Marvels Phase 3 Movies

Marvel held a press conference yesterday and with no one thinking much of it, they dropped a bombshell and blew everyone’s mind with the announcement of the new Phase 3 of Marvel movies.

Wow. Marvel has wowed me for the second time in 7 days. With all the rumours going around, Marvel has decided to set everything straight and announced all the films that are coming out after 2015. And this basically confirms almost everything we talked a few weeks back. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is going to have a Civil War storyline.

Now that it is all out in the open, there’s no need to be hush-hush about it. The Civil War will begin in Captain America 3 but hints towards it will be made as early as in Avengers Age of Ultron. Captain America 3, now known as Captain America: Civil War, will be the most important, and probably famous, Marvel movie of all time. 2016 will be the year of versus as not only Batman take on Superman, but Captain America takes on Iron Man.

Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans
shares the stage in announcing
the Civil War.

Here’s a quick reminder of the Civil War storyline, which I consider one of the greatest comic book crossover story arcs in the new millennium. After a series of damages and deaths caused by huge superhero events and fights, the government decides to pass the Superhero Registration Act. The Act requires all persons in the USA with any sort of super power to register to the government for training and follow a set of rules, basically becoming super-powered soldiers and police officers. It also requires these super-powered individuals to reveal their secret identity. Tony Stark, who initially tried to stop the Act from passing, later on supported the Act, siting that a people should not revolt against its government and that the law is above all men. Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, said no. He firmly believed, much like in ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’, that this Act was an act of fear and not of freedom. Superheroes cannot be made into puppets of the government and be made to reveal their identity if they did not want to, as not all heroes will have the money to hire protection for themselves and their families like Tony has. The people have the right and duty to fight against any ridiculous law the government passes that undermines the people's freedom. The superhero community is split in two, some following Iron Man and some Captain America. Upon the coming into power of the Act, Iron Man and the other registered heroes are instructed by the government to capture any super hero who had not registered. Spider-Man plays a huge role in the story as he, representing the normal everyday man, struggles in deciding which team to follow as the world has its eyes on him as the man who always strives to do the right thing.

That, in a nutshell, is what the Civil War is about. I would recommend not reading it as it may spoil a few plots for you. Marvel has said they will not be following the comic’s story arc exactly as they do not have the rights to many of their characters but will keep the essence of the story. Spider-Man, whose rights are not owned by Marvel Studios, will obviously not be in the films, right? Not exactly. Rumours have it that Marvel has entered into negotiations with Sony to bring Spider-Man into their universe and Sony is listening due to the underperformance of The Amazing Spider-Man 2. And the fact that Sony is going to recast Spider-Man may show that Marvel is already at work there. But don’t expect to see him soon.

So, that is Civil War. The other films will all have the underlining Civil War story while dealing with individual characters. To be honest, I was hoping for a Cloak and Dagger film to be announced as they are easily my favourite comic book duo. Also, unfortunately, no Hulk movie and no Black Widow movie. I would’ve liked to see a Black Widow-Hulk movie. But the new films are still incredible. Let’s go through them one-by-one.

Doctor Strange which we all expected in July has been delayed to November 2016 probably due to the fact that the doctor has not been casted yet. Rumours are that after a deal fell through with first choice, Joaquin Phoenix, Marvel is going into negotiations with fan favourite, Benedict Cumberbatch, to play the Sorcerer Supreme. Strange does not play a huge role in the Civil War in the comics and I’m guessing will only become a huge part of the Universe in Avengers 3, now known to be Avengers Infinity War, as he was is in the Infinity Gauntlet storyline. With this movie opening up the world of magic to the Marvel Universe, don’t be surprised if Scarlet Witch, or Wanda, appears in the film as well as the twins did not get a solo film as well.

Get ready to see him
argue with Tony Stark.

Guardians of the Galaxy 2, which was announced a few months back, will be brought forward to May 2017 (with a hilariously unsubtle edit in the title card as seen above). The film’s success has made Marvel confident enough to let it open the summer and the film will probably be a break from all the Civil War talk. Don’t worry people, Chris Pratt is returning along with all his original team members including a Groot who will probably be grown up by then. It is also confirmed that new members will be added to the team. The first person you would think of is Adam Warlock as he will be a pivotal part of the Infinity War. How awesome would it be if the Guardians took on Magus in this new Guardians movie?! Another potential member would be perhaps a female member. Maybe Nebula, who will probably appear as a villain instead, or Angela or Carol Danvers. We can probably rule Carol Danvers out as she has her own movie that we will talk about later. So that leaves Angela, Thor’s long-lost sister. I’d like that idea. Talks of Iron Man joining the Guardians will probably not be true as he will be too busy with the Civil War.

The next film is Thor: Ragnarok. Now, that may not mean a lot to many as I’ve seen it being bypassed by almost every site as they focus on Black Panther and Captain Marvel, but this is a huge storyline for Marvel. I do not recommend reading up on this anytime soon as it contains huge spoilers as to the direction Marvel is taking. This one word tells me a pivotal story arc in Thor’s universe and possibly an event that will occur in the Civil War. I am very excited about this film. And, yes ladies, Loki will be returning for this film. So get excited.

Official concept art of
Black Panther's costume.

Ahh, the ones we’ve been waiting for. Black Panther and Captain Marvel. Marvel's first black lead and first female lead. Fans have been asking for these two characters for a long time and I am so thrilled that Marvel has listened. It has also been confirmed that Chadwick Boseman has been casted as Black Panther. In my book, that is absolutely perfect casting. We also have a concept art for him and it looks really cool, near perfect. Black Panther and Wakanda, who may appear in Avengers Age of Ultron, will be a welcome addition to the Marvel Universe. Captain Marvel, is also finally making the big screen. There are two Captain Marvels in the Marvel Universe. It has been confirmed that this Captain Marvel will be Carol Danvers, formerly Ms Marvel. (And contrary to unknowledgeable accusations on the Internet, Shazam in DC is not Captain Marvel. DC lose those rights long ago.) So Marvel’s first female-led film will be Captain Marvel. I feel quite bad for Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow is, once again, snubbed for a solo film. However, saying this, I am so excited for Captain Marvel. I believe Marvel has already secretly casted Carol Danvers but will probably not reveal her so soon.

The Inhumans is Marvel's replacement for the X-Men. Little is known about this film as it is so far away but as it is the last film before Avengers 3 part 2, it will definitely be very important. According to rumours, the origin story of the Inhumans may be modified to being mutated beings like Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. Since Marvel do not have the rights to Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch’s mutant origins, they may try to make them a part of the Inhumans. However, these are all subject to change with the film being so far away.

One of Civil War's many covers.

Finally we reach the big one, Avengers Infinity War. An outstanding title in itself, words cannot describe how big this movie will be. It will be split into 2 parts, à la Harry Potter and Twilight, with Captain Marvel and The Inhumans taking place between them. And in case you don’t know what this Inifinity War represents, it can be summed up in just one word, Thanos. Marvel’s ‘big bad’ who appeared in the after credits scene of the first Avengers film and also in the Guardians of the Galaxy will finally come to court death and destroy the universe. His appearance will probably end the Civil War and start the Infinity War. To give you a taste of how big this film is and how powerful of a character Thanos is, everyone in the Marvel Universe will be in it against him. The Avengers and its new additions, the Guardians of the Galaxy, The Inhumans and possibly even a Spider-Man cameo. And with Marvel helping work on the Deadpool movie for Fox, who knows? We may see Wolverine come in to say hello. The potential of this film is limitless and so is the potential of Marvel.

Marvel is really keeping ahead of competition. And they have to, with DC coming up with their own cinematic universe. This announcement was huge in every respect and shows how powerful Marvel and Disney are as they don’t need to rely on Comic Con to make their announcements. They just released a new clip with Agents of Shield and it works to remind everyone that in the end, Marvel's strongest points are in their characters. Amazing clip with the little wink that Captain America is worthy of taking Mjolnir. Marvel has huge plans for the future and I, personally, cannot wait for them to unravel.