Superhero movies and TV shows are looking to have their biggest year in 2019. Marvel is coming out with three films, DC has another big one in the lineup, and FOX has two new additions to their X-Men franchise. That's without taking into account the new Hellboy film and other potential projects that have yet to get any release dates. Then there's the TV side of things. Every show in the Arrowverse is set to keep chugging along, Titans is getting renewed for a second season, Doom Patrol and Swamp Thing are set to release, and other comic publishers are getting their chance at having a place in pop culture. It's a big year.
With so many new stories and ideas being brought to the big screen, we're going to see a lot of new characters this year. From newer Marvel heroes and villains to more obscure DC characters and even properties from Dark Horse, there are plenty of new faces to meet in live-action. There are many that we're excited to see, as they're characters who deserve a proper chance on the big screen or they're characters we've been wanting to see for some time. On the other hand, there are other characters that don't have us quite as excited, whether it be due to their presence in the source material or how they could be negatively changed in adaptation. This year is going to be big for superhero projects, so we're looking at 10 superheroes and villains coming to the big screen in 2019 and 10 we couldn't care less about.
19 EXCITED FOR: MYSTERIO
One of Spider-Man's crazier villains is finally getting his chance on the big screen. This master of theatrics has posed a constant threat to Spidey in the comics, but his goofy design made some believe he would either never make it in a film or have a serious costume change.
Thankfully, the trailer for Spider-Man: Far from Home revealed that neither would be the case. Mysterio is making his first live-action appearance, and he looks cool while still being accurate to his design in the comics. With Jake Gyllenhaal under the fishbowl helmet, there's plenty of reason to for this character's appearance.
18 COULDN'T CARE LESS: DOCTOR SIVANA
With a big character like Shazam finally getting his own movie, it seems a bit underwhelming that the villain we're getting is Doctor Sivana. That's not to say that nothing could be done to make him interesting, there just isn't that much reason to look forward to his role as the antagonist at the moment.
This hits even harder when you remember that Dwayne Johnson had been cast as Black Adam years ago, who is often associated as the archenemy of Shazam. Had he appeared in the movie instead of Doctor Sivana, we might be more stoked about the antagonist in DC's next movie.
17 EXCITED FOR: CAPTAIN MARVEL
Captain Marvel is marking the first Marvel Studios film led by a female superhero. Captain Marvel is one of the strongest Marvel heroes to ever exist, and her inclusion in the MCU has been a long time coming. While Marvel considered having her appear in Avengers: Age of Ultron, she is making her debut as the star of her own film.
Not only she bring with her a crazy new set of powers and abilities that none of the other Avengers have, but it seems that she'll make a big impact on the MCU going forward. We all know that her arrival in Avengers: Endgame will help change the tide of war.
16 COULDN'T CARE LESS: RED LOTUS
Dark Phoenix is mostly going to focus on pre-existing characters from the X-Men films, but it will introduce a few new faces along the way. One of the new mutants set to appear in the film is Red Lotus. A fairly obscure character from the comics, Red Lotus is just an excellent martial artist with some beefed up strength and agility.
In the movie, he is supposed to be a member of Magneto's brotherhood. The character doesn't have a lot of history or background in the comics, and we don't imagine the film will change that very much. If anything, he'll likely just be another obstacle for the X-Men to overcome.
15 EXCITED FOR: YON-ROGG
When Jude Law was cast in Captain Marvel, most believed he would be playing Mar-Vell, a legacy character for Marvel Comics. However, neither he or Marvel ever confirmed this, and some new information points to him instead portraying the Kree villain known as Yon-Rogg.
With this being the case, it paints the film as a more realistic war, with both sides doing bad things in order to get ahead. With Jude Law portraying a potential villain, it's possible we could get some great moments where Captain Marvel has to decide what she's going to do to ultimately save the day.
14 COULDN'T CARE LESS: SELENE
Magneto is set to have a few new mutants join his ranks in Dark Phoenix, one of whom is Serene. A fairly potent villain in the comics, Serene is a vampire who feeds on the lives of others to sustain her own. She has lived for thousands of years and is often regarded as the first mutant in existence.
However, with her shifted to a side character in an adaptation of "The Dark Phoenix Saga", we doubt that she will get the proper material to shine outside of some decent action scenes. She's likely just there to pad out Magneto's allies and won't add much to the film.
13 EXCITED FOR: SHAZAM
After Aquaman had his first movie, DC has its sights set on their Captain Marvel, otherwise known as Shazam. With Zachary Levi portraying Earth's Mightiest Mortal, there's a lot of reason to be excited about this character making his live-action debut. Levi does well to portray a young boy in the body of a powerful man, complete with wacky expressions and simpler dialogue.
Shazam will also have all sorts of powers that the DC films haven't explored yet. We'll get to see Billy Batson go through the process of becoming an adult while still being a kid, and it seems that it will be a fun ride at the very least.
12 COULDN'T CARE LESS: GRUAGACH
The new Hellboy movie is looking to explore the darker and grittier side to the character while keeping the insane foes intact. One foe that is set to appear is Gruagach, the pig fairy villain who blames Hellboy for his appearance.
While Gruagach could be a fun character in the comics, he doesn't seem to have a large role in the film. Instead, Nimue is soaking up the role of antagonist, which means that Gruagach will be little more than a glorified henchman (think Kurse in Thor: The Dark World). We could be proven wrong, but as of right now, Gruagach isn't the reason to be excited for Hellboy.
11 EXCITED FOR: WOLFSBANE
There are plenty of mutants with interesting powers, and Wolfsbane would certainly make that list. With the ability to transform into a werewolf, Wolfsbane had to learn to not only control this power, but to do it in such a way that her instincts never took over her mind.
With The New Mutants movie looking to be more of a horror film than a standard superhero action film, having a character transform into a monster is easily a good choice. What makes this more interesting is how Wolfsbane is not an antagonist, so there are a lot of ways she can be used in the movie.
10 COULDN'T CARE: CANNONBALL
Cannonball was one of the founding members of the New Mutants in the comics, but we find it hard to see how his crazy powers and colorful costume will transition well to the darker, scarier tone of The New Mutants film. His powers allow him to launch himself through the air at great speeds, hence his name.
That might be more interesting in a standard X-Men film, but The New Mutants is looking to be more reserved and with a smaller budget. It would be difficult to show audience what he's capable of without it looking goofy or breaking the tone of the film.
9 EXCITED FOR: RONIN
After Hawkeye's three-year absence since Captain America: Civil War, he is finally returning in Avengers: Endgame, but as an entirely different character. Seemingly making a new name for himself in Japan, Hawkeye has ditched the bow and arrow in favor of a katana.
Going by the name Ronin, this character is getting massively reworked for the upcoming Avengers film. While not technically a new character, this drastic change in identity will help him stand out among characters like Spider-Man and the Hulk. It also gives him some much-needed development, which has us all the more excited.
8 EXCITED FOR: MASTER LIN
Deadly Class is a superhero show coming out this year that involves kids being raised in a school of assassins. The teacher of that school is a man known as Master Lin. While the premise for a show like Deadly Class is not too original in the face of many pop culture shows and movies, there is potential.
Master Lin, as the master of that school, has a certain hardness to him that some of the other characters wouldn't have. Furthermore, he is being portrayed by Benedict Wong, who is known for playing Wong in Doctor Strange and Avengers: Infinity War.
7 COULDN'T CARE LESS: DIMITRI
One of the new characters in Spider-Man: Far from Home is someone who is only labeled as Dimitri. Marvel has been playing it close to the chest when it comes to this character's role in the film, but some comic fans have pointed out that the Chameleon (the first foe Spidey faced) has the secret identity of Dmitri Smerdyakov.
While the potential of seeing a character like Chameleon on the big screen is cool, we believe it would be more like Mac Gargan's appearance in Spider-Man: Homecoming. With that in mind, we can't get our hopes up too much for Dimitri.
6 EXCITED FOR: SWAMP THING
Swamp Thing had his chance in movies and TV shows decades ago, but the execution of those projects was hardly worthy of the character. With DC Universe set to have a Swamp Thing show that delves into the occult and darker concepts straight from the comics, that gives us much more reason to be excited.
Having ties to the Justice League Dark, Swamp Thing is a character that deserves to have one of the more unique superhero shows ever made. If the show is pulled off well, Swamp Thing could finally become one of DC's more popular characters, and that has us chomping at the bit.
5 COULDN'T CARE LESS: CHA-CHA
With Netflix set to adapt The Umbrella Academy into another one of their popular TV shows, there's reason to be excited. However, there are some characters set to appear that we aren't that interested in. One of them is Cha-Cha. In the source material, Cha-Cha was some sort of politically charged assassin with an interesting mask.
However, The Umbrella Academy show is changing the character's gender but seemingly keeping the rest of the stuff intact. With the show focused on the main cast, it seems that Cha-Cha will likely just be a one-note obstacle for the main characters to overcome.
4 EXCITED FOR: NIMUE THE BLOOD QUEEN
The antagonist of the new Hellboy movie is interesting even on paper. With her previously being the Lady of the Lake from Arthurian legend, she is now causing problems in the modern day that Hellboy must address. With Milla Jovovich from the Resident Evil movies set to portray her, it seems that we will have another blissfully evil supernatural being on the same level as Hela from Thor: Ragnarok.
While she probably won't have a lot of depth to her, there's no denying that it's hard to go wrong with Jovovich as the antagonist of a film about supernatural forces colliding.
3 COULDN'T CARE LESS: MARCUS LOPEZ
Marcus Lopez is the main character of Deadly Class. He had a bad life and was a very disturbed young man. Enrolling in the assassin school taught by Master Lin, he met a lot of colorful classmates and was ready to make an impact on the world. Unfortunately, the Deadly Class show is hard to differentiate from a lot of other projects about rebellious teens against the world.
For all intents and purposes, Marcus seems like a character that serves as an audience character. It will be through him that we learn about the rules of the show. We're more excited about the other characters around him as a result.
2 EXCITED FOR: THE WHITE VIOLIN
The White Violin is one of the remaining kids in The Umbrella Academy after a tragic event robbed the world of many of her cohorts. In a world where her siblings are all gifted, she seems to have no powers but is great at playing the violin. It will be interesting to see how a superhero show will integrate a character who has no powers among a roster of gifted individuals.
She does eventually learn that her powers are connected to her music, which will be fun to see as well. Furthermore, White Violin is going to be played by Ellen Page, who has the right acting chops to get the job done.
1 COULDN'T CARE LESS: KRYPTO
At the end of the first season of Titans, we were treated to a shot that showed us both Superboy and Krypto, two characters that have been associated with the Teen Titans in the comics. While a live-action Superboy has a lot of potential, we're not that stoked about Krypto.
While it's nice to see him finally get a proper live-action appearance, the lacking budget in Titans has us worried about how he'll be used. We won't get to see the full scope of his powers. He'll likely just be there to look cute and nothing else while the show focuses on its central characters.