Marvel Comics Entertainment is telling the world why they are indeed mighty today. At a special event in Hollywood’s El Capitan Theater, this company teased press and fans alike with trailers, speeches and title cards highlighting what “Phase 3” of their films will entail, leaving some fans who can’t be there for real deciding to follow this event through streaming media and twitter reports. Some may well have thought Phase 2 blitzed by too fast even though it hasn’t.
This studio has announced dates to all their movies up to 2019. The list is as follows:
May 1, 2015: Avengers: Age of Ultron
July 17, 2015: Ant-Man
May 6, 2016: Captain America: Civil War
Nov. 4, 2016: Doctor Strange
May 5, 2017: Guardians of the Galaxy 2
July 28, 2017: Thor: Ragnarok
Nov. 3, 2017: Black Panther
May 4, 2018: Avengers: Infinity War – Part 1
July 6, 2018: Captain Marvel
Nov. 2, 2018: Inhumans
May 3, 2019: Avengers: Infinity War – Part 2
What this means is that a shake-up will happen to the heroic roster beginning next year. That will lead to introductions to several new characters, namely Ant-Man, Quicksilver, Scarlett Witch, Black Panther, Captain Marvel (aka Carol Danvers) and the Inhumans in this confirmed list. More will no doubt be coming as cameos or offer support to the lead hero within each film itself, when casting for these later films begin.
Suspiciously missing from this list are The Fantastic Four (August 7, 2015), X-men: Apocalypse (May 27, 2016), an untitled Wolverine film (March 3, 2017) and The Amazing Spider-Man 3 (2018). Sony and Fox own the movie rights and they seem unflinching as to not letting Marvel use these heroes in their epic plan (for now).
So far, casting rumours are still abound because pre-production has not started. While the cameras are still chilling in storage, fans can figure out how the pieces of this Marvel Cinematic puzzle fit together.
Despite early reports stating that Benedict Cumberbatch will play the seminal wizard, the studio is neither denying or confirming if he indeed has won the role. Most fans are hopeful that he will play the mystic since he’s done an excellent job at portraying a detective and dragon.
Confirmed is Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings, Planet of the Apes) playing the mysterious Ulysses “Hugo” Klaw in Avengers 2, and Chadwick Boseman (Draft Day) as the Black Panther in the movie of the same name. He will first appear in Captain America 3 in some capacity that will no doubt lead him to be recruited to become the next Avenger after he gets his own solo adventure. These two characters will no doubt meet as Klaw is a frequent enemy of the Black Panther. This film is particularly exciting as the story can go anywhere. If hints from the current teasers of Avengers 2: Age of Ultron are any indication, more mineral is going to be required to repair the Captain’s shield and that can lead into a film about land rights as several governmental agencies are interested in extracting the rare vibranium that’s required to fix S.H.I.E.L.D. equipment too when the robotic terminator is done with Earth’s mightiest heroes. The result may be the reason why Captain America’s next adventure will still result in political ramifications.
Civil War is all about whether or not liberties are going to be taken away because of the U.S. government passing the Superhero Registration Act to regulate who can act as “police officers.” Comic book readers will find that Iron Man and Captain America are in the centre of this dispute and their opinions will divide them. The question of how many other heroes will be affected will depend on whether or not Sony or Fox will loosen their hold on their properties, namely Spider-Man, Wolverine, X-men and Fantastic Four so that they will become involved. The likelihood is slim. The fallout will no doubt result in the formation of a new group of heroes to become the Avengers.
Sadly, the Guardians of the Galaxy may well be far far away when all this chaos erupts on planet Earth. If the first film is any indication, this Captain Kirk maverick’s goal is to travel the galactic frontier. He has nothing to tie him to Earth anymore. Through flashbacks, audiences might get to discover more of his past and connection with the cosmos at large.
Perhaps, if people are looking to tie this current roster of films together, the Guardians will meet the Inhumans. The likelihood of that happening is very good, when considering that Quill and the Inhumans once came from Earth. That is, they are genetically modified homo sapiens. A time long ago, the Kree occupied a small section of Earth’s solar system and they thought that they could alter some local species to serve them in their war with the Skrulls. As these early hominids naturally evolved further, a society was born that would result in the Inhumans. Astute comic book readers will have to note that one of them — Crystal, a member of the Royal family of Inhumans — married the mutant Quicksilver.
Coincidence? Most likely not. When Marvel Comic’s Kevin Feige is at the helm of orchestrating these films, there is a grand plan being made that will no doubt have fans screaming for Infinity War to hit theatres sooner than later. The decision to split this storyline into two films is a smart one. Anyone who has read the comics will find that it covers a lot of ground with the warmonger courting Death. To win her affection, he would “occupy” other worlds. That means, there will be a lot of crossover action going on with nearly every character in the Marvel Universe appearing in the four films encompassing the Infinity War, including Captain Marvel and the Inhumans.
When it’s known that Josh Brolin is playing Thanos, he will no doubt get a few more moments in the preceding films to reveal what his plan is. His patience is great. But what about all the Marvel Comics movie-goers who want to see this story sooner than later? Some will have married or have children by then that they can take to the movies!
Thano’s mission will be different. His desire is to obtain all the Infinity stones, hence the final Avenger’s film title that reveals a war will transpire when they are all collected. With that known, Marvel Comic’s version of Death is lurking nearby if that’s the case. As for who will play her, that’s anyone’s guess.
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I just hope to live long enough to see all those movies. I’m 29 years old and I’ll be like 35 when Avengers Infinity II comes out. I also wonder how are they going to handle the Civil War without Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four.
I don’t think the movie version is going to follow the comic books at all, so more liberty will be taken into its direction. As I recall, the comic books spent a good year dealing with it, and there’s no way all of that can be compressed into a film.
If Sony doesn’t share Spidey they’re going to divert a lot from the comic. They will also have to scrap the whole Black Panther and Storm husband/wife relation since Storm belongs to Fox..
I think releasing the two parts of Infinity War a full year apart is an interesting move; I don’t recall any more than a six- or nine-month gap between other two-part films like Potter 7. But then I guess they’ll sell even more tickets to the two films in between by having fans wait longer for ANY Marvel.