Panel Vision - 11 Possibilities for Captain Marvel 2

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By this point, the success and sequalization of Marvel films feels almost like a given.  Marvel has gotten so good at making quality movies that manage to thrill us without skimping on characterization that the fact we’ll be seeing these heroes again in new installments is the norm and not the exception.  As such, and combined with its record-breaking success so far, it doesn’t seem too earlier to start speculating about what we can expect from the next entry in the blossoming Captain Marvel franchise.  

The first film has been a major success for Marvel, planting their flag firmly alongside Wonder Woman and Black Panther in the realm of relatively more diverse superhero blockbusters and promising a whole world of potential for the next installment in this new and exciting franchise.  Combined with the extensive collection of comic book history that Carol Danvers and the Captain Mar-Vell brands have been wrapped up in and the recent changes in ownership at Marvel and Disney and there’s plenty of places to take this series next: here are 11 possibilities.

Panel Vision - 8 Possibilities for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 is now a pretty unequivocal hit, more or less proving that it wasn’t a fluke and Marvel is Jim Henson levels of good at making us empathize with incredibly goofy cartoons like Groot and Rocket.  With a sequel already announced by Marvel, it’s already time for sites like mine to start wildly speculating about what we might see.  

Even though the film hasn’t been written yet there were some pretty much hints towards future storylines in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and James Gunn has said that he already has a sketched out idea for the third film and how it will allegedly set-up the new mega-story for Marvel Phase 4.  Additionally, the Guardians of the Galaxy may not have been major Marvel heroes throughout their career but they do have a fairly notable and bizarre history all their own worth digging into to figure out where things might be going next. 

Filmland - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Review

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It’s good, but then again you probably already knew that.  This is a Marvel movie, after all, they’ve ALL been good even the ones that aren’t very good like Iron Man 2 and Incredible Hulk.  Thankfully, the evolving experiment that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well as the auteur career of director James Gunn give me plenty more to dig into with this sequel than just “is it an enjoyable film.”  The whole cast fits naturally and easily back into their roles, and the script manages to find a lot more stuff to do with them beyond the anarchic, rapid-fire comedy of the first film.  

The new/elevated characters like Yondu, Nebula, and Mantis all do a great job and are honestly some of the best parts of the movie, even outshining old favorites like Starlord and Groot at times.  Kurt Russell absolutely steals the show as Peter’s dad and is one of the best new additions to the MCU.  Finally, the more deliberate pacing and smaller, more intimate story-telling may eschew the high octane comedy and novelty of the original but never lose site of the cheeky and subversive spirit the first film had.  All that being said, let’s really get into this beast- spoilers to follow. 

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Update

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Despite the vastness of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the concept of sequels is a strangely sparse and foreign one.  Where this becomes the clearest is that even though the common working knowledge is that Marvel sequels are mostly poor, the actual breakdown is exactly even.  Iron Man 2 was a rush job that did little more than jog in place and remind people of upcoming films, Thor: The Dark World was about on par with its predecessor only with slightly sloppier editing and a more derivative climax, and Age of Ultron had plenty of ambition but lost a good chunk of it in the editing. 

Meanwhile, Iron Man 3 is a thoughtful and well-made revisit of the series core themes in a new context, Winter Soldier complete shake-ups the genre and style of the franchise in an adventurous way, and Civil War stands as one of the best entries in the series.  Now it’s coming time for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and amid the slew of trailers, posters, TV spots, and advertising tie-ins I can’t shake the feeling the brown, drippy lightning that is the lackluster Marvel sequel is gearing up to strike for a fourth time. 

8 Characters Sam Neill Could be in Thor: Ragnarok

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Thor: Ragnarok is shaping up to be the most exciting new Marvel movie since Winter Soldier.  The upcoming conclusion to the Thor trilogy jumped from being just another entry in Marvel’s least impressive franchise to something of actual note when Taika Waititi signed up to direct.  

Then the Hulk was revealed to be a major part of the film followed by Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban, and Jeff Goldblum joining the cast.  Of course, the “Thor on Vacation” comedy video was an absolute hoot, and now another Jurassic Park alumni has joined the film with Sam Neill, playing a secret role. 

Neill’s announcement is a serious game changer and right from the outset we can extrapolate a few things about his character.  He’s a big name actor, so it’s probably an important part but his limited involvement in production hints at a more restricted role, suggesting the kind of big, meaty, multi-film role that Marvel likes signing more venerable actors like Neill.  With that in mind, and knowing the trajectory of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I’ve come up with eight possible roles Sam Neill could be playing in Thor: Ragnarok.

Panel Vision - Seven Characters Benjamin Bratt May Play in Doctor Strange

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Edited by Robert Beach 

As we continue to march ever closer to Dr. Strange, several people have picked up on a pretty interesting minor detail from the latest trailer for the Sorcerer Supreme’s debut film. So far, the trailers, posters, and announcements have all been pretty sparse for Doctor Strange. Most of the news focus on showing off how strange and different the movie will be. Whether or not that’s the case, it does lead to a lot of lingering questions about what role the various characters in the film are actually playing or if there’s some secret agenda at hand.  

That particular brand of conspiracy speculation got a shot in the arm when the ending credits of Dr. Strange’s latest trailer named Benjamin Bratt as a featured actor. Currently, we have no idea who Bratt is playing or that he was even in this movie as he hasn’t appeared in any of the set pics, posters, or trailers. Now, the question has become “who is he playing?” I thought up seven possibilities. 

1st Concept Art of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2

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Edited by Robert Beach 

We’re currently in a bizarre dead zone for Marvel movie news.  After dominating the spring of 2016 through the double barrel punch of Daredevil season 2 and Captain America: Civil War, Marvel has more or less ceded the summer to its competition and aren’t even beginning to push Dr. Strange despite its fall release date.  Instead, Marvel’s spent the last couple months heavily emphasizing 2017’s slate of Marvel features, where they aim to dominate the entire calendar with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 in the spring, Spider-Man: Homecoming in the summer and Thor: Ragnarok in the fall. 

We’ve learned a lot about Thor’s casting breakdown, and Spider-Man can’t stop announcing new cast members. So far, we haven’t heard much about Guardians of the Galaxy. That changed this past week when we got our first look at the concept art for the new film, which revealed a trio of unexpected characters that seemed to be set for the movie. 

How Civil War Will Impact Phase 3

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Edited by Robert Beach

We’re now less than a week out from San Diego Comic Con, the biggest week of the professional nerdist’s calendar as we all get to see the latest projects we get to meticulously obsesses over for the next year.  Ever since geek culture took over the mainstream the gem of SDCC has become the Marvel announcement.  Even though Marvel has taken to announcing a bit more at the Disney Expo recently everyone is still waiting with baited breath to see what news will emerge from them this year. 

I’ve already used this set-up to publish a bunch of spec pieces and this another one, addressing the big elephant in the room left over from May’s Captain America: Civil War.  At the end of that movie, spoilers, the Sokovia Accords mandating superheroes register with the government are still in effect, they aren’t overturned or anything.  That’s a pretty major change-up for the Marvel universe and is sure to have a major impact on future films, so I ask the question: how will Civil War shape Marvel’s Phase 3?

Panel Vision - Evil Duplicate Guide

Evil Duplicates, they’re such a staple of genre fiction it seems almost inevitable that they infect every aspect of geekery.  As one might expect, there are a ton of evil duplicates in the realm of comics, mainly because most superheroes have been around for decades and decades and rather than reuse old characters authors love to make up their own spin on the concept.  That actually proves pretty fruitful as so far a lot of the evil duplicates we’ve got have proved pretty diverse an interesting as far as takes on a very well established concept go.  Granted it helps that we’ve also had decades to weed out the stuff no one cares about but that just means the stuff now is even more interesting.  Given The Flash’s obsession with evil versions of the hero and Supergirl’s premiering Bizarro, I figured now would be a good time to give you the run down on the evil duplicates of DC and Marvel. 

1st Dr. Strange Images

So, I guess it’s about time to talk about Dr. Strange.  Honestly I’ve been kind of mixed on this whole project since the beginning, and I say that as one of the few genuine Dr. Strange fans.  I know a lot of folks are getting into the sorcerer supreme now thanks to the publicity of the film production but I’ve actually been a big fan of his since before the MCU got started and even I was pretty skeptical about a Dr. Strange movie.  The main reason for this is just that not every character or comic can work across several mediums. 

There are some comics that just only work as comics, the same way there are TV shows or books that could only work and be as resonant as they are in one particular medium.  It also didn’t help that I’m not really a Benedict Cumberbatch fan.  Now we’ve got our first look at him in costume along with some interesting concept art sketches and…while, I’m still not convinced this is going to work it certainly looks more interesting than it did before.

 

Ryan Coogler Directing Black Panther

So, the first major comic book adaptation news story of 2016 is officially here with the announcement that Ryan Coogler will be directing Black Panther for Marvel Studios.  This is one of those announcements that’s been in the post for a long time but it’s nice to finally have official confirmation on it.  Black Panther has been lingering over Marvel’s phase 3 schedule alongside Captain Marvel ever since they both got bumped from the 2017 spot by the new Spider-Man movie so getting some kind of information on it is thoroughly welcome.  At the same time it’s great to see Marvel pursuing an African American director for the film, especially an up and coming talent like Ryan Coogler. 

Coogler may be new but so far he’s shown amazing directorial skill mixed with a consummate and confident sense of vision that makes him feel like an old pro.  His twin success, Fruitvale Station and Creed, have helped make him a serious name in both critical circles and with audiences so throwing him the reigns to a big budget Marvel superhero film feels like the next natural step in his evolution as a filmmaker.  However, Black Panther isn’t just a big budget superhero film, it’s an adaptation of the most important black superhero of all time and possibly the biggest mark for diversity in this genre since Blade.

Hulk & Valkyrie to co-star in Thor: Ragnarok

Edited by Robert Beach

One of the biggest problems facing Marvel’s Phase 3 slate is what to do with the Thor franchise. Thor was one of the bigger hits of phase one, both financially and achievement wise. It was the first film to cement the idea Marvel could integrate the truly out-there and bizarre aspects of its comic continuity to the big screen; however, when Thor: The Dark World rolled around in 2013, things took a decidedly sour turn.  The film is the lowest-grossing Marvel sequel to date and thoroughly failed to find real engagement from audiences.  

Thor in phase 1 had firmly carried the banner of Marvel merchandising and Marvel cosmic weirdness, but now at the close of phase 2, Thor toys have been a bit of a non-starter and Marvel’s much more successful Guardians of the Galaxy now carries the banner of cosmic weirdness. Given all this, it’s not surprising that Marvel is walking on eggshells about the upcoming third Thor film: Thor: Ragnarok.  The title alone promises major shake-ups to come for the God of Thunder along with heavy ties to the ongoing Thanos saga leading up to Avengers: Infinity War.  Now Marvel has made their concerns about the film even clearer by officially adding The Hulk and Valkyrie as additional main characters.

10 Marvel Superheroes to Fill in the 3 New Mysterious Marvel Films in 2020

Edited by Robert Beach

In case you haven’t heard, Marvel has made a major announcement. After making a bundle of cash at the box office (more than Captain America: The First Avenger incidentally), Ant-Man is officially getting a sequel. This is a big victory lap for Marvel, turning a troubled and public production history on a C-list hero into a financial hit and a real cultural connection with audiences. The sequel, entitled Ant-Man and The Wasp is slotted to come out July 6, 2018. This has lead to some pretty major shake-ups. 

Black Panther will now be released in February 2018 to coincide with Black History Month and Captain Marvel has been pushed back yet again, this time to 2019. Though I’m glad we’re getting more Ant-Man because I was a big fan of the first film, I don’t think it was really worth the price. Captain Marvel is getting so continually delayed it only feels like a matter of time before Marvel delays it into oblivion, and I certainly don’t like that Ant-Man 2’s title frames Wasp as his sidekick. 

I don’t want to judge too quickly too soon. Marvel still has 3 years to hammer Ant-Man 2 into something great, and it’s possible Wasp will get to take more of the center stage she deserves in this follow up. The Marvel announcement also came with the date of 3 new, unnamed Marvel releases: May 1, July 10, and November 6 all in the year 2020. This mysterious update is what we’ll be discussing today. It’s time for some wild speculation with 10 guesses on Marvel’s secret projects.