With "Iron Man 3" approaching it's release date I have been thinking about how the Marvel Cinematic universe could continue from here.
I'm going to start spit balling my ideas from "Avengers 2" onward. I will add castings if I think of any.
Avengers 2:I think they should bench Thanos for "Avengers 2" and have him pulling the strings in the background.
Having Ultron as the primary antagonist would be great. It would be a good way to introduce Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne. I perceive them as elderly S.H.I.E.L.D scientists, fitting in with the rumour that Antman will be set in the 60's. Thanos would be be the one to give sentience to Ultron. The Avengers would be re-united to take down Ultron where S.H.I.E.L.D has proven ineffective. The plot would revolve around Ultron collecting Wakandan vibranium(Entry for Black Panther) and Antarctic vibranium (Introduction to the Savage Land) to build the perfect body. He would either build Vision or Vision could be another creation of Hank Pym to gain sentience. The ending of the film could involve Ultron hacking all of Tony's armors and using them to take on the Avengers. Vision could then betray Ultron and take him down.
New characters:
Black Panther
Hank Pym
Janet van Dyne
Carol Danvers(If GOTG rumours are true)
Ultron
Vision (Doug Jones, cliche I know)
Antman: Takes place in the 60's.I don't like the idea that all of these major events start taking place at roughly the same time. So I think it would be nice to do some period piece films much like Captain America that focus on vigilantes and secret agents in some of the other decades of the 20th century. I believe Antman has already been described as a "Spy Thriller" of sorts. Could potentially introduce a young version of Black Panthers father in a cameo.
Doctor Strange: A film that's been strongly hinted at. While "Thor 2" will focus on the mystical aspects of the Marvel cinematic universe, I feel that Doctor Strange would be a good way to tear down the doors and really get involved with Marvels weirder side.
Daredevil: I want Joe Carnahan's Daredevil film to happen a lot. Surely Marvel could buy the script and make a few alterations for continuity purposes. It could be Marvel's first 15/R rated film. Setting it in the 70's would lend lend well to my different characters in different decades idea. I don't think Marvel currently have the rights to Kingpin so I would sub him for "The Owl" played by Paul Giamatti, not as a mutant, just an incredibly threatening crime boss. I also think Daredevil could work well as a series. I recently read very similar ideas to mine in an article, can't remember where from though.
Heroes for Hire: Another one I see working well as a series or lower budget film in the 70's. It would focus on Luke Cage(Jai Michael White) and Iron Fist. Heroes for Hire could still function as an organization in the present timeline with Misty Knight running it. We could catch glimpses of S.H.I.E.L.D in it's infancy and the modern Heroes for Hire could cross over in to the S.H.I.E.L.D tv series.
Black Panther: Could give a lot more insight in to Wakanda in wake of "Avengers 2". It would also expand on the stories that aren't America centric.
MI-13: This is very much a personal one. I would love a trippy Captain Britain that revolves around alternate universes and Avalon, but it could be a gamble. So my bet would be on an MI-13 film. In a post Avengers world super crime/terrorism is becoming more common. The British government create a response team. Now I would sub Captain Britain for Union Jack(Joseph Chapman) and go with a mix between the first volume of the
MI-13 series and the Union Jack Anti-Terrorist story. The main focus would be on Hydra or Aim leading a large scale Terrorist attack on Britain as a show of power due to the lower proportion of super beings. It would be a good way to show off some C-list villains that under normal circumstances wouldn't see the light of day in the Marvel Cinematic universe. Main characters would be a non mutant Pete Wisdom who is an agent of MI-13, Union Jack(Joseph Chapman), Sabra(Non mutant, but genetically altered), Arabian Knight(Navid Hashim), Black Knight and John the Skrull(If Marvel don't own the rights to the Skrulls he could either be a Chitauri with the ability to change shape or an unknown shape changing alien that has adopted the look of John Lennon).If the MI-13 film was a success I would focus on a Captain Britain film.
Anyways those my garbled ideas.I might write a follow up article focusing on sequels and any other ideas I have.