Anticipating the next MCU movies
/I recently ranked all the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies to date. With Ant-Man due out in a few weeks, I thought I'd rank the upcoming movies by how excited I am for them. The game is easy -- if all of them were released today, which one would I go to first.
Marvel has done a tremendous job with their Phase 1 and Phase 2 movies. Can they keep up the momentum? That depends a lot on the new solo movies and whether those characters resonate the way Thor, Captain America, Iron Man and Black Widow have. I wouldn't bet against Marvel at this point.
So here are my rankings for all the MCU movies after Ant-Man.
10. Spider-Man (2017)
It's hard to get excited about the 3rd reboot in 15 years. I'm excited that Spider-Man will be part of the MCU and the Avengers, but another Spider-Man? Heh. When you adjust for inflation, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 made about a third of Sam Raimi's original Spider-Man. Each Spider-Man film has made less than the one before. Maybe they'll get it right, or maybe they won't.
9. Inhumans (2019)
It's a little hard to get excited about a movie that's 4 years away that will focus on characters I don't know or care much about. I guess having Agent's of S.H.I.E.L.D. reveal a little of the Inhumans to us is interesting, but Marvel's attempt to create the X-Men without actually having the X-Men falls a little flat to me.
8. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
I liked the first two Thor movies and I'm looking forward to this one, just not as much as the movies above it on this list. Hoping for as little of Natalie Portman's Jane Foster as possible.
7.. Black Panther (2018)
I always enjoyed Black Panther as a character in the comic books and in animated adaptations, but never enough to think he could carry his own book/movie. But with a raising star attached, I'm very excited. My anticipation for this goes up if he plays a big role in prior films and I like what I see.
6. Doctor Strange (2016)
Like most of geekdom, I love Benedict Cumberbatch. I was never a huge Doctor Strange fan, but the cast is already shaping up to be awesome which raises the expectations.
5. Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (2018)
Thanos has been lurking at the edge of the MCU since The Avengers, so it will be cool to finally see him at the forefront. Also very interested to see what the team looks like in 2018.
4. Captain Marvel (2018)
Will her character be revealed in Infinity War Part 1? And who will play her? I like both casting rumors of Emily Blunt and Charlize Theron -- can't go wrong there. It's about time Marvel introduced a truly uber-powered woman to the MCU.
3. Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 (2019)
I love both the Avengers movies so far, but keeping up the momentum for two more sequels will be hard. Luckily the team will have been revamped, and new additions like Vision and Scarlet Witch will bring new dynamics to the team. And hopefully a major showdown with Thanos, and no more cheating by having Hulk just beat him up.
2. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2017)
GOTG 1 was a spectacular movie, a somewhat unexpected success. Did James Gunn & Co. catch lightning in a bottle, or can they deliver an awesome sequel? Unfortunately we have to wait two years to find out.
1. Captain America: Civil War (2016)
This is shaping up to be Avengers 3, though it's technically being called a Captain America movie. I am irrationally excited about this one. They've been setting up this tenuous friendship between Cap and Tony since the first Avengers, and they've set Cap's ideals against modern reality since he awoke from his ice sleep. And with the Johnston brothers in charge, I have a ton of faith this could be the best MCU movie yet.