Though a new season isn’t here officially until June 21, summer movie attractions are reaching screens already. High-profile attractions include "Iron Man 3" and other potential blockbusters like "Man of Steel," "The Lone Ranger," a zombie-apocalypse drama called "World War Z" and "Star Trek Into Darkness" -- a new mission for the Starship Enterprise crew.

Another sequel is "Fast and Furious 6," which opened last Friday with Vin Diesel and sleek cars again. Will Smith and son Jaden team up in the sci-fi thriller "After Earth," in which they crash-land on Earth 1,000 years after people abandoned the planet. It opens May 31. Advance buzz also is earned by "World War Z," a June 21 release starring Brad Pitt as a U.N. worker racing to stop a zombie pandemic from eliminating humanity.

“Man of Steel,” coming June 14, reboots the Superman story with a tale about the Krypton-born hero's early fears that Earth won't accept him. Another hero returns from past decades in "The Lone Ranger," a July 3 release with Johnny Depp as Tonto, a Native American sidekick to a former Texas Ranger who wears a mask.

Two sci-fi thrillers with elaborate effects are "Pacific Rim" (July 12), in which mankind builds robot technology to defend Earth against massive monsters, and "Elysium” (Aug. 9), with Matt Damon taking on a dangerous mission while rich people live on a fancy space station. And it wouldn't be summer without a coming-of-age tale such as "The Way Way Back," opening July 5 and telling the story of an awkward teen developing confidence and romantic success while working at a water park during school vacation.

Film reporter says: "As usual, it seems like a lot of summer movies have numbers at the end of their titles. . . . All of the studios want a safe bet -- and the safest bets usually are the sequels and remakes and reboots and prequels." – Dave Karger, Fandango.com correspondent

Blogger says: "'Man of Steel' is definitely one of the films I’m most looking forward to seeing. It’s been quite some time since any film's trailer has looked quite as mesmerizing.” – Mikhail Chernyavsky, KMAX-TV in Sacramento

Magazine critic says: "In 'The Internship,' Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson play two middle-aged, unemployed salesmen who land an internship at Google and try adapting to the digital age. Is the plot a metaphor for the plight of these comedy stalwarts, neither of whom has starred in a mainstream hit in four or five years?" – Richard Corliss, Time