After spending around two weeks visiting my family in the United States I also stocked up on some graphic novels to maybe get a better understanding of The Avengers. Before I left I wanted to write an article on my predictions and thoughts on what direction the Marvel Cinematic Universe will take. I confess I only knew so much from the entire universe of what I picked up over the Internet. I was able to purchase two very significant Marvel storylines, Civil War and Avengers Disassembled. These gave me a better understanding of the characters and world they live in, at least in the originals. Naturally I am missing a lot of storylines and sprung into the main events blindfolded in a way but it helped understand what shapes these characters. My thoughts were to understand where these stories originate from and what elements may end up as a part of a bigger storyline.
To begin with, let’s take a look at what information and rumors we already possess. The obvious are the already announced movies past “Iron Man 3”, which will be touched upon later. Firstly we have the more grounded story in the form of “Captain America – The Winter Soldier”. I understand that I skipped a film, but I have some good reasons for that. What we know at this point is that Captain America has become an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. in hope to establish himself in the new millennium. While he survived the battle of New York he is still trying to adapt to the world around him, which is no easy task. Alongside Black Widow they are trying to uncover the mystery behind the Winter Soldier. It is often described as a political thriller in the vain of the “Bourne” franchise, which fits perfectly to the character. It feels more like an ensemble film for Director Nick Fury and Captain America as both are on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D. What does that mean? In the quake of Iron Man 3 it is difficult to really state what direction it is taking until we had one big reveal. At SDCC 13 it was announced that the second Avengers film has the subtitle “Age of Ultron”. There have been theories circuling around that the secred organization may have been infiltrated where many of its higher-ups are in actuality been replaced with robots, as inspired by the comic “Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D.”. Deltites are infiltrating the organization and Fury is facing his own organization, which may also lead to a few Extremis soldiers returning, which would be an interesting tie-in in my personal opinion. Personally I see this having a stronger impact on the new ABC TV series “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”, which may explain the return of Agent Coulson. How Captain America fits into the entire story may be the only connection to Winter Soldier himself. If I may make one wish here, I want to see the Red Skull return and prove that everything was his doing and he slowly was turning S.H.I.E.L.D. into a new Hydra, which may be hinted at through the inclusion of Crossbones.
Now, we already had the MCU establish a galactic aspect through the first Thor, which will be further developed in “Thor – The Dark World” as well as “Guardians of the Galaxy”. Both films are taking a closer look at the galaxy that surrounds earth. Let us start off with Thor to avoid any major confusion. This time around it seems to take a much closer look at his relationship with Loki as well as delving more into the history of the nine realms. Nothing proves that more than having the dark elves planning a full-fledged attack on Asgard and Midgard. Malekith the Accursed is leading the attack alongside Algrim the Strong. Now for me personally it is a bit difficult to find a connection between Age of Ultron and Thor – The Dark World, but I do have the feeling it might play more to the overall storyline. In this sense it might actually be leading to the overall “trilogy” plot of Thanos preparing for another invasion of earth. This further leads me to question in what way Ultron plays into this storyline and it could be that “The Collector”, who is played by Benicio del Toro, may have a very significant influence. Especially when considering that he was spotted on set together with Clive Russel, who plays Tyr.
The wild card is and stays “Guardians of the Galaxy” which seems to also central to the Thanos storyline. Many theories are that it takes place in the future (have to correct that according to Feige it does take place at the same time as the rest of Phase 2), maybe even one that must be prevented if the theories are correct. My personal hope is to see a team up of Guardians of the Galaxy and the Avengers, which might be quite overcrowded but would certainly make for an interesting film. If the team won’t really meet the other characters it is a wild card in many ways as who knows what follows after Phase 2 for these characters. I caught a few glimpses of what has been leaked and it looks amazing. Really cannot wait to see it all in motion and how it figures into Phase 2, but at this very moment it really is hard to say. Ever since it was announced it had been the hardest to pin down.
What about Phase 3? The only thing we are aware of is that Ant-Man is getting his own movie. According to rumors it will focus mainly on Scott Lang and there is no true connection between Ant-Man and Ultron. Hank Pym is the original creator of the killing machine and it has been the center of his development. Now, I originally considered it a rather risky decision but there still is the possibility that there is a connection between them. Now this is nothing more than speculation but I could imagine that Scott Lang finds himself stealing the famous suit away from Pym while he is trying to accept that he influenced the creation of the world’s worst enemy. Maybe he is an employee of Stark Industries who helped design the suit and was the one who lead to the corruption either of JARVIS, which is my preferred theory at the moment, or it was designed after his brain pattern. Who knows, maybe even Aldrich Killian found a way to supplement his own brain that we saw in Iron Man 3. When Tony was working on all those armors it could be that he already created Mark 1.
Wait, didn’t I start with something else? Oh yeah, the first film we might see in Phase 3 is featuring Doctor Strange, which will alter another elements in the series, the mystical. Now, wouldn’t that overflow the entire series with two many elements? Well, if anyone remembers in the original Thor he mentions that Asgard is a place where Magic and Technology is the exact same thing. What if on Earth these elements are separated? Tony Stark and Stephen Strange are quite similar only from two different sides. One knows how to handle the mystic arts while the other has a way with machinery. The mystic is certainly coming into the world much earlier through the introduction of Scarlet Witch (possibly being portrayed by Elizabeth Olsen). After seeing the items from Odin’s vault it might be interesting to see if their powers might be of Asgardian or alien origin, considering they can’t describe Wanda or Pietro as mutants.
What movies would I like to see? We know that we are only going to get four movies in the upcoming phase. We know we have Ant-Man coming and Dr. Strange (even if it isn’t official). My expectations are that we will see another galactic story maybe featuring Nova, or expanding Guardians of the Galaxy if it becomes a success. Personally I would hope to see a third installment of Captain America, especially just to build towards the Masters of Evil especially by introducing the Enchantress in Thor 3 alongside the Executioner. I don’t expect to see another Iron Man Solo film but in a way I would actually hope we might still get another. I think after going quite large with the character it would be interesting to maybe simplify the character. Somehow would love to see a movie inspired by the episode from Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, where they are trapped in Stark Tower fending of the Technovore. Yet I would gladly accept a film focusing on Black Panther before we see a return for Tony Stark. Still, I think we need a return for Hammer Industries and the Ten Rings as well!
So, what do you think? Did I miss anything at this point? Did I manage to confuse you more than ever before? Maybe I just enjoy speaking nonsense and want to see how people react? What is your opinion on the upcoming films and what films do you want to see in Phase 3?
The Archivist