In a massive press event held today in at the El Captain Theater, Marvel officially unveiled it’s publishing line-up for 2018, including new films for brand new characters and a whole bunch of various mic drops.
As revealed, here is the official line-up for Marvel’s Cinematic Universe Phase 3:
Additionally, Marvel showed off the Age of Ultron trailer and a clip, as well as announced that Chadwick Boseman is officially cast as the Black Panther who will appear in Captain America 3: Civil War.
Some of this we knew was coming, such as Guardians of the Galaxy 2 or Inhumans (which shows that Marvel is really going to push out this synergy thing until 2018), as well as Doctor Strange which just cast Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead. But Marvel’s list of films here is pretty extraordinary, and rather telling towards their overall plan.
For example, Captain America: Civil War and Thor: Ragnarok both seem to indicate not just ends of franchises but ends of characters as well, as both of those named storylines in the comics end with the death of the titular characters (“Ragnarok” could be based on anything, I suppose, and is probably based on the end of Walt Simonson’s run rather than the “Ragnarok storyline itself — though, as long as Thor 3 has Surtur, I don’t care how he dies; I’ll just be stoked about Surtur). But all of this has been teased (Brock Rumlow still being alive at the end of Winter Soldier with Captain America 3 featuring Tony as the villain; plus Loki’s deception in the Dark World), so I can imagine that given that these actors will have to leave these iconic roles at some point, we’re seeing this come about either at the end of their trilogies or, in some way, as part of Infinity War, where everything culminates at the end of Phase 3 — itself a trilogy. Iron Man is now potentially the only hero of the Avengers to get a trilogy that doesn’t seemingly end in his death.
Meanwhile, the inclusion of Black Panther and Captain Marvel in their line-up is a strong indication that Marvel has at least some awareness towards the issues of diversity lobbed at them, given that their are now films with franchise potential that star people of color or women in their line-ups. You could even include Guardians of the Galaxy (starring two people of color) and Inhumans (which is lead by a matriarchy) in this as well, if you so wish. None of these films are a cure-all to a larger systemic cultural issue, but it’s nice to know those are coming.
Also, Carol Danvers officially being part of the MCU does give us hope that a previously reported rumor we delivered about Carol could be a reality. Though, a Captain Marvel film before a Black Widow film is odd, if not just a reflection of the popularity of the Carol Corps.
Finally, that there is in fact a third Avengers film with the name “Infinity” in it is great, as it does prove every fan theory right and sets us up well for a good pay-off to all those Thanos/Infinity Stone threads permeating throughout all of their films. That it’s split into two parts induces nothing but groans from me, but I’m sure when it comes time to go see these in the theater I’ll flip out like the fanboy I know is there in my heart, looking for excuses to be pumped on superhero films. Why it needs two parts is curious as to whether Marvel just has that much story for a 6 hour film, though I could also speculate that perhaps it is at least partly due to the cast of the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe, which by 2018 will be insane.
That said, if we’re not all sick of superhero films by 2020 with this and DC’s publishing line, then I’ll be pretty impressed. Between what Marvel Studios, DC, Fox and Sony all have lined-up, this is either the best time for superhero film fans or the worst. Your mileage may vary.
There are also a few notable films missing, as far as I’m concerned. That there’s still no follow-up Hulk film is odd, for instance, as you would think Mark Ruffalo’s performance as the character would’ve earned him his own film, let alone that the first film teased the inclusion of several key characters from Hulk’s gallery of rogues and pals. It’s also strange to not see Hawkeye or Black Widow get their own films, as both Jeremy Renner and Scarlet Johansson have shown that they have more than star potential in other films (such as Lucy or Under the Skin for Johansson, both of which make me really intrigued for what she could do in a Black Widow film).
Continued belowThe weirdest snub from all these announcements is Ant-Man though. Formerly the film that kicks off Phase 3, it’s not mentioned anywhere during this event which now seems to make it part of Phase 2 — and one that comes after the pivotal film of Phase 2, Age of Ultron. Ant-Man was a movie that had a lot of excitement and potential to it when Edgar Wright was attached, but it seems like this is a film that has since given them trouble. Could Ant-Man be the next Incredible Hulk? It’s possible, though I imagine Marvel isn’t particularly keen on that if they can help it.
Still, there’s a lot here to digest and a lot to think about. I imagine many people will be writing about this for next few weeks, let alone months, and all of them exploring the potential that all of this brings: the upped level of diversity, the way Infinity War could tie together, casting speculations, where the Marvel TV Universe fits into all of it, etc. But no matter what, even with all the snide jabs on social media and other forms of humorous commentary attached, one thing’s for certain: it is a crazy time to be a fan of comics, and Marvel Comics in particular.
Now just make sure that you read the books these come out of, like “Captain Marvel.” Because seriously, read “Captain Marvel.”
Let us know what you think about all of these films and announcements in the comments below!
