Summer movie season seems to start earlier each year. Arguably, it started the first weekend of April with the opening of the mega-hit “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” “Captain America” certainly set the tone for summer; you can barely throw a shield without hitting an intended blockbuster featuring comic book characters and adventure.

Here is a quick primer on what to expect at the theatre this summer. It does not cover all of the expected summer movies, and it is possible some of the release dates will change, but with the opening of “Spider-Man 2” this weekend, summer movies 2014 are here.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2: Yes, this movie arrived Friday. Yes, if you’re a fan, you’ve already seen it. But it is the first of the summer blockbusters even if it was released in the first days of May. This is the second installment in the second Spider-Man trilogy. It is also considered a springboard for a larger Spider-Man universe of movies (a la “The Avengers”) including reports of “Sinister Six” (six major Spider-Man villains), and “Venom” movies in the coming years. Released May 2.

Neighbors: A comedy pitting family man Seth Rogen against college boy Zac Efron. Release date: May 9.

Chef: Jon Favreau directed “Iron Man” and gave himself a recurring role as Tony Stark’s bodyguard. Here, he directs and stars in the story of a top chef who opens a food truck. Release date: May 9.

Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return: An animated sequel to “The Wizard of Oz.” Release date: May 9.

Mom’s Night Out: Comedy of women seeking a night on the town. Release date: May 9.

GODZILLA: Those familiar with the 1960s and ’70s movies with superhero-style battles between Godzilla and Rodan, Ghidora, Mothra, etc., men dressed in rubber monster suits crushing scale models of Japan underfoot, Son of Godzilla, etc., can be excused in forgetting that the original “Godzilla” was a terror — a radioactive monster fantasy created by the Japanese, the only people on earth whose population had suffered the atomic bomb. Judging by the trailers, this new Americanized “Godzilla” seems to owe more to the dramatic-terror sensibilities of the original, with “Breaking Bad’s” Bryan Cranston taking the place of actor Raymond Burr. Of course, Godzilla fans are wondering if this latest effort will make up for the 1990s American “Godzilla” starring Matthew Broderick. Release date: May 16.

Million Dollar Arm: Jon Hamm as a sports agent seeking baseball pitching talent among India’s cricket teams. Release date: May 16.

X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST: This latest installment promises many things. For starters, it’s based on one of the most popular story arcs from the 1980s when writer Chris Claremont, artist John Byrne and Terry Austin propelled “The Uncanny X-Men” into being the most popular comic book in the world. The plot: In the future, mutant-killing Sentinels have slaughtered most of the X-Men and thrown the rest of the world into robotic martial law. The story involves time travel and so does this film adaptation. This movie allows the casts of the original “X-Men” movie series and the “First Class” reboot to meet, tied together by the ubiquitous Wolverine played in all films by Hugh Jackman. It also brings back director Bryan Singer, who directed “X-Men” and “X-2,” then left the series for “Superman Returns.” With Singer back and time travel involved, some fans hope this latest movie will erase the “Dark Phoenix” events of “X-Men: The Last Stand.” And then there’s

the rumors that the next X-Men film will introduce arch-enemy Apocalypse. Release date: May 23.

Blended: Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore team again (“The Wedding Singer,” “50 First Dates”) as blind dates stuck with their families in Africa. Release date: May 23.

MALEFICENT: Arguably, Maleficent is the greatest of all Disney’s princess villains. She has minions. She has powers. She has that cool villain costume with that memorable horned helmet. She can force a young maiden into a magical slumber. She can raise barriers of thorns. Maleficent can even transform herself into a dragon. Now, in this live-action update, “Maleficent” has Angelina Jolie portraying the title role in glorious 3-D. This is the latest Disney reboot of a film classic. It will be a few weeks before we know if it is a success like the Johnny Depp/Mad Hatter-fueled “Alice in Wonderland” or the less-than-stellar performance of “The Great and Powerful Oz.” Release date: May 30.

A Million Ways to Die in the West: Sean McFarlane’s Western comedy that explores the concept outlined in the title. Release date: May 30.

EDGE OF TOMORROW: Based on the Japanese novel “All You Need Is Kill,” with the tag line, “Live. Die. Repeat,” Tom Cruise returns to science fiction. This time with Emily Blunt, Cruise plays a soldier repeating his death day repeatedly while battling aliens. Sounds like “Groundhog Day” meets “The Seventh Seal” meets “War of the Worlds.” But with each repeat of his death, Cruise’s soldier gets one step closer to beating the aliens. Cruise has starred in some interesting science-fiction films, “Oblivion,” “Minority Report,” “War of the Worlds.” Hopefully, this one will find similar appeal. Release date: June 6.

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS: With a title based on a twist of Shakespeare’s line from “Julius Caesar,” this movie is based on the romantic novel by John Green. A big bestseller of a young-adult novel, there are no boy wizards, nor shimmering love affairs between a high school girl and a cute century-old vampire, nor a teenage archer fighting for food and her life in a post-apocalyptic America … Instead, this is the simple, beautiful love story of two teens falling in love under the tragic shadow of cancer. Release date: June 6.

How to Train Your Dragon 2: Sequel to the popular animated tale. Release date: June 13.

22 Jump Street: R-rated sequel to “21 Jump Street,” the comedy based on the 1980s television undercover cops show. Release date: June 13.

Think Like a Man Too: Comedy sequel to the 2012 movie. Release date: June 20.

Jersey Boys: Clint Eastwood directs the film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical. Release date: June 20.

TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION: The giant Autobots are back and the world endangered. There is no actor Shia LeBeouf, being replaced this go-round by Mark Wahlberg in the lead human role. Of course, the stars of this fourth installment are the Transformers, a 1980s toy idea of cars that could transform into robots and back again, which then became the subject of an animated TV cartoon series and comic books until becoming the live-action/ CGI blockbusters starting about a decade ago. Oh, yes, Michael Bay directs again. Release date: June 27.

DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES: “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” (2011) revived the “Planet of the Apes” franchise though nothing like the phenomenon of the late 1960s through the mid-1970s which saw the release of five “Apes” films, an “Apes” TV show, an “Apes” Saturday morning cartoon series, and the precursor to modern marketing with a plethora of “Apes” toys and merchandise. This installment picks up a decade after “Rise.” Caesar and his ape tribe must face the human survivors of a plague virus. … Who will rule in a movie series called “Planet of the Apes”? Release date: July 11.

The Purge: Anarchy: Sequel to the movie about a future time when all crimes are legal one day each year. Release date: July 18.

Jupiter Ascending: The Wachowski siblings (“The Matrix,” “V for Vendetta”) return with this science-fiction tale of a young woman marked for an extraordinary legacy. Release date: July 18.

HERCULES: THE THRACIAN WARS: Fifty to 60 years ago, Hercules movies were the closest thing to a superhero movie. Steve Reeves was an early bodybuilder who made Hercules films a major draw for audiences in the mid-20th century. Since, the Greek demi-god has been the subject of a 1990s syndicated television show and a few other efforts. This year seems to be Hercules’ big-screen comeback. Earlier this year, a Hercules film starring Kellan Lutz bombed at the box office, but there’s more excitement surrounding this summer effort which stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in the title role. Release date: July 25.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: Fans are wondering how much this comic book movie will connect with the other Marvel movies, such as “The Avengers,” etc. While the extra credit scenes for “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” made no correlation between the Avengers aspect of the Marvel Universe and the Guardians, last fall’s “Thor: The Dark World” did. Guardians are a lesser known superhero group, whose adventures take place in deep space. The release of the Guardians movie preview attracted loads of attention, introduced the characters, and revealed a potentially fun, tongue-in-cheek adventure. Release date: Aug. 1.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Previews revealed a different, disturbing look for the four heroes, human lips and noses on turtles … hmmm. Release date: Aug. 8.

THE EXPENDABLES 3: Are “The Expendables” movies filled with great acting? No. But they are filled with a past generation’s action stars: Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis (though he reportedly will not be in this third installment). Chuck Norris appeared in the second one, so did Claude Van Damme . Harrison Ford will reportedly make an appearance in this one. With these action stars of yore poking fun at their age and even their past movie images, “The Expendables” movies are expendable but highly entertaining fare. Release date: Aug. 15.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For: Sequel to “Sin City,” all based on Frank Miller’s gritty, noir graphic novels. Release date: Aug. 22.