Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 3 Lineup Announced

I feel like I've been talking about Marvel announcements a lot in the past couple weeks. First, the trailer for Age of Ultron landed and that was pretty awesome. Then there were reports that Benedict Cumberbatch is in final negotiations to take over the role of Doctor Strange, which is what I wanted all along. I'm very happy about that, as I said in my post about the announcement. Apparently the casting of Cumberbatch isn't entirely official quite yet, but when an actor is said to be in "final talks" to play a role, it's pretty much a done deal. Anyway, right after the Doctor Strange reports, Marvel revealed the entire lineup for its Phase 3 of films, complete with release dates, title cards, even a few cast announcements. And this is a perfect example of why Marvel is miles ahead of DC right now - and any current film franchise, honestly, comic book or not.

Once Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man are released next year in May and July respectively, Marvel's Phase 2 - which consists of every movie after the first Avengers - will be complete. On May 6, 2016, the third phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will commence with Captain America 3, which was revealed to be an adaption of the Marvel comic book storyline Civil War.

For those that are unaware, Civil War was a story arc during which the American government passed a Superhero Registration Act, which was created in order to keep those with superpowers under control. This caused a divide among superheroes, with some agreeing to follow the law and others deciding otherwise. The major players on each side were Iron Man in the former group and Cap in the latter group. It was a really interesting comic that raised some rather compelling questions about the real world today. I'm excited to see it adapted on the big screen, especially with Robert Downey, Jr. confirmed to have a major role. This tells us that the film will have a similar premise to the comic.

Then, on November 4, 2016, the Doctor Strange film is getting released. I have to say, this is probably the Marvel movie I'm most excited for in Phase 3. Not only can I not wait to see Benedict Cumberbatch join the universe (assuming his negotiations don't fall through), but I also feel like Strange has tremendous cinematic potential. He's a supremely confident, sometimes arrogant neurosurgeon that's also brilliant and very powerful. He's also presumably going to be a bridge between the established elements of the films and a more mystical side to the universe. This will only expand the current scope of Marvel's universe, and add an interesting aspect of magic to it.

In May of 2017, the Guardians of the Galaxy are getting a sequel. I'm sure Marvel was waiting to see what the verdict on the first Guardians of the Galaxy was before greenlighting a second. It didn't take long to see that it was a hit, and I'm glad they're choosing to further invest in that team. This year's film proved they can be incredibly entertaining, especially when they're all together. And they're also somewhat of a doorway for the Avengers into outer space, which will presumably be more significant in Phase 3. I can't say Guardians of the Galaxy 2 is one of the Marvel films I'm most looking forward to, but it's certainly something I'm expecting to be fun.

Later in the summer of 2017, we're getting a third Thor film. The Thor movies have always had a certain charm to me. I can't say they're as good as some of Marvel's more A-list titles, but they have a kind of wacky entertainment factor that I really dig. And, based on the title, Ragnorak, who is a robotic clone of Thor himself, will be making a major appearance. He is significant because he appeared in the comics when Asgard was destroyed and Thor was killed. Whether Thor will get killed off in this movie remains to be seen. But Thor: Ragnarok certainly makes July 28, 2017 a date to remember.

Then we're getting a third Marvel film in 2017 on November 3 with Black Panther. There have been rumblings of a Black Panther film being produced for a long time, but now we have it set in stone. Chadwick Boseman, who is probably best known for his great performance as Jackie Robinson in 42, will portray the character in this solo movie as well as whenever Black Panther appears in the future of the universe. Apparently he'll show up in Captain America: Civil War, though in what capacity remains to be seen. This is certainly one of the more intriguing titles to be coming in Phase 3.

After Part 1 of Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel is shaking it up with a solo film for a female superhero. I was hoping to see Black Widow get her own movie, especially after seeing her in The Winter Soldier. However, it seems Carol Danvers - who first appears as Ms. Marvel in the comics before eventually becoming Captain Marvel - will be the first woman to get her own movie. It's nice to see an increase in these female-led comic book movies; not only are we getting Captain Marvel, a Wonder Woman adaption was announced to be coming in 2017 on the DC side. We'll see how it goes, but I'm optimistic about this movie.

Marvel is taking yet another risk on a fairly obscure comic book team with Inhumans in 2018. I think they've earned the right to do this after the great success that was Guardians of the Galaxy. Much like with the Guardians of the Galaxy, I know only a little about this Inhumans team, so I'm not entirely sure what to expect. All I know is that I have a renewed faith in Marvel, so I'm not worried that Inhumans won't be good like I was initially with Guardians of the Galaxy.

Marvel has decided to split up Avengers: Infinity War into two parts. This will be the most siginificant event in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After all, it's ultimately the culmination of everything that has happened up to this point. The Infinity Gauntlet will have been made, and it seems Thanos will play a big role there; a picture of Thanos wearing said Infinity Gauntlet was released. For those that don't know, in the comics the Infinity Gauntlet basically made its wearer a God. It is made up of the six Infinity Stones, which have appeared in and been major parts of the films that have happened so far. It's going to be a big, epic two-parter that will probably have the most impact on the universe of any movie that has been released to this point.

In lieu of all these comic book movie announcements, we're sure to have some of the greatest superhero film adaptions of all-time within the next 5-10 years. DC wanted to make big news by announcing their lineup for the next 10 movies. Marvel ultimately just did them one better by not only releasing an amazing trailer for their upcoming film, but also laying out the plans for the next 5 years of the franchise. Marvel knows how to make the fans happy. I can't wait to continue following the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it inevitably gets bigger and better.