Marvel Phase 3 – They’ve Given Us Too Much to Talk About

Posted on October 29, 2014 by | 8 Comments

Okay, when Marvel leaked their Age of Ultron trailer last week, I was excited. And we were starting to get some rumors on the next movie in the works, Captain America 3. It’s going to have Iron Man! It might be Civil War! With those little tidbits, I figured that would be it for a while. After all, we’re seven months out from the next Marvel movie, and we just got the first trailer for it…

Then last week, DC announced all of their movies between now and 2020. I haven’t even had a chance to talk about these – so check out the post about them on We Minored in Film to cover that! The announcements are both exciting and expected, as they are movies for the members of the Justice League. The Marvel equivalent would be announcing Hawkeye, Hulk, and Black Widow movies to go with the existing titles.

And I feel that there’s an element of DC forcing this play, but maybe it was always planned. Marvel announced all of Phase 3, all in one go! With release dates, subtitles, and everything! I should add, though, that it seems their plan was to announce all of these movies – and then show the trailer for Age of Ultron that evening. By which point, there would have been way too much for one day.

Alright, so to try to keep this halfway manageable, there’s a great article on The Mary Sue about the movie announcements already. So I’m going to add a bit of my own speculation and excitement about the movies!

Update: Also, check out some thoughts from We Minored in Film: the good and the bad.

Captain America: Civil War – May 6, 2016

Wait – so they’re starting with Civil War? Before we have the other heroes? That’s a bit curious. It actually makes me wonder – a lot – whether we’re going to get a lot of first appearances of these characters in Age of Ultron. Or else, in Civil War. Because part of what made this story was that there were so many heroes, and seeing which side the heroes went with, and why.

Of course, there are a lot of secondary characters from the individual films who haven’t gotten their own film, like War Machine, Falcon, and the like. And more options for adding some in Agents of SHIELD and on the NetFlix shows. So really – who knows who we’ll have in this film?

Doctor Strange – November 4, 2016

DOCTOR STRANGE!!!

There go all of my theories. We’re going to get magic in these movies. First the Scarlet Witch, I imagine, and then Doctor Strange himself, the Sorcerer Supreme. This should be fun.

The rumors that are circulating right now, however, is Benedict Cumberbatch for the good Doctor. Really? I’m not sure I see it. I keep thinking of a lot of other roles I feel like Cumberbatch would be good at in Marvel, but not Strange. If nothing else, Strange should be older.

The Mary Sue presented a couple of other great contenders. Oded Fehr, and Pedro Pascal. Casting Oded Fehr almost feels like typecasting (The Mummy, anyone?)… but I love him, he would be amazing. And Pedro Pascal? Oberyn Martell himself? That would be fun. I would prefer either over Cumberbatch for this role. Who do you think would be good? I’m still debating this question after all this time!

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – May 5, 2017

This was a known element, after how well Guardians of the Galaxy did. And it’s a good continuation of the cosmic stuff. The main buzz here is that there’s talk of a new Guardian, from the comics. Who am I betting on? Adam Warlock.

Adam Warlock was the impetus and plot to the Guardians coming together in the 2008-2010 comic, which saw the current roster of the team come together. The universe is falling apart, and this mage knows it and knows how to stop it. So he could be a continuation of the magic being introduced in the other films, as well as a solid plot for the second film. Oh, and the Infinity Gauntlet? Yeah, he was the one who showed up and had a plan for dealing with that, too. And Thanos. So he’s an ideal character to lead us there.

And for casting? Benedict Cumberbatch. I would totally cast him as Adam Warlock.

Thor: Ragnarok – July 28, 2017

Oh hey, look! There’s going to be a Thor 3. That’s a thing.

I felt like Thor was closed out pretty well at the end of Thor: The Dark World. He left Asgard, stayed on Earth, was going to be doing some heroing and Avengersing. Not that he showed up to help Captain America and SHIELD, or anything. But you know, around and about. Thor felt closed.

Oh wait – Loki! This isn’t Thor 3. This is Loki 3. I got it.

Black Panther – November 3, 2017

This one I am not quite as sure how to approach. They’ve cast Chadwick Boseman – who was amazing in 42. So that’s awesome. And sounds like he is confirmed for some of the earlier movies, maybe even Age of Ultron?

Black Panther, as a character, was a ground-breaker for being a minority. Now, we have an actor who seems almost to be typecast as the actor playing the ground-breaking people of history (and now fiction but also history). Is that okay? I guess we’ll see. I liked this quote from The Mary Sue article:

Let’s hope for a good and honest look at Panther’s origins, and for a Wakanda that is neither insulting nor stereotypical.

Okay, not the easiest thing. I wish them luck in that. And you know what? I’m glad it’s coming. T’Challa is awesome. I know him best from New Avengers, as the character who pulls the Illuminati back together. Speaking of… think we’ll get Namor and Atlantis in this one?

Avengers: Infinity War, Part 1 – May 4, 2018

Speaking of the Illuminati, the Infinity Stones are in play, as are most of the players from Marvel’s behind-the-scenes power players. You could have T’Challa and Namor, Iron Man, Black Bolt, Doctor Strange, and maybe Hank Pym or Bruce Banner.

And it would make sense, as the fallout from the Civil War, for the Illuminati to form. To try to be the stabilizing element, the control, behind the scenes. To, in particular (and as they did in the comics), take possession of the Infinity Stones.

The Infinity War, named for however many times Thanos has come knocking, is broken into two parts. As I see it, in part one it all comes together, and Thanos is defeated. That’s where you have someone else taking the stones. There’s always a part 2 for him to try again…

Captain Marvel – July 6, 2018

I don’t think the Internet has called out for Katee Sackhoff to play Captain Marvel quite enough times yet, so I’ll just add that here. Again. She would be perfect – look, attitude, audience expectations.

In this sudden race between DC and Marvel to get out movies with a lead woman, and a lead person of color, it seems DC is winning the first race, and Marvel is winning the second. Nonetheless, in a couple of years’ time, we’re going to have a whole handful. It’s exciting!

I should also note – they went with Captain Marvel rather than Ms. Marvel. This means both more authority and more clothing.

This movie should also be a great addition to the cosmic side of things. Captain Marvel got her powers from Kree experimentation – Kree like Ronan. But I also think timing is important here. This movie is coming out after Infinity War Part 1. Is it going to be flashing back to her origin story? Is it going to be her leading the fight to Thanos or his generals in space?

And hopefully she shows up as a character before this film!

Inhumans – November 2, 2018

Yes, I know this one was rumored and everyone figured it was coming. After all, it’s a whole host of characters that Marvel Studios has the rights to, and it’s a group that generally leads to the creation of more like them – something that has already started the Agents of SHIELD rumor mills running.

Nonetheless, I am so excited for this movie! And you should be too. First, the rumors are Vin Diesel for Black Bolt? First, I think this would be hilarious. Here’s an actor known for his physicality and his gravelly voice. And Marvel will have effectively used him for neither attribute as two different characters. Which flies in the face of all of my talk about typecasting so far… And meanwhile, I mean, just look:

From Infinity #2

From Infinity #2

However, Black Bolt isn’t the reason to be excited for this movie! For one thing, there’s Medusa, the queen. She’s the voice of the Inhumans – since Black Bolt can’t speak (without, ya know, explosions). She kicks butt, and is a properly awesome Iron Woman. I see someone like Angelina Jolie playing her.

And Maximus the Mad? He has the potential to be as good as Loki, in terms of villains the audience loves. And he’s even more of an insider than Loki is – and would not be the villain of the piece. Not exactly.

Would you do a story on Earth? In space? Versus Thanos? Making more Inhumans? Time will tell! That, and maybe Agents of SHIELD!

Avengers: Infinity War, Part 2 – May 3, 2019

Hey, I remember using that image… well, from that comic anyway. New Avengers. The Illuminati. Keepers of the Infinity Stones.

There are a lot of movies left to introduce two more Infinity Stones. Which is what has me thinking that the last two will be found sooner rather than later – and then taken back apart. Hunted once more, with higher stakes now that we know how bad things can be. The Soul Gem makes sense for Doctor Strange. When will the Time Gem show up? Pun intended!

I really think that, breaking this into two, having movies (2 movies!) in between halves… you have to have a stopping place. You can’t close on a cliffhanger. So it makes a lot of sense to actually be leading into the Infinity storyline, to include the Illuminati. Leave out the Incursions, the Builders. Keep in the Stones, keep in Thanos and the invasion of Earth.

And by this point, we’ll have an army of heroes to fight him. And who knows? It might even be enough.

Final Thoughts

Marvel’s Phase 2 introduced one new property: Guardians of the Galaxy. With Phase 3, we’re going to have four.

Well, okay, those statements are leaving one movie out. Ant Man. It sounds like the last bit of news with all of this is that they have reclassed Ant Man as a Phase 2 movie, to be something of an epilogue to this phase. I’ve heard rumors it may be set before Age of Ultron, which would set an interesting precedent for the later films – as they could happen out-of-order as well. Which would feel weird, given how Agents of SHIELD has lined up perfectly with the movie release dates so far.

Now, there’s sure to be flashbacks and the past – our old Dr. Hank Pym has some inventing to do. And, indeed, maybe that will be a connection to a different TV show – Agent Carter, airing in January. This movie may connect a whole lot more than we know to the rest of the Cinematic Universe. And hey, if it gives us an Ant Man and a Wasp, that’s two more characters for Civil War and to fight Thanos!

Alright, there’s a 2000-word blog post. This is what happens when you announce 9 films on the heels of 2 others that are still something of a mystery. So what are you excited for? Who would you cast in these movies? Let me know in the comments below!

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