Possible Expectations for MCU Phase 3

Image Courtesy www.screenrant.com

Today’s blog post is the somewhat-belated (about a week late, though I published my Union Jack thoughts last week) look ahead to Marvel’s Phase 3.  Unfortunately, at this point we really don’t know that much about Phase 3 beyond the movies and most of the TV series.  However, I do have a couple of ideas for what we can expect to see.

First off, a rundown of the movies and TV series which we know about:

Movies:

• Captain America: Civil War
• Doctor Strange
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
• Spider-Man
• Thor: Ragnarok
• Avengers: Infinity War Part 1
• Black Panther
• Captain Marvel
• Avengers: Infinity War Part 2
• The Inhumans

Network TV Series:

• Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Agent Carter
• Marvel’s Most Wanted

Netflix TV Series:

• Jessica Jones
• Daredevil
• Luke Cage
• Iron Fist
• The Defenders

I highly doubt that this is everything that we will see between now and 2019, so here are a few possibilities for other movies and series that could eventually be added to Phase 3:

Movies:

• Ant-Man 2—an opportunity to Hope to suit up as the Wasp before Avengers: Infinity War.  Possible premiere date:  September 2017 or February 2018
• Blade: Legacy—the female Blade movie (starring Blade’s daughter) rumored to be in the works.  Possible premiere date:  February 2018 or 2019 (if Deadpool does well with a February premiere).

Network TV Series:

• (Expected) Untitled John Ridley TV Series (Black Captain America?)
• Another Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. spinoff:  either Secret Warriors or The Inhumans (as a lead-in to the 2019 movie)

Netflix TV Series:

• (Expected) The Punisher
• Blade—either the female Blade project or a tie-in miniseries to ret-con Wesley Snipes’ Blade movies into the MCU

Of the seven options listed above, I think the most likely additions to Phase 3 are the John Ridley series, another AoS spinoff, and/or The Punisher on Netflix.  I think it is a lot easier to add a TV series to the network schedule than to add a movie to the release schedule, especially with the Marvel movie schedule as packed as it is.

So then, what can we expect to see in Phase 3?  I have two ideas.

Hey, I gotta get some more use out of this picture
before they announce I'm wrong!

Team-Ups Galore!

When you look at the release schedule above, it becomes apparent that there will be a lot of team-based movies and TV series, far more than the previous 2 phases.  Phase 1 included a single team movie, The Avengers.  Phase 2 tripled the number of teams with Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Coulson’s team).

Phase 3 is going to have a ton of teams running around, and even more team-based movies to exhibit them.  Each year will have another team-based movie.  The first movie on the schedule is Captain America: Civil War, which is being billed as Avengers 2.5 because it involves pretty much every hero in the MCU.  We will have the New Avengers at the beginning of the movie, who will then split off into factions (“Secret Avengers” (Cap’s team) and “Mighty Avengers” (Iron Man’s team)?).  2017 kicks off with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which will see the Guardians team add a member.  Both 2018 and 2019 will have Avengers movies as all the heroes in the Marvel Universe take on Thanos.  Oh, and after the Infinity War, the final announced movie will introduce yet another team of superheroes in The Inhumans.

The small screen will also see its share of team-ups.  Coulson’s team on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has started to multiply now that Coulson and Skye are forming the Secret Warriors as an enhanced strike team.  In addition to those two teams, we are also going to get another possible team on Marvel’s Most Wanted with Bobbi and Hunter.  Finally, sooner or later there will be yet another team forming up to take on major threats in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City when The Defenders is released (probably in 2017).

I am really excited about the number of hero teams we are getting in Phase 3.

Overturning the Status Quo

Image Courtesy www.comicbook.com

This is pretty much what Captain America: Civil War and Thor: Ragnarok are going to do.  Civil War will break the Avengers up and create massive rifts between the heroes.  Ragnarok has the potential to destroy and rebuild Asgard, along with setting into motion the events which will lead to the Infinity War.

By the end of Phase 3, the landscape of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will probably be vastly different than it is right now.

Conclusion

At this point in time there really isn’t much we can say about Phase 3.  We know we’re getting a few more heroes, we know there will be several teams involved, and we know that the status quo is getting changed up.  Beyond that, there is a lot that remains a mystery.  And I’m looking forward to uncovering that mystery over the next 4 years.

What do you expect the key themes of Phase 3 to be?  Do you think the schedule will change at all, and if so, what do you want to see added?  Let me know in the comments!

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