FUTURE OF MARVEL
The MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE is in a state of flux. As the midpoint of Phase 3 soars into view, Josh Winning dons battle armour to find out how the MCU is evolving...
Nice to MCU! SFX takes a dose of Feige’s Marvel-lous Medicine to dish the dirt on what’s in store for Tony, Steve, Bruce, Thor and the rest.
there is a sense of climax to phase three of the mcu. what happens next will be different
YOU THINK YOU’RE THE ONLY SUPERHERO in the world? Mr stark, you’ve become part of a bigger universe. You just don’t know it yet.” When nick Fury appeared to tony stark in the post-credits scene attached to Iron Man, he changed everything. he heralded a decade in which Marvel has released 15 further movies, all of them meticulously engineered as self-contained stories that fit snugly into the Marvel Cinematic universe. And while “expanded universes” were nothing new (ask Star Wars), Marvel has become the oft-imitated, as-yet-unmatched celluloid authority.
in 2019, though, its phase 3 will come to an intergalactic head. the untitled Avengers 4 will unite every major player in the MCU (67 to be precise) for a showdown that Chris evans promises is “going to wrap everything up”. Adds studio chief and MCU mastermind kevin Feige: “there is a sense of a climax, if not a conclusion... [to] the first three phases of the MCU. And what happens after that will be very different. i don’t know if it’s phase 4. it might be a new thing.”
Fair to say, a change is going to come. in fact, it’s already underway. next year, Marvel studios will debut a new logo for its 10th anniversary (although it’s unclear which film will have the honour of breaking it in) and, more immediately, the studio is turning its eye to the less-household-savvy names in its roster. its slate for the next two years, beginning with november’s Thor: Ragnarok, is its most diverse yet, featuring solo excursions for Black panther and Captain Marvel, while a certain female insect gets an all-important title share in Ant-Man And The Wasp.
KITTY’S GOT CLAWS
of them all, Black Panther is Marvel’s most pioneering movie yet – fitting, considering the titular Wakandan king, aka t’Challa, was the premiere black superhero in mainstream American comics, pre-dating both luke Cage
and Falcon. Marvel announced its adaptation as early as 2005 (15 years after Wesley snipes gave the property a sniff ), awarding the director’s chair to ryan Coogler (Fruitvale
Station, Creed), whose love for the comics made him a shoe-in for a movie that represents a momentous step away from the all-too-white blockbusters still crowding out the cineplexes.
With bold choices, of course, come great responsibility. “i feel the weight of it,” Chadwick Boseman has admitted of portraying the panther but, if his muscular, enigmatic show in Captain America: Civil War is anything to go by, he has nothing to worry about. “it’s going to be very unique,” Coogler has promised of his film, which sees t’Challa returning to Wakanda after Civil War’s superhero barney, and discovering factions fighting for his throne.
Black Panther should also act as a salve for the studio after Doctor Strange met with accusations of “whitewashing” the Ancient one by casting tilda swinton. And with its cadre of kickass female characters, including t’Challa’s bodyguards the Dora Milaje, he’s paving the way for an MCU that has the potential to bring yet more diverse characters into the mainstream. post-phase 3, the old guard of iron Man and Captain America, could fall by the wayside, with fan favourites like shehulk, nova and Moon knight waiting.
Marvel doesn’t seem worried about rocking the boat. With $4.6bn in box office takings
under its belt, it’s proved it’s able to draw the crowds no matter how outlandish the pitch
(Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 remains its fifth most-profitable release). that confidence appears to be translating into more risk taking from an already risk-ready studio. so while Marvel has long come under fire for not greenlighting a Black Widow movie, the pieces are being moved into place for other female heroes to take the board. the pressure’s on, especially after the critical and commercial love for DC’s Wonder Woman.
“the success of Wonder Woman is wonderful,” Feige says. “it makes us incredibly happy. Finally, we can put to rest the falsehood that audiences don’t want to see female
playing captain marvel, one of the things i’m excited about is the idea of female complexity
characters. We never believed that was true.” it’s just a shame that the studio’s “long game” approach to movie releases means we’ll still be waiting two years for Brie larson to suit up as Captain Marvel (lest we forget, the first Marvel female to headline her own movie), but it’s all-but guaranteed to be worth the wait.
“one of the things i’m excited about is the idea of female complexity,” larson has said. “that gives you an hour and a half, two hours, to sit and see how different a woman can be. that seems cool to me, right?” Quite. With Anna Boden and ryan Fleck (Half Nelson,
Sugar) directing, the project’s typically shrouded in secrecy, although concept art reportedly shows larson sporting the same costume Captain Marvel wore in kelly sue Deconnick’s 2014 comic run. And with
Guardians Of The Galaxy co-writer nicole perlman also enlisted, Captain Marvel should boast a wit at least as quick as star-lord’s.
PHASE 3 SET TO STUN
Meanwhile, evangeline lilly’s hatchling hero will be the main focus of Ant-Man And The Wasp, with the character’s origin story playing out in full as she, scott lang and hank pym return for another round of mini-mayhem. “We’re going to see the Wasp for the first time take on the mantle, and put on the suit, and fly about, and do her thing,” enthuses lilly.
Before all of that, though, there’s Thor: Ragnarok. if Guardians Of The Galaxy seemed nuts at the time, taika Waititi’s Thor film looks crazier still. this is the director, after all, whose gawky sense of humour lit up What We Do In The Shadows and Hunt For The Wilderpeople, making him even more of a wild card than James Gunn ever was.
he pitched Thor 3 as a Marvel version of Big Trouble In Little China, which the studio gobbled up. “i’ve always felt that i wanted to make a Marvel film,” Waititi says. “i just want to make sure i’m not making an episode.” he seems to have struck a fine balance with Thor: Ragnarok. Although it will pick up the “loki on the warpath” thread left dangling by Thor: The
Dark World, most exciting are the introduction of Cate Blanchett’s hela and, in a nod to the Planet Hulk comics, a plot involving a newly shorn thor and hulk battling in a gladiatorial arena.
that should certainly help grab those underwhelmed by the muddled The Dark World and, although Jane Foster and Dr erik selvig are sitting this one out, Waititi has promised that the “’70s/’80s sci-fi” tone of the film is just the tip of the iceberg. “Crazier things happen to thor than new hair,” he promises, adding that the film’s secret weapon isn’t all that secret. “[Chris is] legitimately one of the funniest things in this film,” he says of hemsworth.
MARVELLOUS MAKEOVER
so, yes, change is afoot, but that’s nothing new to the MCu. From iron Man’s shock identity reveal to Captain America’s timehop, the franchise’s developments are always audacious and unexpected. take, for example, the question of whether or not Captain America is even Captain America anymore. “i think him dropping that shield is him letting go of that identity,” says Avengers: Infinity War co-director Joe russo of the Captain America: Civil War climax. Will Cap transform, as he did in the comics, into nomad?
rumours of recasting the old guard continue to swirl, fuelled by the fact that Chris evans and robert Downey Jr’s contracts are up with Avengers 4. rather than enter into pricey renegotiations, Marvel may choose to give its less familiar heroes a spin, or simply take the characters in new directions – in the comics, riri Williams took over as iron Man (well, ironheart) and Falcon nabbed the mantle of Captain America.
things we do know: Feige has ruled out making any r-rated movies in the vein of Logan and Deadpool, and there won’t be any crossovers with the netflix tV characters yet (“maybe someday,” he muses).
What seems most likely is that Marvel will continue to nudge boundaries while delivering the kind of blockbuster entertainment that makes Michael Bay sweat. either way, post-phase 3, all bets are off. “Who knows what can happen in the future?” Feige muses. We can’t wait to find out.
CRAZIER THINGS HAPPEN TO THOR THAN THE HAIR. CHRIS IS ONE OF THE FUNNIEST THINGS IN THOR: RAGNAROK