With its fourth phase still under tight wraps, with only three truly confirmed by the studio, it's never been a more agonising time to be a Marvel fan.
Understandably so, since it first launched a decade ago, fans have always been kept out of the dark thanks to Kevin Feige and his team, but now we're all alone, with no candle of hope in sight. As a result, the fan base is dying to see what Captain Marvel has to offer and if Brie Larson is the true Achilles heel for the purple Titan Who disintegrated half the universal population.
One of the biggest actors in the MCU will be noticeably absent from Phase 3 and beyond; Chris Evans. He announced that Avengers 4 would be his final go-around as Captain America, with no confirmation of another hero donning the vibranium shield. As for Thor, it is likely that Watiti and Hemsworth will reunite for a fourth film given the huge success from Ragnarok and the soft reboot Thor got as a character.
Assuming that Cappy and Lightning Man are out of the future picture, Marvel will be hard pressed for big picture names in the coming years, but with Spider-Man, Doctor Stephen Strange and Black Panther being successes with fans, sequels are almost a guarantee for each of them.
In terms of plausible standalones, Black Widow will finally be receiving her solo film after many pleas from fans. Also, The Eternal is rumoured to be in the cogwheels with Chloe Zhao taking the helm of them.
As per usual for any new phase, there's bound to be shocks. Could Mark Ruffalo's manchild Hulk get his own solo or will one of the supporting characters get their own flick to shine exclusively.
The most obvious surprise — one so obvious that almost everyone is anticipating it — is the likely addition of the Fantastic Four and X-Men properties to the Marvel Cinematic Universe thanks to the Fox buyout by Disney. Such a move, if it happens, would delight longtime comic book fans and provide filmmakers with the problem of how to insert the characters who started the comic book Marvel Universe as we know it, and an entire strain of humanity never previously mentioned, into their world seamlessly. It would also allow for a repopulation of the Marvel Studios character base and release slate, without having to resort to Kickers, Inc. or U.S. 1.
Could the potential of a reunification of the Fox properties and the Marvel Studios properties be the reason Marvel has been so tight-lipped about its cinematic future, or is it simply a desire to keep everything about the aftermath of the Infinity Wars a secret? We'll likely know more in a few months, but until then, let's keep our fingers crossed that someone, somewhere, is hoping to make a Jeff Goldblum Grandmaster movie and didn't want to ruin the surprise.
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Randomness And Stuff 2
RandomYep, more stupidity, analysing and whatnot. Be prepared to have your brain get fuzzy with the amount of these you'll be asking yourself and using in the lovely comments. ???
