First off, the “standard” unveilings:
Sequels
Captain America 3 – 6th May 2016
Guardians of the Galaxy (as yet unnamed sequel) – 4th November 2016
Thor 3: Ragnarok (Ragnork means “The end of the world” as Marvel helpfully told us) – 28th July 2017
And what looks to be the ultimate end-of-it-all close to the story arc that has run since the first Iron Man…
Infinity War
Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 – 4th May 2018
Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 – 3rd May 2018
Yes folks, like Harry Potter and The Hobbit, Marvel is going two parter crazy. And yes, that’s the Infinity War as in The Infinity Gauntlet as wielded by the mad Titan Thanos (I’m assuming he’s going to do more than just sit in a chair in these two….)
Interspersed with these somewhat expected films, boy do Marvel have some goodies lined up for us.
Doctor Strange
…will hit screens on the 4th November 2016, though there was no confirmation of who is playing him, so Cumberbatch fans? Maintain your high alert status.
Next up is a long rumoured bit of news but something that will excite a lot of people:
Black Panther
will be starring in his own title to be released on the 3rd November 2017. Whilst he’s not known in the mainstream world so much, Black Panther is a pivotal character in the Marvel universe and it will be interesting to see the place he takes in the Marvel Films Universe. He will be played by Chadwick Boseman who, whilst a relatively unknown name, appears to have some serious acting chops. Some on stage banter between himself, Chris Evans and Robert Downey journey hinted at Black Panther playing a part in the next bit of exciting News.
Civil War
That’s right folks, It’s confirmed. Captain America 3 will reproduce what some of you will know from our podcast is the story arc that got me into comics, the Civil War. Quite how this will play out is unsure, but from the rapidly expanding cast of characters that Marvel are introducing it’s certainly beginning to look like something that could echo the epic scale of the Comic story line on the silver screen.
Hot on the heels comes a completely new and, as far as I am aware, unrumoured title.
Captain Marvel
And that’s not any Captain Marvel (and no, not Mar-Vell either), but the one and only Carol Danvers will be joining us on July 6thNovember 2018. This is HUGE news for comic fans and the cinema going public alike, as it will be the first proper film to feature a female lead hero and, some would say more importantly, beats DC to the punch as they are yet to announce a date (if any is forthcoming) for a Wonder Woman film. I’m really excited to see this character on screen as she’s always been an interesting, and wry, addition to the Marvel Universe. The release date could point towards a major patriotic intention, the original Carol Danvers was an US Air Force officer, time will tell!
In confirmation of something we discussed on the podcast a few weeks ago, Marvel have also confirmed
The Inhumans
No details were given yet as to cast or even character make up, but they will make their cinematic debut on the 2nd November 2018. We’ll have to wait and see whether the rumoured idea of replacing the X-men in the Marvel Film Universe with the Inhumans (like Pietro and Wanda Maximoff in Age of Ultron) will come to pass or whether they will feature Black Bolt and his royal family, or perhaps some mixture of the two.
Needless to say, it’s an exciting time to be both a Marvel comics fan and a fan of the superhero movie genre! Now… where’d I put that time machine….