Many were led to believe that Ant-Man, which hits theaters July 17, 2015. However, it is now confirmed that "Captain America: Civil War" (which was before "Captain America: The Serpent Society", revealed to be a ruse to the audience) and that Robert Downey Jr. WILL be starring alongside Chris Evans. The film will be released on May 6, 2016. I personally am very excited to see how this story will play out, as it is based off one of Marvel's biggest stories, "Civil War." That story had the government ordering superheroes to unmask themselves to the public so the government can have some sense of control on them. Cap thinks this is immoral while Tony Stark think it's the right thing to do. This, of course, leads to them butting heads and causing many superheroes to take sides, including Spider-Man (no word if Sony and Marvel have struck a deal to include him in the film). I'm curious to see how the events of "Age of Ultron" play into "Civil War."
The next film to be officially confirmed is "Doctor Strange", which has been speculated by many to be involved in Phase Three of the MCU. Feige has been pushing to make this film for quite some time now, and it has a confirmed release date of November 4, 2016, something also long speculated, however, most rumors had it in July rather than November.
Interestingly enough, Kevin Feige made no word on Benedict Cumberbatch, the actor supposedly in final talks to play Strange as reported on Tuesday. Perhaps this means that Cumberbatch isn't playing Strange? Or that he is, they just don't want to officially confirm anything? Personally, while Cumberbatch is a wonderful actor, he does not look like Dr. Strange. I would love if someone like Oded Fehr got the part he looks and sounds like a fantastic Strange. If Cumberbatch does get it however, I wish him all the best.
Next, James Gunn, director of "Guardians of the Galaxy," came on screen via a video message and announced that the sequel to "Guardians" would be released on May 5, 2017, rather than July 2017 as lead to believe this year at SDCC .
The film that will take the July 28, 2017 date, which was "Guardians 2's" date will be "Thor: Ragnarok". Not much is known on this except Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston will return as Thor and Loki respectively and, according to Feige, this film will shake things up heavily for the MCU. This makes sense as *SPOILER* Loki essentially took the throne of Asgard from Odin and is now Ruler of the Nine Realms. But there is also the very strong possibility that the effects of this film could reverberate throughout the rest of Marvel's films.
A few other films were announced at the event: "Black Panther" was announced for November 28, 2017 (which means Marvel is now releasing THREE films a year), along with "Captain Marvel" on May 4, 2018 and "Inhumans", a project I am VERY excited to see, on November 2, 2018.
Finally, Feige announced one (or rather, two) more films for Phase Three, which would conclude the phase. He mentioned that everything in the MCU so far and to come had been building towards this film.
The introduction starts with a video introduction showing all our heroes in despair throughout all of the teams, Avengers and the Guardians included. and then finally......
Big ups to Superhero Report on Twitter for getting this awesome screen shot!
BAM! THANOS AND THE INFINITY GAUNTLET! The title then shows up on screen: "Avengers: Infinity War", which is to be divided into two parts. Part 1 releases May 4, 2018 while Part 2 releases May 3, 2019. I could not be more ecstatic about this film, as we've been teased with Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet since the first "Avengers" movie waaaaaaaaay back in 2012. Whatever Marvel has been planned for this movie is going to be very BIG.
Before the end, the audiences were treated to one more surprise: Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans (Iron Man and Captain America) not only took the stage to reveal the true title for the third "Captain America" movie (as shown above), but to also reveal one brand new cast member to the MCU: Chadwick Boseman is to play the Black Panther!
Giving credit where credit is due: Big thanks to Mark Ellis from Schmoes Know for getting this awesome video!
Personally, this might be Marvel's best casting decision they've made since they casted Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. Boseman is perfectly cast for this role, as he's proven twice in the last year to have major acting chops (Jackie Robinson in "42", James Brown in "Get On Up") and I believe he will be more than capable of handling such a big role.
Ball's in your court DC. Let's see what you got up your sleeves next.
So what say you all? How do you feel about the slate of films that Marvel has planned? And what of the casting of Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther? Sound off in the comments below!
