General Discussion

Premptive SPOILER WARNING!!! I am pretty sure I will have to mention the mid credit scene from the Avengers when disscussing these annouced films as well as maybe lightly spoil some comic book specific storylines. So yea read at your own will

If you for some reason haven't left the interenet for fear of The Dark Knight Rises spoilers showing up when they totally don't deserve to be (I'm looking at you douchebag on IGN), you'll have heard that Marvel has annouced their Phase 2 set of films set in a post Avengers world. These films are as follows: Iron Man 3 (May 13, 2013),Thor: The Dark World (November 8, 2013),Captain America: The Winter Soldier (April 4, 2014.), Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man both TBA. Now these will all lead into the inevitable Avengers 2 that may or may not be directed by Joss Whedon.

From the release dates given Marvel and Disney appear to be spreading their comic book franchises across the calendar year and not just saving them for summer. I like this move since the summer movie season is becoming increasingly stacked. Moving your movies 6 months apart allows each to both stand on its own and not potentially compete with not only one another but other blockbusters. Thor and Captian America:FA came out about a month apart. This also could help with superhero fatigue with just so many films coming out in the same genre close together is a sure fire way to kill the latest genre cash cow.

So time to begin rampant internet speculation about how this quartet of films can tie togoether and lead us to The Mad Titan

This is the franchise that started Phase 1 and now it starts Phase 2. Not a lot is known since the film is only halfway through production. Descrptions of footage shown at SDCC describe Stark being attacked at his home (possibly by Guy Pierce) and that yes Ben Kingsly is The Mandiran 10 rings and all. Now I doubt we will get some sort of post credit scene with Thanos showing up it wouldn't make much sense. But where there is Thanos the infinity gems/guantlent are sure to be near by. Perhaps the Mandarians 10 rings are those gems.

The next film to come out will be Thor: The Dark World. Now Marvel did a good job getting across that Asgard,Thor,Magic are just sceince we just don't understand so they are cosmic characters. My favorite part of Thor was all the Asgard stuff not boring old earth. By the sound of the title looks like we will be getting more Asgard and less earth. Villians haven't been annouced but Mads Mikkelsen was rumored to play Skurge the Executioner before being cast as Hanibal Lector in the forthcoming Hanibal TV series on NBC. Thors rogues gallery isn't that interesting most of the time it comes back Skurge and Amora the Enchantress doing Lokis bidding or some colossal demon like Surtur. Playing around with Surtur would be fun. What the "Dark World" means is unknown but looking over Norse cosmotology the realm of Niflhel sounds promising it is the realm of ice and mist where the wicked dead are cast. As a cosmic character perhaps we get our first hints of Thanos here, he was in a dark place.

After Thor it's back to earth for Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Of the first phase of films Captain America is probably my favorite. Now the subheading of The Winter Soldier is a dead give away to the return of Bucky Barnes(Sebastian Stan). In the comics Barnes was found by the Russians somehow lost his arm which they replaced with a sweet robotic one and brainwashed him into becoming the ultimate killing machine who they would than throw into the literal deep freeze until they needed him. I doubt it'll be the Russians who find him more likely it'll be HYDRA or possibly AIM (who exist somewhat given IM3 set photos). Other than a Stark cameo I don't see this one really tying into a cosmic threat this appears to be a more personal Captain America story. Anthony Mackie has been cast as the Falcon.

Than there is the matter of the two films without release dates. Ant-Man has been on again off again development with Edgar Wright for what feels like a decade now. He and Marvel claim it is finally happening. What is surprising is that Hank Pym will be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe proper and not some off shoot. Wright and Attack the Block director Joe Cornish have written another 2 versions of the script. Wright has described Ant Man as a bit of a comedic James Bond and from decription of the test footage Hank Pym sounds like he will be doing plenty of sneaking. Also the suit apparently looks a bit like a mecha. Like Iron Man 3 it wouldn't be surprising if some Infinity Gems or cosimic technology show up in the film.

Guardians of the Galaxy is actually going to be a movie. If people where afraid they wouldn't be able to make Thor understandable I wonder how they will explaining Star-Lord, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot. One of which is a giant tree creature. Star-Lord should be pretty easy he is partially human and hopefully they keep him with his steam punkish mask. This is where I'd expect Thanos to make the biggest appearance before Avengers 2. Like the title implies the protect the Galaxy and Thanos clearly a threat to him. In recent comics they accidently revived the mad titan. Perhaps the organization SWORD shows up it's space SHIELD.

Did I miss anything or do I just sounds like some crazy internet fanboy with to much free time?

Great article. I'm really interested in Guardians of the Galaxy, because it sounds intriguing to me, and that's just because I don't read comic books. But, I'm definitely looking forward to more Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man

I absolutely love the fact Marvel is calling it Phase Two. But it just reminds me of all that crazy stuff that was going to be Star Trek: Phase II.

i'm curious as to how long phase 2 will be. phase one took 5 years in 5 movies(with one sequel) all origin stories(cept hulk) while phase 2 will have 3 sequels and 2 origin stories all in about 3 years. I doubt they will only have one movie planned for 2014 or 15 which makes you wonder if phase 2 will have more movies in a shorter time frame to get avengers 2 out in 2016 or will they stick to whats here and drop avengers 2 in 2015 and start phase 3 in the winter which would be fucking crazy. Looking at this it's all fucking crazy, marvel gettin shit done while dc has it's thumb up their ass(recent batman and hopefully "future" superman excluded). It sure is fun trying to act like marvel and trying to plan this shit out, mindbending stuff.

Totally opposite thoughts about Thor. I thought the Asgard stuff was horrible. The Frost Giants and most of Asgaard looked terrible and while true to the comic I could only take the high speech/hammy Shakespearean dialogue in small doses. My favorite part of Thor as with the Ultimate Avenger comics ( before Jeph Loeb went ape shit on the Ultimate universe) was characters interacting with something no one could really comprehend or easily believe, that Norse Mythology is not only real and they were in the presence of an actual God. I also thought that fight scene where Thor as a mortal storms a SHIELD mobile research base in order to retrieve Mjolnir was the highlight of the entire film. Maybe because it didn't feel like a jumble of special effects and for one of the few times in the movie Thor is not in a clearly one-sided fight.

Kinda disappointed that all we are getting is sequels and allegedly Ant-Man. Kinda hoping we would get some new heroes like Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Moon Knight, Iron Fist, or Sub Mariner.

@Ghost_of_GhostDad said:

Totally opposite thoughts about Thor. I thought the Asgard stuff was horrible. The Frost Giants and most of Asgaard looked terrible and while true to the comic I could only take the high speech/hammy Shakespearean dialogue in small doses. My favorite part of Thor as with the Ultimate Avenger comics ( before Jeph Loeb went ape shit on the Ultimate universe) was characters interacting with something no one could really comprehend or easily believe, that Norse Mythology is not only real and they were in the presence of an actual God.

Have to agree with you there, the Asgard stuff in Thor was dreadfully dull for the most part. If they really are focusing more on off-Earth action in the sequel, then hopefully they'll be able to make it more compelling and less warmed-over Shakespearian speech.

Good write-up though. It was informative for someone like me who knows nothing about the comics.

great article.

my personal opinion towards the AVENGERS universe is rather negative. these are very fluffy, light films compared to their darker subject matter--the SPIDER-MAN and BATMAN franchises have done a much better job at creating meaningful, intense super-heroes. Also, the stories tend to create arrogant and not terribly heroic super-heroes that are insanely likeable but perhaps don't have as high symbolism as Batman, Spider-man, or even Daredevil. They aren't terrible movies, but they are pretty run-of-the-mill blockbusters.

A big problem is the lack of a truly intimidating villain. The acting and faithfulness of the Avengers films baddies--War Monger; Abomination; Justin Hammer; Whiplash/Crimson Dynamo; Loki; Red Skull--has been good, but they lack the respect wielded by Joker, Doctor Octopus, or Magneto (Whiplash definitely came the closest). This is mainly because there is no real sense of danger in the Avengers Universe: The tone is far to light for us to take the bad guys threats seriously.

@VioletEyedDragon: Wow I actually agree with you on something. I couldn't place it before about what bugged me about the Avengers Universe but you nailed it. Sure the X-Men, Spider-Man, and Batman are going to eventually win in the end. The difference is they seemed to be pushed to the limit both physically and mentally and after all is said and done you know they are going to have emotional scars that aren't going to heal very easily.

I really think they need to kill off one of the heroes in Avengers 2 for a "shit just got real" moment and to spice up the super hero sub-genre as a whole.

@Ghost_of_GhostDad: I would be disappointed at Ant-Man if not for Edgar Wright. It's in good hands.

And yeah, Asgard was an acquired taste (I did not acquire said taste) but earth was truly fucking appalling. Why Natalie Portman, WHY?!

@Tylea002 said:

@Ghost_of_GhostDad: I would be disappointed at Ant-Man if not for Edgar Wright. It's in good hands.

And yeah, Asgard was an acquired taste (I did not acquire said taste) but earth was truly fucking appalling. Why Natalie Portman, WHY?!

I still don't believe Ant-Man will ever see the light of day just like Wolverine 2.

@Ghost_of_GhostDad said:

@VioletEyedDragon: Wow I actually agree with you on something. I couldn't place it before about what bugged me about the Avengers Universe but you nailed it. Sure the X-Men, Spider-Man, and Batman are going to eventually win in the end. The difference is they seemed to be pushed to the limit both physically and mentally and after all is said and done you know they are going to have emotional scars that aren't going to heal very easily.

I really think they need to kill off one of the heroes in Avengers 2 for a "shit just got real" moment and to spice up the super hero sub-genre as a whole.

killing an Avenger would definitely amp up the intensity level and be a great move. they are probably too nervous to do it, though.

and thanks. :)

I know they will most likely not kill off an Avenger which really is a shame because if there is one thing Joss Whedon is great at it is killing off characters and making you really question if the heroes are going to live or die.

@MrMazz: I dunno. If you are, then I suppose that I have too much free time on my hands too. I have to admit that the Guardians of the Galaxy does sound like an interesting idea; providing that they have a good story. While Ant Man might be a good comic book hero, I have to admit that I have my doubts as to it's viability as a live action movie. I'm just not sure if a shrinking hero can carry an entire movie on his own.

Isn't there also an Inhumans movie coming down the pipeline? Plus, as all these movies were coming out, I never anticipated Loki to be the main baddie.

@Scorpio: Man a Inhumans movie would be soooo weird/ hard to explain. Hell I still have trouble figuring that one out. If Marvel is able to see Guardians though no reason they can't sell a Inhumans film.

It all sounds plausible. Ant-Man has certainly been on the back-boiler for some time now - no one knows if it is really going forward or not. It just doesn't have the pull something like Iron Man or Spiderman has. That said, I'd like to see it myself, but I doubt that box office would agree. Perhaps they could do it on the cheap, but keep the style? That way if it doesn't work out - he can still be a part of the next Avengers, even if it isn't a large part.

Speaking of comic books and shit, isn't the graphic novel Last Man Standing supposed to be getting a film?

Not really excited for any of these. The Ironman series has ranged from ok to snorefest for me so I probably won't watch 3 until it's on Netflix streaming. Thor was pretty mediocre so the sequel will be another Netflixer. I enjoyed Captain America but not enough to be excited about the sequel. Guardians of the Galaxy actually has the most interest. It's Starfox, one of the tree dudes from Lord of the Rings, and a bunch of other less weird weirdos. The concept and characters seem really stupid in a way that could be fun whether they are overly serious or ultra ridiculous. I just hope they don't try to strike a middle ground as I think that would just be a meh movie overall.