Marvel Unveils Complete Phase 3 Plan!

...and what a plan it is! We only just got our first real taste of Avengers: Age of Ultron a few days ago, and now Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has revealed the entire war plan of the ensuing nine movies that will unspool following next summer's Age of Ultron (May 1st, 2015) and Ant-Man (July 17th, 2015) - a sweeping strategy that extends out to May of 2019. Talk about a five-year plan!


Feige confirmed everything but the by now assumed casting of Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, including the Mark Millar Civil War storyline as the title of the third Captain America film, which will pit Cap against Iron Man in a conflict over forced government registration of anyone with superhuman abilities.

Here's the rundown:

5/6/16 – Captain America: Civil War

11/4/16 – Doctor Strange

5/5/17 – Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – moved up from its previously announced July release date.

7/28/17 – Thor: Ragnarok – "Ragnarok" means the end of all things in Norse mythology. 

11/3/17 – Black Panther – Hugely cool, featuring the prince from the African nation of Wakanda

5/4/18 – Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 – The third Avengers chapter will be split into two parts and focus

on the ultimate threat to the universe by Thanos. 

7/6/18 – Captain Marvel – CM has had many iterations, but this one will be female Marvel Carol Danvers.

11/2/18 – Inhumans – A new galactic saga featuring super beings ruled over by Black Bolt.

5/3/19 – Avengers: Infinity War Part 1I 

WHEW! There you have it! That's a mighty intense counter-punch to the game-plan DC and Warner Brothers have announced. Marvel is clearly expanding their saga into a universe-spanning landscape that will allow them to tell stories on a much more cosmic scale. They're also confidently positioning new characters and responding to previous complaints of the lack of prominence for women and African Americans in lead roles. Two things are certain - with competing multi-film franchises involving characters from DC and the Star Wars universe, superhero stories aren't going anywhere...

...and it's going to be getting awfully crowded out there!