A recent news report indicates that a sequel to
Thor is planned for a 2013 release. This is interesting news because it means that this sequel will be released virtually at the same time as Iron Man 3. The latter movie is said to be a completely
Iron Man related follow-up with the movie not being used to boost any more Avengers movies. With the probability of Marvel Studios only releasing perhaps (at most) 3 movies a year, what other movies could potentially be added to their roster?
Black Panther,
Namor: The Submariner and
Dr Strange seem to be the next logical adaptations for the big-screen.
Iron Fist is another movie said to be in the works.
The questions is how would these movies fit into Marvel Studio’s grand schedule of movies especially when you take into account that sequels to
Captain America is likely and even more likely for
The Avengers.
Iron-Man 3 and the
Thor sequel are set for 2013. At the very most, one other movie might be slotted in the same year. It seems probable that a sequel to
The Avengers could follow by the earliest 2014.
Dr Strange or
Black Panther movies seem unlikely for a mid 2012 release since there no official production or casting process has begun on either movie. So far
The Avengers is the only major adaptation from Marvel Studios set for a 2012 release. Could T’Challa make his major movie debut in 2013? And then of course you have the presumed sequel to
Captain America (which supposedly would feature more of Cap’s adventures during WW11). Therefore, when can fans expect a sequel for
Captain America ? Taking into account the costs of production for all these movies, it is reasonable that at most Marvel Studios would release 3 movies per year.
So far Marvel Studio’s formula of using solo movies to setup
The Avengers is working perfectly.
Thor has received praise and success and the same seems like it will be even truer for
Captain America: The First Avenger. Characters like the Black Panther, Namor and Dr Strange can easily achieve the same results. More importantly, these characters can easily be integrated into subsequent Avengers movies much like in the comic books.
Black Panther would make for an excellent adaptation for comic book movie. The lead character of T’Challa (Black Panther) may not be the most relatable in the Marvel universe, but the idea of the country of Wakanda is certainly relevant. It mirrors real world scenarios in Africa particularly pertaining to Wakanda’s most valuable resource – Vibranium. The parallels of the metal can be found in Africa’s gold, diamonds and other precious commodities.
Namor, like T’Challa, may not be exactly relatable, but he is a fan favourite and a Submariner movie would make a fan boy’s wet dream (pun intended) come true. Namor is one of Marvel’s most interesting characters. Another character also apparently set to magically grace movie screens is Dr Strange. These 3 characters are ideal candidates for movie adaptations and they fall under the umbrella of Marvel Studios.
Marvel Studios might apparently release mini movies for certain characters. This has potential for some characters, but Black Panther, Namor and Dr Strange seem to be more deserving of large-scale treatment as opposed to simple “character featurettes” as these mini movies would seem to indicate.
Once the sequel to
Thor and
Iron Man 3 hit cinemas in the same year, when exactly could movies like
Black Panther, Namor: The Submariner and
Dr Strange be released? Considering the amount of money needed to produce
Thor, Iron Man and
Captain America and
The Avengers sequels, solo outings for Black Panther and Namor might have to wait.
There actually seems to be very little limits in how far Marvel Studios can take
The Avengers. Most presume that the franchise would extend into a trilogy.
The Avengers could easily perpetuate for indeterminate movies. There would be no need for Marvel Studios to reboot the series (or any of its characters) to begin anew in order to keep the idea of
The Avengers fresh for the big screen. In fact, all Marvel Studios need to do in order to allow
The Avengers to run indefinitely (and keep it refreshed) is to add new members (like Namor) to the team roster – in exactly the same fashion as in the Marvel comic books. How many Avengers movies in total are feasible for any of the actors and for the characters? An obvious answer is to add new members to The Avengers team which allows the propagation of untold subsequent sequels that need not feature the initial team members if Marvel Studios do indeed see the need to extend the series beyond a trilogy.
Samuel L Jackson’s contract with Marvel Studios extends for 9 movies which include
Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and a probable trilogy series for
The Avengers. That brings his tally up to 7. How many Avengers movies would feature the team’s initial members i.e. Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow? That is a big workload for all of the actors concerned especially when you consider that they will be involved in producing both sequels to their solo movies and The Avengers practically one after the other.
It could be suggested that the mini movies being produced by Marvel Studios could feature characters like Scarlett Witch, Mockingbird and The Vision to name just a few. It may even more exciting to point out that IF at some point Marvel Studios do reacquire the rights to Spider-Man and the X-Men, then there is even chance that Wolverine and the Wall-Crawler could logically be included in The Avengers line-up as well.
In fact Marvel Studios have already produced a couple of mini movies. Since Maria Hill is going to play a role in
The Avengers and then perhaps Hill might be one of the characters to be featured in one of these mini movies/featurettes. Black Panther, Namor and Dr Strange certainly deserve the big-screen treatment and one reason is that there is much potential financially and critically for these movies not to mention that fans would be delightfully pleased.
What is Marvel Studio’s possible scheduled line-up of movies?
2012
The Avengers
2013
Thor sequel
Iron Man 3
Black Panther?
Presupposed dates
2014
Black Panther
Namor: The Submariner
The Avengers sequel (or 2015)
2015+
Dr Strange
Ant-Man
Captain America sequel?
Also, would the sequel to
Captain America: The First Avenger occur after an initial trilogy of Avengers films or after?