Masters of Evil on the horizon?

Sequels and crossovers. That's what the Marvel Comics Cinematic Universe is all about. So far Marvel has done an amazing job setting up it's story's by introducing characters and plot points in their films. This has come in the form of dialogue, easter eggs and flat out story direction. Some of those story directions have been unmistakable to comic book fans. An example of that was the introduction of Thanos. That told fans that Marvel intended to not just go cosmic but that they intended to go cosmic in a big way. That was solidified with the announcement of the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy film. It was masterful story telling when you think about it. They hinted at the possibility in Thor with the Infinity Gauntlet in Odin's throne room. How many of us spent hours explaining the significance of that to our friends? So with the Marvel blue print having been established in Phase One that gives us some clues to the direction they can possibly go in Phase Two.

Iron Man 3 is going to have alot of villains. It's going to have the Mandarin, it's going to have elements of the Extremis story line and most importantly its going to have the Radioactive Man. Radioactive Man is one of the original members of the Masters of evil. While i believe that the Mandarin will be the man baddie in IM3 and will be pulling all sorts of evil strings the introduction of Radioactive Man is important. Remember it was Iron Man that kicked off Marvels Phase One and there were plenty of hints as to the direction that Marvel wanted to go.

Next up is Captain America the Winter Soldier. While this will obviously include Bucky and all the potential directions and future story's that they can tell with him I think it's safe to assume that he wont be the main bad guy. That has to be Barron Zemo. It has to be. For two reasons. First, after the Red Skull, Zemo is Caps biggest nemesis. Secondly he not only is a member of the Masters of Evil but he was it's original founder. That's two original Masters of Evil members. Sneaky sneaky Marvel.

Next comes Thor the Dark World. The Enchantress and her body guard the Executioner are two of Thor's oldest enemies. While they haven't been announced as being villains in the film (if they have then i missed it, my bad) it would be a huge tell tale if either (or more likely both) were to make an appearance. Because, yup you guessed it, both the Enchantress and the Executioner are members of the Masters of Evil.

Now this part is pure speculation on my part but there is absolutely nothing that says that Marvel couldn't add to that list with say the Leader and/or the Abomination. That would be easier and make alot more sense then introducing a weaker character such as Klaw, Tiger Shark, Puff Adder etc. They would serve the same purpose of being extremely formidable and being a rival of one of the Avengers (the Hulk).

Then, oh my brothers there is the upcoming Ant Man film. While he is without question one of my least favorite Marvel characters he is responsible for one of my favorite villains. Ultron. In addition to all of the other havoc that Ultron has caused he was responsible for, you guessed it, organizing the second incarnation of the Masters of Evil. While I dont think they are going to go that rout with this story it's still something to be aware of. I think Pym may create Ultron in the Ant Man movie or maybe at some point in the Avengers 2. I was thinking that Ultron would be created in order to battle Thanos, and I still think that will be the case. It will be VERY interesting to see what, if anything, they do with Ultron.

So after all of that here's what I think phase two will consist of. A build up to a Barron Zemo led Masters of Evil in the Avengers Two. Remeber, Wheadon has said that Avengers 2 will be a bit more intimate, smaller in scale. This doesn't ignore Thanos. Thanos will be in the Guardians of the Galaxy and lurking behind the scenes for an epic battle some ware down the line. But first up is the Masters of Evil.