Marvel Entertainment held a special event today at the El Capitan Theater announcing so much stuff, I don’t know where to begin!

I would say that the biggest news is that Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans were joined on stage by Chadwick Boseman, who will play the title role in Black Panther. This is an excellent choice! He looks just like the character in the comics and I loved him portraying baseball legend, Jackie Robinson, in “42”. Boseman also portrayed the living legend James Brown in Get On Up.

So lets go down the line of what was announced.

First off Captain America 3 is officially titled Captain America: Civil War. This will be Captain America, Chris Evans, vs Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr., with fate of all of the Marvel superheroes hanging in jeopardy. Civil War was a comic book series that put half of the Marvel superheroes, representing pro registration of superhero identities with the Government against the other superheroes, who felt it was their right to keep their identity a secret. Captain America leads the side against registration and Iron Man leads the side that is for registration and it does lead to a Civil War in the Marvel Universe. Captain America: Civil War will be released on May 6, 2016.

Next up we have Doctor Strange. I was expecting an official announcement of Benedict Cumberbatch, but no such luck. He is in final negotiations with Marvel to play the Doctor, but so was Joaquin Phoenix, so we will still have to wait. After his career is destroyed, Dr. Stephen Strange, a brilliant but arrogant surgeon gets a new lease on life when a sorcerer takes him under his wing and trains him to defend the world against evil. Doctor Strange will be released on November 4th, 2016.

Next we have the sequel to this year’s successful Guardians Of The Galaxy. Right now it is called Guardians Of The Galaxy 2 and it could very well be the final title of the film. So not giving any clues with a subtitle, I have no idea what the storyline will be about. I do know that they will add more members to the team. Rumors are that it will be Nova or Captain Marvel (see below). Guardians Of The Galaxy 2 will be released on May 5th, 2017.

Thor 3 is officially titled, Thor: Ragnarok. “Ragnarok” was a series in the comic Thor that brought about the destruction of Thor, Asgard, and all of its inhabitants for several years. The story would have a lasting impact on the Marvel Universe for several years, removing Thor and his supporting cast from Marvel’s publishing schedule. Could this mean that we will see the new female Thor in Phase 4? Thor: Ragnarok will be released on July 28th, 2017.

We finally have confirmation of a Black Panther movie! And as I mentioned above Chadwick Boseman will portray Black Panther. The royal leader, T’Challa, of an African nation, Wakanda, is bestowed with super human powers to protect his kingdom against invaders. Wakanda is rumored to be one of the locations that will be in Avengers: Age Of Ultron. Wakanda is also the only place that has the material necessary to form Captain America’s shield, vibranium. Black Panther will be released on November 3, 2017.

Marvel released concept art for Black Panther:

 

I doubt Marvel was listening to me last week when I said that after Warner Brother’s announcement of a Wonder Woman movie for 2017, Marvel and Disney need to step up their game and releases a movie based on one of the most popular female superheroes in the Marvel Universe, Ms. Marvel. It’s complicated, but Captain Marvel is Ms. Marvel. Captain Marvel (or sometimes referred to as Ms. Marvel) is basically Marvel’s version of Wonder Woman as far as powers go (strength, flight, speed, endurance, etc). Her cosmic powers were obtained from the original Captain Marvel (not Shazam). Definitely a fun and exciting character. Captain Marvel will be released on July 6th, 2018.

My first encounter with The Inhumans was in early Fantastic Four comics and my first impression is that they are weird. But I also thought Guardians Of The Galaxy was a weird group and look what happened to them. This could be the answer to Fox’s X-Men franchise. Basically aliens, The Kree (Guardians Of the Galaxy), experiment on humans to create a super race which result in a group of superheroes, The Inhumans. Inhumans will be released on November 2nd, 2018.

OK, this is the big one! We are finally getting the Infinity War, which will be Avengers 3, and split into two movies. So what is the Infinity War? Remember the guy that appeared in the after credits scene in Avengers? And then that same guy appeared for a bit in Guardians Of The Galaxy? That is Thanos and he is a super baddy. Thanos wants one thing and that is to control the Universe and in order to do that he needs to find 5 Infinity Stones, which we have already seen 3 of them in the last few Marvel movies. Combining the 5 Infinity Stones will create the Infinity Gauntlet, making Thanos the most powerful being in The Universe. With a guy this powerful, the Avengers will need some help. So expect to see Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel, Guardians Of The Galaxy and the Inhumans join the Avengers to join in the Infinity War. Avengers: Infinity War will be released in two parts. Part one will be released in May 2018 and part two will be released in May 2019.

Marvel Entertainment released a photo of Thanos, Josh Brolin, wearing the Infinity Gauntlet:

Shwooooo! I need a drink!

 

 

 

 

 

Joe Hogarty