2016 is coming… To start it in a good mood and escape from dreary Polish political reality, let’s see what the New Year will bring us :).

Ola: The silver screen looks Marvelous, with Deadpool coming to cinemas in February, Captain America: Civil War in May, X-Men: Apocalypse in May, and Doctor Strange in November.

Deadpool looks promising. I wouldn’t have given one grosz for Ryan Reynolds before (ill-fated Green Lantern!), but if the movie delivers what the trailer promised it can be a really decent movie. Irreverent, disgustingly funny and full of black humor, if they don’t botch the story, it can really be a pleasant surprise. Take a look at this trailer:

I’m not going to wax too much over Captain America: Civil War, it’s enough to see this trailer:

Yeah!

There’s an ongoing process of taking sides in this conflict, Iron Man vs. Captain America, security vs. freedom, as in the comic book, or adherence to law vs. vigilantism, as in the movie, if one can judge anything by the trailer. Tony Stark in the comics is a jerk – in the movies though he’s a much nicer guy :). And the story line is changed so much that I’m quite surprised to say that right now I’m in Iron Man’s team. This may prove to be the best Captain America movie to date, and that’s something considering Captain America: The Winter Soldier. New heroes come forth, from Black Panther to Spiderman, some story arcs come to their grand finale, other are just beginning… Yeah, that’s my number one in the coming year.

Doctor Strange might be a good to Marvel’s cinematic universe, I certainly hope it to be with the cast they have, but the trailers, or teasers, don’t look like much now. It may be a tricky movie, wizards and magic and ancient wisdom to be gained in Tibet, plus the weird aesthetics – we’ve seen it all before (Flash Gordon, anyone? :P). But Doctor Strange is an important figure in Marvel universe, so here’s to hope they’ll actually manage to repeat Thor’s success.

I’m waiting for X-Men: Apocalypse (May 2016), with the refreshed cast, Bryan Singer taking helm once more, and Xavier finally losing his hair :). I’m not too enthusiastic about new Jean Grey, Sansa Stark was never my favorite and Jean Grey may be a tough challenge even in the best of times (as indicated by X-Men 3), but I’m all for giving Sophie Turner a chance in an entirely different role.

There’s also Rogue One scheduled for December 2016, a Star Wars spin-off with a female lead. It may be a decent flick, I’m pretty sure it will be very well made, although Disney ruthlessly milking Star Wars franchise is starting to grate on my nerves already (the promo campaign for The Force Awakens was the one bridge too far for me). I’m undecided – I’ll probably see it in the cinema, but will check the reviews first.

Piotrek: Yes, 2016… some exciting stuff on the horizon. I’m definitely going to watch all the Marvels, and Civil War… I’ll be heartbroken if it’s not the best MCU piece so far. Warcraft might be interesting, although probably not artistically. But for all the gamers – cool to see it on the big screen, it will definitely at least look great. Star Wars spin-off – I’ll give it a chance, could be fun.

TV Series – I loved episode one of SyFy’s Magicians, MTV’s Shannara might be better than books, Netflix will continue its experiments with MCU, so there is a lot to wait for. And second season of The Man in the High Castle, first one was great, even though not too faithful an adaptation.

But enough on moving pictures, the books look very promising too!

Ola: Robin Hobb’s Fitz and the Fool trilogy finale, Assassin’s Fate, comes out in August 2016. I haven’t read the second book yet, it waits on my shelf for an opportune moment, but I’ll definitely finish it this year to grab the grand finale book as soon as it hits the bookstores. I wrote about Hobb here and here, and here too, she’s one of my favorite fantasy authors. The conclusion to Fitz’s and Fool’s fates is an absolute must.

Steven Erikson will finally publish the second installment in his Kharkanas trilogy, Fall of Light, in April 2016. As a devoted fan of The Malazan Book of the Fallen I’m waiting for this book eagerly. Sure, not many of my favorite characters from the ten-book series will reappear this time, but another peek into the amazing fantasy world of Erikson’s will be definitely worth the while.

A new Tim Powers’ book is coming in January, titled Medusa’s Web. I’m not a great fan of 1920’s Hollywood or haunted houses, but I like Powers enough to give it a try ;).

There’s a plethora of promising titles from established names in urban fantasy genre. I’ll surely read new Patricia Briggs’ book, Fire Touched, which is the ninth installment in Mercy Thompson series. I’m also going to read the ninth installment in Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews. This time Magic Binds ;). There’s new Harry Dresden coming out in May, number 16, titled Peace Talks, and I’m going to read it soon after, and I expect all three to be a fun read ;).

Some re-reads are queued up, Fables, maybe entire Sandman, I’m fired up after reading excelllent and beautiful Sandman: Overture. It will be a great year 🙂

Ola: Aaronovitch, yes! I forgot about him. He’s on my short list too :). There are also new books by Scott Lynch, China Miéville, Brandon Sanderson… I might read them, but no promises ;). As for old books – the list is long and not getting any shorter (not for the lack of trying, though – the place of every book that I’ve read is instantly taken by something else!)

P.S. I haven’t mentioned Patrick Rothfuss or the upcoming DC movie Dawn of Justice on purpose. This post is supposed to be optimistic! 😉

What are you waiting for in the coming 2016?