The tale of the best sci-fi/fantasy movie of 2023 is told with cosmic beings, fantastical worlds, and spiders. Lots and lots of spiders. The genre space has largely been dominated by comic book movies for over a decade, and that does continue this year where two of the best sci-fi films are superhero sequels, but there’s plenty of non-superhero fare that made a strong showing with impressive first installments. If anything, this year showed that audiences are just as eager to explore new worlds built on wondrous new ideas as they are to return to fan-favorite sci-fi/fantasy franchises.
In particular, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves are excellent ensemble films that show the strength of friendship and found family, while Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Barbie showcase individuals who stand alone against power structures they refuse to conform to. But while all of these films left a mark on us this year, there’s one that swings high above the rest that IGN staff voted to name the best sci-fi/fantasy movie of 2023.
After the ballots were counted there was one clear winner that took the lion’s share of the vote, but three other sci-fi/fantasy movies received an admirable amount of votes, so we’re going to pay those runner-ups their due before we reveal the big winner.
You can view the results by flipping through the slideshow gallery below or keep scrolling to read it as an article.
Runner-Up: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
But first, let’s remember everyone’s favorite group of lovable losers, the Guardians of the Galaxy. This third installment saw James Gunn wrap up his Guardians trilogy in devastatingly emotional fashion, and he did it by showing us Rocket’s brutal origin story and the standout, love-to-hate villain behind it all, the High Evolutionary. Seriously, this dude is animal abuse incarnate, easily making him one of the most detestable baddies in Marvel movie history. Over the course of this threequel, Gunn reminded us what we love about sci-fi movies: seeing lots of gross and gooey stuff. Whereas other Marvel movies can sometimes rely too heavily on weightless CGI, Gunn gave us tangible settings and characters that are slimy and crunchy and disgusting, from the fleshy Orgocorp space station to the deadly cyborg animal enforcers. While the film does end with a look towards a future where the Guardians continue on in a new form, we’re content to enjoy this funny, weird, emotionally rich ending that solidifies Guardians as the MCU’s best trilogy.
Runner-Up: Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Speaking of funny, weird, and emotionally rich, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves took us by surprise with its unexpected approach to the table-top roleplaying game. Chris Pine must have rolled a 20 on Charisma, because his endless charm drives the entire adventure, which eschews the typical dramatic, epic approach seen in Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, and instead focuses on the heart and humor of the genre. What else would we expect from the comedic geniuses that brought us Game Night? The result was a refreshingly upbeat, self-aware film with lovable characters and plenty of unexpected twists and laughs. The graveyard scene in particular left us howling as they, appropriately, refused to let the joke die. And let’s not forget the overly earnest breakout character Xenk the Paladin, who is probably still walking in a straight line.
Runner-Up: Barbie
Then there’s Barbie, played by are-we-sure-she’s-not-a-real-Barbie Margot Robbie, who by film’s end learns to walk to the beat of her own drum. And in heels, no less! While not a sword-and-sorcery movie, Barbie takes us to the fantastical world of Barbie Land, where dolls live in a society built on the rules of playtime, which very much makes it a full-on fantasy film. Although that doesn’t stop it from having an epic battle in the middle, courtesy of Ryan Gosling’s scene-stealing Ken. For us, he’s more than Kenough.
The Barbie movie also pays tribute to the classic sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey (in hilarious fashion), and it takes us to outer space, so it’s actually a sci-fi movie, too. Director Greta Gerwig gets serious points for using the little girls’ toy to tell a big story that addresses Barbie’s flaws, disassembles the patriarchy, and makes a statement on gender’s role in the real world. Speaking of the real world, Barbie had moviegoers showing up in theaters in groups all dressed in their best pink lewk, turning what could have been just another franchise IP film into a delightful cultural phenomenon.
Winner: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
But when all is said and done, no film had a bigger impact on the genre than Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. The sequel to the Oscar-winning Into the Spider-Verse had the IGN staff’s collective Spider-Sense going into overdrive, earning over a third of the total vote. And with good reason. The first film was brilliant, introducing the movie-going world to Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, and a host of bizarrely endearing characters from throughout the Spider-Verse. There’s no way they could reach that high watermark again, right? Turns out, they did!
Across the Spider-Verse expands the Spider-Verse concept by introducing deadly “canon events,” all the while dedicating ample screen time to Miles as he finds his own way through troubles with school, family, girls, and saving the multiverse. We’re introduced to Spider-Punk, who the movies tells us is cool, and by golly we have to agree. He is so cool. His constantly-changing punk-imagery styling is but one example of how the sequel takes its animation style to the next level. Every frame is a dazzling feast for the eyes, from the soulful, trans-coded watercolors during Gwen’s conversation with her dad to the mind-blowing chase scene where Miles uses every last trick he has to escape an entire Spider-army.
Throughout the film, everyone from his parents to Spider-Man 2099 tries to tell Miles how his story is supposed to go, and it all culminates in one of the most deeply felt superhero moments put to screen: Miles saying, “Nah, I’mma do my own thing.” That may as well be the mission statement of the film, because it encapsulates how Spider-Verse defies nearly every standard the medium has, and while it could have rested on its laurels after the success of the first film, instead Across the Spider-Verse once again raises the bar on animated storytelling. Yes, the cliffhanger is especially painful, but that we still had an amazing time and can’t wait to see what happens next is proof enough that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is the best sci-fi/fantasy movie of 2023.
Honorable Mentions
- Infinity Pool
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
- They Cloned Tyrone
- Godzilla Minus One
