Here’s what to look forward to in 2022
By Anthony Vasquez-Peddie, CTVNews.ca writer
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Toronto, Canada (CTV Network) — Now that the year 2021 is behind us, you may be interested in knowing what to look forward to in 2022.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic dominating the news yet again last year and affecting many aspects of our day-to-day lives, causing much uncertainty, there are a still a few predictable events that we can probably count on happening.
Here’s a look ahead at some of the news to be expected in the year 2022. PLATINUM JUBILEE
One of the first anticipated events of the year will be the start of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee year, which will begin Feb. 6.
The date marks the 70th anniversary of the 95-year-old’s accession to the throne, which is already the longest tenure in Britain’s history.
Her health has been the subject of speculation since being admitted to hospital on Oct. 20 for medical tests. She was released the following day but cancelled many of her public engagements on the advice of doctors. She did not make an appearance again until Nov. 17. CANADIAN ELECTIONS
After the country went through a snap federal election last year, a number of provinces and cities will head to the polls again in 2022.
Most notably, the political futures of Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Quebec Premier François Legault will be determined on June 2 and Oct. 3, respectively.
Municipal elections are also set to be held this year across British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Prince Edward Island, as well as parts of Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories. WORLD OF SPORTS
Two of the largest sporting events in the world are scheduled for 2022.
First up will be the Winter Olympics in Beijing, which starts on Feb. 4. The Games are already mired in controversy. Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. declared a diplomatic boycott, citing human rights violations by the Chinese government. The boycott means no government officials from those countries will be in attendance but athletes will still be able to compete.
In addition, the Games will be without NHL players competing for hockey gold after they were restricted from participating due to the spread of COVID-19, which has already disrupted the league’s schedule this season.
On Nov. 21, the men’s World Cup will kick off in Qatar, and Canada is within striking distance of qualifying for the world’s biggest football tournament for the first time since 1986. The team is currently sitting atop the CONCACAF qualifier standings, one point ahead of the U.S. and two points ahead of Mexico and Panama. The top three teams after the regional qualifying games, which end in late March, automatically gain entry to the World Cup, while the fourth-place team moves on to a playoff round. BLOCKBUSTER MOVIES
A number of highly anticipated screen releases are on the horizon.
Marvel will continue dishing out superhero flicks with “Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” slated to come out this spring, “Thor: Love and Thunder” during the summer and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” in the fall.
Sticking with the comics theme, Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne in “The Batman” is scheduled to be released in March.
“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” the third chapter of the “Harry Potter” prequel series, is expected to hit theatres in April. Mads Mikkelsen replaces Johnny Depp as the villainous Gellert Grindelwald in the film after the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star was apparently asked to resign from the role following a lost libel suit against a U.K. tabloid that alleged he abused his ex-wife Amber Heard.
“Top Gun: Maverick” will see Tom Cruise reprise his role as high-flying fighter pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in a sequel to the 1986 classic “Top Gun” in May.
Finally, after numerous delays over the years, James Cameron’s “Avatar 2” is currently scheduled to be on tap in December. SPACE EXPLORATION
It may not yet be written in the stars, but one thing many scientists and astronomy enthusiasts are looking forward to this year are the first images transmitted back to Earth by the James Webb Space Telescope that was launched on Christmas Day.
It will take about six months for the highly sophisticated piece of machinery to reach its destination, 1.6 million kilometres away, and be ready to start scanning deep into the cosmos in search of galaxies formed early in the creation of the universe.
A number of space flight missions are expected in 2022, among the most highly anticipated are NASA’s recently launched Double Asteroid Redirection Test as it crashes into a tiny asteroid moonlet on Sept. 26, as well as the Juno spacecraft making a pass close to Jupiter’s moon Europa on Sept. 29. Several moon-related missions from a number of different space agencies are also anticipated in the coming year.
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Brooklyn Neustaeterctvnews.caproducers@bellmedia.ca
