What can be the new game plan of MCU?
There may not BE a “Big 3”, per se. First of all, Marvel may be moving away from the interlocking trilogies format for a bit, thinking fans might respond to a change. Their planned roster of films and TV sort of look like that’s the case. But who knows, I’m sure that things may get added to that whenever it looks like it’ll make a ton of money. Second, when we say Big 3, I assume we’re talking about the 3 original Avengers who are popular enough individually to carry their own movies, which in turn advance the overall MCU/Avengers storyline in between the primary Avengers movies. The fact that there were only 3 of those folks on the roster up until IW/Endgame wasn’t a planned thing, they had hoped to do more Hulk movies too, it just didn’t seem like they would make enough money after the Lee/Norton film didn’t hit expectations. The Avengers now includes both Spider-Man and Ant-Man, who’ve had 2 of their own films already and will both get at least one more. Captain Marvel is going to get at least one more film, and for all the bitching and whining people had about Brie and SJW and so on, the first CM.
a) Actually wasn’t a bad movie,.
b) Got a lot of positive response from little girls exactly as Marvel had hoped.
c) Made over a billion dollars. Unless CM2 tanks horribly, there will be a third one.
So that’s 3 more Avengers each getting 3 movies. Other possibilities? That gets interesting! Possibilities I see, and I’m going to stick to already introduced or announced characters:
Current Roaster of MCU:
War Machine, Hawkeye, Rescue (Pepper), Valkyrie:
I’m lumping all of these folks in together to get them out of the way up front. They were all essentially written as supporting characters, however cool, and haven’t been given anything to bring them out of that to date. I guess “No”, and probably “we don’t see much of them going forward”, either.
Falcon:
The new Cap. I love Anthony Mackie’s take on Falcon, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he does with the shield. On the other hand, he’s having to try and emerge on his own from the sidekick role, and Evans’ shoes will be hard as hell to fill. I guess “maybe”, and I hope it’s “yes”.
Dr Strange:
He’s the other guy who’s probably already slated to get 2 more movies, although DS2 will probably decide about the 3rd. I don’t think he’s really going to integrate with the Avengers, though. He’s been basically an independent so far, and it seems in character for him to stay that way. I’m guessing he’s a “no”, or at most a “sort of”.
Scarlet Witch:
I’m actually sort of curious about her. I think she has the possibility to carry movies on her own; it’s a fairly good actress handling an interesting character. Wandavision will probably set that up to one way or the other. If the show is a big success or the character development works out in a way that says MOVIE TIME, we’ll see a separate SW movie. DS2 might also set the stage for that. I’m guessing that’s a “maybe,”… but I hope it’s a “yes.”
Vision:
Wait; what? Isn’t he dead? Well, maybe? The thing is, he’s essentially a fancy robot. There’s no mind stone to power him anymore, BUT the rest of him was still pretty much intact besides his head. And robots can be FIXED. Not only that, the person that is apparently considered the smartest in the MCU world, Shuri, is probably the one who has his body, and she just might have had enough time to finish some backup in IW before Corvus Glaive so rudely interrupted her. Hard to say. If Feige wants him brought back, it’s an easy setup to work. I like the Pinocchio sort of story myself, but I honestly doubt Marvel thinks he can carry a trilogy. I say, “no.”
Black Panther:
I’m not going to get into this one too much. Boseman’s death is a huge tragedy and a blow to the entire MCU. It completely depends on how Marvel handles the BP mantle as to whether there will even be a BP3, but I’m guessing that, regardless, BP will be more of a Dr. Strange, independent of the Avengers team but joining up when the fight pulls him (or her) in. “Sort of.”
Wasp:
I would say “no” as a primarily supporting character, but I can see one real possibility that could change that. If the final Ant-Man movie ends up with Scott (and maybe her parents as well) dying, then suddenly we’d have a real tragedy for her to work through, a major character arc event. Evangeline Lilly is still young enough to do a few more movies, IMO, but Hollywood might disagree. I still say “probably no.”
She-Hulk:
We know it’s planned. If it’s done well and fans like it, maybe she can be what Hulk hasn’t managed in the MCU. I’d say, “maybe.”
Moon Knight:
Ditto, with the addendum that I personally find the Moon Knight character compelling and one with a lot of movie potential, plus a high likelihood of full integration into the Avengers team, and nearly a Tony replacement. I’d say, “probably.”
Shang-Chi, Sersi, Kingo, Black Knight:
These folks are coming up in the next year in titular movies; all of them are young enough to have a few movies in them. The rest of the Eternals are either too old or “headliner” material enough for Marvel to hand them a trilogy. I’d say “probably” to one of these folks.
Adam Warlock:
“Huh? Who’s that?” I imagine most of us saying. Remember the credit scene at the end of GotG2?
That was clearly a setup to introduce Adam Warlock, one of the most powerful heroes in the comics, having been key to defeating Thanos in not one but TWO Infinity Stone wars. Obviously, he won’t do that in the MCU, but he’s been teased, could show up in ANY of the next few movies, and would be a major power. It would completely depend on casting, writing, and fan response. I’d say, “maybe.”
Beast:
To those who keep saying “who,” I’d say keep reading, and to those who are saying, “BUT HE’S AN X-MAN!!!!” I say to them: Marvel got the film rights to the X-Men (and the Fantastic 4) back. In my opinion, Beast would be a perfect bridge to merge the properties. He was actually an Avenger in the comics, which will make the comic fan base happy. He’s not as closely linked to an actor as Mystique or Storm or goddamn WOLVERINE (whether you’re a Jackman fan or not, there’s no question that in most people’s eyes, he IS Wolverine). He makes a good voice and leader figure for the mutants, was traditionally one in the comics so that he could be the face of “mutant integration.” He’s powerful enough to play ball and can easily get tweaked to match story needs. He’s also an easy figure to write stories about that could be very human and bring in both Avengers and Mutants to make for a cool mixed cast action movie, sort of like Civil War did. Do I think Marvel will give him a trilogy? Probably not; he was never a headliner. But I think they could make it work—just my thoughts.
You must be logged in to post a comment.