord of the Rings: Revisiting Ralph Bakshi’s 1978 Animated Film
1Transformers
Finally, theTransformersfranchise has a long history with the medium of animation. Coinciding with the release of the Hasbro toys, theTransformersanimated series from the 1980s is largely responsible for establishing the massive brand. While the franchise has diverted pretty strongly into live-action since the Michael Bay films of the 2000s, we think it’s about time the franchise goes back to its roots.
Similarly toThe Lord of the Rings, we thankfully won’t have to wait too long, as a theatricalTransformersanimated film is already in production. The film,titledTransformers One, is set for release in the summer of 2024, and it will be a prequel set on Cybertron that will explore the initial conflicts between Optimus Prime and Megatron.
