2018 sci-fi, fantasy and geek movies to get excited about

Here come the heroes -- and the villains, space explorers and dystopian futures. In 2018, "Black Panther" will reign, the Avengers will assemble for an "Infinity War" and Han will go "Solo," among other big-screen happenings. Get "Ready Player One" for all the movies coming in the year ahead.

The year's first big hit is Marvel's Afro-futuristic superhero spectacular "Black Panther". Ryan Coogler directs Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Daniel Kaluuya, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker and Andy Serkis in this superhero smash that took over a billion dollars.

In the upcoming "Aquaman," Jason Momoa and Amber Heard follow up their appearances as Aquaman and Hera in "Justice League." Willem Dafoe, Dolph Lundgren and Nicole Kidman join the fishy frolics.

Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise light the fuse on "Mission: Impossible 6" at the end of July. 

JK Rowling's Harry Potter prequel continues as Eddie Redmayne faces off against Johnny Depp's salacious sorcerer in "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald." The film opens Nov. 15 in Australia and Nov. 16 in the US and UK. 

Emily Blunt is the famous nanny delivering a spoonful of sugar to the now-grown children from the original story. Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, Colin Firth and Meryl Streep also star in this supercalifragilisticexpialidocious sequel blowing in come late December. 

Wreck-It Ralph breaks the internet when a Wi-Fi router gets plugged into his arcade, taking him into the wide world of the World Wide Web. The film busts into theaters in Australia and the US on Nov. 21 and in the UK on Nov. 30. 

Shane Black -- writer of the first "Predator" -- returns to restart the hunt in a new film starring Olivia Munn and Jacob Tremblay. It opens Aug. 2 in Australia and Aug. 3 in the US and UK.

"The Meg": It's Jason Statham vs. a giant shark. 'Nuff said.

Tom Hardy, as Spider-Man's vicious villain Venom, bites in early October. 

Robert Rodriguez and James Cameron team up for an effects-driven adaptation of the classic manga "Alita: Battle Angel," starring Christoph Waltz and opening in Australia July 19 and the US and UK July 20.

"The Lego Movie" directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller weave Miles Morales into the Spider-Verse as the new Spider-Man.

Travis Knight, director of "Kubo and the Two Strings," directs Hailee Steinfeld and John Cena in this 80s-set "Transformers" spin-off about yellow VW beetle "Bumblebee." Its ETA is early February.

Peter Jackson co-writes this post-apocalyptic steampunk world where entire cities are mounted on wheels to do battle in "Mortal Engines," opening Dec. 14 in the US and UK and Dec. 26 in Australia. 

Ryan Gosling is Neil Armstrong in "First Man", the true-life tale of Nasa's race to the moon. Oscar-winning director Damian Chazelle blasts off in October.

Martin Scorsese digitally de-ages Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci in Netflix's gangster epic "The Irishman".

Searing satire "Sorry to Bother You", starring Lakeith Stanfield and Tessa Thompson took the 2018 Sundance Film Festival by storm.

King of performance capture Andy Serkis directs an all-star cast of CGI animals played by actors including Christian Bale, Benedict Cumberbatch and Cate Blanchett, based on Rudyard Kipling's classic "The Jungle Book." No, not the Disney one. This "Jungle Book" opens in October.

In November, the X-Men return to face a new version of the "Dark Phoenix Saga" comic story line. 

Here's one film we won't be seeing in 2018 after all. Maisie Williams is one of "The New Mutants" in a teen horror shocker set in the X-Men universe that was originally slated for release in 2018, but has been pushed back to 2019. 

Lisbeth Sander, the hacker antiheroine from the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" novel and film series, returns. Star Claire Foy swaps her crown for piercings in "The Girl in the Spider's Web".

Denzel Washington is righting wrongs again in his first ever sequel. In "The Equalizer 2", his deadly retiree is earning a living as a Lyft driver when trouble comes calling.

Brian Singer was under pressure, so he had to break free of this rock biopic about Queen singer Freddie Mercury's search for somebody to love. The show must go on so Dexter Fletcher dived headlong into directing. "Mr Robot" star Rami Malek plays Mercury, and will no doubt rock you when the movie opens around Christmas.

Chilling documentary "The Cleaners", which premiered at the Sundance film festival, probes the darkest corners of the Internet and asks how Facebook, Google and other web giants are complicit with the spread of hatred and other unpleasantness.

David Gordon Green and Danny McBride return to the original "Halloween" with Jamie Lee Curtis, disregarding the horror slasher sequels.

Helen Mirren plays the tragic real-life firearms heiress who built California's infamous Winchester Mystery House in the chiller "Winchester: The House That Ghosts Built".

Luca Guadagnino directs Dakota Johnson in Suspiria, a chilling remake of Dario Argento's terrifying 1977 horror film. 

Based on the classic gothic kids story, "The House with a Clock in Its Walls" stars Jack Black and Cate Blanchett. Horror director Eli Roth tones down his usual gory chills in September.

Gwendoline Christie hunts super-powered children in "The Darkest Minds," set to light up screens in September.

Taron Egerton is legendary English hero Robin Hood, Jamie Foxx is Little John and Ben Mendelsohn is the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham.

Martin Freeman's kid is his "Cargo" as he staves off a post-apocalyptic zombie bite in this Netflix nailbiter.

Come November, the game's afoot for Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as "Holmes and Watson," backed by Rob Brydon, Kelly Macdonald, Rebecca Hall, Ralph Fiennes and Hugh Laurie.

Marvel's finest team up to face Thanos and celebrate 10 years of Marvel movies in "Avengers: Infinity War." It currently has a release date of April 25 in Australia, April 27 in the UK and May 4 in the US.

Never tell me the odds: Ron Howard takes over as director in this Star Wars prequel in which Alden Ehrenreich is the young Han Solo. "Solo" is set to open in May. 

"Deadpool 2," set for release in early June, sees Ryan Reynolds' merc with a mouth take on Josh Brolin as Cable.

Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Rihanna, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling and Awkwafina are heist cold in "Ocean's Eight," set to ride the waves in the US on June 8, Australia June 21 and the UK June 22. 

Superheroics ensue as Pixar's "Incredibles" don the spandex once again. The super-powered family flies onto screens in Australia June 14, the US June 15 and the UK July 13.

Life finds a way yet again in "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom," featuring the return of both Chris Pratt and Jeff Goldblum. The dinos are back June 7 in Australia, June 8 in the UK and June 22 in the US. 

Mini Marvels Ant-Man and the Wasp shrink to fit this superhero sequel.

Ava DuVernay directs an all-star cast including Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Chris Pine and Gugu Mbatha-Raw in this adaptation of "A Wrinkle in Time," the much-loved fantasy novel by Madeleine L'Engle.

Husband and wife John Krasinski and Emily Blunt keep the noise down in surprise hit "A Quiet Place".

Alex Garland follows up "Ex Machina" with "Annihilation" on Netflix. In this very strange sci-fi, Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson and Oscar Isaac encounter nature gone awry.

Dwayne Johnson goes ape when he has to face giant angry animals on the rampage in this adaptation of the popular game. The film tears through Australia on April 12, the UK on April 13 and the US on April 20. 

Dwayne Johnson isn't afraid of heights when he tackles terrorists in a high-rise building. It's "Die Hard" in a skyscraper... hang on, isn't that just "Die Hard"? Look for it in July.

Taraji P. Henson keeps on burning as badass Blaxploitation hitwoman "Proud Mary."

Nick Park directs his latest Aardman stop-motion comedy "Early Man," featuring the cave-bound voices of Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston and Maisie Williams.

Delightful furry tourist Paddington returns to the big screen.

Neil Gaiman's short story "How to Talk to Girls at Parties," coming in May, sees Nicole Kidman lead a gang of punk aliens. 

Disney goes nuts for this live-action tale starring Keira Knightley, Miranda Hart, Morgan Freeman and Helen Mirren, based on ballet "The Nutcracker."

Liam Neeson is "The Commuter" who kicks ass on a train when bad guys sit in his assigned seat or eat the last sandwich in the buffet car, probably.

Wes Anderson takes his stop-motion adventure to Japan, and recruits an all-star cast of voices including Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Liev Schreiber, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson, Greta Gerwig, Frances McDormand, Harvey Keitel, Yoko Ono, Ken Watanabe and Tilda Swinton. The film, about a boy searching for his dog, unleashes in March. 

Jennifer Lawrence and Joel Edgerton spy hard in cold war thriller "Red Sparrow".

The "Maze Runner" trilogy reaches its final twist and turn in "The Death Cure".

The "Insidious" franchise, about demonologists plunging into the supernatural world, has been one of the hottest in horror since the first film came out in 2010. The fourth movie is written by series co-creator Leigh Whannell.

John Boyega does the monster mash in robot sequel "Pacific Rim: Uprising". 

Stephen Merchant writes and directs Lena Headey, Nick Frost, Dwayne Johnson and Vince Vaughn in "Fighting with My Family," based on the true story of real-life wrestler Paige.

The zombie series that started it all shambles back to life in "Day of the Dead: Bloodline."

Space is the place for David Oyelowo and Gugu Mbatha-Raw (pictured), with Chris O'Dowd and Daniel Brühl as fellow astronauts in the third "Cloverfield" movie dropping straight onto Netflix. 

Gerard Butler, 50 Cent, Pablo Schreiber and O'Shea Jackson feel the heat in cops'n'robbers thriller "Den of Thieves". 

Creeping from the murkiest corners of the Internet, the horrifying "Slender Man" stalks theatres in May.

Jeremy Renner, James Franco, Alec Baldwin, Heidi Klum, Anjelica Huston and John Cleese are on thin ice in "Arctic Justice: Thunder Squad," a cool animation about star husky couriers. 

Amazon Studios goes to Mexico for "Gringo," starring David Oyelowo, Joel Edgerton, Amanda Seyfried, Charlize Theron and Thandie Newton. The film also features the movie debut of Paris Jackson, Michael Jackson's daughter.

Steven Spielberg adapts Ernest Cline's '80s-tastic sci-fi novel "Ready Player One" with Tye Sheridan, Ben Mendelsohn, Simon Pegg and T J Miller.

Robin, Starfire, Cyborg and the rest of DC's pint-sized superheroes from the "Teen Titans" cartoon make the leap to the big screen.

Alicia Vikander is Lara Croft in an all-new big screen version of the popular game "Tomb Raider" for 2018. 

Director Duncan Jones lets cyberpunk action thriller "Mute" do the talking on Netflix.

French director Claire Denis makes her English-language debut with mind-bending sci-fi story "High Life", in which Robert Pattinson, Mia Goth and Andre 3000 play criminals sent on a mission to space and getting more than they bargained for.

Netflix steps up with "Step Sisters," in which hard-partying sorority sisters must win a dance competition.

Emily Watson, Jason Isaacs, Nick Frost and Catherine Tate give voice to monstrous animation "Monster Family."

Kate Winslet and Jim Broadbent lend their voices to magical Japanese animation "Mary and the Witch's Flower," blooming in the US, UK and Australia in January. 

A history of the "Futile & Stupid Gesture" that took place behind the scenes of "National Lampoon" and "Saturday Night Live," in which today's actors play 1970s stars like Chevy Chase, John Belushi and Bill Murray.

Joaquin Phoenix is a troubled man in Amazon's art house/grindhouse drama "You Were Never Really Here."

Animation "Gnome Alone" features the voices of pop stars Becky G and Patrick Stump. 

Christina Hendricks locks her doors in home invasion horror sequel "The Strangers: Prey at Night".

It's not the end of the world for Peter Dinklage and Elle Fanning in post-apocalyptic Sundance drama "I Think We're Alone Now".

Steven Soderbergh directs "The Crown" star Claire Foy as a young woman involuntarily committed to a mental institution in "Unsane".

Seth Rogen produces Blake Anderson, Anders Holm and Adam Devine from the hit show "Workaholics" as desperate game designers in "Game Over, Man!" The film's scheduled to press play in April.

Dracula's back for this child-friendly sequel voiced by Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Steve Buscemi and Keegan-Michael Key as the Hotel Transylvania gang take a "Summer Vacation." The film opens June 14 in Australia, July 13 in the US and July 27 in the UK.

The Coen brothers are writing a new version of classic crime story "Scarface."

Domhnall Gleeson (pictured left) and Charlotte Rampling meet "The Little Stranger" in this supernatural horror film.

Patrick Stewart is Merlin in "The Kid Who Would Be King," Joe Cornish's update of the King Arthur myth set for a late-September release. 

Benedict Cumberbatch voices the miserly Grinch in an animated adaptation of the Dr Seuss classic. It opens the month before Christmas. 

The fourth in Netflix's exclusive deal with Adam Sandler sees him play opposite Chris Rock as parents whose kids are getting hitched.

Netflix recruits Gugu Mbatha-Raw from the acclaimed "Black Mirror" (pictured right) to appear in "Irreplaceable You" alongside Kate McKinnon, Christopher Walken and Steve Coogan.

"The Other Side of the Wind" was an unfinished 1970s film by Orson Welles that's now been exhumed for Netflix.

South Korean actor Ryu Seung-Ryong headlines Netflix's superhero comedy "Psychokinesis."

"Dude" is a Neflix comedy-drama starring Lucy Hale from "Pretty Little Liars," Kathryn Prescott from "Skins," rapper Awkwafina and Alexandra Shipp from "X-Men: Apocalypse" (pictured).

Chris Pine is Robert the Bruce, the Scottish "Outlaw King," in this first adventure in a bravehearted trilogy on Netflix.