black_pantherIn a recent interview with an Italian magazine, Marvel guru Kevin Feige spouted off three tidbits of information:

  • Dr. Strange is the superhero he most wants to see on the silver screen.
  • He would love to see a new hero join the Avengers ranks.
  • That he is well aware that fans are clamoring for Black Panther to make the jump to theaters.

Item #1 is no shocker.  Feige has never been quiet about the fact that he wants Stephen Strange sorcerer supreming about America’s multiplexes and we already know that he is getting his wish.  Alongside Ant-Man and (obviously) The Avengers 3, Dr. Strange has already been added to Marvel’s Phase Three line-up.  We don’t have an exact year yet (I’m guessing 2016), but we know its happening relatively soon.  If Marvel follows the same pattern for Phase Three as they are for Phase Two, our third batch of Movieverse flicks could number at 6 entries*.  Three of those are accounted for.  The others are still up in the air.  We could sit here and prognosticate all we want about how many of those will be sequels (Cap 3? Thor 3? Guardians 2? Iron Man 4?), but I’m willing to bet that at least one of them will be another newbie…especially given how sequel-heavy Phase Two has turned out.  I’m also hoping for another solo Hulk in there, but that’s a subject for another day.

If we start lining Item #1 alongside Item #2, one wonders if Strange, M.D. could make an appearance a few years early?  That’s entirely possible, but I find it unlikely.  While ole magical Steve will inevitably suit up alongside our assembly-happy crew, I suspect that will happen at a later date.  Same goes for Ant-Man and/or Wasp, who could show up in a post-credits slot to pimp Edgar Wright’s flick (which will hit a few months later), but probably won’t be on the roster just yet.  So who then might be our new Avenger?  My money is on Black Panther.

Morris Chestnut (hey, stop laughing!) has been a bit wishy-washy on Twitter as of late.  He made internet headlines (I said stop laughing!) earlier in the week when he implied that he was meeting with Marvel about the character.  Then he deleted the update.  Then he made another implying it again.  And then he backtracked a second time while also tagging Marvel in his final tweet.  What does this all mean?  It means that Marvel is looking at bringing Prince T’Challa to theaters sooner than expected.  It doesn’t, however, mean that Chestnut will be donning the costume.  It doesn’t even mean that he has met with Marvel yet or ever will.  In all likelihood, this is Morris trying to drum up enough attention to get a call for a part that he knows (or at least thinks) is coming down the pipe.  The Avengers 2 is tentatively scheduled to begin production early next year, which means any major casting beyond those returning will be locked in over the coming months.  If Black Panther and/or Wakanda are indeed a part of the project, expect to start hearing about it very soon…along with a follow-up legit Black Panther movie being added to the Phase Three slate.  Whether or not any of this pans out in the long run is anyone’s guess, but there is absolutely no doubt that the desire to see that particular character realized is absolutely there.  Marvel isn’t stupid and they DO pay attention.

Moving on to other House of Lee news, a bit more information has come through the pipeline about Marvel’s upcoming foray into television.  Their SHIELD show now has a new title:  Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD.  I like it.  It just seems appropriately pulpy.  We’ve also been given a rundown on the concept, which sounds broad and interesting enough that they should have no trouble expanding the Movieverse’s canon in any direction they see fit…

Joss Whedon shows us not all heroes are super with “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Fresh from his role in the summer’s box office smash, Marvel’s The Avengers, Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) returns to the worldwide law enforcement organization S.H.I.E.L.D. He puts together a small, highly trained, team of Agents to tackle the cases that haven’t been classified yet, the new, the strange and the unknown. That team consists of straight arrow Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), an expert in combat and espionage; pilot and martial artist Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen); and brilliant if socially awkward scientists Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge). They’ll be joined by civilian new recruit and computer hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet).

Prepare for an epic adventure that showcases the hope and wonder of the human spirit. This is a world of Super Heroes, aliens and the unusual – of action, spectacle and world spanning stories. The show will speak to the human condition through the lens of our very human, non-powered S.H.I.E.L.D agents – that together we are greater than we are apart, and that we can make a difference in the world.

Executive Produced and co-written by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen (“Dollhouse,” “Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”), Jeffrey Bell (“Angel,” “Alias”) and Jeph Loeb (“Smallville,” “Lost,” “Heroes”) comes Marvel’s first live-action TV series, “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

A superpower-themed X-Files?  Excelsior!  So what do the Chewers think?  Who…if anyone…is likely to suit up alongside The Avengers in their upcoming sequel?  And who would you most like to see do so?  Also, what films do you want to round out the other three potential Phase Three entries?  I await your responses with intrigue.

Source | Latino Review, Moviehole

* – One in Fall 2015 (Ant-Man), two in 2016, two in 2017, and The Avengers 3 in May 2018.  In theory, however, they could include more than that if they are feeling particularly ballsy.