Firstly: Kevin Feige, the mogul behind the long-running Avengers series of films took the stage to reveal a little bit more about Black Panther, the 18th film in the series, due in theaters in 2018. The character was first introduced in Captain America: Civil War from earlier this year and was played by Chadwick Boseman. He announced additional cast members for Black Panther, including Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger (I’m guessing that is not his birth name), and Danai Gurira as Okoye. Black Panther is the king of an obscure African nation called Wakanda, and he owns a mine of near-indestructible metal.
Disney
Secondly: We learned where Thor was during the events of Captain America: Civil War, a film in which the character did not appear. This was communicated through a hilarious comedy short, made by Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi, about how Thor moved to New Zealand, and co-rented a flat with a guy named Daryl. The previous Thor movies have been silly, but were bogged down with a dumb sense of import. Marvel seems to finally be openly acknowledging how ridiculous a lot of the Thor stuff is, especially given the steely spy-movie tone of the Captain America movies. Thor: Ragnarok is the 17th film in the series, and it set for release on November 3rd, 2017.
Thirdly: More footage from Scott Derrickson’s Doctor Strange, the 14th film in the series, set for release on November 4th. Not much more can be revealed about this film, other than it’s the first to officially include “magic” as a fundamental part of Marvel movies. Previously, the magical items (Infinity Stones and Mjolnirs and the like) have been explained as an oblique form of super-science. Doctor Strange, called The Sorcerer Supreme, is a magician through and through. There is a new trailer, of course, which you may enjoy here:
Fourthly: More details have been revealed about the 16th film in the series, John Watts’ Spider-Man: Homecoming, the secondary reboot version of the character first seen in Captain America: Civil War. Director Watts described the film as “a high school movie, and revealed some new footage, including the first teaser-ish trailer. The trailer was set to Joan Jett’s “Bad reputation,” in what can only be a deliberate homage to the cult TV series Freaks and Geeks (which used the song as its theme music). It ends with a reveal of the film’s villian, The Vulture.
Fifthly: Details from James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, the 15th film in the series, set for release on May 5th, 2017. The first Guardians of the Galaxy was a surprise hit (well, most of these films are hits), affecting a slick, comedic, punk-ish attitude that attracted a following of rabid fans. In appropriately comedic fashion, the director displayed the cast, and someone made a reference to Movie 43. The big announcement about Guardians was that there will be a Disneyland theme park attraction based on the film. It will be called Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission: Breakout, and will open at Disneyland: California Adventure in Anaheim, CA in 2017.
Sixthly: The New Marvel Studios logo was played for the audience, and it was accompanied by enormity and majesty. Here it is.
No News On: Something that was not revealed was the new titles of the films previously known as Avengers: Infinity War – Part 1 and Part 2 (parts 19 and 22 respectively). The film’s directors, Anthony and Joe Russo, recently announced that the titles no longer reflect the direction nor the tone of what the films were meant to be, and that they would be changed. No word yet, however, as to what the new titles may be. Inhumans, the film once slated for release in 2019, but now pushed to a very back burner, is also still in limbo.
Top Image: Disney
Witney Seibold is a contributor to the CraveOnline Film Channel, and the co-host of The B-Movies Podcast and Canceled Too Soon. He also contributes to Legion of Leia and to Blumhouse. You can follow him on “The Twitter” at @WitneySeibold, where he is slowly losing his mind.
