Predicting The Marvel Studios Mystery Movies

With Marvel Studios surprise announcement of future release dates for five more mystery movies, [...]

By Joe Blackmon

Marvel Mysery Movies

With Marvel Studios surprise announcement of future release dates for five more mystery movies, everyone is trying to speculate and predict what the mystery films might possibly be. In all, there are actually seven Marvel Studios mystery movies, as there were two previously announced release dates that still do not have specific movie titles announced.

In trying to predict what films Marvel Studios will release on these new dates, it's important to look at what they have already announced and what films are confirmed to be in works. Marvel Studios has already announced release dates for Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, and Captain America 3. Various executives with Disney and Marvel Studios have also confirmed that Doctor Strange, Thor 3, and Avengers 3 are in the works. Black Panther and the Inhumans have also been heavily rumored, but they haven't been confirmed.

Some other things to consider is who Marvel Studios currently has under contract. Robert Downey Jr. is only under contract for Avengers: Age of Ultron and Avengers 3, while Mark Ruffalo has several more pictures on his deal with Marvel. Given the contract situation, a standalone Hulk movie might be more likely than Iron Man 4, and Hulk is definitely a character that Marvel would love to build a franchise around. That being said, given that Iron Man 3 made $1.2 billion at the box office, an Iron Man 4 still has to be high on Marvel Studios desired plans.

If Guardians of the Galaxy is a big hit, it's also likely that Marvel Studios will want to turn around a Guardians of the Galaxy sequel fairly quickly as a lead-in to a possible team-up with the Avengers in Avengers 3. Also, based on Gunn's comments about having to pass on other work if a sequel gets the go ahead, it certainly seems like a quick turnaround is the plan.

If the first Ant-Man or Doctor Strange movies are also a hit, then it's also likely Marvel Studios would try to turn around a sequel to those films within two to three years.

Back in June, we made some predictions based on the thought that Marvel Studios would go to three movies a year, which they have in 2017. However, there are still only two movies on the schedule for 2016 and 2018, which doesn't leave a lot of room for Marvel Studios to experiment outside of their already established franchises. Of course, the announced dates might not be Marvel Studios final schedule. The studio could just be laying claim to some key dates before Comic-Con with plans to announce third movies for 2016 and 2018 at a later date.

One of the biggest unknowns in laying out Marvel Studios movie plans is their plans are likely shuffling based on negotiations with various actors and directors. The fact that Marvel Studios didn't announce the films for the specific dates might very well be because they are still finalizing plans for which films go in which dates.

With all that being said, here is our best guess as to how the Marvel Studios schedule might pan out, based on the latest rumors, info, and release dates announced. Our thought is that Doctor Strange, Thor 3, and Guardians of the Galaxy 2 have the most elements in place to be the first three mystery movies. Black Panther and Inhumans seems to be the more rumored of potential new projects, which Marvel Studios could target for the less competitive November month. Even though Avengers 3 could be the May 3, 2019 release date, we can't really see Marvel Studios waiting that long for their biggest franchise. Since it's still unknown if Robert Downey Jr. will sign on for more Iron Man movies, we put the May 3, 2019 date as either Iron Man 4 or Hulk or maybe a team-up movie.

May 1, 2015 – Avengers: Age of Ultron
July 17, 2015 – Ant-Man
May 6, 2016 – Captain America 3
July 8, 2016 – Doctor Strange
May 5, 2017 – Thor 3
July 28, 2017 – Guardians of the Galaxy 2
November 3, 2017 – Black Panther
July 6, 2018 – Avengers 3
November 2, 2018 – Inhumans
May 3, 2019 – Iron Man 4/Hulk

Weigh in with your own predictions in the comments.

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