Friday brings us “Captain America: Civil War,’’ and you know what that means: The summer movie season is upon us again. Forget that it’s early May, now begins the annual rite of sequels, spinoffs, remakes, and reboots, all jostling for maximum hype and awe in the effort to separate audiences from their cash.

This summer, though, the movie studios seem to be going for baroque and digging deeper into the depths of inspiration — or is that desperation? — than usual. How else to explain the “Angry Birds’’ movie, a wannabe blockbuster derived from a game you play on your phone? What’s next, a three-hour IMAX epic based on Snapchat cat videos? (Note to Hollywood: WE’RE KIDDING.)

There are sequels, but they’re soaring in from left field. We don’t know anyone who was asking for Tim Burton and Johnny Depp to digitally mug Lewis Carroll a second time in “Alice Through the Looking Glass.’’ Or for Disney/Pixar to crank out “Finding Dory,’’ a sequel to the 13-year-old “Finding Nemo.’’ Do we want to go back to “Independence Day: Resurgence’’ two full decades after the original “Independence Day’’? Does the 2013 magician-nerd heist thriller “Now You See Me’’ really warrant a revisit? The proof, as always, will be at the box office.

There are head-scratchers as well in the remake/reboot department. Certainly, plenty of people are looking forward to the new “Ghostbusters,’’ starring Melissa McCarthy and “Saturday Night Live’’ stalwarts Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones. And we haven’t had a Tarzan movie since 1998’s live-action “Tarzan and the Lost City’’ and 1999’s animated “Tarzan,’’ so “The Legend of Tarzan,’’ with Alexander Skarsgard and Margot Robbie — he Tarzan, she Jane — is probably overdue.

But only the success of the “How to Train Your Dragon’’ movies — and possibly “Game of Thrones’’ — explains why Disney is putting out a remake of 1977’s live-action/animation mash-up “Pete’s Dragon.’’ And 57 years seems an awfully long time between versions of “Ben-Hur,’’ that storied epic of the Roman Empire. At least the chariot races will now be pumped up with digital sound and fury; best to think of it as the latest car chase extravaganza and call it “Rapidus et Furiosus XII.’’

Also, this just in: “Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie.’’ Your call.

There are the expected superhero installments, including a fresh “X-Men’’ from Marvel/Disney, and “Suicide Squad’’ from DC/Warner Bros. But even the summer’s other offerings seem a tad bizarre this year.

There’s a big, serious biopic called “The Founder’’ — about Ray Kroc, the man who created McDonald’s (played by Michael Keaton). And the digitally animated film to keep an eye on is the decidedly kid-unfriendly “Sausage Party,’’ in which Seth Rogen and pals voice randy grocery items.

Leave it to Steven Spielberg to bring the normal this summer — with “The BFG,’’ which is based on a Roald Dahl kiddie classic, stars recent Oscar winner Mark Rylance as a Big Friendly Giant, and features characters named Bloodbottler and Fleshlumpeater.

Maybe normal is overrated.

SUMMER MOVIES, Page N8