The week of October 27th has been slam packed with all kinds of Marvel Cinematic Universe announcements. Perhaps as a way to combat the recent popularity of DC tv and movie popularity, Marvel Studios has just revealed upcoming plans for Phase Three of the MCU with movies planned up until 2019.
At Disney’s El Capitan theater in Los Angeles, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, announced plans for Captain Marvel and Black Panther to get their own movies, along with other sequels and new franchises.
The Schedule
Captain America: Civil War (May 6th, 2016);
Dr. Strange (Nov. 4th, 2016);
Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (May 5th, 2017);
Thor: Ragnarok (July 18th, 2017);
Black Panther (November 3, 2017);
Avengers: Infinity War, Part 1 (May 4th, 2018);
Captain Marvel (July 6th, 2018);
Inhumans (November 2nd, 2018);
Avengers: Infinity War, Part 2 (May 3rd, 2019)
Black Panther will star Chadwick Boseman, who portrayed Jackie Robinson in the movie 42 as well as James Brown in Get On Up. In case you’re not familiar with who Black Panther is, he’s the ruler of a fictional African nation called Wakanda. Vibranium, the metal used in Captain America’s shield, is mined there which has caused the country to be rich and highly technologically advanced. Chadwick Boseman is slated to appear as Black Panther in a total of five upcoming Marvel films, beginning with Captain America: Civil War.
Captain Marvel was also announced to get her own movie, as it was confirmed that this would be the Carol Danvers version of the superhero. She will be Marvel’s first female character to get her own film. This might be disappointing to fans of Black Widow, who were expecting her to have the first female Marvel Universe film, but Feige reassured us that Natasha Romanov would be heavily featured in the rest of the Avengers movies. So far there is no actress confirmed to play Captain Marvel.
Also announced this week is the actor portraying Doctor Strange. Rumors began with actors such as Johnny Depp, Keanu Reeves, and Joaquin Phoenix. However it’s been confirmed that Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, The Hobbit) will be portraying the surgeon-turned-Sorcerer Supreme.
Making an event out of announcing Phase Three, Marvel Studios has decided to “go big or go home,” combating DC’s announcement of a Wonder Woman movie and success of Gotham and Constantine. Your move, DC.