Wow, 11 movies in four years? Any chance there's some Marvel fatigue at some time during this run?
Marvel announces Phase III of its movie universe, which includes a lot of people in Spandex.
So if you like your blockbusters with arguments about the virtues of vigilante justice, 2016 is the year for it.The Marvel Studios slate through 2019 is:
May 1, 2015: Avengers: Age of Ultron
July 17, 2015: Ant-Man
May 6, 2016: Captain America: Civil War
Nov. 4, 2016: Doctor Strange
May 5, 2017: Guardians of the Galaxy 2
July 28, 2017: Thor: Ragnarok
Nov. 3, 2017: Black Panther
May 4, 2018: Avengers: Infinity War – Part I
July 6, 2018: Captain Marvel
Nov. 2, 2018: Inhumans
May 3, 2019: Avengers: Infinity War – Part II
Wow, 11 movies in four years? Any chance there's some Marvel fatigue at some time during this run?
Superhero fatigue in general, maybe. I'm a huge superhero fan and I don't know how I'll keep up with all this stuff. Add in the DC slate of movies, the umpteen superhero TV shows... good time to be a geek, but durn...
That said, I'll be at Black Panther on opening day - that's a property with a TON of potential that the comics rarely get right. A well-done BP movie could be a huge sleeper hit.
Cannot WAIT for the Infinity storyline. That should be freaking EPIC. One of my favorite comic book story lines ever.
Anyone else see the new Age of Ultron clip, of the Avengers little party, where Cap budges Mjolnir just a little? Excellent
Yea Marvel rolls out the idea every so often that someone else is "worthy". (Right now in the comics Thor has lost the ability to lift the hammer and there's a new female Thor.) The idea is that being "worthy" is something very rare, though, no matter how much the concept gets watered down over time. Nobody in the Marvel Universe has more heart than Spider-Man, for example, but he's never been able to lift the hammer.
Yeah but Spidey's in the Superman/Batman no killing club. Thor, Rogers and the other people will (and have) taken a life for the greater good.
Spider-man's been my favorite character since the age of three. It would be so weird and out of character for him to weld it.
Back on topic. I have to agree with the potential Marvel burnout. I can deal with two movies a year but with the Disney machine behind this I see the fatigue building. There will be a never ending world of Video games, toys, cartoons, TV shows, webisodes, theme park rides etc....
Back off topic. I dislike retcons. I refuse to acknowledge Ms. Marvel as Captain Marvel. Carol Danvers is Ms. Marvel. Period. Captain Marvel is either an alien or a Superman "clone." Now get off my lawn.
I assume ya'll have seen this image Marvel put out to promote Infinity War...
Thanos has all the stones for the Infinity Gauntlet.
Here is what is sorta impressive to think about -- they have likely plotted this stuff out years in advance of the scripts being written. I mean, just based on the title of the film, they have clearly decided upon the villain (Thanos) and the general storyline (Infinity War) for Avengers 3A/B. That means they have likely already decided how it is that Thanos will get the stones and in which movies that will happen (he probably will begin to acquire them during some small scenes in Guardians 2 and Thor 3... with the help of Benicio Del Toro's Collector). I like the notion that they are corralling a whole bunch of moving parts (different movies with different directors and screenwriters) to ensure that everything is eventually pointed in the same direction with a real sense of a destination.
That is really quite rare in the entertainment world. It is what Lost was supposed to do, but didn't. Heck, though George Lucas claims he knew where he was going when he started making the Star Wars prequels, his storytelling from film to film seemed disjointed and unconnected. I think that Chris Nolan had no idea what he would do in Dark Knight Rises when he was making Dark Knight. And so on... but here we have Marvel (and Kevin Fegie) really demonstrating that they can think 3, 4, 5, or more movies in advance (I am betting that some of the movies they announced will not be part of the Infinity storyline). I just think it is kinda neat and I applaud them for it.
-Jason "I am dying for Civil War as I think that is a tremendously compelling storyline... and they must get Spidey to be a part of it... please!!" Evans
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Funny that this issue comes up yesterday. Last night, I'm clocking around between innings of the series and I stumble across an episode of the Bing Bang Theory about this. When the guys go out of town, the girls dive into their comic book stash to try and figure out why the guys like such juvenile stuff. When the guys return from their misadventure, the three girls are engaged in a hot debate about Thor's hammer and who can lift it. One of them points out that Hulk picks up Thor while he's holding the hammer -- so that must prove that Hulk can pick up the hammer.
(I love Penny's response -- If I go to a bar and pick up a guy and he picks up another girl and we all go to his place for a threesome, does that mean I picked up the girl?)
Totally agreed. Spider-Man's omission from the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the one thing that keeps it from feeling complete. I can do without the X-Men or even the Fantastic Four, but Spider-Man needs to be there. And he definitely needs to be a part of a Civil War storyline if it's going to resemble the comic version.
Fair enough, but it's a bit easier to do when you're not making original source material.
More impressive to me: the gangs of Ted Mosby and Arya Stark all have many things foreshadowed in their stories - seasons and books before the hinted-at events happen. The writers clearly knew where the story was going from the start (and in at least one case, not really to its credit, but that's another story). I'm pretty sure Katniss Everdeen's ending was known from the second that story was begun as well.
You know, Marvel is entering into a strange phase that may really test them.
Up until now, in the Avengers universe, we have not really seen "inhuman powers" on display (aside from a little bit of stuff Thor does). For the most part, there is an at least somewhat believable science explanation for everything. Cap took a serum that made him faster and stronger. Iron Man uses technology and his suit for his abilities. I suppose Hulk comes close but, again, there is a science behind it and all he really does is get strong. Black Widow and Hawkeye are just super skilled. Eve Thor, who is a god and who's powers/limitations are not exactly clear in the movies, largely just clubs stuff with his hammer. It is not like anyone can just fly/float though the air the way Superman does or shoot laser beams out of their eyes.
But, that is going to change very soon. Dr. Strange uses magic to do all kinds of crazy stuff that is well beyond normal physical feats. The Inhumans have all kinds of strange powers (their leader, Black Bolt uses telepathy, can fly at 500 MPH, can project a force field around his body, and his primary weapon is his sonic boom voice which can easily level an entire city). We will soon be battling Thanos, who, in addition to incredible strength, can use telepathy, telekinesis, and project bursts of cosmic energy. He rides around in a chair protected by force fields which can teleport him through space and time and even into alternate universes.
I know we do not know what kind of powers will be given to all these folks in the MCU versus what they display in the comics, but it seems crazy to think that we won't see a lot of cosmic powers on display in phase 3 of the MCU.
Is this a good thing? I sorta think not. I mean are Cap, Hawkeye, or Black Widow at all effective against beings with cosmic/magical powers? I feel like one of the things that has really worked thus far in these films is the sense of some realism that they have shown. As we get more and more powerful beings with crazy powers that aren't really based in science or human physical abilities, I think the movies may suffer.
Look at X-Men: DOFP this past summer. Quicksilver was so powerful (his scene was awesome!!) that it was almost a turnoff. I was bothered that they did not bring him with them for the rest of the film because his abilities would have made the seemingly impossible relatively simple. We will get another version of Quicksilver in Avengers 2... I hope there is a logic to his powers and his limitations that works inside the story.
I dunno... I'm rambling now. I just wonder how it is all going to work and carry the same enjoyment factor that has really made the MCU so successful up until now.
-Jason "this whole post is an exercise in geek worry... sorta pathetic of me" Evans
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
If you are talking about the movies then I agree. The books were written before the movies were made. But, I'm not so sure that Susan Collins knew exactly what would happen in Mockingjay when she was writing The Hunger Games. Maybe she did. I am fairly sure that JK Rowling had no idea how the Harry Potter books would end when she wrote Sorcerer's Stone and probably not when she was writing books 2 or 3 either. By the time we get to Harry Potter #4, I think she had a pretty good idea of where she was going.
-Jason
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
"Science"
I wouldn't worry Jason. No superpowers are all that realistic; if they were, it would be at least plausible that someone could develop them in real life. The appeal of these movies is not the "realistic" powers based in "science." It's both the good characterization of the heroes (in other words, making the human sides to each hero the realistic part) and the overall fun feel to the cinematic universe. Almost all of the movies, especially the main Avengers movie, have done a good job of keeping a fun, entertaining style that appeals to a lot of people and executing that style well. If they can keep that pattern up, these movies should do fine.