Eight Predictions For The Marvel Cinematic Universe

Thomas Roach with eight predictions for the Marvel Cinematic Universe…Through years of planning and a chain of successes Marvel Studios has delivered films that both excel at the box office and please their fans. Unlike the other superhero movies, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has all these characters existing in the same universe and crossing over into each other’s films – this started with Iron Man back in 2008 and the standalone films led to the first Avengers film which saw these extraordinary characters team up.The success is trying to be imitated by Warner Bros. with the DC cinematic universe and Fox who have ambitions of a shared universe between X-Men and Fantastic Four – the only Marvel properties they own. Marvel Studios has definitely got it right though where the others fail. It is a great time for Marvel Studios and there is no sign of this slowing down any time soon.Their ambition seems to have no limit, and Marvel Studios are looking at making more unique projects. Guardians of the Galaxy is a rather obscure Marvel product but depending on its success this will open the Marvel Cinematic Universe to endless possibilities – bringing more obscure characters to the big screen will increase the output of films that Marvel produce each year. Marvel Studios has even suggested producing four films every year instead of just two – this would allow the Cinematic Universe to expand a far quicker than before and hopefully keep fans happy.Marvel does seem to leave lots of hints and clues to the future of their film series as well as directly telling the audience its latest endeavors. Even years before the films are out fans like to talk about and guess what is going to happen. Fans now look out for cameos and stay after the credits to see the next teaser for Marvel’s future films. So, with that in mind, here are some predictions for future Marvel films…Honourable Mention – The Red Skull is ThanosThis is a highly unlikely prediction but due to the nature of the Red Skull’s last scene in Captain America: The First Avenger, there is some ambiguity to the fate of the character. In the final scene we see Red Skull hold the Tesseract with his bare hands before it starts to melt him. Until recently people assumed that Red Skull’s fate was clear, but after analysis of the scene, his fate is far more ambiguous. In the scene a portal opens up and before Red Skull gets obliterated we see a shot of space and the beam that presumably goes across the universe. The portal then stops, red Skull is no longer there and the Tesseract falls into the sea. What was the relevance of showing a portal into space? Maybe Red Skull got transported across the stars and across time? Is it possible that he was able to use his knowledge and power on a different world to become Thanos?Of course the chances of this are slim to none, and the way the scene was shot may just be ambiguous for ambiguity’s sake. Maybe reading too much into the scene has led to think this crazy theory – and it is a crazy theory, however it was definitely worth mentioning. The Red Skull was reportedly in the first draft of The Avengers as a supporting villain to Loki. This was however cut out due to the fear of crowding the film with villains. This may mean that the Red Skull is still alive – even if he is not Thanos.Hank Pym will appear in Age of UltronFor those of you who don’t know, Ant-Man will be the first Marvel Studios film to follow the highly anticipated Avengers: Age of Ultron. Without a doubt, it will be a hard film to follow. If the box office success of The Avengers is anything to go by then Age of Ultron will do equally well and should even exceed its predecessor. Ant-Man is a far more obscure product in comparison to The Avengers. It would make sense for Marvel Studios to promote their next film by featuring a character from the next film – Hank Pym.In the comics, Hank Pym is actually the creator of the Ultron, but this version it looks like Ultron will be Tony Stark’s creation. Joss Whedon said that Hank Pym would not appear in the Avengers sequel but that was a while ago – that may have changed. We all assumed that the lead of Ant-Man would be Pym but it looks like it will favor Scott Lang instead – with Pym in a supporting character role. So in a sense Ant-Man would not appear in the Avengers sequel, but Pym may do. Hank Pym is to be played by Michael Douglas and because the actor is older, this suggests that he was a superhero before – presumably one of the first superheroes. We can expect to see Hank Pym cameo in Age of Ultron.Marvel seem to know what they are doing and always deliver great Easter eggs and after credit scenes to tease future films. If there is no cameo or even reference to Hank Pym in Avengers: Age of Ultron, then it would be a waste of a great opportunity to give a niche film more attention.Thanos will destroy AsgardFor The Avengers 3, it looks like we will get Thanos as the main villain. Most fans are guessing this and are pretty sure this is where the films are leading to. Thanos is due to appear in Guardians of the Galaxy and he may get to demonstrate his powers to the audiences for the first time. He will not however have his weapon – The Infinity Gauntlet.Thor 3 is due in Phase Three, likely in 2017, and this will probably be the final Marvel film before the third Avengers. In order to show Thanos’ power, he should be shown to destroy Asgard. As we saw in Thor, The Infinity Gauntlet is safely locked up in the relic vault in Asgard. If Thanos is to utilize the power he will need to get hold of it. It would be great to demonstrate how powerful the character is by destroying an entire world that we have seen a lot of in both Thor movies. Having an entire realm destroyed by a villain would be a good reason to ‘Avenge’.Doctor Strange will be played by an older actorDoctor Strange is a certainty for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Kevin Fiege has already talked about the film and its search for a director as well as rumors of casting the title role. It’s likely he will hit our screens in the 2016 slot, introducing us to magic and sorcery. Due to who the character is, it would make sense to have a seasoned actor play Strange rather than a younger actor. For those of you who don’t know the character’s origin, Stephen Strange is a highly skilled surgeon who is arrogant and loves money. After a car accident damages his hands and he can no longer perform surgery he searches for a way to heal his hands. Eventually he come across a Wizard in the Himalayas and after showing selflessness if given the title of Sorcerer Supreme.Could you really see a twenty-something actor playing a world renowned surgeon? Older actors should be considered for the role.Black Panther will not be introduced until Phase FourStudio executives and fans alike want to see a Black Panther movie – many have called the film to fill one of the Phase Three slots. However despite the eagerness to have the character hit the big screen, from the look of things we will not have a Black Panther movie any time soon. There has been little discussion about casting to do with the film. Doctor Strange on the other hand has a shortlist of directors and casting rumors around it – Black Panther has nothing.There is one slot left open for a Marvel film in Phase Three and the chances of Black Panther look slim. Rumours so far suggest that the final slot will be filled with a Guardians of the Galaxy sequel pending its success. And there are several black superheroes now in Falcon, War Machine and even Luke Cage who will appear on the Netflix series. War Machine, who is played by Don Cheadle, is set to appear in Avengers: Age of Ultron as a member of the team – something he missed out on before. Because of this there may be less pressure to diversify superheroes now.Marvel chief Kevin Fiege did say a Black Panther movie will happen – he just doesn’t know when. Maybe Phase Four will pave the way for a standalone Black Panther movie, or perhaps the character could feature in a Marvel One-Shot before becoming a member of the team in Avengers 3?No Female Solo movie until Phase FourLike with Black Panther, the audience may not get a female superhero movie for quite some time. This could change in a heartbeat though, so fans wanting to see a female hero lead a film keep your fingers crossed. There is still a slot available for Marvel in 2017 and as of yet we have no idea what that film could be. There’s been rumours about a Guardians sequel, as well as a Ms. Marvel or Black Widow movie. Kevin Fiege has expressed a great deal of interest in a female solo movie and seems keen on the idea of having Black Widow carry a movie on her own. Fiege however also said that Marvel Studios has no intention to produce a female solo movie anytime soon.With a roster of strong female characters Marvel Studios has the ability to develop a solo female superhero movie, but as of now they may deem it too risky. Black Widow is very much a supporting character and that has clearly been the case in all the films she has appeared it. She has gone through some decent development but still lacks something that could allow her to carry a feature film on her own merit.A Ms. Marvel film has been rumored for a while but still the risk is too high. Guardians of the Galaxy is set to introduce Gamora who is a strong female character, albeit a supporting one at that. If she is well received by fans along with Scarlet Witch in Avengers: Age of Ultron, then a female solo superhero movie will likely be green lit. Until then though the male characters will continue to dominate our screens.Hawkeye will be killed off/retireWithout being harsh, Hawkeye seems to be the most useless Avenger. First of all he has no superpowers, which for a superhero team means he is quite boring. Secondly he got possessed by Loki in the first five minutes of The Avengers. Jeremy Renner says that we will get more back story to his character in Age of Ultron. That may be true but that certainly doesn’t mean the character is safe from being killed off. As the Avengers team increases, it is likely former members will be phased out. Age of Ultron is set to introduce Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and The Vision – War Machine is also set to appear, so that’s four new members now. Is the team becoming too crowded? Maybe they should kill or retire a character? From the reception of the character from fans, Hawkeye is the favourite candidate to leave the team.While other characters may be on their way out of the team in the near future, Hawkeye will surely depart the team soon. Either retiring or killing off a character is the option. If Hawkeye were to die, it would be far more dramatic and allow the other characters to have some greater development. This could change instantly if the character is given a bigger role when we next see him in Avengers: Age of Ultron. From early reports this may be the case but due to the fact that the team is becoming crowded someone has to go.Red Skull will return as a villainRed Skull was obliterated by the Tesseract at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger, so we assume he is dead right? Well he was actually originally going to appear in the Avengers alongside Loki as an antagonist. In the universe in which these characters exist, the Red Skull is actually still alive. His ‘death’ was not as clear cut as the death of other villains in superhero movies.Maybe the character is dead and won’t return but with the reappearance of Hydra to the series, there must be a good chance that the Red Skull will come back and get revenge on Captain America – maybe as the antagonist of Captain America 3? We already know that Baron Von Strucker will feature in Avengers: Age of Ultron – who is still running Hydra. Maybe Red Skull has just left a legacy, or maybe he will return.Red Skull is Captain America’s arch rival so it would be good to see the character return. It would be interesting to see how he copes with the changes in the present day just as Steve Rogers has.Steve Rogers will die and Bucky Barnes will become Captain AmericaCaptain America: The Winter Soldier re-introduced us to Bucky Barnes in the form of The Winter Soldier. If you don’t remember, he was Steve Rogers’ friend and the commando who fell off the train to his assumed death in The First Avenger, but Barnes survived and was turned into the Soviet super-spy of the sequel’s title. The post-credits scene of The Winter Soldier reveals that he survives his ordeal with Captain America and seems to remember who he is and how he knows him – it would appear that The Winter Soldier is going to become a good guy. In fact he may become the next Captain America.In the comics when Steve Rogers is assassinated by Brock Rumlow, a.k.a. Crossbones, Barnes then takes over the role of Captain America. With the fact that Chris Evans said he wants to take a break from acting after his Marvel contract ends and Sebastian Stan (who plays The Winter Soldier) has a nine-picture deal with Marvel, it seems apparent that he will take over from Chris Evans. This is also supported by the fact that Crossbones (Frank Grillo) survives the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and will likely return in the next instalment as a villain.It may just be a prediction but the way things are going the chances of Barnes becoming Captain America is a certainty – whether or not Steve Rogers will die for this to happen is another story. Recently Chris Evans has confirmed that he is to retire from acting and go into directing. With a new career prospect and no reason to sign a new contract, chances are Barnes will replace Rogers in the not too distant future.What do you make of these predictions, and how do you think the Marvel Cinematic Universe will shape up over the next few years?Thomas Roach