Fanboys Anonymous

Marvel Studios' Phase Three lineup has been revealed and it's as mind-blowingly awesome as you
could have imagined. Full story after the jump!

I think I just died and went to Heaven.

After letting Warner Brothers' DC film properties have their day in the sun following the release of their slate of films less than two weeks ago, Marvel Studios returned fire today at Hollywood's El Capitan Theater with the announcement of its Phase Three roster. A week of heavy rumors and murmurings regarding the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been largely confirmed, complete with a few welcome surprises. Previously empty release dates have been filled with their long-awaited titles and official studio logos, as pictured below.

Captain America: Civil War, May 6, 2016


The rumors of a Marvel: Civil War adaptation, which began two weeks ago after news of Robert Downey Jr.'s involvement in Cap 3 leaked were confirmed today. Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige had this to say: "Events of the whole cinematic universe will make all governments in the world want regulation. Not so much about secret identity, but about who reports to who."

The Civil War story arc pits Iron Man against Captain America in a battle of ideologies, as events on the home front lead the former to favor government mandated registration of all superhumans and the latter to rebel against it as an encroachment of civil liberties tantamount to fascism. The rift created in Captain America: Civil War will no doubt carry over and drive the connective narrative of the Marvel characters throughout Phase Three.

Doctor Strange, November 4, 2016


According to a Deadline report released yesterday, Star Trek Into Darkness and Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch is in "final negotiations" to play Dr. Stephen Strange, the egotistical neurosurgeon turned Sorcerer Supreme. Casting was still shrouded in secrecy today, as Feige stated, "If [Doctor Strange casting] was confirmed, we would have announced it today."

Guardians of the Galaxy 2, May 5, 2017


No details revealed. My guess is that this is likely a working title. Following the watershed success that came with last summer's surprise hit, a sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy is a no-brainer. I'm looking forward to jamming out to Star-Lord's Awesome Mix Vol. 2!

Thor: Ragnarok, July 28, 2017


The third installment of the lucrative Thor franchise will more than likely tell Walt Simonson's 1980s classic of the Norse End of Days. "This is a very important movie for us in Phase Three," declared Feige. "We plan on taking Thor to another level. It picks up where we leave Thor in Avengers: Age of Ultron and impacts everything that comes after."

Black Panther, November 3, 2017


My personal favorite bit of news released at Marvel's conference was the announcement of the highly anticipated Black Panther movie. Chadwick Boseman, who has cultivated a celebrated career of depicting seminal African Americans on film, has been cast as who is arguably the most important Black superhero, T'Challa, better known as the Black Panther. I think Boseman is an inspired choice and can't wait to see him in action, especially after seeing this just released concept art of the Panther's MCU costume:

I found my Halloween costume.

Captain Marvel, July 6, 2018

Somewhere, Scarlett Johansson is crying.

Black Panther was one of two major announcements indicating a shift towards Marvel Studios embracing more diversity in its films. Marvel revealed their plans to add super-heroine Captain Marvel—formerly known as "Ms. Marvel" before being re-branded in 2012—to its growing roster of good guys (gals?). Since a whopping 46.67% of all comic fans are female, it's a wonder that this film wasn't announced sooner. Could it be that today's official announcements of the Black Panther and Captain Marvel properties were prompted in part by DC Comics' Cyborg and Wonder Woman films, which respectively star Black and female characters in the title roles?


Inhumans, November 2, 2018



Not much has been revealed about the Inhumans film other than Feige's fervent excitement over the project's source material. In what has been said will be a response to 20th Century Fox's X-Men film franchise, Inhumans centers on a royal family in the deep corners of the galaxy that gains superhuman abilities after journeying into the mutating Terrigen Mists.

Avengers: Infinity War Part I, May 2018 and Part II, May 2019



By far the biggest announcement of the day was that the third installment of the wildly successful Avengers franchise will chronicle the Infinity Wars which Phase One and Two have been leading up to. The threequel will be divided into two parts, each debuting on the coveted first opening weekend of May: May 4, 2018 and May 3, 2019, respectively. Marvel released an image of Josh Brolin as their "big bad," the Mad Titan Thanos—glimpsed briefly at the end of the first Avengers and who had a cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy—brandishing the famed Infinity Gauntlet—a weapon that will unite the Infinity Stones of the past Marvel movies into one massive existential threat.


It's a good day to be a comics geek! Let me know what you think about this massive reveal. Do you like where the Marvel Cinematic Universe is heading? Is there a storyline or character you have yet to see make it to the big screen? Share your thoughts with me below!