All I can say is, “WOW!”  Yesterday was a complete shock.  A few weeks back, Warner Bros. and DC released their upcoming film slate through 2020, with the exception of their standalone Batman and Superman films.  These films included SUICIDE SQUAD, THE FLASH, CYBORG, SHAZAM, WONDER WOMAN, AQUAMAN, two JUSTICE LEAGUE movies and a rebooted GREEEN LANTERN film.  This was a general press release with title and dates presented in plain black text and it sent the internet into a frenzy.  In the spirit of competition, Marvel has gone against their modus operandi of the past where they only presented their upcoming films for the next two years and released their full slate through 2019.

But Marvel did it in style.  They not only put together a big presentation, but they brought along title graphics for their films, a few familiar faces and even introduced a new casting announcement.  Oh, and they showed off some exclusive clips.  There was a more grand bit of showmanship with their upcoming slate announcement and, as usual, the crowd went crazy.  As Jon Campea said on AMC Movie Talk, “This was Marvel’s best Comic-Con presentation ever!”  Pretty bold words since this wasn’t even at Comic-Con.

We took a lot away from the presentation yesterday, but we were also left with just as many questions.  I just wanted to take a bit to look at some of the info we were presented with yesterday and talk about what it may mean for the future of the MCU.

As a side note, you will not see anything regarding next summer’s ANT-MAN below as there was no significant news presented yesterday, however, it is interesting to note that, at least through 2019, there is no sequel announced for the Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas led, Peyton Reed directed film.

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01. SPIDER-MAN

So recently, there has been a lot of speculation that Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios have been deep in discussions behind the scenes to bring everyone’s favorite web-head into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  This is not surprising with Sony’s financial difficulties and the last Spider-Man film, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 not living up to the expectations of the hemorrhaging studio.  In recent months, we have seen the cancellation of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 4, a delay in release for THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 3 and the apparent abandonment of the VENOM CARNAGE movie.

With Marvel making such a bold proclamation of their plans for the next 5 years (which include the inclusion of the adaptation of the CIVIL WAR storyline which Spider-Man played a very prominent part in), many expected that if there was some sort of deal in place for this to happen (and was more than just fanboy wishing), that we would have seen some sort of confirmation during the event.  The event came and went and nothing was announced.

Only, that’s not entirely true.

During the Q&A event, Kevin Feige was specifically asked this very question to which he responded:

“Anything that wasn’t specifically and obviously revealed today is either not true at all, or still rumor until it’s worked out.”

Those last 7 words COULD be a subtle hint that things are still in the discussion stage between the studios, but again, that puts us back at square one.  I think of all the properties that Marvel proper doesn’t have the film rights to, Spider-Man looks to be the one closest to coming home or possibly coexisting with.  But it is not as simple as just bringing Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man into the MCU.  There are questions of timelines, proper integration, etc.  Spider-Man lives and operates in New York.  There was a big, battle of New York.  Where was Spider-Man during that timeframe?  So, as you can see, it is not just as simple as tying the two existing universes together, one will most likely have to be rebooted and let’s face it, rebooting Spider-Man would be much easier than rebooting the entire MCU.

More questions then come up which I am sure the powers-that-be would have to consider.  Would this be a buyout of the Spider-Man film rights by Disney from Sony?  Would Sony stay on to create the films and work with Disney?  Who would then have control of what happens in the Spider-Man films?  Marvel or Sony?  Could Sony stay on as just a distributor with some front end cash to boot?  Who knows.  All we do know is that nothing was made official yesterday.

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02: AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

What was supposed to be the day the world saw the very first trailer for AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON turned out to be a fanboys dream come true.  Due to the leaked trailer that forced Marvel’s hand in releasing the official version a week early (Dammit, Hydra), Marvel then scheduled a big event for the press and fans to come to.  This led to the presentation we had yesterday as well as two clips from the film, one that was released online and shown with the extended trailer last night on MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D., but also an exclusive one shown only to the audience in attendance.  While there is no official version of the clip, we can tell you that the unreleased clip shows Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) out in rural America chopping wood together and talking.  It is a great scene that continues to build upon the rift between the two regarding their own versions of right and wrong.  These are the kinds of seeds we have come to expect in the MCU.  This great character and story development that will most likely culminate, or at least explode, in 2016’s CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR.  Oh, and seeing Steve Rogers ditch the axe and pull a stump of wood apart with his bare hands out of frustration at Tony was fantastic.

But this is not all we learned about AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON.  During the press release, as well as through various interactions with several of the films stars, specifically Robert Downey, Jr. and Chris Hemsworth (Thor), we have come to discover that the Avenger’s roster will look VERY different after the finale of that film.  There is a lot of speculation that we will see more heroes appear and join the teams.  It is truly exciting to think about, especially as we move towards a Civil War story, in that we could see the formation of two Avenger’s teams, much like we have seen in the comics.

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03. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

First and foremost, a big takeaway from yesterday’s announcements is the size of Marvel’s cajones.  When they first announced the subtitle for Captain America 3, they originally put up a title card showcasing CAPTAIN AMERICA: SERPENT SOCIETY and the crowd went crazy.  They then changed it up midway through when we got a special introduction to Robert Downey, Jr. and Chris Evans.  There is always the fear that the audience would be upset at the switch.  For example, if they had done it the other way and called it Civil War then switched to Serpent Society, there might have been pandemonium, and not in a good way.  But that’s Marvel.  They have a very good grasp on what they are doing and what their fans want.

So, with CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR and the return of the Russo Brothers, the question becomes, how will they adapt a story that not only encompassed most of the entire Marvel universe in the comics, both heroes and villains, but also one that is centered around secret identities, one thing the MCU has not been big on. Kevin Feige has gone on record to state that the film will be inspired by the comic event, but not a direct adaptation. Here were his words after the presentation yesterday:

I don’t want to give too much away, but needless to say, the generalities of the [Superhero Registration] act are the same. Something happens. Perhaps, it’s culmative for things that have happened from all of the movies leading up to this point. As many of the governments of the world say, ‘We need to have some oversight of these guys; They need to report to somebody’. So, it falls more under that umbrella versus ‘take off your mask’. It’s not about the secret identity thing as much as it is about overall who reports to who and who can agree to an oversight. Because of now, in Avengers 2, there is no more Security Council, obviously there is no more S.H.I.E.L.D. Stark is paying for it, Captain America is running it, and things occur that make governments began to question that.”

With the clip that was shown yesterday of Tony Stark and Steve Rogers in AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, you can see these seeds being planted and I think it is a great way to keep true to the theme of the original story while fitting it into the world that has been created in the MCU.  Other things that we found out regarding this is that the Spider-Man role (the character caught in the middle and being forced to take sides) will most likely be taken on by Black Panther.  Feige confirmed yesterday that not only will his first appearance be in CA:CW, but that we will see him in full costume as well.

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04. DR. STRANGE

While not much was given away at this point, we can officially say that at least two things have been clarified.  For starters, Benedict Cumberbatch has not officially signed on yet to play Dr. Stephen Strange.  He may be in final negotiations, heck he might even be the only person they are talking to, but as of the event yesterday, nothing has been signed hence nothing official.  Kevin Feige even stated that had something been finalized with an actor, then they would have been there at the event or at the least, the announcement would have been made.  Since neither of those are done, Benedict is not Strange…yet.

Second, while speaking at the event, Feige stated that they have been working on this movie for quite a while and it is one that he has been eager to get on screen.  After giving a brief synopsis of the character (a brilliant surgeon who gets into a car accident and loses the ability to continue his trade), he went on to speak about how they plan to bring the magic side of the MCU to the screen:

“In the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of the supernatural, that involves everything from quantum mechanics to string theory. The idea of this film is to open up a whole new corner of the cinematic universe. We want to enter, through Strange, the world of parallel dimensions.”

Much like they did with THOR, they are taking a scientific approach to the idea of the supernatural and I think, at least for the movie version, this is a smart approach.  Magic, historically, has always been a way for us as mankind to explain something that we weren’t scientifically able to explain… yet.  We saw this a lot in the middle ages and while we have progressed a lot as society, the idea of the unexplainable being nothing more than magic is a great way to bring Dr. Strange into the universe without it feeling like too much of a left turn.

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05. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY was my most anticipated comic book related film of 2014 and boy, did it deliver.  Not only was it heavily favored by critics and movie audiences alike, it has, as of this date, become the largest domestic film of 2014 and the third largest worldwide film (where it will soon be number 2 as it is about to pass Disney’s MALEFICENT).  Both of those ranks could be in danger once the Jennifer Lawrence led THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 1 hits theaters in November, but either way, that’s quite impressive for a ragtag group of nobody’s that Marvel plopped down on the unsuspecting world.

Granted, we know now that DC has figured out how to make Wonder Woman not too confusing for a movie with the upcoming release of WONDER WOMAN set to hit theaters on June 23, 2017, but it still has to make you chuckle, especially when you realize that Marvel will have delivered not one, but TWO, yes 2, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY films by the time she finally hits the big screen.  Yep, you read that right.  During yesterday’s presentation, we didn’t learn anything new about the story, additional characters or even the subtitle, but in a brief video message from director James Gunn, who was in Tokyo and unavailable to attend the event, we learned that he was so excited to show us what he has in store for the film, they have moved the film up 2 months to one of Marvel’s prime locations, May 5, 2017.  The May slots have been hugely successful with both of their billion dollar movies coming out in that general time slot (THE AVENGERS and IRON MAN 3).  With the success of GOTG already at the box office, I would say there is a good chance that GOTG2 will join them in the billion dollar club.  I would almost bank on it.

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06. THOR: RAGNAROK

In the comics and even in Norse mythology, Ragnarok (or correctly Ragnarök) is the equivalent of the apocalypse.  It is a highly revered storyline from the comics that introduces Surtur, a fire demon bent on bringing upon Ragnarok as well as heavy parts for not just Thor, but all of the Norse gods, including Odin.

No director was announced for the film and it is unclear as to whether or not Alan Taylor will return, but Feige did say that the events of this film will have strong impacts on the MCU.  You have to imagine the stakes will be high and the villain will be fearsome, something that many fans felt was lacking from THOR: THE DARK WORLD.

Feige stressed the importance of this film:

“This is a very important movie for us in Phase 3. We plan on taking Thor to another level. It picks up where we leave Thor in Avengers: Age of Ultron and impacts everything that comes after.”

The only remaining question to be answered, which was not touched on yesterday, but has to be in the back of the minds of any fans who saw the final stinger in the last THOR movie.  If you haven’t seen it, I won’t spoil anything, but there was a big reveal that absolutely must be dealt with.

Oh, and will we finally meet Beta Ray Bill?  Even with all the information that Marvel has dropped on us, we now have almost more questions than we did before the presentation.  Good show, Marvel.  Good show.

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07. BLACK PANTHER

BLACK PANTHER is one of the films that Marvel fans have been clamoring for.  Not only is the character beloved in the comics, but he would also be Marvel’s first non-white male led film.  The Black Panther character is the Prince and later the King of the fictional African nation of Wakanda.  It is an isolationist country that A) doesn’t favor outsiders very much, B) is highly technologically advanced even with their tribal roots still fully embraced and C) is the source of the fictional metal Vibranium which not-only makes up Captain America’s shield, but is also rumored to be the metal that Ultron uses to make his final form in AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON.  Kevin Feige said yesterday that they were already planting seeds for this moving with things they have already released to the public which points many, myself included as you can see from the tweet I made below, to believe that Andy Serkis is really playing Ulysses Klaw, a villain for both Black Panther and Daredevil in the comics.

I have to believe, after seeing the new @Marvel and @Avengers trailer, that @andyserkis is playing Ulysses Klaw…. pic.twitter.com/KGTVej8gnx

— Jim Cassidy (@imaginejim) October 23, 2014

Marvel was not content with just announcing the film nor were they satisfied with announcing that BP’s first appearance, in full costume no less, would be in CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR.  They went above and beyond and even brought out the man himself, Mr. Chadwick Boseman (42, GET ON UP) to interact with Robert Downey, Jr. and Chris Evans.  Chadwick is one of the names that has been highly favored in the fan community for Black Panther and his alter-ego, T’Challa.

Oh, and in case you missed it in Devin’s article, Marvel even released the official concept art of BP’s suit.  Stunning work, if I must say.

In a quick blurb from Feige, we also get the hint that we will not only meet T’Challa, but most likely his father, the previous Black Panther, as well.

“Black Panther and all of Wakanda is one of the most interesting characters in Marvel history.  Something I already showed you today contains an Easter egg that leads directly into Black Panther. He’s a bit of a prince, he may even become a bit of a king, but it’s all about how this isolationist country meets the world. Maybe it goes well, maybe it doesn’t.” 

The reference of him being “…a bit of a prince, he may even become a bit of a king,” is referencing how T’Challa took over the Black Panther mantle (a ceremonial title given to the chief of the Panther Tribe) after the death of his father, T’Chaka.  In the comics, T’Chaka is killed by Ulysses Klaw, so there’s already that connection.  Djimon Hounsou has been a fan favorite for T’Challa, but his age has always been an issue with other fans who believed he was too old to play the character for a long period of time.  Perhaps we could see him take on the role of the elder ruler of Wakanda, a casting I would be completely behind.

The final thing we learned, this time from Deadline, is that Chadwick Boseman has signed on for a total of five films.  If you look at CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR, BLACK PANTHER, AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR PART 1 and AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR PART 2, that means we should expect to see him at least one more time, most likely in his own, as of yet, unannounced sequel.

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08. CAPTAIN MARVEL

When Feige unveiled the title card for Captain Marvel, the place went crazy, but when he made the clarification that although there have been many people who have used this name in the comics, “…this Captain Marvel’s name is Carol Danvers.”

While some out there in la-la land may believe that this is just a knee-jerk reaction to DC’s announcement of WONDER WOMAN, a female led superhero film, Feige addressed that indirectly during the junket.

“This film has been in the works almost as long as Doctor Strange or Guardians of the Galaxy before it came out, and one of the key things was figuring out what we wanted to do with it. Her adventures are very earthbound, but her powers are based in the cosmic realm.”

With the film so far in the future, it was no wonder that we didn’t hear an announcement on potential casting, although the fan favorites have been clearly Katee Sackoff (Battlestar: Gallactica) and Yvonne Stravoski (Chuck) although Marvel has been known to go in a completely different direction than what the fans initially hoped for.  Feige did leave the audience with this info regarding the personnel announcements:

“My guess is rumors will start flying this second. The initial announcements, in terms attachments for that film, will probably be the writer and director announcements, which I do actually expect will be quite soon. In terms of the actress, I think there’s more time.” 

In the comics, Carol Danvers received her powers from a Kree Warrior named Captain Mar-Vell.  It was because of his Kree name that sounded like our word ‘marvel’ that she also adapted the moniker of Captain Marvel as well.  The Kree have already been introduced in both GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY and MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. so the inclusion of that backstory is not out of the question.

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09. INHUMANS

Marvel Studios (read: not FOX STUDIOS) cannot use the word ‘mutants’ to describe how people gain powers.  It has always been an easy way for Marvel to explain how some of their characters became super-powered without having to come up with one freak accident or radiation experiment after another (toxic chemical spill, radioactive spider-bite, gamma radiation, cosmic radiation, etc.).  While they can’t use the term ‘mutant’, they can still explain that some people are given their gifts or even born with them.

The INHUMANS, according to Feige, will..

“…introduce dozens of characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We really do believe the Inhumans can be a franchise or a series of franchise unto themselves. They have dozens of powers and an amazing social structure. With our 20th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we wanted to continue to refine what that universe is about.”

The Inhumans have a rather complex history, but they have strong ties to several elements that have already been introduced in the MCU so far.  Races like the enormous Celestials (as seen in GOTG in the Collector’s (Benecio del Toro) explanation of the Infinity Gems) and the Eternals (the big bad purple guy, Thanos, is an Eternal).  The Inhumans were created as an offshoot of genetic experimentation on humans utilizing a mutagenic Terrigen Mist which not only gave powers to their hosts, but in some cases, also caused deformities.  These experimentations and the idea of the Terrigen Mist is a way to introduce ‘mutant’ like characters without having ‘mutants’ in your film. 

Either way, with GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, CAPTAIN MARVEL, BOTH INFINITY WAR films and INHUMANS, Marvel is truly embracing the cosmic side of things and it wouldn’t even surprise me to see, after the second INFINITY WAR film, if we see the focus move off of Earth and focus more on the space epics Marvel still has available.

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10. AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR PART 1 and PART 2

So this is it.  Ever since Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) broke into the house of Tony Stark and told him that he was part of a bigger universe and he didn’t even know it, we have been dying to see that bigger universe.  We have slowly had the layers peeled back to reveal that larger universe, but nothing could have prepared us for this:

That simple reveal not only blew the minds of geeks, nerds and fanboys everywhere, but also had the entire world looking at their geek, nerd and fanboy friends and asking, “who is that purple guy?” The responses they got probably went something like this:

“That was….oh my god……Thanos……Death……loves……oh my god……infinity…..oh my god……gauntlet……OH MY GOD, HELL YEAH!!!

You see, as soon as we saw his ridged purple face, we knew there was only one possibly outcome and that was the incredibly brilliant Infinity Gauntlet storyline from the comics which saw Thanos, in an attempt to court the love of his life (the embodiment of Death), gather the Infinity Gems and use them to wipe out half of the universe with a single click of his fingers.  The only thing we didn’t know was when it would happen.  Many thought it was going to be AVENGERS 2, but it quickly became apparent that Marvel was in no rush to get to the Granddaddy of all story lines and villains.

Then, yesterday, we saw this revealed:

Yep, that’s the crazy, Mad-Titan himself, Thanos, holding the most powerful weapon in all the universe, the Infinity Gauntlet and we are now in for not one, but two films dealing with the conflict.

As Marvel has already shown, their movie versions are “inspired” by their comic story lines so we can’t give a complete idea of what exactly will happen, but I was left with this thought.  By the second part, Marvel will be 20 movies down with this one being their 21st and at least 5 separate TV shows with MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D., DAREDEVIL, LUKE CAGE, JESSICA JONES and IRON FIST (not to mention their culmination series, THE DEFENDERS) so at the time of the second film in the 2 part event, Marvel will have a cast of well over 30 and approaching 40 heroes on screen to throw against the sadistic madman.  We are talking about a movie event to end all movie event.  Imagine the final movie of Harry Potter, but with superheroes, magicians, scientists, aliens, gods and genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropists in a combined attack against a single Eternal wielding the most powerful weapon in existence and then turn the entire thing up to 11.

One interesting bit of information that was neither addressed nor announced yesterday was whose name or names would be filling out the back of the director’s chair.  People have wondered if Joss Whedon would make AGE OF ULTRON his final hurrah while other rumors persist that the Russo Brothers would be directing both of them back to back.  If either of those deals were done, we surely would have heard about it yesterday.  So at this point, we are left with more questions than answers.  I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to the next 6 years and having those questions answered for me.

One film at a time.

What about you?  What were some things you took away from the announcement yesterday?  Out of all of the films presented, which one are you most looking forward to?  Let us know in the comments below.

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