Marvel Studios Announce New Movies; Officially Cast Doctor Strange & Black Panther

With this week already bringing word that Benedict Cumberbatch is on the brink of signing on to play Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange, now comes a whole host of news about the future of the MCU. Not only do we have confirmation of Cumberbatch as Strange, there’s full details of Marvel’s PHASE THREE of films and even some casting news on who will be playing Black Panther. And yes, it seems as if Marvel’s heroes will indeed be going head-to-head, as speculated in those recent CIVIL WAR rumours.

Speaking at an earlier press conference, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige announced which movies will making up the next few years of the MCU. Right, in a breakdown fashion, let’s get to it…

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

After much rumour about the subtitle of the long-confirmed third CAPTAIN AMERICA, finally comes word that this next Cap-centric film will be known as CIVIL WAR. Feige confirmed that the film will focus on a “global superhuman registration with a specific inciting incident,” adding, “secret identities aren’t as important in the MCU version of the story.” So after the news that Robert Downey Jr. was set to sign on to appear in CAP 3, this indeed seems to solidify those stories that the film will indeed pull from the famed CIVIL WAR comic book arc. To be directed by the Russo brothers, CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR will be released on March 25th, 2016.

DOCTOR STRANGE

Whilst some were hesitant to believe that SHERLOCK’s Benedict Cumberbatch will be playing the Sorcerer Supreme, this recent press event has confirmed that news. In one slight change, the believed July, 2016 release date has been corrected to be November 4th, 2016, with SINISTER’s Scott Derrickson already known to be helming the adventures of the Master of the Mystic Arts.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2

James Gunn’s sequel to this year’s hugely popular GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY has actually been brought forward. The film will now be hitting screens on May 5th, 2017, although we’re still waiting to get something concrete on those rumours that suggest that the Hulk will be playing a large role in the sequel.

THOR: RAGNORAK

With a third THOR always a given, now comes confirmation of the RAGNAROK subtitle for the film. In terms of Norse mythology and of the THOR books, Ragnarok is essentially D-day, so how the film plays out could be interesting. But don’t think that this necessarily means the end for the Thor character, for Kevin Feige added that the aim of the film is to take the Thunder God to “another level of his own franchise.” THOR: RAGNAROK will directly follow the events of AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON and will be released on July 28th, 2017.

BLACK PANTHER

After years and years of speculation, finally we’re going to be getting a film focussing on T’Challa, aka Black Panther. Various names have been suggested for the part over the years but GET ON UP’s Chadwick Boseman is the one who’s landed the gig. That film is currently scheduled for a November 3rd, 2017 release, with Feige even going as far as to say that an easter egg for BLACK PANTHER can be seen in the recent trailer for AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON – many presuming that it means Andy Serkis will be playing the villainous Ulysses Klaw.

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR – PART I

So it appears those rumours of AVENGERS 3 being split into two parts were true. No exact plot details have been given away just yet, although recent stories seem to suggest that this third Avengers-based movie will feature a different line-up from the team that appear in AGE OF ULTRON. And yes, it seems that the repercussions of what goes down in CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR will be felt hard when this hits screens on May 4th, 2018. Also, we think it’s pretty safe to expect a massive impact from Thanos here.

CAPTAIN MARVEL

Remember that big female-driven movie that Marvel Studios and Disney have been teasing for the last few years? Well finally it’s happening, with Carol Danvers confirmed to be headlining her own Captain Marvel film. With no director on board at this stage, CAPTAIN MARVEL is pencilled in for a July 6th, 2018 release.

THE INHUMANS

No exact specifics are known on this just yet, but the film will be getting a global release on November 2nd, 2018.

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR – PART II

Err, whatever goes down in AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR – PART I will be finished here, one presumes. The final part of this two-part tale is scheduled for a May 3rd, 2019 release.

Phew! So there we go. While you take all of that in, we’re off to have a long lie down in a dark room with a stiff drink. Not only have we seen yesterday’s ‘Cumberbatch for Strange’ story confirmed, we’ve seen Black Panther cast, we’ve see an Inhumans film announced, we’ve finally seen a Captain Marvel film confirmed, and we’ve seen a whole host more. And before any of those we’ve still got AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON and ANT-MAN.

Looks like there’s some exciting times on the MCU horizon.

SHARE YOUR COMMENTS BELOW OR ON TWITTER @STARBURST_MAG

Find your local STARBURST stockist HERE, or buy direct from us HERE. For our digital edition (available to read on your iOS, Android, Amazon, Windows 8, Samsung and/or Huawei device – all for just £1.99), visit MAGZTER DIGITAL NEWSSTAND.