Gambling is when you play online slots and other games to win. But Marvel’s attempt to make a world cheer for a group of superheroes not very well known outside of the US was also gambling. As an European, I have to say that aside from the X-Men and the Spider-Man from the Marvel side, and Batman and Superman from DC’s universe, I could hardly name any other. And if you asked me about which of these were my favorites, the DC ones would pop to mind.
Luckily Marvel’s bet was a most successful one. The Avengers have been a huge success all over the world, spawning a series of sequels and more origin stories to come (see Ant-Man). And they took a second risk, and succeeded again with the Merc with the Mouth, Deadpool. But the best is yet to come.
The only new character to be introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe through his own movie this year will be Doctor Strange. This will mark a passage from science’s side to magic – after all, Stephen Strange is a wizard. Next year we’ll have a sequel to the Guardians of the Galaxy, a new Thor movie with a promising subtitle (Ragnarok, which is the word used for the end of the world in the Norse mythology). And a Spider-Man flick (another reboot?), this time co-produced by Sony and Marvel. Maybe we’ll see Spidey take his rightful place on the big screen?
In 2018 Black Panther will make his way into the Marvel movie world (another superhero I’ve never heard about in Europe), followed by the first part of a two-part Avengers movie, Infinity. Then we get another Ant-Man movie (with the Wasp, another superhero I’ve never heard of in Europe). In 2019 there will be a Captain Marvel flick, the second part of Avengers: Infinity, and the Inhumans will enter the scene.
Now let’s see what DC has for us in the coming years.
By the time you read this, DC’s own “team of superheroes” cinematic universe will have been given a fresh start with the Batman vs. Superman movie. This will see Batman, one of the world’s most famous caped heroes, return to the big screen after a hiatus of four years. So, after Bat ws. Alien, we’ll see Suicide Squad (arguably one of the most anticipated movies of the year), and this concludes the DC movie menu for 2016. Next year Wonder Woman will finally make her big screen debut, and the Justice League will also assemble. In 2018 we’ll get a Flash movie, and Jason Momoa will also reprise his role as Aquaman. The next year the adventures of the Justice League will continue, along with a Shazam movie. Finally, in 2019 we can expect two lesser heroes from the DC universe, Cyborg and the Green Lantern, to also get their own shot at the big screen success.
But the upcoming Green Lantern movie will have nothing to do with the one in 2011. It seems that Ryan Reynolds was reluctant to reprise his role as a galactic peacekeeper…
