On tuesday the 28th of October 2014 Marvel Studios decided it was time to reveal their Phase 3-line-up, something that’s been discussed and speculated upon on pretty much every site – including this one. Now, in my aforementioned post regarding MCU Speculation I theorized on quite a bit – and some of it was spot on. Thor 3 will indeed be Ragnarok, and Black Panther is getting his own movie. Though there were a couple, if not quite a few, surprises that surprised even the biggest Marvel True Believers. In this post I’ll go over the most interesting choices year by year for the Phase 3 Line-up – including, but not limited to, new characters.
2016 – The Big Event & The Sorcerer Supreme
So here we go, Captain America 3 – directed by the Russo Brothers – will be The Serpent Society… Or, well, Feige wanted to fool us all, I guess. At the last minute he revealed that the rumours were true. The epic Marvel Comics Event Civil War will be adapted to the big screen.
This was a polarizing Comic Book Event, but a huge reveal for the MCU – everyone who’ve held Marvel Comic Books for the last few years should know what this means. This is the battle of ideologies between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark. Interestingly, they also revealed that Black Panther will indeed be a part of this film – but I’ll get to him, and the confirmed actor, later in this post. A huge part of the comic book event is secret identities, now Feige pretty much revealed that that won’t be a huge part of the cinematic version – and that’s a good thing – because Spider-Man is still in Sony‘s possession. This is by far the film I’m most excited about in the cinematic universe – and it blows my mind that we will see Captain America versus Iron Man in the same summer as Batman v Superman – this is quite obviously a battle, not only for fanboys, but in Hollywood as well.
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Here we go, Dr Strange is indeed coming to cinemas – it might be rushed somewhat – but it is coming. I really wanted Joaquin Phoenix, and apparently so did Marvel – but when that deal fell apart, I was open to a lot of things; and Benedict Cumberbatch was one of those. Of course, Benedict is not yet confirmed as Dr Strange – but I’ll trust Deadline on this one. If it falls apart, though, this could end up as a bigger media-nightmare than Ant-Man was for Marvel. All in all though, Cumberbatch would make me pretty excited for this film.
2017 – Star-Lord, T’Challa & The End
Now, Star-Lord and Guardians of the Galaxy 2 are not going to be written about in this article – however it is notable that its date has been changed (Now being released on the 5th of May 2017). The big pieces of news here are the arrivals of T’Challa and the end of all things in the Norse Mythology.
As I wrote in July, Chadwick Boseman would be an excellent choice – and indeed it is – Boseman’s star is rising, and this won’t slow it down. The fact of the matter is that this character is extremely important to True Believers. Also, his involvement in Civil War will instantly make him a part of the greater importance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – this casting is huge. T’Challa is going to be important, and I am extremely excited about this film – and the casting of Boseman is making me completely giddy.
Judgement Day is coming for Asgard. Now, this is important – not only because of it being a third film – but because it has to change something, something has to end. I could easily see Thor die in this film, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that happened because of the ruler of Asgard, Odin, I mean Loki. I would love to see Thor battle Fenrir or the Midgard Serpent – but honestly, I don’t know enough about solo-Thor stories in the Marvel Comic Books.
2018 + 2019 – Infinity & Beyond
Now, this is where everyone went completely nuts. Not only is Avengers 3, now titled Infinity War (obviously about the big Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos – the whole shebang), to be split into two parts – one in 2018, one in 2019 – but we’re also getting the Carol Danvers-movie…. Oh, and let’s not forget about the Inhumans-movie. Nerds all over the globe lost their minds.
This is huge for female nerds around the world, and females in general one might say. We need more female superheroes, and this is a great start. I wouldn’t mind seeing her in the Cosmic Universe – if that means she won’t just suit up with the Guardians, this is a solo star, not just a part of the gang. To be honest, I’d rather have the Kamala Khan Ms. Marvel, but that may be too fresh for the MCU – hopefully, we’ll eventually see her.
It is being theorized that Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch will be mutants, I mean Inhumans, in this universe – and that would make sense with this reveal. With that having been said, we need Black Bolt in an eventual film – and hopefully Lockjaw. But to be honest, I don’t know enough about the Inhumans to truly evaluate them – but that is really exciting.
So that’s it, True Believers – Phase 3 will be the biggest yet – and the most diverse for sure. I predict the loss of at least two Avengers-heroes by 2019 – and I’m eyeing Stark, Rogers and/or Odinson. We’ll see, but one thing’s for sure – Marvel’s not slowing down. Not. At. All. Buckle up.
I'm Jeffrey Rex 