Image: Disney / Pixar; Illumination & Universal Pictures
Share
Next year sees the release of Mortal Kombat II and Street Fighter, a cute matching pair of movie franchises based on cheerfully violent 1990s arcade games where larger-than-life martial artists wallop each other in one-on-one bouts. We can all agree that filmmaking should be a creative space for expression rather than competition. But what if we pitted thematically similar films from 2026’s release schedule against each other in imaginary winner-takes-all duels? Let’s get ready to rumble!
Wuthering Heights (13 Feb) vs Sense and Sensibility (25 Sep)
In the well-read corner: a brace of corsets-and-carriages period dramas based on novels by trailblazing female authors. Margot Robbie and Saltburn director Emerald Fennell have teamed up for a steamy-looking take on Emily Brontë’s gothic romance, with in-demand hunk Jacob Elordi as moor-stomping Heathcliff and a woozy electro-pop soundtrack by Charli XCX. While the latest adaptation of Jane Austen’sSense and Sensibility will likely be more traditional fare (translation: less horny), the talented ensemble cast includes Daisy Edgar-Jones, George MacKay and the wonderful Fiona Shaw.
WINNER:Wuthering Heights seems most likely to scandalise
Every movie trivia nerd knows that Wes Craven’s self-aware slasher hit Scream (1996) was based on a script called Scary Movie. When the Wayans brothers decided to lampoon Scream four years later, they cheekily nicked its original title. Now the satirical horror franchises are going head-to-decapitated-head in 2026, both hoping to capitalise on the return of their original stars (Neve Campbell and Anna Faris, respectively). Recent Scream outings featuring phone freak Ghostface have been darkly funny but convoluted so the scattershot spoofing of a new Scary Movie – the first since 2013 – may end up being more appealing.
WINNER: Scary Movie 6 (which will surely send up Ghostface anyway)
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (3 April) vs The Mandalorian & Grogu (22 May)
Image: Nintendo / Illumination
It’s Mario against Mando! Deep space is the common backdrop for this tussle for young hearts and minds, as the sequel to animated 2023 mega-hit The Super Mario Bros Movie blasts off from the Mushroom Kingdom to explore the wider universe. Will this outward expansion encroach on the galactic turf of The Mandalorian & Grogu, the first Star Wars film since 2019 and – pointedly – also the first not to feature the words “Star” or “Wars” in its title or subtitle? Both promise cute cosmic capers in any case.
WINNER: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie will get the jump on poor Grogu
Mortal Kombat II (15 May) vs Street Fighter (16 Oct)
Karl Urban
These fighting game franchises last feuded in the mid-1990s, with a couple of highly ropey screen adaptations latterly reclaimed as campy classics. The new Mortal Kombat II looks to be channeling some Galaxy Quest vibes with Karl Urban as a vain Hollywood action star dropped into a lethal inter-dimensional martial arts tournament. But Street Fighter has recruited an impressively eclectic cast of actors, wrestlers and hip-hop stars and is also being directed by Kitao Sakurai, who recently proved he could deftly juggle action, slapstick and satire with the hilarious Twisted Metal streaming series.
WINNER: Tempting wild card Street Fighter
Toy Story 5 (19 June) vs Minions 3 (1 July)
A clash of animated franchises with a beady eye on tie-in toy sales that have both become global juggernauts. With Pixar’s recent wobbly form, it’s not surprising that the studio is returning to the playroom that made their reputation three decades ago. Writer-director Andrew Stanton also seems to have found a decent angle for a fifth Toy Story instalment: how can old-school action figures like Woody and Buzz compete with the allure of screen time for kids? Minions 3 will technically be the seventh film to feature the pint-sized babbling henchmen that launched a thousand banana-yellow Facebook memes. But quite how it will tie in with the concurrent Despicable Me movies remains to be seen.
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
WINNER:Toy Story 5 literally has the most Buzz
Supergirl (26 June) vs Spider-Man: Brand New Day (31 July)
Milly Alcock as Supergirl. Image: DC Studio
The Tom Holland era of Spider-Man has seen the quippy webhead soar to thrilling new heights of drama, emotion and box office moolah. But despite Holland’s puppyish enthusiasm, he is no longer a scrappy underdog, even if the latest instalment returns Peter Parker to the relatively lowly status of friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man rather than multiverse-saving Avenger. Will 2026’s outing feel like a backward step? Here’s where unknown quantity Supergirl could sneak in. Aussie actor Milly Alcock stars as Superman’s hard-partying cousin, off on an interstellar bender that apparently takes inspiration from revenge western True Grit. Sounds pretty cool!
WINNER:You go Supergirl
Matt Damon in The Odyssey. Image: TCD/Prod.DB / Alamy
Moana (10 July) vs The Odyssey (17 July)
Two tales of brave adventurers at the mercy of the ocean on rickety rafts (although only one features original songs by Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda). Putting Disney’s latest live-action remake up against Christopher Nolan’s grandiose adaptation of the grandaddy of all literature might seem like a mismatch. But stories only become epic myths by being told repeatedly, and anyone with a young child and access to Disney+ will know how the sweet animated musical Moana (2016) – about a young Polynesian teen on a quest to save her island community – is apparently endlessly rewatchable.
WINNER:Expect a wave of support for Moana
Avengers: Doomsday (18 Dec) vs Dune: Part Three (18 Dec)
Talk about rivalry… two of the potentially biggest blockbusters of 2026 are currently squatting on the same pre-Christmas release date. The once-invincible Marvel brand has experienced a major crash so the return of Robert Downey Jr – recast as villainous Doctor Doom – alongside literally dozens of familiar faces from the last 37 (!) films is clearly a conscious attempt to rekindle the multibillion-dollar magic of Avengers: Endgame (2019). But Denis Villeneuve’s admired space opera about mind-bending spice and terrifying sandworms has critical momentum and a red-hot star in the form of Timothée Chalamet. Could it be Dune’s day?
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
WINNER:Still probably Avengers: Doomsday, by sheer numbers alone
Buy from your local Big Issue vendor every week – and always take the magazine. It’s how vendors earn with dignity and how we fund our work to end poverty.
