Fanboys Anonymous

For those who're unaware, Youmacon is easily Michigan's largest anime convention. It's found in the downtown area of Detroit, and its content is spread between the General Motors Renaissance Center and Cobo Hall. It was once a relatively small convention, but now in its 10th year has continued to grow. Last year the numbers tallied up to approximately 15,000. Based on how many hotels were booked up and the amount traffic in the People Movers, I can only imagine that those numbers have risen.

Opening Ceremonies

The convention is spread throughout four days. The first is a free day for the public to check out as the attendees get set up, which is pretty much all that we used the Thursday for. The following Friday myself and my wife/co-host of Addicted to Anime attended the opening ceremonies. Having been to Youmacon several different times, I joked "we'll probably start half an hour late." Of course, in typical Youmacon fashion, that really was the case due to what appeared to be technical difficulties on stage.

However, once we got around to start time, everything was a lot of fun. The MC of the ceremonies happened to be very charismatic, witty, and downright funny. He made the whole experience very enjoyable. We were introduced to a variety of different panelists and guests who would be attending the convention such as Johnny Yong Bosch, the voice actor of many, many popular anime characters such as Ichigo from Bleach, all the way to the bulk of the Team Four Star cast who create parodies of Dragonball Z, among other anime.

Each guest had plenty of interaction with the audience, from throwing random prosthetic hands and candies to bantering back and forth. We even had a bit of a random concert from the voice actor of Light Yagami, who was dressed as one of the Beatles. Needless to say, they delivered on the goods. My only critique being that the introductions of guests went on a little too long, to the point that half the crowd emptied out. In fairness to them, though, they had a huge lineup this time.

Dealers Room & Artist Alley

Following the opening ceremonies, we went ahead and made the 10-minute walk over to Cobo Hall. (For people interested in going, do yourself a favor and just take the People Mover, it was cold as hell!) One of the most fun parts of a convention is checking out the variety of different things in person that you normally only find online or not at all.

The dealers room and artist alley were kept in the same large room and split into two groups, although you couldn't tell too much because they kinda just blended into one this year. I would only imagine that would benefit artist alley with more exposure and put some ice on the burn procured from the fact that many of those who had a table were more than dissatisfied with the organization and treatment they received.

I can't say that anything blew me away this year; the leather works shop was really cool and had a variety of different stuff, such as leather book cases with Zelda/Dr. Who logos etched on them. For the most part, however, the entire room consisted of plushies and t-shirt designs that had been ripped off the Internet. It was a nice set up, but I wish there had been a few more things for me to gawk at and be tempted to purchase. I'm not trying to be overly negative, what was there was most certainly well crafted, but if you've been to Youmacon in the past few years, you've probably already seen the good majority of what's there. On the plus side, the dealers room did offer plenty of opportunities to snap pictures of cosplayers.

Arcade/Video Games/Tabletop Gaming

If you're a fan of hanging out with your fellow gamers and having a good time, then Youmacon has got you covered, with games new and old. Besides, let's face it, it's fun as a hell watching someone trying to play Dance-Dance Revolution while dressed as a Disney princess.

Whether your game is Magic The Gathering, Pokémon or something else, you'll find someone to have a blast with playing via a table top or on a screen.

On a side note, kudos to whomever set up a little store in the center of the arcade named "Pokemon Center." The amount of Pokémon plushies, pocky, and ramune there were an Otaku's wet dream.

Death Note Mafia

A cool experience, and I must admit one of my favorite experiences of the convention, was the Death Note Mafia game. For those who've never played Mafia before, each character is given an identity such as killer, investigator, civilian, and so on. From there, the killer or killers work together to eliminate everyone while the rest try to identify them. This takes place through a turn-based system and is a lot of fun.

As it happens, the game works very well with Death Note characters, such as Light Yagami being a killer or "Kira" and L Lawliet playing the role of an investigator. The game brings out the personality of a quiet bunch and gets them yelling and pointing their accusations across the table.

Speak No Creepypasta

Creepypasta is one of the dark corners of the Internet, a site that comes up with theories about innocent parts of your childhood and destroys them. It also contains dark stories, concepts, and a lot of material that's meant to make you terrified. As this con takes place around Halloween, it was fitting that someone made a Creepypasta panel.

They had a variety of different stories that made people squeamish or downright terrified. Some led to different variations of stories such as "The Minute Game" that had people huddling up to me in fear (seriously). The tone of the panelists and the lighting helped set the mood, I'm sure.

Generally the entire delivery of this panel was amazing and so much fun!

It finished with random audience members playing "Slenderman" while the audience watched and cheered/panicked on. The ending was most satisfying, when a Slenderman cosplayer proceeded to sneak around and scare the gamer as she was attacked by Slenderman in game.

Team Four Star 18+ Panel

I can't really explain what question in the Q&A led to this...

Easily the most popular panel from my perspective was the ever-popular Team Four Star. The cast is always a barrel of laughs and continued with their yearly tradition of posting their Hellsing Abridged episodes for the Youmacon audience to see before YouTube.
As far as the episode went, it wasn't their best, but by no means was it bad. I think what may had detracted from my enjoyment of some of the video was that the entire audience filled the room, yet there was but one poorly lit screen on the right hand side…

That said, the audience laughing along helped me get past that, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing it once it's uploaded. Alexander Anderson's and Sir Integra's voice actors were definitely the stars.

The Q & A began, and hilarity ensued between the charismatic panelists and bizarre audience as they made requests that ranged from a rock, paper, scissors match to questions about their sex lives.
When it was all said and done, everyone went home happy, because they revealed an Abridged Final Fantasy coming in 2015. Granted, I couldn't see which Final Fantasy because of the shitty screen, but I'm sure more details will be released.

Biggest Improvement Needed

Many dedicated fans waited up to 2-3 hours for panels.

Fewer platinum badges! I feel bad for those who got stuck or didn't even get to attend some of their favorite panels. Now I can appreciate that if you pay more, then you should by all means receive more. However, they should limit that luxury more. Youmacon lifted its limits on the badges to a higher amount due to the high demand, but personally I've found that it's only hurt several people's experiences more than it's helped.

People who weren't platinum were often not able to attend panels, and those with platinum passes often felt they were not getting the full value because there were so many people there. I think this needs to be addressed for 2015.

Biggest Improvement of 2014

I think that Youmacon's move last year to split the convention between the Renaissance Center and Cobo Hall was brilliant. I've heard few to any complaints about the organization of this year's experience, and I have to echo the exact same thing.

The Joe Louis Statue In Cobo Hall

Every time I found myself lost while searching for a panel, the staff could point me in the right direction or to someone who would be able to. The Youmacon and Cobo staff worked very well hand in hand, and I'd like to just express what an excellent improvement this was from previous years they've done. I can only hope to see it get even better from here!

All in all, if you were on the fence about attending Youmacon 2015, I can say with great confidence that you should attend. Like all conventions it has its flaws, but unlike many it makes great strides in trying to better them.

Make sure to check back to Fanboys Anonymous as we upload the best cosplays of Youmacon. Until then, feel free to leave me your feedback on Youmacon as well as any thoughts or questions.

Check out our podcast Addicted to Anime, which is live on Mega Powers Radio monthly and available on demand here at Fanboys Anonymous, iTunes and Stitcher Radio.

Spoooooooooky!!!

It's that time of year to get your scare on! Join Press Start's Garrett and Delilah as they brave through the psychotic intricacies that make up The Evil Within.

Garrett and Delilah will take you through the first chapter of this survival horror adventure. John Sebastian Castellanos, a detective of the Krimson City Police Department, as he solves the mysteries of his own sanity.

The Evil Within is available now for PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.


What are your thoughts on this survival-horror title? Sound off in the comments below! Look forward in the coming days for more!

Press Start films weekly and can be followed on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

On episode 7 of the 4 Reel Movie Club podcast, Fanboys Anonymous members give their thoughts on the big four classic horror film franchises that are synonymous with everything scary in cinema.

Host: Chris Dace

Panelists: Brian Gibson, Frank Ward, and Caroline Oliveira

Cyclops 6 Cover by Alexander Lozano

Let's reset and go again...

Cyclops 6 is the start of a new artistic team and a new focus for the young X-Man. As announced earlier this year by Marvel, picking up the writer's reins is John Layman (Chew), who I was fortunate enough to meet at the Armageddon Expo this past weekend. When asked about the new direction, Layman stated he wanted to focus on the swashbuckling side of things and be more involved with Corsair's crew, the Starjammers.

The departing writer, Greg Rucka, balanced a fine line of action with the development of the father-son relationship between the young time-displaced Scott Summers and his Corsair. The art, while previously by Russell Dauterman (who has moved onto the new Thor series), is now by Javier Garron.

While the change in direction and artistic team is apparent from the opening pages, the cohesion between the first arc and the new is carried by colorist Chris Sotomayer and cover artist Alexander Lozano.

The cover art is a standout for me on this series. Lozano is an extremely talented artist, whose skill would be outstanding on the inside as well as the outside of the comics. You can also catch Lozano doing the cover for the soon-to-be-realized AXIS: Carnage miniseries from this week.

Corsair slams Cyclops

With Garron on the pencils and inks, Sotomayer continues to provide a color presence to Cyclops. There does seem to be a slight change in the feel of the color, which is not as dramatic as the first arc of the series. This seems to be directed by the change in artists, as Dauterman had a simpler approach to his panels, compared with the more detailed line work and ink from Garron. One notable change is the approach to space, which is less colored and more reliant on a black background and pin-prick stars lighting distant vistas.

Garron's approach to facial depiction is more cartoonish than Dauterman, bringing a more youthful angle to the characters. This does support the plot notion about a teenage boy, mid-angst, trying to make it in space with his pirate father.

The panel layout from Garron is busier than in previous issues, which takes a couple of pages to get used to. There are more overlaying shots in Cyclops 6 and less width to the border definitions, which means there appears to be more art on each page, but it is closer together. Despite this, the art is not as gritty now as it was under Dauterman.

Cyclops isn't having a good day

Layman applies some thematic approaches used in Rucka's arc to provide continuity to the series in Cyclops 6. The narrative approach from young Scott Summers is one such example, as the book opens and closes with the character's guiding voice. However, as the newly united Starjammer crew very quickly find out, Scott is not his older self. Layman is purposefully making Cyclops seem younger in this issue. He is a little less experienced and more bumbling than confident here, but this does reflect his age and lack of experience in such an unfamiliar setting.

The overall plot for this issue is not extreme, but is certainly setting us up for another adventure. It is great to see Cyclop's unique abilities coming to the fore when necessary. Also, we now have a stronger protagonist to identify in the series, more so than in the previous situational conflict from the last few issues.

There seems to be more dialogue in Cyclops 6, which means we have more character interaction. This makes sense as there are more overall characters for Layman to be able to play with here.

Time to celebrate a close escape

Given the change in direction and the new team bringing us Cyclops, it is expected that we would see some change. It is still an enjoyable comic to read and there is potential for some great adventures to come from Layman as we go forward. Given the direction Marvel is taking in the build-up to events like The Black Vortex and Secret Wars early next year, Cyclops could lead well into the space dramas that are on the cards for fans.

As always, we would love to hear what you think. What was your opinion on the change in line-up? Do you like the new art style?

Make sure you leave a comment below, or post a message on our Facebook page.

Amazing X-Men 12 cover by Carlo Barberi and Rachelle Rosenberg

World War Wendigo: Conclusion.

The first post–Jason Aaron arc has reached its finale. It has been a fun and entertaining change under the capable hands of Craig Kyle, Chris Yost, Carlo Barberi, and Rachelle Rosenberg. We have seen a core group of the mutants from the Jean Grey School face a traditional X-Men–style challenge and adventure.

Issue 12 of Amazing X-Men sees the culmination of the story involving the Wendigo curse, once more unleashed on Canadian soil. The turmoil has allowed the Great Beasts to become unbalanced, and Tanaraq found supremacy. As the Amazing X-Men raced against time to stop the curse as it spread to American soil, Avengers and Alpha Flight joined the fray to tackle the odds.

While there were no profound Marvel Universe–changing moments in the "World War Wendigo" storyline, it was interesting to witness the group dynamic develop over the arc and the opportunity for Rockslide to step up. This chance for younger students or X-Men to shine seems to be a focus for Kyle and Yost, as we will see in issue #13 of Amazing X-Men with Anole.

The Wendigo curse spreads beyond Canada

The story has flowed well, Kyle and Yost proving adept at planning out the various plots that need to be maintained with the variety of characters they incorporated into the story. The only issue I would wager for many readers is the continuity of the story. Given the recent events of the Death of Wolverine, it is logical to ask: How does the World War Wendigo fit into the larger X-Men events coming out simultaneously? There are some easy outs to this, and ultimately it does not matter as much as the enjoyment of the comic itself does.

Amazing X-Men #12 is a fitting end to this part of the series. The action and drama are kept up, and the twists that occur in this issue certainly drive suspense until the final few pages. It is also very satisfying to see the final chapter of the arc properly wrap up this story. There are no overwhelming loose ends, which means we can easily slide into next month's installment of the series with a fresh sense of enjoyment.

Carlo Barberi, Iban Coello, Walden Wong, and Rachelle Rosenberg provide some very nice art. Barberi and Coello have made a seamless transition from Ed McGuiness, whose run with Jason Aaron was an instant grab for this new series. Helping with the transition have been the complementary artistic styles, which approach the series in a similar way, and the colors from Rosenberg. The colors in particular are a standout for their vividness and the lively sense of fun they bring to each page. They cheerfully match the tone and character of the story and book as a whole.

The Amazing X-Men and Alpha Flight fight the Great Beast Tanaraq

As an ongoing series, the Amazing X-Men best encapsulates what I feel Marvel needs in order to balance some of the serious dramas in the other X-Men line ups. There is fun, energy, and a cheeky sense of playfulness that shines through this series. We have seen Wolverine play an important role and the reintroduction of Nightcrawler, Firestar, and Colossus into the Jean Grey School team. With the shifting nature of characters, it will be interesting to see who we get during the next arc in the Amazing X-Men. The solo series for Nightcrawler and Storm could mean that they take more of a backseat in the series, which could allow room for Iceman and Firestar to take more center stage. We will have to wait and see.

I have enjoyed the "World War Wendigo" story in the Amazing X-Men, but we want to know what you think as well. Make sure to leave a comment or thought below. See you next time for issue #13 of Amazing X-Men.

Today was one blockbuster announcement after another as Marvel Studios rolled out the lineup for the next 5 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

The slated films are as follows:

2015 = Avengers: Age of Ultron + Ant-Man

2016 = Captain America: Civil War + Doctor Strange

2017 = Guardians of the Galaxy 2 + Thor: Ragnarok + Black Panther

2018 = Avengers: Infinity War Part I + Captain Marvel + Inhumans

2019 = Avengers: Infinity War Part II

Kevin Feige stands in front of a line graph representing billions of dollars

Also, don't forget about the three television series that will be going on during this time period: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, and of course the multiple connective Netflix shows that will all lead to The Defenders and will feature Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist.

Wow.

Some information about these movies has been confirmed or damn near been confirmed out of pure logic. What we know so far (or what we can be confident in assuming):

• Age of Ultron—Tony Stark will create Ultron as a means to make up for the lack of S.H.I.E.L.D. due to the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
• At the end of Age of Ultron, the Avengers team will split with Captain America and Iron Man on opposing sides.
• This will lead into Captain America: Civil War, which will pit Steve Rogers and Tony Stark against each other. Somewhere in the mix, Black Panther plays a part.
• Everything is leading up to Thanos kicking ass with the Infinity Gauntlet in Avengers: Infinity War.

So what's going to happen to lead us to Infinity War Part II, and what will happen after that in Phase 4? Fasten your seat belts, 'cause this is going to be a bumpy ride and your brain is going to bounce all over the place.

Let's get some more details out of the way. Andy Serkis is obviously playing Ulysses Klaw in Age of Ultron, which will at least in part feature Wakanda. If he's not, then by all means, rip this post to shreds in the comments, because that will mean all logic has been thrown out the window, including the sheer fact that he looks exactly like the character in more ways than one.

Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaw in Avengers: Age of Ultron

More than likely, when the team splits up and sends various members across the globe, the one who will be sent off to the mission in Wakanda will be Captain America. This will connect him to Black Panther to allow for his presence in Civil War, where T'Challa will probably replace Peter Parker as the middleman between Rogers and Stark before having his solo film later on.

Doctor Strange was mentioned in The Winter Soldier. Woo! Easter eggs! Clearly, he's been a potential threat for a while if he had already been on the radar back then. Marvel has actually even said that Doctor Strange won't be an origin film, so while I'm sure we'll see flashbacks that explain his origins, it won't be done according to the standard operating procedure, where the movie is entirely about his rise to become Sorcerer Supreme. Likely, he'll have already achieved that role by the time the movie starts, or at least he'll be close and achieve it at the end of the film. Magic is going to be explained in the MCU as a manipulation of quantum mechanics, grounding it more in science, similar to how the Thor series has explained Asgard as a dimension, the gods as aliens, and so forth. There is no sequel to Doctor Strange slated, so his inclusion must be more supplemental rather than instrumental in the events that will come. Cameos over the next few years will suffice rather than having another solo film be a necessity.

For that matter, notice how Ant-Man has no sequel. Marvel had sequel plans for Guardians of the Galaxy well in advance because they knew it would be a hit. Clearly, the same confidence is not there for Hank Pym. Oh wait, excuse me, I mean Scott Lang, because Hank Pym's being pushed aside for the lesser character in this clusterfuck of a movie that could be more of a nuisance than a benefit to Marvel. Incredible Hulk and Iron Man 2 have their detractors, but Ant-Man could be the first true failure if the way things have gone so far are any indication. The only production that has seen as many or more problems in comparison is Fantastic 4, but we'll talk about that later.

An even bigger joke than Captain America: Serpent Society

We know that, unlike the comics, Hank Pym will not be the creator of Ultron. That role is going to Tony Stark, which neuters the purpose of Ant-Man to begin with. If you are a big fan of that series and you were hoping that out of the blue, you'd get an announcement that Pym plays a big part in Age of Ultron and the MCU in general, you're going to be disappointed. The best you can hope for is a decent movie that doesn't get completely pushed aside when the bigger movies dominate it. After all, what the hell is an elderly Hank Pym going to do when the majority of the films coming out are cosmic in nature?

Let's backtrack some more, because we have some non-humans to talk about. In The Avengers, Loki is wielding a staff that has some sort of gem inside it. Fans have been trying to figure out whether this is the Mind Stone or something else ever since. One theory is that it may be a Terrigen Crystal, as it's supposedly used to grant powers to Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch on behalf of Hydra as evidenced in The Winter Soldier. In these plans for the next few years, no spinoff was announced for the twins. However, Inhumans was. In the comics, Quicksilver uses the Terrigen Mists to restore his powers. More importantly, the Inhumans race is tied in with the Mutants of Marvel lore because they are an offshoot of homo sapiens as well. Could the twins show up in Inhumans, potentially as the protagonists or at least in a cameo to help establish a connection and get some more screen time out of Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen?

In the Q&A from this press event, Kevin Feige was asked how Marvel will introduce the Inhumans without the use of the Fantastic 4, as they aren't under their control. Feige said that there have been seeds planted and that an answer to that will happen sooner than many fans will expect.

Captain Marvel will be the other film along with Inhumans to take place between Part 1 and Part 2 of Infinity War. Current rumors point to Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel herself) showing up in some fashion during Age of Ultron. Since that movie is a few years away, I wouldn't bet on her having her powers at this time. She'll likely be just Carol Danvers and either a former (or current, depending on how you look at it) member of S.H.I.E.L.D. or just thrown in the mix of the Avengers Academy somewhere. We've seen the Kree built up in Guardians of the Galaxy and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (if that's truly the direction for where the blue alien and the GH.325 serum that resurrected Coulson is leading).

When I tagged this as "topless", I didn't mean the blonde bombshell Carol Danvers. Sorry.

Since Captain Marvel's powers are Kree-based, less work needs to be done to set these events into motion. In fact, there may be a lot of ties between Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and Captain Marvel, considering the use of Ronan as the villain in the first film. Perhaps GOTG 2 will not only feature Adam Warlock, but will also establish more about the Kree Empire in preparation for Captain Marvel and even be the vessel-film for Carol to get her powers. Kevin Feige made it a point to reiterate that although Carol's powers are alien based, she still has roots to Earth. A plotline going on in the Guardians of the Galaxy series is Peter Quill's father and the connection between alien heritage/environments versus Earthbound origins. You can see where I'm going with this.

Then again, that's not the only film that balances Earth and the extraterrestrial. Thor: Ragnarok is obviously going to take place at least partially on Earth. Ragnarok is the end of all things (or at least the gods) and there are three villains that everyone should bet on seeing:

Loki—Obviously, Loki will be a villain in this story. If you didn't see what happened at the end of Thor: The Dark World, then what are you doing reading this article?! Loki usurped Odin's throne and, as much as fans love him, the people within the MCU aren't friendly with him. He's an evil, manipulative force who will undoubtedly be the driving force of the events in this movie as a puppeteer to the following two names.

Surtur—There aren't too many primary Thor villains who we haven't seen yet. The Wrecking Crew is a low-level threat. Ulik the troll…please. Amora the Enchantress and Skurge the Executioner are cool, but they haven't had a purpose yet.

When it comes to a character that is a necessity with the Ragnarok storyline, Surtur is at the top of the list. He is the ruler of Muspelheim, which we have really yet to see outside of some quick glimpses here and there. For those who don't know, Muspelheim, while not the underworld itself (which would be Hel), is basically what everyone pictures as Hell with endless caverns of fire and brimstone.

If you have Ragnarok, you have Surtur, because there isn't much more that signifies the end than a big-ass fire demon. Look at this mother fucker! Look at that sword that he's carrying!

No wonder he is instrumental in "the time when you should shit yourself because you and I and everyone else are totally screwed."

Jormungand—Also known as the Midgard Serpent or World Serpent, this enemy is inextricably tied into Thor's fate. A prophecy states that Thor will battle this creature during the events of Ragnarok. He will be successful in killing Jormungand, but after the fact, Thor will walk nine steps and then die from his wounds and the deadly poison from the Midgard Serpent.

Not your average garden snake

All of the events of the MCU as far as Thor is concerned have been leading to his rise to become king. At the beginning of Thor, he reveled in the idea that he would take the throne, before learning humility. By the end of the movie, he knows that he's not ready to rule, but Odin reassures him that he will be a wise king eventually. During Thor: The Dark World, Thor actively circumnavigates attaining the position and gives it up willingly to spend more time on Earth, but that results in Loki being able to take Odin out of commission. With Frigga's death and Thor on Earth, nobody is there to stop him. Thus Thor will be forced to man up and put an end to Loki's scheme, stop Ragnarok, and become the true ruler of the Asgardian realm at the end of Thor: Ragnarok. His new position as one of the most powerful beings in the universe will come into play heavily for Infinity War. Not only will his responsibilities be magnified, but who's to say that this changing of the guard isn't itself a catalyst for some of the bad events coming to the MCU? Any time the regime changes, there are plenty of risks. The new people are confused and not sure what to do while they're adjusting to their positions, which is a vulnerability Thanos can exploit if not just to break into Odin's vault and steal the Infinity Gauntlet.

Odin and Thanos love their bling

Speaking of rulers, we are dangerously close to The Illuminati in the MCU as well. While we don't have a representative for the Mutant race in either Professor X or Beast, that's okay, because they don't exist in this series and the films have never attempted to be direct adaptations. We're missing Reed Richards and Namor (at least for now), but we'll have Black Bolt, Tony Stark, T'Challa, Stephen Strange, and we could easily throw Thor in there to represent Asgard due to his position of power at the end of Thor: Ragnarok. These are the people that are responsible for overseeing the Infinity Gems in the comics. Coincidence?

Except...you know...screw Professor X, Namor, and Reed Richards

By the end of Infinity War Part II, we'll see an absolutely enormous cast of characters interacting with one another. Naturally, the Illuminati will be overseeing the convergence amongst this giant team. Assuming none of them perish in the process, we could have a lineup of these heroes, if not more:

Original Avengers: Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Nick Fury, Maria Hill

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Phil Coulson, Skye, Leo Fitz, Jemma Simmons, Melinda May, and the rest of the cast of the television series

The Defenders: Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist

Guardians of the Galaxy:  Star Lord, Gamora, Groot, Rocket Racoon, Drax, Adam Warlock, plus the entire Nova Corps

New Avengers from Phase 2 & Phase 3: War Machine, Falcon, Winter Soldier, Ant-Man, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, The Vision, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, The Inhumans (a team?), Doctor Strange, and possibly even Wasp

…all against Thanos. The most fun thing about this? They're still horribly outmatched when fighting the Mad Titan!

Let's just emphasize the holy shit scope of this once again. All of these movies and all of these television shows are interconnected. Agent Carter is a prequel that will help set up the back story for certain plot elements we've already seen, such as the butler version of Jarvis showing up as the inspiration for the J.A.R.V.I.S. system, which of course becomes The Vision in Age of Ultron. Obviously, events that transpire in something like Jessica Jones aren't going to be the biggest factors for Infinity War, but the presence of The Defenders will no doubt have implications on the Superhero Registration Act in Civil War. Everything matters. Everything. Tony Stark says in Age of Ultron that it is the end of the path that he set them on, but this goes well beyond the events of Iron Man. Chronologically, this goes back even further than Captain America: The First Avenger or even the beginning flashback of Thor. This all started with the Celestials as seen in Guardians of the Galaxy. We are dealing with threats not just to Earth, not just to the galaxy, but to the entire universe when Thanos wields the strongest sources of power in existence—unless, of course, Marvel decides to toss the Heart of the Universe into things, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

Translation: fucked.

That's all assuming that this is it and we're not getting anything else.

Spider-Man is in a weird position. While I personally thought The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was a fun film (albeit flawed in several ways), audiences did not gravitate to it as Sony had expected. Now, the movie that had originally been intended to set in motion a series of spinoffs including Venom, Sinister Six, possibly a Black Cat film and of course The Amazing Spider-Man 3, may be going a different route. Speculation has been running rampant for weeks that Sony is retooling their plans or possibly even getting rid of them entirely. There's more talk than ever that Spider-Man could end up back in the possession of Marvel Studios, which would be absolutely huge.

Don't forget about Fantastic 4, either. As rough of a time as Spider-Man is going through right now, Marvel's first family has it even worse. The previous two films were heavily chastised for being just awful, requiring a reboot for this new film to distance itself as much as possible. However, Fox seems to be distancing itself from more than just those two movies. This new film has been criticized for the entire cast—not especially Michael B. Jordan, which annoyed many fans who don't like the dynamics of the team being changed up by not having Johnny Storm and Susan Storm as full-blooded siblings. On top of that, there have been so many missteps in promotion that it's hard to find any positives about this project. Remember when people were stating that the comics have almost no influence on the material in the film? That's how you win back those fans who are mad that you're changing things. Everything from the tone of the movie to the rushed production spells disaster, and it doesn't help that Marvel itself has essentially washed its hands of it within the comics industry. Even the blind can see that this movie is being killed off before it makes its way to theaters.

The biggest problem with Spider-Man and Fantastic 4 being tossed into the mix is that there is no room for them. Marvel has enough balls in the air to juggle, and if the box office receipts are any indication, those two entities are not needed for Marvel Studios to succeed. On top of this, how do you add them into the continuity without causing too many problems?

That is where this whole post is leading, and I applaud you for battling through it to this point.


The comic book industry is no stranger to flexible continuity. Every couple of years, a new event takes place that changes certain elements. It's a necessity to keep things going. Tony Stark used to be tied to the Vietnam War as opposed to being captured in Afghanistan. Captain America was originally able to go through the Cold War, but in the MCU continuity, he had to be thawed out well beyond that. How many times have people been killed and brought back to life (other than Uncle Ben)?

With the Infinity Gauntlet, there is an opportunity for Marvel to do a soft reboot of sorts. Marvel would be stupid to stop the stories after Infinity War Part II, but by that time, so many of the actors are going to be too old to continue playing their roles. They've recast characters in the past, but this will be a chance to do a big sweeping change. We'll have the proper deus ex machina to allow people to alter the events of the MCU within the continuity itself by reshaping elements of the plotline to fit into whatever scenario is necessary for Phase 4 to move along. Marvel has said in the past that while they have no plans to change the actors any time soon, they're looking at the characters in the same way the James Bond franchise operates, where you can recast and you don't have to fully reboot. The MCU has more connectivity than the 007 franchise, sure, but that doesn't matter. What happened when Don Cheadle replaced Terrence Howard as Rhodey in Iron Man 2? Nothing. The stories just kept being told. An even better indication of what could happen is how Marvel handled The Incredible Hulk, which could be described as a "requel" to Ang Lee's Hulk film. It did not keep the same continuity by being directly tied to that movie, but it did work under the assumption that fans had already seen it. Instead of redoing the birth of the Hulk character, some quick flashbacks reestablished that the basic idea of the first Hulk film happened, but only certain elements.

No movies have been announced for the point beyond Avengers: Infinity War Part II in 2019, despite Marvel releasing three films per year. That is because by the time that movie comes out, it will have been 11 years in the making. That's more than enough of a reason to take a breath of fresh air and reset things a bit.

Don't be scared—this doesn't mean that the next film would have to start all over again. On the contrary, there are plenty of stories left to tell. Thor can fight Amora the Enchantress and Skurge, or even Ulik or the Wrecking Crew. Red Skull was obviously teleported instead of killed in The First Avenger, so he could show up, or maybe Cap faces the Serpent Society as was playfully joked about during this press conference. Hell, maybe he fights Flag Smasher? Red Hulk hasn't been on screen yet, nor has Madame Masque or MODOK or a multitude of other characters.

On second thought...let's not do MODOK

In the comics, Thanos actually sort of wins both times he's in a position of power. It's a rare situation where the heroes are completely outmatched and do indeed fail to an extent. In particular, what happens when Thanos merges with the Heart of the Universe? He realizes that there is a fundamental flaw in the universe and the only way to repair it is to destroy the universe and reconstruct it. In the emptiness of nothingness, Thanos contemplates that The One Above All (Marvel's version of God) orchestrated the entire event to fix this flaw as he sacrifices himself to restore the universe.

While it may not go down exactly like that in Infinity War Part II, that does sound like quite an epic ending and a perfect means to do a soft reboot of the films, does it not? From then on, new actors can play the parts that have been associated with Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Robert Downey Jr., and so forth for a decade. Minor continuity problems can be fixed by having been erased from the timeline (such as the Fake Mandarin fiasco). And maybe—just maybe—by this time, Marvel will have acquired the rights to Spider-Man, Fantastic 4, and possibly even the X-Men characters. One can hope, right?

Even if Kevin Feige, Joss Whedon, and everyone else in charge of the MCU don't currently have a plan for what to do after the events of Infinity War are over with, they will figure one out eventually, and it will be marvelous.

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!

It's official: Marvel will not only be giving us Thanos with the Infinity Gauntlet, but it won't just be a single film that deals with this. Instead, the third Avengers crossover will be split up in two parts with Avengers: Infinity Gauntlet Part I coming May 2018 and Avengers: Infinity Gauntlet Part II coming May 2019.

This follows the recent trend of the final film of a franchise being split up to help maximize revenue, as was done with Twilight, Harry Potter, and is now happening with The Hunger Games. But according to Marvel executives, this is not just a cash-grab. Instead, this is a way to get the full story out there without compromising, because it's just so goddamn huge that it calls for it.

We've always had a plan since Nick Fury broke into Tony Stark's house and told him he's part of a bigger universe.

Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 is the beginning of the culmination of everything that has come before.

- Kevin Feige

I would assume that this means the first part will not in fact revolve entirely around Thanos causing destruction with the Infinity Gauntlet, but that he will probably achieve his goal at the end to help set up Part II, where all hell will break loose.

Thanos wields the Infinity Gauntlet in Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War Part I & Part II

This does raise a question, though. If there is an entire year between these two movies, how does that not cause a continuity issue? How can there be other films that take place after Part I that don't make it seem like too much time is passing before Part II happens? The two films that are set to come after Part I are Captain Marvel and Inhumans—both of which take place outside the normal realm of Earth's relatively tame setting. Does this mean Thanos will have a presence in both of them to help tie things together?

I don't know about any of you, but if this all ends with Captain America holding his shield in one hand and Mjolnir in another, ready to sacrifice himself by standing up to Thanos when all hope is lost, and winning to save the day and restore balance to the Marvel Cinematic Universe after the Mad Titan destroys everything....I think I'll explode with Fanboy joy.

Marvel has hit fans with a ton of Black Panther news today, as a solo film has been announced with a release date of November 3, 2017, but that's not all!

In addition to having his own Black Panther film, the character of T'Challa will also be appearing in Captain America: Civil War.

For the hat trick of announcements, Marvel has also revealed who will be playing the part and the casting decision should delight fans. Long rumored to be a contender to play the King of Wakanda, Chadwick Boseman will indeed be putting on the suit.

Chris Evans, Chadwick Boseman, and Robert Downey Jr.

It has been speculated that the character Andy Serkis is playing in Avengers: Age of Ultron is Ulysses Klaw, a longtime archenemy of T'Challa. With various reports talking about Wakanda making an appearance in the movie, along with Andy Serkis definitely resembling the character, and now all of these announcements connecting Black Panther and Captain America: Civil War (which is set to derive straight from the plot of Avengers: Age of Ultron), it seems like a guarantee that the rumors are true.

Black Panther Concept Art for Marvel Cinematic Universe

The third installment of the Thor franchise has been announced for July 28, 2017, with confirmation of the rumored title Thor: Ragnarok.

After the events of the last film, Loki has usurped Odin's throne and taken over Asgard. Speculation about this movie's plot surrounds the idea that Thor's journey may take him to the realm of Muspelheim to battle Surtur while Loki enacts his plan to bring about Ragnarok itself—the war that will end with the destruction of all the Norse Gods. We can assume that Earth will get caught in the crossfire, so there may even be a battle with the Midgard Serpent if Marvel is really willing to pull out all the stops. Fans of the mythology will know that if that enemy does indeed show up, it spells some bad times for Thor…

As if the announcements from earlier weren't enough, Marvel has also confirmed another rumored upcoming film, Inhumans, with a release date of November 2, 2018.

Fans have expected the Inhumans to pop up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for quite some time, possibly even as an explanation for how Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver get their powers.

While that detail has not been confirmed, the idea is a sound one, considering the ties between Mutants and Inhumans in the Marvel storyline. Plus, considering how there has not been a spinoff announced for Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, we may see them show up in this film either as the protagonists or in some kind of cameo. It would make sense, as Quicksilver has used the Terrigen Mist in the comics to restore his powers in the past. There is always a chance that Loki's staff has been using a Terrigen Crystal this whole time as opposed to the Mind Stone.

Another announcement from Marvel Studios today that continues to prove recent rumors correct is news that a Captain Marvel movie is coming our way July 6, 2018.

No official announcements regarding casting have been mentioned, but there has been speculation that Carol Danvers will be showing up at some point in Avengers: Age of Ultron, so we may have some news about that sooner than expected.

Who should play Carol Danvers in this film? Should Captain Marvel NOT be Carol Danvers and instead be someone else? What are you most excited to see in the movie?

Perhaps as a result of the recent onslaught of news announced by DC and Warner Bros., Marvel has fired shots back by announcing a ton of plans for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe today at their event in Los Angeles.

At first, it was teased that the third Captain America film would be Captain America: Serpent Society, but it was then confirmed that the speculation and rumors as of late were correct:

May 6, 2016 will be the date when Captain America and Iron Man square off against each other in a story influenced by one of the biggest events in Marvel history.

For those who are not aware, the Civil War storyline featured Tony Stark as the head of a Superhero Registration Act that Steve Rogers was adamantly against. While the man stuck in the middle was Peter Parker and we can assume Spider-Man will play absolutely no role in this adaptation, nor will this event be inspired by the Stamford incident from the comics as opposed to Avengers: Age of Ultron, we should all definitely keep our eyes peeled for references to the comic book storyline.

Update: It has been announced that Chadwick Boseman will be playing Black Panther AND that he will appear in this movie before having a solo outing!

Lots of news from the Marvel camp today, and the latest announcement is that Guardians of the Galaxy will be indeed getting a sequel, coming May 5, 2017—2 months earlier than the previously intended release date of July 28, 2017.

What are you most excited about to see in the sequel? More Groot? The identity of Star Lord's father? What songs are on the soundtrack?