For the past few years, Hollywood has been revisiting classic IPs more than ever, and it looks like we’re about to reach peak nostalgia in 2022. Hot on the heels of Keanu Reeves returning as Neo in The Matrix Resurrections, then both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield suiting up for Spider-Man: No Way Home, there are numerous legacy sequels, reimaginings and reboots on the way over the next 12 months that should satiate children of the 1990s and the 2000s.
A tweet that’s going viral on Twitter this weekend hangs a lampshade on how nostalgia-driven many of the big movies and TV shows of 2022 are. As ComicBook.com‘s Brandon “BD” Davies wrote, “Tobey Maguire is playing Spider-Man. A new The Matrix movie just dropped. Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor are working on Star Wars. Buzz Lightyear is headed to theaters. WHAT YEAR IS IT?!”
The two projects Davis is referencing in his tweet are, of course, Disney Plus’ Obi-Wan Kenobi and Pixar’s Lightyear. Kenobi is the long-awaited sequel series to the prequel trilogy that’ll see McGregor reprise his role as the Jedi master-turned-hermit. Likewise, Christensen has been confirmed to be somehow returning as Anakin Skywalker. As for Lightyear, that will serve as an origins story for the “real” Buzz and explore how he became the celebrated Space Ranger the toy thinks he is. Chris Evans takes over the iconic role from Tim Allen.
Davis’ tweet doesn’t even scratch the surface of all the throwback content we’re getting this year, however. This month delivers Scream and a new Ice Age flick. The spring sees Tom Cruise star in a Top Gun sequel while Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, and Laura Dern are back for the third Jurassic World film in June. Let’s not forget Michael Keaton is under the cowl once again as Batman in this December’s The Flash.
Are we sure this is 2022, not 1992, 2002 or even 2012?