The biggest news of the week is that Robert Downey, Jr. has signed a new, two-picture deal that will see him return for 2 sequels to Marvel's The Avengers. That news means that, for the time being, Tony Stark/Iron Man will continue to be the centerpiece of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, it is only 2 more movies which begs the question, what next?
The answer to that question might just be Strange. Kevin Feige has made no bones about it: he wants the Sorcerer Supreme in the MCU and now it just seems to be a matter of when and not if. With the final lead-up film of Phase 2, Guardians of the Galaxy, beginning production this week, you know the big boards in Marvel's offices are fully focused on what's next in Phase 3 and beyond and if early rumors are any indication, it seems that Dr. Strange just might be taking on the lead role.
As of today Marvel has pegged 3 dates for releases of as yet unnamed films which will join Edgar Wright's Ant-Man, slotted for a November 6, 2015 opening, in Phase 3. You can go ahead and lay smart money that one of those films will tell the story of Stephen Strange's journey into the world of magic, something we have yet to see on-screen from Marvel. In fact, El Mayimbe over at Latino Review has given us not one but two stories and contributed his knowledge to a third in the past couple of weeks that let us know there is a script and what the general outline is.
If you know your Doctor Strange, or even if you saw the wonderful animated Strange that Marvel put out in 2007, you'll recognize the plot and the characters in those stories above. So while that may not strike some as particularly newsworthy, this just might: Marvel may just be eyeing the neurosurgeon turned master of the mystic as the replacement for Tony Stark once Downey's 2-picture deal is up.
If that proves to be true it has a lot of implications for the future of the MCU. First of all it opens up a lot of pathways Marvel may head down in the future. While Strange has worked with The Avengers before and has even been a member of The New Avengers, he is, to me, more well-known for his membership of two other groups: The Defenders and The Illuminati. If Marvel heads down the road to The Illiuminati, a cabal of the great minds and leaders of the Marvel universe, there are some seriously big stories that could eventually be told, but some other stories that would need to be told to get to The Illuminati (Namor and Black Bolt are two as yet unseen members).
Centering the MCU on Strange will also likely shift the focus of Phase 3 and 4 movies. With Stark as the center of Phases 1 and 2 we have focused on "tech",with the exception of Thor, which did a nice job of explaining to us that magic and science might not be that different. With Strange being the central hub from which the Phase 3 and 4 stories spring it seems that magic will likely play a far greater role in all those movies and we'll likely get a nice introduction to the mystical side of things with the Scarlet Witch's inclusion in the 2015 sequel to The Avengers.
And who will be cast as Stephen Strange? Clearly someone with box office mojo and some serious gravitas. Strange is an ego-maniac as a neurosurgeon and undergoes some serious changes as he learns from The Ancient One and assumes the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme but one thing that does not change is his command and fearlessness. The actor who portrays Strange is going to have be able to play a wide range of emotions and going to be able to have to command respect from the big boys as well. It will be interesting to see who is cast.
So Ant-Man and Doctor Strange will occupy two of the Phase 3 slots which means there will be at least 2 more Phase 3 movies before we see the 3rd Avengers film. I'm sure one of them will be a sequel to something because I can't see Marvel going all in on all new films and characters but at least one of them may give us another new character, or at least further exploration of someone else we might run into in Phase 2. I do not think Wanda and Pietro Maximoff will get a film of their own. My hope, my best guess, is that The Black Panther might get himself a Phase 3 film.
In comic continuity T'Challa joined The Avengers for one simple reason: to spy on them. I'd say by the time The Avengers sequel comes around we might see T'Challa approaching the group at some point for just that reason. Adding T'Challa will open the door to so many interesting stories and adds another superior intellect to the group along with Stark, Banner and Pym; I'll always mourn the fact they sold Reed Richards off long before they had their own studio and I'll also pray Josh Trank's FF reboot never gets off the ground because there are some very cool Marvel stories that could be told best with the inclusion of the FF, including several intertwined with The Black Panther.
If the other Phase 3 film isn't a Black Panther solo, there are still countless other options: Daredevil, The Inhumans, a Hulk sequel or maybe something I'm not thinking of could fill that slot. Marvel is being aggressive in expanding their slate by going with Doctor Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy so it's easy to imagine they could be headed any number of directions.
The last bit of news from this week came from the Facebook of Vin Diesel who told us that Marvel wants a meeting with him. I have no clue who Vin would play because he certainly does not fit any of the heroes that we know they are putting on screen but his phyisicality and voice might make him well-suited to any number of villains including one that might just tie into The Black Panter: Erik Killmonger. Sure Vin would have to hit the weights a bit again but damn if I couldn't see Vin tossing someone around...it's what he does. I'm sure that isn't the part Vin is going to be tabbed for because I thought of it, but that's what I'll be doing along with a lot of other people until we find out: speculating.
That's a round-up of what I thought was interesting this week. I'm sure that as San Diego Comic-Con approaches (July 18-21) we will continue to get some appetizers whetting us until the feast. Also keep your eye on El Mayimbe as he will be adding to his Doctor Strange scoop weekly in addition to continuing to drop other nuggets along the way.
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