Thomas Roach with some predictions on which films will fill Marvel’s recently announced release dates…
Marvel Studios recently announced five new release dates between 2017 and 2019. There is already a great deal of speculation over which films will receive these slots and the rest of Phase Three is likely to be announced at Marvel’s San Diego Comic-Con presentation which is only days away. So, taking in factors to do with characters and business I am going to predict which films will make the release dates that were revealed.
July 28th, 2017: The Avengers 3
Kevin Feige has said that each Marvel Phase ends with an Avengers movie and then the next Phase begins. As there is a release date in May 2017 that could still be announced as Avengers 3, right now that seems very unlikely. Everyone has predicted Thor 3 for May 2017 and that would make a lot of sense. As most of you know Thanos will be the likely villain of a third Avengers movie, along with his iconic weapon The Infinity Gauntlet. The Infinity Gauntlet is currently in Odin’s vault on Asgard so Thanos needs it. So I’m guessing that Thor 3 will be the May 2017 release date followed by Avengers 3. Placing an Avengers movie in the middle of the summer could help to ensure even greater success. The Avengers alone can draw in the crowds, but Marvel will want its flagship movie of the Phase getting the prime spot.
November 3rd, 2017: Guardians Of The Galaxy 2
Now most people think that Avengers 3 will see the Avengers and the Guardians team up but I don’t think that is the case. After James Gunn made remarks about not wanting to see Hulk team up with the Guardians in a Planet Hulk movie, I think this shows that Marvel are keeping their Earth-based heroes and their cosmic heroes separate. Not to say they won’t ever meet or have contact with each other but the inclusion of Guardians of the Galaxy in the first place shows Marvel want to expand out away from the characters of Earth. This is obviously dependant of the success of the first Guardians film but I believe that the film will meet expectations and merit a sequel. If this is the release date it will be over three years after the first one, which is generally the standard time to wait for sequels.
The November release date is also a good slot for a film that will do well around Christmas. The Christmas period starts early and this would be a great time to flog Guardians of the Galaxy merchandise. Many people are saying Guardians is too child friendly but at the end of the day Marvel are a business and this would be a smart business move.
July 6th, 2018: Black Panther
Kevin Feige has said that he would like to have a new property and a sequel released every year and for 2018 that new property will be Black Panther. This character will be getting his very own movie in the near future and some even speculated that he will feature in Avengers: Age of Ultron. This may still happen, but I think a standalone Black Panther movie won’t be until much later. As it seems that the current Avengers will be phased out after Avengers 3, introducing Black Panther at this stage would be a good call. It will come out during the summer blockbuster period and will likely do very well in this spot. Because it will be a new property Marvel won’t want to give it a November release date, because the box office will be unlikely to be as good for a new character.
November 2nd, 2018: Doctor Strange 2
Doctor Strange is a certainty and is expected to get a July 2016 release date which should be announced at Comic-Con in just a few days. It would appear that Marvel want Doctor Strange to become the new face of Marvel so getting him a sequel after Avengers 3 will be top priority. This will be dependant on the success of the first Doctor Strange movie but because so much is riding on the film being a hit, Marvel will likely use all their resources to make it the best movie possible. Doctor Strange already has a director in Scott Derrickson, who will presumably work on this sequel if the first one is a success. And if it is successful, the sequel wouldn’t necessarily require a summer release date.
May 3rd, 2019: Ms. Marvel
Finally, Ms. Marvel will be the summer movie of 2019. Once again as it is a new property Marvel will give it a summer release date in the hopes that more people will go out and see it. May is quite early and Captain America suffered slightly but hopefully in five years from now the Marvel brand will be bigger and the films will do well at the box office regardless of their release dates. Many people are speculating that a Black Widow movie would be the first female-led Marvel movie but that would be a mistake. Despite Black Widow being popular she has only ever featured in the films as a supporting character. Giving the character her own standalone movie could be messy. If Marvel wants to attempt a female led movie, Ms. Marvel is a better choice. She’s a fan favourite and people have been calling for a Ms. Marvel movie for quite some time. I still feel that Marvel have a long way to go before they have a female led movie and that is why this would not be out till 2019.
So there you have it. The predictions for Marvel’s mystery movies. What are you thoughts on which films Marvel will announce for these dates?
Thomas Roach
Originally published July 24, 2014. Updated January 18, 2020.
