Phase 3 Release Schedule Finalized

[Flint Marko]

What does it matter if they never reference secondary supporting characters like Doc Samson again? Does the movie they were introduced in suffer because of that?
Not at all, and it leaves the door open in the future if they want to bring that character back again. If not, oh well. Not a big deal really.

 

[Spiderine]

TIH didn't quite meet the expectations they wanted and it sort of left Hulk in limbo even though it did its most important job which was to establish him in the MCU and set up his role in Avengers. Ruffalo's version has been well received but they may be moving on from TIH towards including Hulk in some bigger films involving other Marvel heroes or something along the lines of Planet Hulk. They would probably recast Doc Samson should they decide to use the character in the future.

 

[Eddie]

I don't really think 10 years is considered tying something up immediately (assuming Hulk 2 is on the backburner until 2018 or so), but that's just me. They introduced Doc Samson in The Incredible Hulk too. I mean, what is the point of doing any of that if they're not going to follow through?

I don't watch Agents of Shield because, from what I understand, it's just a bunch of characters who aren't in the comics like Coulson. Occasionally, it sounds like they name drop real characters or have them appear for an episode or two. That doesn't interest me at all. There are plenty of characters in the comics they could have chosen to make that show about. If I wanted to watch some original superhero types with no comic ties, I'd watch that X-Men rip-off Heroes or whatever.

First of all, this is somewhat ironic given today's announcement of 616 versions of AoS characters. Second, quite a few comic characters are in AoS (some of the original characters actually tie into comic concepts, like Amadore). Season 2 will be bringing in even more (Kraken and Mockingbird being the big ones confirmed so far).

 

[Mike Murdock]

Random thought about the open movie slots. Any possibility of a Winter Soldier movie, given the massive contract Sebastian Stan signed?

 

[Eddie]

Random thought about the open movie slots. Any possibility of a Winter Soldier movie, given the massive contract Sebastian Stan signed?

My money's on that being a Phase 4 film. If A3 drops in May '18, one of those later three films could be a Winter Soldier or Bucky Cap film.

 

[ThatDamnNinja]

What I Hope Will Happen
May 6, 2016 - Captain America 3
July 8, 2016 - Doctor Strange

May 5, 2017 - The Incredible Hulk 2
July 28, 2017 - Guardians of the Galaxy 2
November 3, 2017 - Black Panther

July 6, 2018 - Thor 3
November 2, 2018 - Captain Marvel

May 3, 2019 - Avengers 3


What I Think Will Happen
May 6, 2016 - Captain America 3
July 8, 2016 - Doctor Strange

May 5, 2017 - Thor 3
July 28, 2017 - Guardians of the Galaxy 2
November 3, 2017 - Black Widow

July 6, 2018 - The Inhumans
November 2, 2018 - Avengers 3 - Part I

May 3, 2019 - Avengers 3 - Part II

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Black Widow isn't happening.

 

[ThatDamnNinja]

Black Widow isn't happening.

Is that prediction or is that confirmed?

 

[Mike Murdock]

Either way, you missed the May 2018 date.

 

[Marvelocity]

First of all, this is somewhat ironic given today's announcement of 616 versions of AoS characters. Second, quite a few comic characters are in AoS (some of the original characters actually tie into comic concepts, like Amadore). Season 2 will be bringing in even more (Kraken and Mockingbird being the big ones confirmed so far).

Are you trying to convince me to like that show? I haven't heard a single long-time Marvel fan say a good word about it. Seems like just a chance for Marvel to be creative and invent new characters without having to be loyal to their own history.

If they had taken a few Shield agents from the comics and made it about them and then threw in lesser villains who will never see the big screen like Whirlwind, Egghead, Titanium Man, etc. and had heroes make cameos every now and then, I guarantee I'd be watching. From what I've read, it sounds terrible. Now those Daredevil and Luke Cage shows, on the other hand, sound worthwhile.

 

[cph9fa]

Is that prediction or is that confirmed?

About as close to confirmed as you can get without actually being confirmed. Feige has said he doesn't think they'd get 'credit' for doing a Black Widow movie, and, while he wouldn't be against if if they had the right idea at the right time, he'd rather do a new female hero.

 

[DrCosmic]

Based on what we've heard about:

Ant-Man: July 17, 2015
- Confirmed
Captain America 3: May 6, 2016
- Confirmed
Dr. Strange: July 8, 2016
- This has a director and screenwriter
Black Panther: May 5, 2017
- This, apparently, has a lead actor
Guardians of the Galaxy 2: Captain Marvel: July 28, 2017
- Confirmed
Thor 3: Ragnarok: November 3, 2017
- This is a November property, no reason to change this
- Has a basic plot outline, just needs someone to come direct it
Iron Man 4: May 3, 2018
- They are motivated to work out a deal with RDJ
- Iron Man is a big may property
- It is unlikely that Phase 3 will be followed swiftly by two phase 4 movies
- They're out of established properties to revisit in 2018
- Regardless, it will be a pre-amble to Avengers 3, but it won't be called Avengers 3 pt 1, it will focus on a single character for marketing reasons
Crystal and The Inhumans: July 6, 2018
- They've gotten repeated mentions, promotion and tie into cosmic
Widow and Hulk: November 2, 2018
- This film is the most mysterious, kinda could be anything
- I think they can break a Hulk film by then, and Widow is a great co-lead
Avengers 3: May 3, 2019
- They stopped on a may date because this part of the plan finishes there
- They aren't going to plan half of phase 4.
- Expect to see everyone: All 15 Avengers, All 8 Defenders, All 8 Guardians, And all 8 Inhumans vs Thanos and his little squad. Good times.

Alternately, IM4 may be in May 2017 putting Thor 3 in Nov 2018, BP in July 2018, Inhumans in November 2017, leaving the May 2018 a mystery. There's no more big new/good properties to go there. They could do some crazy things, a Winter Soldier/Cap 4 movie for instance. Or maybe just Dr. Strange 2, or Ant-Man 2, depending on what their goal is for those franchises. It's hard to believe they'd break another new franchise in May unless they had supreme confidence in it... but what would get that much confidence from them?

If they had taken a few Shield agents from the comics and made it about them and then threw in lesser villains who will never see the big screen like Whirlwind, Egghead, Titanium Man, etc. and had heroes make cameos every now and then, I guarantee I'd be watching. From what I've read, it sounds terrible. Now those Daredevil and Luke Cage shows, on the other hand, sound worthwhile.

The number of things that *could have been* with AoS is just incredible.

 

[Da Games Elite]

I don't think we're going to be getting Iron Man 4, honestly. Even though the character is very popular, Marvel needs to establish other properties to pick up the slack when some of the main actors step down from their roles. I think Black Panther and Captain Marvel are surefire bets for Phase 3. My ideal schedule?

July 17, 2015 - Ant-Man
May 6, 2016 - Cap 3
July 8, 2016 - Dr. Strange
May 5, 2017 - Black Panther
July 28, 2017 - Guardians 2
November 3, 2017 - Thor 3
May 3, 2018 - Hulk 2
July 6, 2018 - Captain Marvel
November 2, 2018 - Inhumans
May 3, 2019 - Avengers 3

Though, in all likelihood, Avengers 3 will come out May 3rd, to keep with the three year production cycle of the Avengers films.

 

[Flint Marko]

Are you trying to convince me to like that show? I haven't heard a single long-time Marvel fan say a good word about it.

Then clearly you're only hearing what you want to hear, as I just told you it's improved significantly over the course of the season.

 

[djsunyc]

i would assume thor 3 would lead into avengers 3.

 

[BoredGuy]

Are you trying to convince me to like that show? I haven't heard a single long-time Marvel fan say a good word about it.

Yeah seriously, pay attention
Long-time Marvel comic fan here, and the show kicked all sorts of ass in the back half of the season

good enough?

 

[metaphysician]

I continue to roll my eyes at the demand that Agents of SHIELD should have been the "random hero TV hour". If its not about the main characters of the show, then what is the point?

( Answer: "Wa wa, I don't like anybody who doesn't wear a costume to be heroic!" )

 

[The_Manhunter]

My predictions, assuming all of these dates are for Phase 3:

July 2015: Ant-Man
May 2016: Captain America 3
July 2016: Doctor Strange
May 2017: Black Panther
July 2017: Guardians of the Galaxy 2
November 2017: Thor 3
May 2018: Iron Man 4 (Hulk possible guest star?)
July 2018: Captain Marvel
November 2018: The Inhumans
May 2019: The Avengers 3

I'm fairly confident in the bolded, while the others are just guesswork based on stuff we've seen/heard.

 

[Aztec]

July 2015: Ant-Man
May 2016: Captain America: World War Three
July 2016: Doctor Strange
May 2017: Thor: Ragnarok
July 2017: Guardians of the Galaxy: Annihilation
November 2017: Black Panther
May 2018: Iron Man 4
July 2018: The Inhumans
November 2018: Avengers: The Infinity Gauntlet Part I
May 2019: The Avengers: The Infinity Gauntlet Part II

 

[DrCosmic]

I continue to roll my eyes at the demand that Agents of SHIELD should have been the "random hero TV hour". If its not about the main characters of the show, then what is the point?

( Answer: "Wa wa, I don't like anybody who doesn't wear a costume to be heroic!" )

Make the main character a hero. There are plenty super powered SHIELD Agents to choose from. It's not that AoS is a bad show, it's actually gotten pretty good towards the end of season 1, it's just so far from what people expected and what it was going for it didn't actually execute well enough to win people over.

I don't think we're going to be getting Iron Man 4, honestly. Even though the character is very popular, Marvel needs to establish other properties to pick up the slack when some of the main actors step down from their roles. I think Black Panther and Captain Marvel are surefire bets for Phase 3. My ideal schedule?

I think BP, Captain Marvel and Hulk 2 are all things fans like us clamor for, but the word from Feige is that they won't be pushed into making Captain Marvel and the word from Whedon is that making a good Hulk film is extremely difficult even for him. So to say they're surefire bets is iffy, no matter how much we want them. The only reason BP is actually on my list is because I've seen a picture of Boyega in a Marvel T-shirt in their offices talking about Wakanda and he still got whatever job he went for.

I think, based on what Feige said about James Bonding Iron Man, they have no intention of de-prioritizing characters when the actors are replaced, if that even happens. Captain America will pick up the slack for Captain America, Thor for Thor, and etc. Why not?

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

I don't think we're going to be getting Iron Man 4, honestly. Even though the character is very popular, Marvel needs to establish other properties to pick up the slack when some of the main actors step down from their roles. I think Black Panther and Captain Marvel are surefire bets for Phase 3. My ideal schedule?

July 17, 2015 - Ant-Man
May 6, 2016 - Cap 3
July 8, 2016 - Dr. Strange
May 5, 2017 - Black Panther
July 28, 2017 - Guardians 2
November 3, 2017 - Thor 3
May 3, 2018 - Hulk 2
July 6, 2018 - Captain Marvel
November 2, 2018 - Inhumans
May 3, 2019 - Avengers 3

Though, in all likelihood, Avengers 3 will come out May 3rd, to keep with the three year production cycle of the Avengers films.

I think Iron Man 4 is much more likely than Hulk 2.

The former is a cash cow and the latter is a risky project that disappointed every time.

Disney is going to give RDJ an offer he can't refuse a.k.a. a dump truck full of money.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Is that prediction or is that confirmed?

Prediction.

 

[Dasher10]

I don't think we're going to be getting Iron Man 4, honestly. Even though the character is very popular, Marvel needs to establish other properties to pick up the slack when some of the main actors step down from their roles. I think Black Panther and Captain Marvel are surefire bets for Phase 3. My ideal schedule?

July 17, 2015 - Ant-Man
May 6, 2016 - Captain America: The Bloodstone Hunt
July 8, 2016 - Dr. Strange: Sorcerer Supreme
May 5, 2017 - Thor 3 (can't be Ragnarok since Thor is in Avengers 3)
July 28, 2017 - Guardians of the Galaxy: Universal Church of Truth
November 3, 2017 - Captain Marvel
May 3, 2018 - Hulk 2
July 6, 2018 - Black Panther
November 2, 2018 - Inhumans
May 3, 2019 - Avengers: Infinity

Though, in all likelihood, Avengers 3 will come out May 3rd, to keep with the three year production cycle of the Avengers films.

I fixed a few things.

I seriously think that Thor is getting a May release. He's way too popular of a character to not use.

I'd also put Captain Marvel in 2017 since a female lead is too large of a risk for a summer release date but at the same time, Marvel will want to put out a film with a female lead sooner rather than later.

And yes, this puts Ant-Man, Wasp, Crystal, Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange and Black Panther into a massive ensemble cast.

And just as my own speculation. I predict that Black Widow will co-star in Black Panther and be the one who gets T'Challa to join the Avengers. She'll also get her own film in 2020 along with Iron Man 4.

I'm also predicting that Thor 3 will have Enchantress as the main villain.

Doctor Strange will hopefully introduce the Soul Gem to the Marvel Universe.

Captain Marvel is going to be an alien abduction story where Yon-Rogg is the villain.

Guardians 2 will presumably introduce Adam Warlock, the Magus and the Universal Church of Truth.

Captain America 3 is going to be The Bloodstone Hunt where the Time Gem is featured and the villains are Zemo, Songbird and Taskmaster with Batroc wanting a rematch to claim the MacGuffin in the name of Hydra and Crossbones showing up at the end betraying Zemo but who's revealed post-credits to be working for Sinthia Schmidt, the granddaughter of the Red Skull.

Hulk 2 will introduce Marlo Chandler, Rick Jones, Jennifer Walters and Amadeus Cho as supporting characters who Hulk can play off of with Jen becoming She-Hulk after the credits to set up her Netflix spin-off. She'll be a lawyer for The Avengers who's also Hulk's cousin and is currently representing The Avengers in court of a property damage lawsuit. She gets injured and Bruce is the only one who can provide her with a blood transfusion. The Leader will be the main villain who reveals that Hulk's split personality is due to dissociative identity disorder and gamma beasts naturally retain the personality of who they once were but with some personality traits amplified. The Leader uses this to create a new, evil personality for Hulk called Joe Fixit and sets him loose upon his friends with the hope that he'll hurt Betty, Samson and the newcomers with both Bruce and Hulk working together to repress Joe Fixit with some VERY funny internal monologues between the three of them with one persona being the voice of reason, another being an unrepentant evil id and the third just being angry with both of them and wanting them both to shut up before he smashes them. The end of the film has Hulk working with Doc Samson to create a new persona that would be Bruce Banner's ideal self which would hopefully be far more stable than the other three. It's Bruce Banner's intelligence, Joe Fixit's cunning and Hulk's strength combined with a newfound sense of courage and purely heroic motives. Enter THE PROFESSOR.

This is Phase 4. Notice that I'm placing the horror properties in October.



2020
May - Iron Man: The Five Nightmares
July - Black Widow: Homecoming
October - Ghost Rider

2021
May - Captain America: Fallen Son
August - Captain Marvel: War of the Marvels
October - Doctor Strange: The Other

2022
May - Thor: Ragnarok
July - Guardians of the Galaxy: The Kree-Skrull War
November - Inhumans 2
Christmas Day - Black Panther: Enemy of the State

2023
May - Hulk: Code Red
August - Darkhawk
October - Blade: The Tomb of Dracula
Christmas Day - Thunderbolts

2024
May - Mighty Avengers: Atlantis Attacks
August- West Coast Avengers: Avenge the Earth

Thor dies at the end of Thor 4. Captain America dies at the very beginning of Captain America 4. Neither will be around for either sequel. I also don't see an Ant-Man sequel happening. Wasp is dead, Hank is old and Egghead is the only memorable villain left to use since Captain Marvel can fight MODOK and Iron Man can fight Whirlwind. Thunderbolts works as a goofy farce while Black Panther and Iron Man can say a number of very funny lines and Hulk as a character works best when he's funny which Peter David's run as well as Mark Ruffalo's Hulk in Avengers both proved so it's not like the MCU will be missing anything.

Also, with either Winter Soldier or Falcon taking up Cap's shield and with both joining the Avengers alongside Blade and Darkhawk there will simply be too many characters to juggle even with Steve Rogers and Thor dead. There will need to be two separate teams if characters who can't support a solo film are to debut. I'm talking about Black Knight, Magdalene and Cybermancer appearing in a film.

As far as villains. Thor will fight Hela and Surtur, Blade will fight Dracula, Ghost Rider will fight Scarecrow, Hulk will face off against Red Hulk, The Thunderbolts will fight Count Nefaria, Iron Man will fight Zeke Stane and Ghost, Black Widow will fight Yelena Belova and the North Institute, Black Panther will be hunted down by rogue elements of the United States government backed by T'Challa's own son, Doctor Strange will fight and the Captain America film without Captain America will still have Falcon and Winter Soldier fighting Sinthia Schmidt and Red Skull. Finally, one team of Avengers will find an enemy in the Sub-Mariner while the other will find the world conquered by Kang and they WILL lose in the first act.

And over the course of Phases 3 and 4, existing shows will get renewed while new TV shows will debut which will be She-Hulk, Runaways, White Tiger, Hawkeye, Moon Knight and Punisher.

Hulk 3 will kill Betty. She dies early on when random Hydra goons kill her as a way of getting to Hulk which motivates General Ross to become the Red Hulk. This is also the debut of Hulk's fifth persona of Guilt Hulk. He also creates the Gamma Corps consisting of Grey, Gideon, Axon and Mess.

Oh, and the Iron Man film will be a farewell to Robert Downey Jr in the role with Tony brought to his lowest point that will also adapt Prelude to Armor Wars and Demon in a Bottle. Phase 4 should be the, "dark phase." It's one where Captain Marvel loses her name to her completely insane therapist, Black Widow tries to atone for her crimes within Russia and has to face her past and the only truly lighthearted films will be one about a kid who discovers alien armor crash-landing in his back yard, The Guardians of the Galaxy stopping a war between two empires and another about VILLAINS. I can see this as the only way that Marvel can raise the stakes after adapting Infinity Gauntlet.

If Phase 4 was about defeat, loss and redemption. The main theme of Phase 5 should be about how life goes on. It's about picking up the pieces and finding that every cloud has a silver lining.

Here's what I'd do for Phase 5 to lighten things up.

2025
May - Captain Marvel: Ascension
July - Iron Man: The Future
October - Blade: Sins of the Father
Holiday - Black Panther: Wrath of Man Ape

2026
May - Guardians of the Galaxy: I can't think of a Subtitle (Mealstron or J'Son of Spartax would be the main bad guy here though since Fox owns Annihilus, the Shi'Ar and the Badoon)
July - Captain America - Two Americas
October - Ghost Rider: House of Burning Souls
December - Hulk: Rise of the Pantheon

2027
May - Black Widow: Name of the Rose
July - Inhumans 3
October - Doctor Strange: Ascent Into Hell
December - Namor The Sub-Mariner

2028
May - Darkhawk 2
August - Thunderbolts 2
December - War Machine

2029
May - Mighty Avengers: Seige
November - West Coast Avengers: The Korvac Saga

And yes, in 2029, Thor will return from the dead in Seige with Asgard reborn. He'll still be recast. Black Widow will find herself hunted by assassins hired by Imus Champion. Hulk will create his own team of super heroes with Rock Jones and Amadeus Cho along with some newcomers and find that Betty isn't dead but is now the Red She-Hulk fighting as America's secret weapon all while fighting the U-Foes. Namor fight the Tiger Shark. Ghost Rider comes to terms with who he is but finds himself at odds with Blackheart who's murdered the love of his life and has enslaved her soul with a demon known as Black Rose. The new Captain America has to deal with The Grand Director who long ago injected himself with the Infinity Formula developed by the Russians for the Black Widow program back when he was the Captain America of the 50s while the military has debuted a new Captain America of their own known known as the US Agent, leading to a battle between three men all trying to live up to Steve Rogers legacy. All this time, Blade meets his father Lucas Cross (Played by Wesley Snipes) who's an elderly vampire who can still manage to kick a ton of ***. Captain Marvel fights an old terrorist leader from her past who she thought she killed years ago. Doctor Strange learns of a strange cult who worship a god called Shuma Gorath that he's hired to investigate. War Machine is betrayed by his mercenary partners Titanium Man and Mauler and now is out for vengeance. Iron Man is kidnapped by the REAL Mandarin and finds himself in a cell with Zeke Stane who double-crossed Mandarin in the past film. Together, Iron Man and Iron Monger need to stage a prison break to escape from Prometheus Corporation. Namor also gets his own film where he fights Tiger Shark.

All this leads up to the return of Asgard to the Marvel Universe but Justin Hammer has a plot to make Asgard his and become a god while at the same time, the other Avengers team has to deal with a man who obtains the essence of Thanos when he had the Infinity Gauntlet and becomes nearly omnipotent.

I'm not sure where I'd go with everything in Phase 6 but there are a few choices that I'd have. Namely, I'd have Ghost Rider as a fallen angel find that there was a second rebellion in Heaven by Zadkiel and only a former traitor can save it. I'd have Iron Man fight Madame Masque in a psychological thriller. I'd also have Blade come face to face with Deacon Frost. After Thor was resurrected, he's earned the wrath of Gorr, The God Butcher. I'd also have a film where the original frozen corpse of Captain America was put in storage and the Steve Rogers that we knew was merely a clone. The problem is that the Red Skull is also back from the dead and wants to create an evil Captain America for himself. There's no time traveling bullet but the new clone gets implanted with his old memories and lays the smackdown on Red Skull.

The phase would be capped off by Civil War where the resurrected (and recasted) Captain America is very upset with Iron Man pushing mandatory registration for superheroes and fractures the Avengers in two.

 

[MbJ]

Latino Review is notorious for making **** up or just random guessing, but I have a feeling Black Panther could drop in either 2017 or 2018.

My reasoning is one of the writers for the site claimed Marvel might plan on having Panther appear in Captain America 3 in some capacity, and that we know Cap's shield is apparently destroyed in Age of Ultron.

I could foresee a scenario where they debut Black Panther in Cap 3 in a supporting or cameo role involving vibranium to then set him up for his own movie.

Similarly I would still bet dollars to donuts Carol Danvers is gonna cameo or be introduced somehow in AOU even without powers.

Nova is another movie I think we'll be seeing soon just given how aggressively Marvel has been pushing the property.

 

[Mike Murdock]

Are you trying to convince me to like that show? I haven't heard a single long-time Marvel fan say a good word about it. Seems like just a chance for Marvel to be creative and invent new characters without having to be loyal to their own history.

I don't think whether or not you like a show is at all relevant to whether it's part of the same continuity or not.

Although there are people who have replied who are long-time Marvel fans, but I suspect there will be a bit of a No True Scotsman fallacy that will follow.