Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase Three: How Is It Shaping Up?

Since Nick Fury wandered into the credits of Iron Man, Marvel Entertainment have followed after their comic book counterparts, establishing an interconnected universe with a rich continuity and relationships between their superhero and supervillain characters. It's proven a huge success; hardcore fans are excited by the prospect of movies that more closely resemble their comics, and casual viewers feel obliged to see a movie they might not usually, because it ties into Iron Man or The Avengers. Provided the studio keeps making films that appeal to a wide audience and receive generally positive reviews, those people won't feel ripped off and will continue to see, in many cases, everything the studio puts out. That all built to a head in 2012's Marvel's The Avengers, the most ambitious and highest-grossing film to this point, which merged the various heroes whose solo films had comprised the first "phase" of the development of Marvel's Cinematic Universe.

At the time, we had no idea that it was a "phase," but it was labeled as such when the first post-Avengers movies were announced--first casually and later officially in the form of a box set collecting all of the films for home video. With the whole of the Phase Two films already named and scheduled, and the first of the Phase Three films already on the map as well, it's been difficult not to speculate as to just what the latest incarnation would look like. Phase One, after all, was the ramp up to Marvel's The Avengers, solo films focusing on the characters who would make up that team. Phase Two, overseen by Joss Whedon following the success of The Avengers, has been primarily focused on sequels to those movies, but will also give us a new, original film in the form of James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy. That will be the final film before Avengers: Age of Ultron hits theaters, and marks the end of Phase Two.

Then comes Ant-Man, followed by... ...well, we're not sure yet. Marvel has a couple of as-yet-untitled movies on the schedule, in addition to a couple of movies we know to be coming, but which don't yet have dates. Today's report of Guardians of the Galaxy 2 being in the offing for the near future adds an additional wrinkle, since there are a number of new properties rumored to be in development that fans and the press had expected to be part of the third phase. Disney have been open about the fact that they're planning two Marvel movies a year from now on, but they haven't yet said when Avengers 3 might hit (which would likely close out the third phase). Many are expecting it to be 2018's last Marvel movie, which would be roughly on pace with the timeline of the first two (2012, 2015). So far, here's what our "official" timeline looks like: July 17, 2015: Ant-Man May 6, 2016: Untitled Marvel Studios Movie (likely subject to change, since Batman vs. Superman will now open on this date) July 8, 2016: Untitled Marvel Studios Movie May 5, 2017: Untitled Marvel Studios Movie 2017: No title or date 2018: No title or date 2018: Presumably Avengers 3 And here's what we know, in terms of films:

Captain American 3 has been announced, with no release date yet, but Joe and Anthony Russo will return to direct. Thor 3 has been announced, with no release date yet, but Chris Yost and Craig Kyle co-writing. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has confirmed that they're developing a Doctor Strange film for Phase Three, with rumors pointing to Jon Hamm as the star of the film. Stan Lee has repeatedly assured fans and interviewers that there are Black Panther and The Inhumans movies coming soon. Scripts reportedly in development at Marvel (thanks to various rumors) include Blade, Runaways, The Incredible Hulk, and Iron Man 4.

Since Robert Downey, Jr.'s new contract only accounts for Avengers 2 and 3, it's unlikely we'll see a new Iron Man right away. Certainly there's an argument to be made that they could give Downey a glorified cameo and make an Iron Man 4 with Don Cheadle in the title role, but rather than taking chances with their biggest franchise, it's probably best to develop something else for a bit. Today's rumors put Guardians of the Galaxy 2 as a 2016 release, but that, too, seems unlikely since both Captain America 3 and Thor 3 are officially announced with creative staff already attached. A Phase Three Guardians sequel is more likely something they'll announce for 2017 or maybe even 2018, just before Avengers 3, especially if the Guardians' cosmic foes are to play a role in Thanos's grand plan, which almost everyone thinks will play out in Avengers 3. For the sake of argument, we'll slot Guardians 2 into the first open slot after Cap 3 and Thor 3, again assuming for no good reason other than convenience that those will hit in 2016. That leaves the second 2017 slot and the first 2018 slot open, with six likely options (Strange, Hulk, Runaways, Blade, Inhumans and Panther).

Plus, of course, rumors that Captain Marvel is in development, which could be a necessity for Marvel as criticism continues to mount that women are underrepresented and Warner Bros. preps a Wonder Woman solo feature. Strange, with a semi-official announcement from the President of the Studio, is obviously the next-most-likely choice, with the rest in a virtual dead heat. By the time they have to choose which movies will fill those final two slots, it's not entirely unlikely that the studio will have already decided which will lead off Phase Three, giving them an opportunity announce a few at once, as they did when they announced Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers 2 and Ant-Man at San Diego Comic Con International in 2012.