Hello all!
I would first like to express how much I enjoyed "The Avengers" and truly felt like my childhood ambitions were fulfilled. Which then lead to me slipping into this incredible, 8 hour depression. After a 6 hour nap(Is that still considered a nap or just sleep?) I awoke with a revealing and enlightening revelation. My purpose in life is not over! There is still Avengers 2-3, Captain America 2, Thor 2, Iron Man 3, rumored Ant-Man, Inhumans, Guardians of the Galaxy, and only God(The one and only, per Mr. Steve Rogers) Knows how many others!
Oh, and having kids and stuff like that....
Now before you say it's too soon to know if there will for sure be any sequels. The film has already made over 700 million world wide & domestic and is well on track to hitting the billions. Do you know how many Hookers, blow & sequels you can buy with that kind of money? Well I don't know, but you can ask Feige, Joss & the folks over at Disney. I'm guessing a lot, like 1,000's of poolhalls worth of 8 Balls!
Anyways, enough about teabag's "Wacky Wednesdays"!
SPOILERS AHEAD! I suggest that all who have yet to see the film, just stop reading this editorial. A warning for those living under a rock or in a Cave, which is no excuse, cause nuck has already seen the movie.
There is a lot of discussion going on about the future of The Avengers franchise and where it all will go. For those who have not seen it yet the movie has a huge reveal mid-credits of the film in regards to the Alien Army leader.
Thanos!
Yeah, Thanos is here to Huck Sfit up! The scene was probably one of the greatest moments I have ever experience in a theater and I've been laid in one(Cue the CBMTrolls gay jokes "What was his name?")! Thanos is one of my all time favorite villains and has been a major player in several of Marvels big Events. His inclusion in this world opens the flood gates for so many other Marvel characters. Truly a treat for all comic fans, along with new fans developed through film interest.
With that said I would like to get into what Thanos truly means for the Marvel Cinematic Shared Universe. It should be noted that these films are no longer independent franchises, rather each film is a continuation of the previous. This means the 6 Marvel films to date are more like the 6 Star Wars films, or the 3 (soon to be 4) Lord Of the Rings films. They tell a single unified story, and are expanding into a far greater plot.
To date we have the following films that all take part in this massive universe.
Iron Man
Iron Man 2
The Incredible Hulk
Thor
Captain America: The First Avenger
The Avengers
With the Introduction of Thanos, a Huge piece to this Massive Puzzle of a plan is put together. Marvel has now established their Sauron, they found a Darth Sidious, a Voldemort has been introduced. He is a huge game changer with potential to branch off tons of marvel movies. He is the evil Glue that ties an entire universe together. While this is great for us fans, it's far greater for Marvel Studios from a marketing & growth perspective.
Marvel back in the 90's and early 2000's were having some financial issues and took to selling the movie rights of some of there major characters, to various Studios. While they were able to get many returned under there flag, several are still at other studios, some of which are big box office draws, like Spider-Man & X-Men. This could have been a wrench in Marvels plans to create it's own Studio but in taking a risk with Iron Man, they learned that their less popular properties could be made into fantastic, financially successful films.
While Marvel itself is in the Comic book business and has branched into some other markets, Marvel Studios is in the movie making business(T.V too). I'm sure they can purchase a Screenplay and turn it into a film, much like how other studios do, but It is far more sensible to make movies based on properties they already own. The problem is making the general audience want to see something that will cost millions to make, yet has had little to no exposure, such as Adam Warlock, Dr. Strange, Iron Fist, & Luke Cage. Most major film franchises in Hollywood follow an already popular product. Whether it's a movie based on an Action Figure, a successful Novel, an old T.V show, or a Comic Book, there is almost always some kind of pop culture exposure.
Marvel knows that what happened with the first Iron Man film was an anomaly. To use it as the film that ties the others together, was more of an intelligent marketing plan then a showing of fanboy appreciation. That's the truth, sorry to break anyone's feelings if you felt it was done for you exclusively. Not saying that it isn't awesome for you in every way! This means that every film they release from then on, had and will have to, in someway, tie in to a future film. Honestly, pure brilliance!
So lets get into the result of the events and my predictions of where they are going in the long run.
A huge rumor that we all know, is that The Inhumans, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man, & Guardians of the Galaxy, are all a part of the Marvel movie agenda. The characters that seemed most likely to be developed and released were Dr. Strange & Ant-Man. What seems a little odd is that Dr. Strange has been pushed to the back of the list, with Inhumans & GoG taking precedence. Not to mention the sudden push for the Ant-Man film after the Avengers. Why is this? They already have a villain set up, they can use the original team, yet they are pushing for these characters to be released, before Avengers 2.
Enter My Theories!
Marvel is planning something big. They are marketing there movies how they know best, like the comics they started with. Which means, Major Crossovers! Each individual film serves as no more then an expansion on the individual character. The big events will serve as the Marvel payoff and a way to constantly outdo themselves. They will use the next films to stretch out the Thanos Story Arc and create more major film events. While Avengers may be the first big Franchise, it's surely not the only.
Each major actor they have tried to lock in to an agreement for 9 films. Most of the actors have decided to go with 6 or 7. If we do the math at 6 movies, we are looking at 3 independent character properties and 3 Avengers films. Why did they want to lock them into 3 more films? What other franchise could they be attempting to develop. It can't be just cameo scenes, if there contracts are anything like Sam Jacksons, they are locked in to get payed the same amount of money, whether it's a 30 second clip, or an hour and half film. Marvel is not gonna pay anywhere form $300k plus for a short appearance by one of these actors, when they can use him in a another full length feature film? Not happening!
So what is Marvel planning that is so big? Well with Thanos involved, I believe it could be only one thing.
"Infinity Wars" Trilogy!
As many of you are probably thinking right now, that is far to complicated to pull off with so few characters. Except, with the push for an Inhumans movie, which would not only be the location for one of the gems but introduce the Kree and possibly Captain Mar-Vell, very important character in the Infinity War. A Guardian of the Galaxy Movie would expand the universe itself, as well as include Adam Warlock, another important piece of the Infinity War. Also a GoG movie could serve as the first of the films with Thanos as the lead villain. They could easily make 3 movies based on the Infinity Wars Franchise, one of the movies could even serve as a Thanos solo film. They would take the basis from the "Thanos Quest", "Infinity Gauntlet", "Infinity Wars", & "Infinity Crusades.
I intend to elaborate more on my theories but for now I leave you to create your own speculations. I will follow up tomorrow with a break down of potential films to come. Speak your mind below!