The Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film series that changed the cinema’s take on crossovers forever. What Marvel did in Phase One has spawned the creation of fans Image Cinematic Universe, DC Cinematic Universe, Marvel Knights Cinematic Universe etc. and frankly, the possibilities of what the film industry can do now thanks to Marvel are endless.
With some of Marvel’s big properties held within the grasp of other major studios, the Studio is partially limited with, the still vast library of characters and storylines. For example, The Amazing Spider-Man (Sony) is the first big superhero reboot to happen, this opens up many doors for collaboration with Marvel/Disney, many fans really want to see this and with the many indications we have received that the Sony owned hero does live in the same universe, excited fans all over. I know that the film wasn’t the greatest but there are still high hopes for the sequel to delve into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and eventually merge Spider-Man into the Avengers which will definitely be a cash cow at the box-office.
Now, to map out the Cinematic Universe for the films that I believe are coming.
It all started in 2008 with Iron Man, this film was perfect; billionaires, babes, action and technology, all brought to life by Jon Favreau - the after credits scene made fanboys across the globe cream themselves, it also opened up the vault of possibilities. Then came The Incredible Hulk, which is very underrated in my opinion, this film gave us a fan favorite villain (Abomination) uniquely tweaked for cinematic realism, and is wanted by fans to make a return. Then came the sequel to the Armoured Avenger, Iron Man 2 - with Favreau back in the director's chair after changing the superhero genre for the better, this film did not sit well with fans. They felt it was too cluttered with War Machine and SHIELD, with an underdeveloped villain and a douche bag rival CEO, this movie would have been better being titled Iron Man and his Avenging Friends.
After this came Thor, a “earthed-down” tale of the God of Thunder. This film was a mess, the Asgardian parts were great, but while on earth it felt like too much of a comedy. I did like this film, but it’s nothing compared to what could have been. Last (and first!) came Captain America: The First Avenger, this film is everything a Captain America movie should be and more. Joe Johnstons tale on the star spangled man was flawless, setting straight into the Avengers, this is my favourite film in Phase One. Then, one day... when a threat was put to earth that was stoppable by no normal man... the Avengers were born. Joss Whedon’s combination of the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes was mind blowing, there could not have been a better way to finally bring all your favourite comic book characters that have previously appeared in film, back to the big screen in a bigger and better way. As The Totally Rad Show’s, Jeff Cannata stated, “This film is the best Iron Man movie, the best Captain America Movie, the best Thor movie, the best Hulk movie, the best SHIELD movie, it is a masterpiece of epic proportions”, and after hearing him say this, I realised that no one could have put it a better way. The after credits scene gave us a glimpse on a possible future villain, THANOS! This has opened many doors and started many theories about Marvel’s next slate of films, including THE AVENGERS 2!
ENTER PHASE TWO...
We’re a little less than a month away from the beginning of the second slate of films. Iron Man 3 kicks off the second phase of the MCU, bringing in the global terrorist, the Mandarin. This villain looks incredible, bringing a sense of realism to the mystical and cosmic Marvel Universe, I believe he and the Extremis storyline will give us a strong but also grounded film. Second, Thor: The Dark World, bringing in a new and well experienced (in the sense of surrealism) director, Alan Taylor. I believe this film will show us the great depths that the MCU can show us, bringing in new villains and bringing back an old one, this film will hammer our socks off, oh yeah. Based off of the highly popular comic book series, comes Captain America: The Winter Soldier, telling us the tale of the brainwashed best friend who comes to hunt down his past. The films directors worry me, but the cast and base story are quite convincing and solid, and I think the Russo Bros. will give us a good modern take on the character. A trip to alternate dimensions and universes, James Gunn’s “space epic” Guardians of the Galaxy gives us a Star Wars vibe from all we’ve seen and heard from it. I’m taking this as a good thing and I believe that the cast (which in fact I have guessed correctly for all in my Fancast) will deliver us a great adventure filled with world boud oddities and fun battle sequences.
Finally, the sequel to the third highest grossing film of all time, The Avengers 2 (currently untitled) will come at us with surprises. The villain in this film as seemingly been confirmed as Thanos, but other sources lead us to believe that it may be the Avengers equivalent of villains - The Masters of Evil. Personally I would prefer Thanos as the villain because it makes the most sense (Avengers after credit scene, Odin’s Infinity Gauntlet, Guardians “space” tale) and it could be outstanding to witness, the MOE could also be cool, but it’s something that I feel we’ve already seen in the past films, the villain equivalent of the hero... Kind of boring in my opinion. With the addition of what has said to be two new characters, there are many options: Ant-Man and Wasp - main characters of a film that is to be released that same year, Falcon a SHIELD agent with super powers which will appear in CA: TWS, War Machine/Iron Patriot - a character built throughout the 3 Iron Man films, The Winter Soldier himself, Doctor Strange - who may or may not have a side role in Thor 2, Ms. Marvel - it has been said that she is in Iron Man 3 and may also appear in GotG. I personally would love to see Ant-Man, Wasp and Ms. Marvel added to the roster if I had the choice.
Enter the Third Phase...
So far, all we know about Phase Three is that Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man will kick it off acting as a new starting point to explore new and old characters, as Iron Man previously has done. We are also getting a Doctor Strange movie, which has me VERY excited. I believe that we will also get a Black Panther movie (FINALLY!!!!!!!), an Inhumans movie, a sequel to the Incredible Hulk (Planet Hulk would be very acceptable), Heroes for Hire (possibly), Thor 3, Captain America 3 and The Avengers 3. Many people have speculated that the third Avengers outing will be with either Thanos, Ultron, World War Hulk or Civil War. If Thanos isn’t used in A2, I’d love that, but all of the other options seem so appealing and are equally awesome to me.
Into the future...
Although the endless amount of stories put forth into comic book film, I would love to see the following...
- A Marvel Knights series of films featuring R-Rated takes on Daredevil, The Punisher, Moon Knight
- More Television shows to follow Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD (The Hulk, AKA Jessica Jones, Daredevil)
- Studios banding together to create mass super hero universe (X-Men & F4, MCU, Spider-Man)
FILMOGRAPHY
PHASE ONE: AVENGERS ASSEMBLED
Iron Man - 2008
The Incredible Hulk - 2008
Iron Man 2 - 2010
Thor - 2011
Captain America: The First Avenger - 2011
Marvel’s The Avengers - 2012
PHASE TWO:
Iron Man 3 - 2013
Thor: The Dark World - 2013
Captain America: The Winter Soldier - 2014
Guardians of the Galaxy - 2014
The Untitled Avengers Sequel/Avengers 2 - 2015
PHASE THREE:
Ant-Man - 2015
Doctor Strange - Holiday 2015 or Summer 2016
Thor 3 - ????
Captain America 3 - ????
The Inhumans - ????
Heroes for Hire - ????
Black Panther - ????
The Incredible Hulk Sequel OR Planet Hulk - ????
The Avengers 3/Civil War/World War Hulk - ????
Thank you for reading, for more artwork -
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