20 Movies Starring MCU Actors In 2018

8. Alita: Battle Angel (Jennifer Connelly)

Release Date: July 20

Unquestionably the riskiest movie due for release next year, Alita: Battle Angel is based on the popular manga of the almost-same name, and due to James Cameron's involvement as a producer has managed to garner itself a cheeky $200 million budget.

Directing duties will be assumed by Robert Rodriguez, who hasn't ever made a film with a budget remotely close to this, while the little-known Rosa Salazar will play the titular heroine, and the supporting cast includes Christoph Waltz, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Michelle Rodriguez, Jackie Earle Haley and the voice of Spider-Man's AI Karen, Jennifer Connelly (as cyber-physician Chiren).

Regardless of how well it turns out, there's no safer bet for a box office bomb in 2018, due to the niche material, the lack of a top-line star, Cameron only serving as producer, the bizarre decision to give Alita offputtingly large anime eyes, and the poor performance of this year's Ghost in the Shell movie.

Fingers crossed the infuriatingly inconsistent Rodriguez nails a home run here, but the limited history of Hollywood manga adaptations doesn't exactly work in his or the film's favour.