When you’re Kevin Feige, it doesn’t do to just be focused on the task at hand. Though the Marvel head honcho is currently handling this week’s Guardians of the Galaxy, he is also responsible for keeping over ten other upcoming superhero tentpoles from the studio on track. Next up after Guardians will be Avengers: Age of Ultron, the climactic chapter of Marvel’s Phase Two.
Following that blockbuster, Feige will be launching Phase Three with Ant-Man, but curious Marvel acolytes are already thinking further ahead, to what the rest of the phase will look like (including Avengers 3). When recently asked about a slate of release dates secured by Marvel, including the second 2018 one snagged after The Amazing Spider-Man 3 vacated its spot, Feige shed some light on when fans can expect to see Phase Three come to an end:
“The last one was just a scheduling thing, there were other studios that were moving their chess pieces around on their boards, which is why that had been in the works — why that other 2018 date came up a few days after the initial release. We haven’t really talked about when we’ll see Avengers 3. I assume we’d like to stick to three years between Avengers movies like we did [between Avengers and Age of Ultron].”
I don’t buy that “we haven’t really talked about” it for a second, but Feige clearly can’t really talk about plans that far into the future at this time. Let’s take a look at what we know about Marvel’s upcoming plans right now. The current calendar reads as follows:
Avengers: Age of Ultron on May 1, 2015
Ant-Man on July 17, 2015
Captain America 3 on May 6, 2016
Untitled on July 8, 2016 (possibly Doctor Strange)
Untitled on May 5, 2017
Guardians of the Galaxy 2 on July 28, 2017
November 3, 2017
May 4, 2018
July 6, 2018
November 2, 2018
May 3, 2019
What titles can we expect to see land in those unnamed slots? I’d put money on Thor 3 despite Chris Hemsworth’s recent comments, and it would also be surprising if there wasn’t another original introduced after Doctor Strange. I’d love to see Black Panther take it, but rumors that Carol Danvers will be introduced in Age of Ultron lend weight to the idea that a Captain Marvel film is in the cards. A female-led Marvel movie would certainly be a refreshing change – and when Thanos comes looking for the Avengers in Avengers 3 (which I’m guessing will actually be the 2019 pic), it would certainly help to have Captain Marvel fighting for the good guys.