Could The Bad Guys win 2022's battle of the animated movies?

It looks like 2022 is shaping up to be another potentially top quality year for animated movies. In the first half of next year alone, we're getting Sonic the Hedgehog's second film outing, the next instalment in the Hotel Transylvania series and Warner Bros' superhero spin-off DC League of Super-Pets.

But, just weeks until 2022 officially arrives, a new contender has thrown its hat into the ring for "best potential animated movie of 2022": Universal and Dreamworks' The Bad Guys.

Take a look at the family-friendly film's first trailer below:

Looks good, right? Sure, the plot may wind up being standard "bad guys turn good" genre fare. But The Bad Guys' animation style and aesthetic looks unique enough to set it apart from its competitors, and it has an all-star cast – Sam Rockwell, Awkwafina, Zazie Beetz and Richard Ayoade are among those lending their vocal talents. Plus, it genuinely looks fun.

So what is The Bad Guys actually about? The CGI heist-comedy is based on a popular kids' book series of the same name by Aaron Blabey, which is centered on a group of misunderstood villains – Mr. Wolf, Mr. Piranha, Mr. Snake, Mr. Shark and Ms. Tarantula.

The quintet constantly try – and, most of the time, fail – to successfully complete numerous robberies in search of a big payday. That is, until Mr. Wolf unintentionally saves an old lady one day. Called a "good boy" by the woman in question, Wolf starts to realize that there might be more to life than, well, a life of crime. What follows is a comedy caper where Mr. Wolf tries to convince his fellow convicts to become more heroic with varying consequences.

An official screenshot of The Bad Guys movie from Universal and Dreamworks — (Image credit: Universal Pictures/Dreamworks Animation)

Dreamworks Animation has previously tasted success with a similar "bad person becomes good" movie in 2010's Megamind – animated fare that was a relative box office and critical hit. So it's unsurprising that the studio wants to follow that success up (albeit a decade later) with an equivalent film production.

But will The Bad Guys have enough about it to overcome the likes of Sonic 2, Hotel Transylvania: Transformia, DC League of Super-Pets? That trio are set to be released before, at the same time as, and just after The Bad Guys lands in theaters in early 2022, so Universal and Dreamworks have their work cut out.

Sonic 2 and Hotel Transylvania: Transformia are already established movie franchises. The first Sonic film was pretty successful at the global box office, and has a cult following despite its mixed-to-positive critical reception. The Hotel Transylvania film series, meanwhile, has amassed $1.36 billion since the first movie arrived in 2012, and each entry in the franchise has been received better than its predecessor.

And, while DC League of Super-Pets is, like The Bad Guys, another newcomer to the animated movie genre, it should have a leg up over the competition for two major reasons: first, its ties to Warner Bros' DC Extended Universe (DCEU), a franchise that's well established at this point. And, with some of the biggest stars in Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart and Keanu Reeves attached to it, DC League of Super-Pets is sure to draw large audiences.

Still, we shouldn't discount The Bad Guys as a serious contender for 2022's biggest animated flick. Dreamworks is a studio that's given us classics including Shrek, Madagascar and How to Train Your Dragon, so there's every chance it could surprise us. If nothing else, it would be cool to see a non-franchise film win the day. Or, rather, the year.

For more movie coverage, check out our selection of the best films on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max and Disney Plus.