The big reveal of Thanos at the end of The Avengers opens even more doors in the ever expanding Marvel movie universe. With the recent announcement of a second Avengers film, the ground work for “phase 2” of Marvel’s movie franchise’s has already begun to be set. The big question is whether Thanos will simply lie in wait until a 2015 sequel (no date officially announced yet, just a guestimate.) or if we will see the mad Titan play the antagonist in any of the numerous Marvel sequels that are soon to go into production such as Iron Man 3, Thor 2 or Captain America 2? I also hope we get to see Thanos’s one true love Mistress Death on the big screen.
There is a slot in 2014, but there is still no word on which franchise is ultimately destined for that particular slot. The two most likely candidates for the 2014 slot would appear to be the long awaited “Ant-Man” movie being penned by Edgar Wright and a “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie. There is also the possibility for a “Black Panther” solo movie (Yes please!) or an “Incredible Hulk” sequel. I was sure that the unannounced 2014 movie would be Ant-Man but now with the Thanos lying in wait, a Guardians movie does not seem as farfetched as I had initially believed. Not that I am not a fan of the current team of Guardians but bringing them to the big screen is pretty hard to picture, I mean, the team consists of a talking raccoon and a giant talking tree. But some of Thanos’s most intriguing story-lines have involved the Guardians so no one should be shocked if we see Rocket Raccoon, Groot, and Adam Warlock on the big screen sooner than later. With the introduction of a huge character like Thanos into the Marvel universe, this will no doubt mean a shakeup in the Avengers line up, whether there are characters replaced or simply added there no doubt will be fresh blood introduced into the fold.
The characters I want to see introduced either in that 2014 movie slot or in The Avengers sequel are Ant-Man and or Black Panther. What I love about Ant-Man/Henry Pym is that he has become a broken man who is struggling to atone. Over the years Pym has gone from brilliant scientist to physically abusing his wife Janet aka Wasp and unknowingly created arguably The Avengers most powerful enemy in Ultron. I’d love to see some of that unfold on the big screen. Oh and by the way, Nathan Fillion would be absolutely perfect to play Henry Pym. My other vote for his big screen introduction would go to the King of Wakanda himself, the Black Panther. T’Challa is basically Marvel’s answer to Batman. They have the same silhouette and work mostly from the shadows. Panther’s existence was teased a bit near the end of Iron Man 2 when the African nation of Wakanda was highlighted on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s map and Captain America’s shield is made from vibranium which is only found in Wakanda.
And if I’m being honest, as a young African American male, I think it would be pretty cool to see a black super hero on the big screen kicking some but alongside Captain America and Thor. There are a few other candidates I’d like to see as well although they may be long shots to make an appearance, characters such as Scarlett Witch or Captain Marvel would make things very interesting. Although the Scarlett Witch is closely associated with the X-Men and the contract situations between Disney, Fox, and Sony make it difficult to ascertain what character belongs to what studio, Marvel studio head Kevin Feige has said that her appearance in an Avengers movie is a possibility. But with that being said I’m not sure how much of an influence the Scarlett Witch would have as she is the daughter of one of the X-men’s most famous characters, Magneto. Without being able to examine her parentage a bit on film, her character may be left a bit shallow. Although her several stints with The Avengers have been brief they have been memorable and she has proven to be one of the most powerful beings in the entire Marvel universe and she may be a much needed ally against the mad Titan Thanos.
Kevin Feige has also made it clear that he would like to take future movies into a more cosmic direction and that was certainly achieved with Thor and The Avengers and that’s why I believe Captain Marvel is a strong possibly to make an appearance. I would love to see this powerful Kree warrior kicking some butt on the big screen but the best thing would come out of his appearance would be to have Mar-Vell’s existence set the stage for a Kree-Skrull war in a possible third Avengers movie. I know I’m getting ahead of myself, but I can dream can’t I?
By Luther Anderson
Sources have revealed that Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are “shared” characters in these two franchises. If the X-Men use them, their characters cannot reference the Avenges in their backstory, and likewise if the Avevgers use them, they cannot mention their relationships with Magneto and mutant kind. It’ll be interesting to see what happens if both franchises decide to use both sets of characters at the same time!
Yea I say that mentioned. I’d love somehow for there to be a way for all Marvel characters to share the same movie universe without any exceptions but it still doesn’t lappear to be close to happening