With Thor: The Dark World out it’s about time for an update on what everyone’s favorite comic book company is getting up to. Marvel has a lot of projects in the pipeline, and they are gearing up to make sure the Marvel universe is as prolific as possible.
The phase one films were a decent start to building an Avengers franchise for Marvel. The quality of their films has only increased since those films, as Marvel was bought out by Disney and were given their own studio. Not having to farm out their movies and characters to other studios has seemed to give an increase in quality for the Marvel films, and it has allowed them to stay true to their roots.
Phase two is shaping up to continue the legacy left behind after The Avengers. Starting off with Iron Man 3 and the effects that the battle of New York had on Tony Stark was an interesting way to being approaching the Post-Avengers universe. The series then continued with Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. series on ABC.
The series, featuring fan favorite Agent Coulson, focuses on a team of agents who track down strange occurances that usually deal with issues touched on in the films. It’s an interesting way to expand the universe, but the show hasn’t really come into its own yet. It just feels like filler most weeks, waiting for something big to happen, which could be soon.
The Thor sequel is the next film in phase two of Marvel’s cinematic universe. Since the film just came out, it’s hard to say how it will fit in with the universe and expand the story, but there’s bound to be some tie ins to the rest of the series, as well as an after credits teaser about the future of the films.
ABC recently announced that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will have an episode that takes place right after the events of the second Thor movie, and that there will be an episode tie in to all of the phase two movies coming out. This is where the show is poised to make its move. If it can pull off the tie in successfully, then we could see a cross media experience that could project the Marvel films to new heights.
Another important announcement happened not too long ago about future Marvel projects. In association with Netflix Marvel will be releasing series about The Defenders. This project will start will 13 episode series focusing on the core members of the “team”. Daredevil, Iron Fist, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones will each get their own series with back story that will be tied together in a Defenders mini-series on Netflix.
Marvel is really trying to create as much as they can to expand their reach, and they are more able to succeed with their Disney money. It’s not a bad gamble for the franchise, especially if Joss Whedon stays at the helm.
The future of Marvel movies and shows seems to be bright. If they can keep the quality up, and focus on the stories that made the Marvel Universe what it is today, then they stand a good chance to reach heights that other companies could only dream of.
One can only hope that the quality only increases, and they Marvel doesn’t let up with their relentless onslaught of characters and films.
