Near the end of every year, I always make it a point to look at what’s to come during the following year so that I know what I should be looking forward to every month. And you know what? 2017 is looking like it’s going to be a great year, with a lot of exciting things to come in my areas of interest. So let me take this opportunity to share what I’m excited about in the hopes of hyping up the coming year.

New Video Game Hardware Releases

Let me cut to the chase – I’m looking forward to the Nintendo Switch, and 2017 will start with another Nintendo presentation in January that is focused on their latest console. Despite being released mid-cycle, there’s a lot of hype surrounding the Switch, and a lot of unanswered questions as well. Is the Switch going to be powerful enough to hold it’s own against its competition? What titles are going to be available at launch and during its first year? Am I going to change my mind about not being an early adopter?

To a lesser extent, I’m also interested about Microsoft’s X-Box One upgrade and how it’s going to affect the video game landscape. I’m a big fan of the video game console wars and right now, it’s looking like Sony will be the winner of the eight generation. Will Microsoft’s Scorpio give them a chance against their biggest competition? Also, it’s highly unusual for a video game company to release a console so late in each cycle, so I’m interested in how Nintendo is going to perform with the Switch being released so late.

As far as video game software releases are concerned, I’m not looking forward to much. Nintendo looks like it’s going to focus on the Switch so there isn’t any high profile 3DS or Wii U release outside of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I don’t have any Sony/Microsoft consoles so I’m also not keeping an eye on what software is going to come out on those. Video games in 2017 is all about the Switch and how it’s going to perform, as far as I’m concerned.

Marvel and DC Films/TV Series

In 2016, we saw Batman come to blows against Superman. We saw the Avengers fight amongst themselves. Whether or not these films were good is irrelevant; Batman V Superman and Civil War were both significant events when it comes to the superhero film genre. Can 2017 top 2016 in this regard?

It’s weird to find myself saying this given DC’s track record, but they actually have the opportunity to make 2017 more memorable. First, they have Wonder Woman coming out – the first big studio superhero film with a female lead character. Will Wonder Woman be as successful as male-led or ensemble superhero films? Looking at how the character’s appearance in Batman V Superman was positively received, I’d say the film has a really good chance.

Next up for DC is the Justice League movie. Sure, Marvel beat them by a couple of years when they released the Avengers, but the Avengers aren’t as iconic as DC’s “magnificent seven”. Despite all the negative criticism that DC’s recent films have received, the anticipation for these two movies remains to be very high.

On the Marvel Studios side, things are relatively lower key in comparison, but still highly anticipated. People are looking forward to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Thor: Ragnarok is looking really good, but it looks like the spotlight is going to be on Spider-Man: Homecoming. While not part of Marvel Studios, Wolverine is still a Marvel character so I have to mention Hugh Jackman’s last film as Wolverine: Logan. Thanks to the success of Deadpool, we’re finally going to get an R-rated Wolverine film. Is an R-rating what producers needed to make a good Wolverine film? Will Logan be one of the better X-Men films or will it be another dud like X-Men Origins: Wolverine was?

On the smaller screen there isn’t much of note, save for the debut of Iron Fist in his own Netflix TV series, The Punisher’s own solo show, and the Defenders. The Punisher is interesting to me primarily because he was only a supporting character in Daredevil; I’m curious about how Marvel’s producers would be able to flesh out the character enough to have an entire show revolve around him. I’m interested in Iron Fist primarily because he’s new to the Marvel/Netflix universe and I want to see what he’s going to bring.

The Defenders though… Similar to what Marvel Studios did with the Avengers, the Defenders is a series involving several characters who can (and have) have an entire show revolve around themselves. Cross-over episodes in TV are nothing new, but the Defenders is an entire cross-over show in itself. Will this formula translate as well as it did on the big screen? Also, Marvel managed to snag Sigourney Weaver to portray the villain of the series; given the Marvel/Netflix track record of having excellent villains (Kingpin, Kilgrave, Cottonmouth and Black Mariah) I’ll bet Ms. Weaver’s going to get a juicy role to work with.

Movies in general

As I was writing this, I realized that there’s a heck of a lot of movies to watch out for in 2017. We’ve got film adaptations of The Dark Tower (Stephen King’s popular series of novels), The Snowman (best selling novel), and Baywatch (90’s TV show) coming, as well as remakes of cult classics Flatliners, Stephen King’s IT, and Friday the 13th.

We’ve also got a lot of sequels planned for release in 2017, some for films that I didn’t expect to have follow ups like Blade Runner 2049, Trainspotting 2 and  xXx: The Return of Xander Cage. We’ll see another Alien film (Alien: Covenant), another Pirates film (Dead Men Tell No Tales), Transformers film (The Last Knight), and Apes film (War for the Planet of the Apes). We might even see Pitch Perfect 3, Insidious: Chapter 4, and another Fast and the Furious film if they all meet their planned release dates. There’s too many to list them all (I almost left out John Wick 2 and Kingsman: The Golden Circle!) so forgive me if I missed out on a key title or two.

I haven’t even talked about my most antipicated sequel that’s coming in 2017 – the still untitled Star Wars Episode VIII! It’s Carrie Fisher’s final feature length film and the follow up to the massively successful The Force Awakens, so I’m sure that a lot of people are looking forward to it.

And these are all the things that I’m really looking forward to. Writing about this is a nice little exercise; I’m actually quite excited about 2017. I acknowledge that if it hadn’t been for the release of the Nintendo Switch, this list would have consisted solely of movies to come. Let’s see next year if 2018 will be the same.

Are you looking forward to something in 2017? A book release, a big video game title, a new TV show, a concert or a new album by your favorite artist? Let us know what you’re eagerly anticipating by leaving a comment or two below!