When Marvel released the Age Of Ultron trailer I thought we had peaked on Marvel news for a while, but NOPE.

At a conference in LA Marvel announced their whole Phase 3 lineup and it is sublime. So much so I’m not even sure where to start… I mean, Infinity Wars?!?! So much YES! We knew it was coming from the appearance of Thanos and then the Infinity Stone in Guardians but to have a date and a two part Avengers film is a nerds dream come true.



From the above you can see all the events and dates Marvel are promising us these delights. We have all the new cinematic characters plus more ongoing series to see us right through to 2019. Chadwick Boseman has been officially cast as Black Panther with a rumoured casting of Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange. No word yet on any casting for Captain Marvel or The Inhumans.

Oh and Civil War! Again, it’s been rumoured for a few weeks but to actually see one of Marvels (arguably) greatest events played out in live action is going to be incredible. I think most long time nerds would agree if we go back to 2005 or so when Marvel first started making moves to build their cinematic repertoire we didn’t anticipate anything on the scale of the universe they have built to date. And I’m not convinced they’re planning on slowing down even past phase 3.

With the introduction of Doctor Stange, Captain Marvel, Black Panther and the Inhumans they’re essentially starting new sub franchises. I really would not anticipate Marvel setting these new characters up for Infinity Wars just to let them fade out beyond 2019.

In fact they have almost everyone lined up here for The Illuminati. For those unfamiliar with The Illuminati it consists of a secret group of greatest minds in the Marvel Universe – Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Black Bolt and Reed Richards (but Marvel don’t currently have the cinematic rights to the Fantastic Four). One of The Illuminati’s greatest achievements was getting rid of Earths big green problem The Hulk, he was just a little too angry for their tastes. Hulk had a big adventure in the galaxy and subsequently came back and showed them how angry he could really get. So a couple of opportunities for phase 4 in there.

Infinity Wars could also be a good opportunity for Marvel to get in some fresh actors for existing roles. The whole premise of the Infinity Gauntlet is that it can control space, time and matter. Leaving them wide open to change actors for space time reasons.

And now I’ll put away my tinfoil hat and I’ll leave you with RDJ and Chris Evans facing off in preparation for their Civil War fisticuffs.