Top 5 Things Marvel’s Phase 3 Needs To Have
And so it begins again, the waiting and anticipation for the next slate of Marvel films. But unlike previous groupings, Marvel’s Phase 3 is honestly one of the more risky groupings of films. Also though, they come with great expectations and hopes in regards to their fans. Myself being one of them. With established franchises and new characters being brought into the mix, there’s a lot going on. So here today, I’m going to simply Marvel’s Phase 3 and say the five things that need to happen for it to be successful.
5. Be More Than Just ‘Wars’
I feel this one needs to be said. Each phase if you will had an arc of sorts that connected the films. Phase 1 was about the origins (more or less) of the Avengers, and how they would eventually come together as a team. Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, with additions of Black Widow and Hawkeye to their films showed that the Avengers were coming.
With Phase 2, it was more about fallout, and changing the landscape. Winter Soldier shattered the “peace” we believed the MCU had by revealing Hydra to be rooted deep within our society. Then Age of Ultron showed that there are consequences for actions we take. Also though, there were the seeds of the next generation of Avengers coming to life.
With Phase 3, we need to have an arc that is both impactful, but not simply action oriented. Obviously, the two “big” films (so far) are Captain America: Civil War, and Infinity War (which will finally bring Thanos to the fight). While these movies will be great most likely, we can’t rest on them alone. Thor: Ragnarok, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 and the others need to show that they’re more than just sequels, but that they tie in to the overall story in one way or another. Yes, I want to see Avengers clash, and then them team up against Thanos. But if that’s all that happens, what was the point?
4. Strike The Right Balance Between Comic History And New Material
Ok this one was felt by many fans. Certain Phase 2 movies had a feeling of “let changes things up so people don’t know what to expect!”. To be fair, some of this worked, like in Winter Soldier (reveal of Hydra) and Guardians of the Galaxy (Quill’s father not being known). On the other hand, there were a lot of questionable decisions that fans didn’t really care for. Malakeith in The Dark World being almost nothing like his comic counterpart. Hank Pym not being in the Avengers and Scott Lang being the “first” Ant-Man of a sort was jarring to many. The best ones of course were The Mandarin Twist in Iron Man 3, and Quicksilver dying in Age of Ultron.
Don’t get me wrong, shaking things up is a good thing at times! Cause if you venture too close at times to the material, it can be predictable to some fans. However, that doesn’t mean you rewrite history. You just tell it in a way that’s compelling. The Winter Soldier was a great example of this. Comic fans knew that Bucky Barnes was The Winter Soldier. Some casual fans even picked it up as they watched the movie. However, having him tied to Hydra, and the plot of Winter Soldier, gave it a fresh feel. Whereas having Quicksilver die via bullets (despite being a super speedster that should’ve been able to dodge with no problems at all) just didn’t work with fans.
Several of the movies in Phase 3 deal heavily with great storylines from classic comics. Or have characters with great comic history. It’s fine to alter it a bit, this is Hollywood. But don’t “fix” what honestly isn’t broken in a desire to “change expectations”.
3. Have Faith In the Creative Team
This may seem like an odd topic to do after the previous one, but Phase 2 honestly had problems with Marvel (and Disney) having issues with certain members of the creative team. Ant-Man famously had a big exit with Edgar Wright leaving after having written the script for the film, and having many of the cast and crew excited about his vision. Thor: The Dark World had a similar problem, and Joss Whedon made it very clear that Age of Ultron was heavily altered from his original vision. Making fans wonder how it would’ve been if he had full control.
While it’s understandable for Marvel/Disney to want to have some say in this, you also need to trust in the people you hire, or want to hire. Ava DuVarney was long rumored to be attached to Black Panther, but then disagreements about how the film should go led her to leave despite some claiming she was a lock for the role. Many thought she would’ve done Black Panther justice, now we’ll never know.
A great example of trusting the team was in Guardians of the Galaxy. James Gunn swung for the fences, and hit almost everything that was thrown at him. GOTG was my favorite Phase 2 movie for a reason, and James Gunn was a part of that. There’s still a lot of mystery behind who will be helming certain Phase 3 films. Let’s hope Marvel/Disney gives the leeway to at least try and make good films, instead of being conscripted into trying to match their villains.
2. Stay True To The Characters
You may think I’m just referring to the trio of new characters we’ll meet in Phase 3 by this, and in a way I am, but Phase 2 also had some “interesting” takes on classic Avengers.
The big “Why they heck are they acting like that?” moment was Black Widow in Age of Ultron. Rarely, if ever, does Natasha Romanov show vulnerability. She’s a hard as nails character who talks dirty and plays dirty. Yet in Age of Ultron? She barely was that. Her romance with Bruce Banner came out of nowhere. Many fans, based on previous films and pics, thought she was destined to be with Hawkeye (someone she’s been with in the comics). Then this happened. She was shown as kind of weak, and super emotional, when that’s not her at all. With the Civil War and other big events coming up, there needs to be consistency to show why certain characters are doing certain things.
Then there’s Black Panther, Doctor Strange, and Captain Marvel. Let’s call them the “New Kids On The Block” shall we? These three have very distinct personalities, and have been beloved by many fans for a very long time. If these characters get messed up? Fans will have a hayday.
T’Challa is the king of Wakanda. Brilliant, strong, confident, and willing to do anything to defend his country. Phase 3 needs to show that. Stephen Strange was an arrogant man who became humbled after an accident, and had his eyes opened to the ways of magic. Which in turn made him a good man. This needs to be shown. Captain Marvel is the example of how a superheroine should be in our modern world. She’s a soldier, but also a peacekeeper. She knows who she is, and is proud of who she is. She’s worthy of being a hero in every definition you can have. Why change that? Which leads me to our final need for Marvel’s Phase 3.
1. The Captain Marvel Movie Needs To Be Amazing
It may sound trite at first that I’m singling out this movie over Black Panther and Doctor Strange, but if we’re being honest here, Captain Marvel is not only the biggest risk (I’ll explain), but also has the biggest potential for backlash if done wrong.
Here’s the thing, this will be (barring something really unexpected) the first female led Marvel movie. Black Window has always been a supporting character, and it looks like she’ll remain that way. With Captain Marvel though, they’re taking this to the next logical level and giving their female heroes a chance to shine on their own. And that’s great! This needs to happen! And Captain Marvel has the potential to be amazing.
If they don’t mess it up that is. Captain Marvel has a very interesting comic history, for better and for worse. Her outfit when she was Ms. Marvel was long scrutinized, like for decades. Which made her transition to Captain Marvel all the better as it not only dropped the female moniker, but gave her a costume unique to herself and yet totally believable in the world we live in.
With the arrival of the Captain Marvel series that starred Carol, which was written by the amazing Kelly Sue DeConnick, fans truly got to see the greatness of Carol Danvers, and fans praised both DeConnick and Marvel for it. To the extent that the series still runs today and will continue once Secret Wars ends. That says something. Marvel literally now has the blueprint for how Carol Danvers should be portrayed. If this goes south? They can only blame themselves.
And on a fanboy note, DC Comics will have released Wonder Woman before Captain Marvel. So if they do good? And Marvel does bad? Yeah, you see where this is going.
It may be early to have such worries or critiques about Marvel’s Phase 3 so far from release of the first film of the slate. But to be fair, some of this does need to be said. Yes, Marvel has had great success with their films. But there have been missteps, and though the last two Marvel films have done well financially, Age of Ultron and Ant-Man didn’t please a large section of fans. Which has caused worry about certain Phase 3 films. Trust me, I’m hoping Marvel knocks it out of the park again, and if they follow these requests? I have no doubt they will.