Every Upcoming Sci-Fi Movie Sequel Releasing In 2025

Science fiction offers film fans the chance to both escape from everyday reality and to confront fears about the future head-on, so in today's climate, the genre is more relevant than ever. 2025 is shaping up to be a great year for cinema: There are plenty of movies that you won't want to miss, and many of them fall into the sci-fi category. There are some big original stories ("Elio," "Flowervale Street"), intriguing remakes ("Bugonia," "The Running Man"), and literary adaptations (we have two different "Frankenstein" adaptations from Maggie Gyllenhaal and Guillermo del Toro to look forward to). But, more often than not, the science fiction movies that arrive with the most hype are sequels. After all, what better way is there to get people interested in a movie than to build upon the worlds and stories of movies that the audience already loves?

From outer space to post-apocalyptic dystopias, super-powered action to spooky horror, mega-budget blockbusters to direct-to-video cheapies, here is Looper's guide to every science fiction movie sequel officially confirmed for release in 2025. Not all will be good — some will most certainly disappoint — but sci-fi fans will no doubt want to check them out all the same.

Of the three Marvel Cinematic Universe films currently scheduled for release in 2025, "Captain America: Brave New World" is the one official sequel. "Thunderbolts*" will continue plot threads from multiple previous Marvel movies but isn't exactly a sequel, while "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" is something new for the franchise altogether. As the fourth "Captain America" film, "Brave New World" looks to continue the story of not the third "Captain America" film, but the Disney+ miniseries "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." Sequels are complicated in the MCU!

Classified as a science fiction/action-adventure film on the Disney+ website, the film sees Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson (the former Falcon and new Captain America) face off against the newly elected President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford, replacing the late William Hurt), who is also the Red Hulk. The Julius Onah-directed political thriller has gone through tons of reshoots, but hopefully all that work pays off as the MCU continues to course correct after several years of inconsistent projects.

"Captain America: Brave New World" opens in theaters on February 14, 2025.

We generally think of zombie movies more as horror than as science fiction, but 2002's "28 Days Later" lent the genre a scary degree of scientific plausibility with its "rage virus" epidemic. "28 Years Later," the third film in the series, is now coming in the aftermath of an actual (but thankfully less apocalyptic) pandemic, so expect it to have even more resonance.

This new sequel, being released by Sony in the United States, reunites the original film's director Danny Boyle with writer Alex Garland and star Cillian Murphy — all of whom sat out the previous sequel, 2007's "28 Weeks Later." Joining the cast this time around are Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, and Ralph Fiennes. The plan is to make a trilogy of sequels: the middle part of the trilogy, titled "28 Years Later Part II: The Bone Temple," has already started filming.

"28 Years Later" opens in theaters on June 20, 2025.

Just one week after "28 Weeks Later" hits the big screen, another major sci-fi horror sequel is coming out: "M3GAN 2.0," the follow-up to the fan favorite "M3GAN." The evil robot doll M3GAN became the first Gen Z horror icon in 2023, and moving the release date from the January doldrums to the peak of Summer movie season implies confidence this follow-up could be an even bigger hit than the first.

The returning team of director Gerard Johnstone and writer Akela Cooper have many opportunities to play with growing anxieties about the use of artificial intelligence in this sequel (though you could argue that production company Blumhouse's latest experiments with generative AI make such social commentary hypocritical). If one "M3GAN" sequel isn't enough for you, an R-rated erotic thriller spinoff titled "SOULM8TE" is scheduled for release in 2026.

"M3GAN 2.0" opens in theaters on June 27, 2025.

The "Jurassic World" movies contained some moments that upset fans of the original 1993 "Jurassic Park," but, despite those complaints, each one of them has made over a billion dollars worldwide, so of course Universal will continue pumping out sequels. The new one, "Jurassic World Rebirth," might just offer something of a reset for those who've grown cynical about the franchise. David Koepp, screenwriter of the first two "Jurassic Park" films, is returning, while director Gareth Edwards has brought epic visual splendor to films like "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" and 2014's "Godzilla."

"Rebirth" stars Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and Jonathan Bailey as a team on an undercover mission to retrieve genetic material from dinosaurs living in the tropics for the sake of developing a life-saving drug. The official synopsis says this team will "come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that's been hidden from the world for decades."

"Jurassic World Rebirth" opens in theaters on July 2, 2025.

The "TRON" franchise has never quite reached widespread popularity, but its cult fandom keeps Disney going back to the digital well over the long term. The upcoming "TRON: Ares," directed by Joachim Rønning, has been described as more of a standalone sequel rather than a direct follow-up to 2010's "TRON: Legacy." (Joseph Kosinski previously explained why his version of "TRON 3" never happened.)

Another film dealing with the topical issue of AI, "TRON: Ares" follows a powerful computer program played by Jared Leto who escapes from the world of TRON into the real world on a special mission. Given how much of the appeal of "TRON" is based on the stunning art direction and visual effects for its video game universe, it remains to be seen how much appeal a real world-based "TRON" movie will have compared to its predecessors. One thing that's guaranteed to be great, however, is the soundtrack — Nine Inch Nails will be following in the footsteps of Wendy Carlos and Daft Punk for what's sure to be another incredible score for the series.

"TRON: Ares" opens in theaters on October 10, 2025.

In retrospect, the decision to send "Prey" – the best-reviewed film in the "Predator" franchise – straight to Hulu seems like a major mistake on Disney and 20th Century Studios' behalf. The studio is correcting that blunder by giving "Predator: Badlands," a new standalone sequel with "Prey" director Dan Trachtenberg and screenwriter Patrick Aison both returning, a proper theatrical release.

Few details about the plot of "Badlands" are known at this time — how the franchise's killer alien antagonists enter the story is still a mystery. But casting notices have revealed that the film follows the divergent paths of two twin sisters, both of whom will be played by Elle Fanning. Even more of a mystery: a second untitled "Predator" film from Trachtenberg, announced by 20th Century Studios executive Steve Asbell, about which nothing is known except that it will be released sometime before "Badlands."

"Predator: Badlands" opens in theaters on November 7, 2025.

If you're trying to predict the biggest box office hit of 2025, never bet against James Cameron. The filmmaker's third "Avatar" film, titled "Avatar: Fire and Ash," arrives just three years after "Avatar: The Way of Water" — a much shorter wait than the 13 years between "Way of Water" and the first "Avatar," thanks to both sequels being filming simultaneously. After two multi-billion dollar hits in a row, nobody should be arguing that audiences just don't care about Cameron's blue cat aliens this time around.

It goes without saying that "Fire and Ash" will feature some of the most mind-blowing special effects of the year (the concept art, as seen above and in the lead image of this list, promises a grand spectacle). But if that's not enough reason to get excited, actor Jack Champion (who debuted as Miles "Spider" Socorro in "The Way of Water" and is back for the follow-up) has told The Hollywood Reporter that the script "takes a hard left turn" from the formula established in the previous movies. The introduction of a new fire-based Na'vi tribe known as the Ash People promises to complicate the morality of the story and send it in a darker direction.

"Avatar: Fire and Ash" opens in theaters on December 19, 2025.

Writing about every sci-fi sequel scheduled for 2025 includes looking at some series you might not even know exist. For example, who knew that the critically maligned 2010 alien invasion film "Skyline" is now an ongoing direct-to-VOD franchise coming in on its fourth installment? And who knew that these widely ignored sequels are apparently much better than the first movie? Though, to be fair, that's not saying much – the original has a 14% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. What do we know about the next entry in this under-the-radar franchise?

Well, Iko Uwais, who previously starred in and did action choreography for 2017's "Beyond Skyline," returns as Sua, the leader of the underground human resistance. In addition to fighting aliens, Sua will also trade blows with the human villain Eric, played by martial arts action favorite Scott Adkins. Writer/director Liam O'Donnell has been hyping the film up big time, telling Deadline: "As crazy as it sounds, we see this as our own niche version of a 'Fast Five'/'Avengers' type of sequel where we are bringing together the characters from previous installments into a bigger, crowd-pleasing sci-fi martial arts adventure."

"Skyline: Warpath" will be released domestically in early 2025, per Deadline.