Marvel Announces Phase 3
Oh Marvel, you make my little nerd heart palpitate. Today’s announcement of the Phase Three breakdown got the internet buzzing and everybody talking. The announcement details the plans for Marvel’s cinematic releases through 2018, and confirms a bunch of those rumors we’ve all been obsessing about. Kevin Feige made the announcement at Hollywood’s El Capitan theater on Tuesday morning and I have been trying to contain myself ever since. So now that Marvel has broken the big news, let’s break down what we can look forward to and what you need to know and make some more wild guesses, shall we?
First up is Captain America 3. Variety announced that Robert Downey Jr. was in talks to join the cast a couple of weeks ago and rumors immediately started flying about a big screen version of the Civil War story line. Of course, many comic fans argued that Marvel would not move in that direction because they do not currently hold the rights to Spider-Man who is a central character to the story. Of course Fiege was asked about the rumor that Marvel was negotiating with Sony Pictures who own the rights to the web-slinger, he responded that “anything that wasn’t specifically revealed today is either not true at all or still rumor.” Well that’s unfortunate; Spidey would have been the ultimate surprise. Of course Marvel is notorious for their secrecy, so there is a possibility that Peter Parker will make his appearance in the Cinematic Marvel U. What we do know is that Captain America: Civil War will hit theatres on May 6, 2016 and we will finally get to see Cap and Iron Man square off.
The next movie in the spotlight was Doctor Strange. The big rumor is that Benedict Cumberbatch has been cast as the Sorcerer Supreme, which would be pretty great but is still unconfirmed. GEEKPR0N staff have been throwing around a few other dream castings; Pedro Pascal, Oded Fehr, and I’m personally pulling for Joaquin Pheonix. What we do know is that Scott Derrickson (who directed Sinister) will be behind the camera, the story will be about Strange’s journey to meet The Ancient One and it will not shy away from the strangeness of the mystic part of the Marvel U. Doctor Strange is also promising visuals unlike any other Marvel movie before it and it will released on November 6, 2016.
The announcement of Guardians of the Galaxy 2, and Thor 3 did not come with too much extra information. James Gunn appeared in a video to announce that the Guardians’ next adventure would kick off on May 5, 2017. This is a couple of months before the originally announced July date, but fans won’t argue with that. As for Thor, the third installment will be called Thor: Ragnarok and will hit theatres on July 28, 2017. Feige did confirm that Tom Hiddleston would return as Loki (cue the deafening fangirl squee) and that Ragnarok would alter Thor’s world the same way The Winter Soldier did for Captain America. It will pick up Thor’s story right after Avengers: Age of Ultron and follow him through the events that will forever change Asgard.
Perhaps the most exciting announcement was the release of Black Panther. Not that Stan Lee hadn’t already confirmed that the movie is in production, but because today we learned that Chadwick Boseman (known for 42 and Draft Day) will play T’Challa! Feige suggested that something he had already shown had a nod to Black Panther; I would like to suggest that we will see him as soon as Age of Ultron since the trailer shows Andy Serkis looking an awful lot like Black Panther’s nemesis Klaw. There’s also the little matter of Boseman’s IMDB page, which lists him as appearing in Captain America: Civil War. Marvel also released a very cool piece of concept art along with the release date of November 3, 2017.
Now let’s address the piece of news that has me completely giddy; Feige confirmed that on July 6, 2018 Marvel Studios would release Captain Marvel. Feige felt the need to clarify, “Captain Marvel has gone by many names in the comics, has had many people who’ve inhabited that costume and used that power base. I want to make it very clear: this hero’s name is Carol Danvers.” Finally, a female superhero will have her own movie! Carol is an awesome mix of Avenger and cosmic hero, and Feige confirmed that the movie will focus on both aspects of her life. It’s very clear that fans owe James Gunn a huge thank you for getting the cosmic-ball rolling and opening the door for the types of stories that would have been deemed “too weird” for mainstream audiences a few years ago.
Keeping with the cosmic theme, Inhumans will be releasing on November 2, 2018. It will be Marvel’s 20th film and will introduce a massive cast of characters. It seemed pretty clear that Marvel was moving towards bringing the Inhumans to the big screen since they introduced the Kree, but it is a huge move to introduce more than just the core Inhuman royal family.
The last big announcement is something that many of us anticipated. Avengers: Infinity War will be a two parter. Part one will hit theatres on May 4, 2018, with its sequel coming to theatres on May 3, 2019. We knew the Avengers would have to face Thanos eventually, and the Infinity Stones just keep on popping up. Feige aired a montage showing the Avengers from previous movies and culminating in Thanos’ arm in the Infinity Gauntlet. So, are we excited yet?
