Marvel is definitely moving forward following Phase 3, but with caution.
[dropcap size=small]O[/dropcap]ne of the biggest questions for Marvel fans has been if the entertainment juggernaut would continue to expand it’s Marvel Cinematic Universe following Infinity War Part II. Luckily Kevin Feige, the head of Marvel, answered this question and many more at an event celebrating the release of the blu-ray edition of Avengers: Age of Ultron at the Los Angeles’ Hero Complex Gallery.
By now we all know where the majority of the infinity stones are. However, there still are currently two infinity stones missing that have been hinted at in several of the Marvel films. According to Kevin Feige, we’ll start to see these missing infinity stones some time during Phase Three. Although it is unclear as to which movie will reveal the last two infinity stones.
“You will absolutely see the other two [Infinity Stones] sometime in Phase Three,” answers Feige. “After all, there’s a Gauntlet that needs to be filled.“
As we all know, the first Iron Man movie was the first step Marvel took in the direction of building the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That being said, it wasn’t until Iron Man 2 that Marvel and it’s fans began to see a certain direction that the first phase was heading in. However, while Avengers was a big step for Marvel to take and bring all these heroes together. It was the Tesseract that signaled to Marvel fans that there was a bigger picture. It wasn’t just heroes banding together to fight evil, but the infinity stones and the conflict that surrounded these ancient artifacts.
“It really began with Iron Man 2, building out the architecture for the entirety of Phase One. The notion of the Tesseract being not only the thing that ties Phase One together but that can also be a major part of Phase Two. I can’t say that it was all perfectly laid out in 2009, but that was certainly the genesis of it”
“We always want the filmmakers to go and make the movie they want to make, not let the craziness of the world get in the way of that,” added Latcham. “Afterwards, we can be certain that everything lines up and make those corrections. But the main thing is to allow each film to be as fun as possible.”
“For example, we always knew going into Age of Ultron that the stone in Loki’s scepter that would eventually end up in Vision’s head.But others come out of more simple, structural plot needs. A filmmaker might say, okay, there’s a mysterious orb driving this story. At which point, we’ll suggest, alright, then let’s put something inside that orb.”
After the success of Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel fans began begging for the Marvel Cinematic Universe to bring together the Avengers and the Guardians to fight a common foe, say Thanos?
“Certainly Thanos and the Infinity Stones are the connection between all these movies. Especially Guardians. When and if those specific characters start switching remains to be seen. The Guardians 2 team just left for Atlanta on Monday to start the movie, so all our effort and thought is going directly into that — which is shaping up very nicely right now.”
Overall, Phase Three is going to be a power house full of complex, strong, emotional characters that we have grown to love and hate. It will be the epitome of what Marvel has done so far. Following Infinity War Part II, Marvel has basically set the bar really high for themselves. How could they possible meet these standards they’re going to set for themselves? Carefully of course.
“Broad strokes. Strokes that are broad enough and loose enough that – in the development of the four or five movies before we move into our culmination – allow us room to sway and move and surprise ourselves. All these movies, ultimately, should feel as if they were interconnected, all planned far ahead, and yet still pivot and breathe as individual films. Phase Three is definitely an end to some version of the team we’ve come to know as The Avengers. The team will always be evolving. The roster is always changing. You may pick up an Avengers book ten years later and not recognize the people on the cover…It’s not going to be the end of the Marvel cinematic universe, certainly, but it will be an end to part of it.”
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is constant evolving and changing from what it originally was. This shouldn’t be so surprising for most Marvel fans, the head of the Avengers team, X-Men, X-Force, etc has changed plenty of times throughout the years in the comics. Whether we like it or not, change is coming. The only question is, will Marvel be able to transition as smoothly as they have in the comics with the Marvel Cinematic Universe?