Captain Marvel 2: The Marvels – Is Marvel Studios Setting Up the MCU Version of The Ultimates?

After just one solo flick, the Captain Marvel franchise has already diverted course and is switching over to a team-up structure. Monday morning, the House of Ideas unveiled a sizzle reel for Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and in it, a new name was given to the Captain Marvel sequel with zero explanation or context. We’ve known Monica Rambeau (Teyona Parris) and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) would be appearing in the feature for quite some time, so why the change?

One possible reason could be to launch an entirely new franchise featuring a new team outside the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy. Enter, the live-action Ultimates.

The group was originally formed as the Avengers of Marvel’s Ultimate Universe, before switching over into an all-cosmic team in a post-Secret Wars Marvel world. The Marvels is confirmed to have at least two members of the group so far — Rambeau and Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) — and another, America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), is being introduced in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

The other two main members of the team include Blue Marvel, a character many have speculated will make his debut in Captain Marvel 2, and Black Panther, a character that has been retired after the passing of Chadwick Boseman.

Depending on what Marvel Studios does in the future, The Marvels may or may not actually be the group’s actual name. Whereas the Avengers are actually called by that name in continuity — the same goes for the Guardians — The Marvels could simply be the franchise name while those characters involved in the movie form an “unofficial” team.

Maybe The Marvels is the new name for The Ultimates, or maybe it’s not. Either way, it’s increasingly clear that movies from Marvel Studios are only going to get larger and larger from here on out, meaning the outfit will inevitably introduce new pairs and teams to help move storylines along.

Captain Marvel 2 is currently set for release on November 11, 2022. Captain Marvel and WandaVision are both streaming on Disney+.

What other characters do you hope to see pop up in the sequel? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!

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