Article by J.B. Casas
Marvel has released plans for their future Phase 3 films, which will be rolling out in the next few years. Thanks to the website Schmoesknow.com, we now know the full line up of which comic book heroes will be a part of Marvel’s cinematic universe. From Schmoes Knows reliable source, Victor Jones, the confirmed Phase 3 films will include: “Ant-Man,” “Captain America 3,” “Thor 3,” “Dr. Strange” and “The Avengers 3.” While there is no mention of the “Black Panther” or “The Inhumans” this looks like an impressive slate of films. Here is a brief outline of some of the Phase 3 films.
“Ant-Man” is in pre-production and casting news has Paul Rudd (“This is 40,”) Michael Douglas (“Wall Street,” “Traffic,”) Michael Peña (“End of Watch,” “Gangster Squad,”) and Evangeline Lilly (“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” television’s “Lost,”) scheduled to begin filming after “The Avengers: Age of Ultron.” Director Edgar Wright (“Shaun of the Dead,” “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World”) will helm the project that is based on the story arc “To Steal An Ant-Man” in which Scott Lang steals the Ant-Man suit from Dr. Henry “Hank” Pym to commit burglaries to save his daughter’s life.
There are no story details about “Captain America 3,” but Variety.com does confirm that Anthony and Joe Russo who helmed “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” will indeed return to direct the threequel. Even though the second installment featuring the “sentinel of liberty” won’t hit theaters until April 4th, Marvel Studios and the Russo brothers “are already putting together an outline of what the third film’s story arc would look like,” according to Variety. The only actors that are confirmed for the third film are Chris Evans (“Captain America,” “Fantastic Four,”) Anthony Mackie (“The Hurt Locker,” “Pain & Gain,”) Frank Grillo (“The Grey,” “Warrior”) and Emily Van Camp (“Revenge.”)
The second non-sequel film from Phase 3 is “Dr. Strange,” which has been teased by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige for some time now. There were rumors weeks ago about actor Johnny Depp meeting with Marvel to discuss his involvement as the sorcerer supreme, but Variety.com has since debunked this errant piece of news. The movie should be similar to the Marvel animated movie “Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme,” which depicted the origin of Dr. Stephen Strange and how he battled the villains Dormammu and his disciple Baron Mordo. Bets are definitely on that these two foes will be the main bad guys in the feature since Strange is in constant conflict with the pair.
Expect Marvel Studios to make an official announcement at this July’s San Diego Comic-Con concerning their Phase 3 agenda. In the mean time Marvel will be releasing “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” on April 4th, “Guardians of the Galaxy” on August 1st, followed by “The Avengers 2: Age of Ultron” on May 1, 2015.