Let me just preface this article by saying it is my first so please go easy on me. Now onto the main attraction.
The whole reason why the shared Marvel cinematic universe was created was to be able to make a movie adaptation of the Avengers, a huge team-up of the heroes from their solo movies. Besides for the little winks and nods here and there to other parts of their universe, a big part and appeal of creating this universe for the Avengers was so that they can build up the story and the excitement and anticipation for the Avengers movie. And this is working wondrously.
The problem is, how do you keep up the momentum and excitement for the inevitable Avengers 2? Sure, an easy fix would be to just leave the first movie off with a cliffhanger. But honestly, who wants to wait, what will probably be, 3 years for the story to pick up again and find out what happens? It works great for TV shows where you only have to wait a few months, but not so much with a movie and its sequel coming out a few years apart.
I believe the best solution to this problem would be to use their original formula of after-credits scenes to set up, both, the villains and the story of the Avengers 2. The best villains, in my opinion, to associate with this formula would be, none other than, the Masters of Evil.
The Masters of Evil are a team-up of super villains, similar to the Avengers who, as we all know, are a team-up of superheroes. It would be incredibly easy to introduce these villains during the respective heroes solo sequels between the two Avenger movies. The villain for Thor 2 could be the Enchantress and Skurge the Executioner, the Captain America 2 villain can be Baron Zemo, and so on and so forth. These are villains I'm sure we would all love to see come to life on the big screen. During the post-credit scenes, we can have one of these villains, be it the Enchantress, or Baron Zemo, or whoever else, rallying these villains together to take down the Avengers once and for all. This is an easy and surefire way to build momentum and excitement for an Avengers 2 movie. It worked for the first Avengers, so why shouldn't it work again? If anything, I think it would be even more exciting than the build up of the Avengers because this has a more sinister and dramatic side to the team-up. Its adds great weight, depth, and tension, and it makes way for a tremendous showdown in the Avengers 2.
The only problem I see with this is that people might get tired of seeing the same villains again. I would just like to point out that even though we had Loki in Thor, he was so amazing that everyone seems to be over the moon about seeing him again as the villain for the Avengers. So the same can hold true for the Masters of Evil villains introduced in the solo outings. But just to mix things up a bit, other villains can be introduced in the Avengers 2 as members of the Masters of Evil. Another problem can be the usual problem of CBM sequels which is an overload of villains. This case would be different, however. First of all, most of the villains would already have had their back stories developed in the solo hero sequels and the post-credit scenes. So the development of the villains in the Avengers 2 won't feel so convoluted. Also, if we can have a team-up of superheroes without it being overblown, than why can't we have just as many villains taking them on? It will only make it a fair fight.
Obviously this is an even bigger undertaking than the first Avengers was. But just as they have done it for the first Avengers, I have faith in the creative writers that Marvel employs and believe that they can successfully and faithfully bring this to the the big screen as well. Whatever problems this plan would encounter, I believe that they can work it out and that it will be a hugely entertaining success.
Thank you for reading. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. Whatever happens, I cannot wait for the Avengers, its sequels, the solo movie sequels, and all future Marvel movies!