Following the individual success Iron Man, The Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America, we've seen phase one of the Avenger project culminate with the international domination of the Avengers in May. With wads of cash and an unlimited supply of material, Marvel and Disney are now free to explore a world in which we go beyond well known and established heroes to delve deeper into the Universe that was created on screen 4 years ago.

With two sequels already in the works, Marvel has announced its immediate progression into phase two with the production of a handful of other movies in the next two years. Captain America, the Winter Soldier will pick up right where the Avengers left off, while Thor, the Dark World will focus mainly on Asgard and its turmoil. Expect Iron Man 3 to focus exclusively on our armored protagonist, but don't rule out some guest appearances/cameos from other team members.

Another fan favorite is set to take the big screen in a small way - Ant Man is scheduled for a 2014 release. With the edition of one of the Avengers founding members, will the roster be even more jam-packed come Avengers II?

Finally, Marvel recently announced the production of one more movie set to take off in the next few years; Guardians of the Galaxy is to make its Hollywood debut. A lot of skepticism is sure to arise from this announcement - Starlord, Drax the Destroyer and Rocky Raccoon are not household names. But yet, maybe this movie is what we need to tie-in perhaps the most important character in this franchies; Thanos. Thanos made his on-screen debut at the end of the Avengers, and for those that are familiar with the story, has a detailed history with the Guardians. Can we expect a Guardians movie to directly take us in to the culmination of phase 2, the Avengers II?

What can we expect for the future of the Avengers franchise? Inception of more characters? (Black Panther, Dr. Strange), formation of new/side teams? (Defenders, New Avengers), well known and established characters being killed off/leaving the group to make way for the next generation of characters? Super-Villain groups? (Masters of Evil)

Nothing is certain for what's sure to be the biggest movie franchise in history and I for one am excited to be here for it, one movie at a time.

Rocket Racoon

Holy cow does this sound like it's copy and pasted from a movie gossip blog.

I thought this too once I read "with the edition of.."

Am I the first university graduate that has writing experience ITT perhaps ?

Hah, no. I wouldn't be so proud of myself if I had the rough homonym fails that you've got. =P

I mean, if this isn't copy and pasted from some other site (your own fairly pompous pop culture blog included), then I suppose I should offer kudos for your well-written, fairly thought-through, post. Obviously it's better put together than the average OOT post.

Part of my issue with this post is that it's more of a blog post/2 column magazine article than forum post. What response are you looking for from the reader? A thanks for the information about the Marvel movie pipeline? "Expect Iron Man 3 to focus exclusively on our armored protagonist, but don't rule out some guest appearances/cameos from other team members." - really? A legitimate answer to questions such as "Can we expect a Guardians movie to directly take us in to the culmination of phase 2, the Avengers II?"

Personally, I think that when bringing a character like Thanos in to play the writers/directors have to be careful. To this point, even with Thor, they've dealt with relatable "mortal friendly" problems. As the villains get more "cosmic," the movies would have the same problems that the comic books have (routinely, in the case of dealing with Thanos), which is that heroes like the Avengers, mighty though they are, are totally outmatched. These movies have been great in large part because characters like Galactus, Silver Surfer, Mistress Death, Eternity, Adam Warlock, etc, are nowhere to be seen. Yes, as above, the Asgardians are "gods," but we've seen them in frailer terms to this point.

I'd worry a bit that as the Thor movie was kind of crap, and the actor isn't all that impressive, that Thor is the only Avenger who in any way can be impactful with a Thanos villain story line. Then again, the Cosmic Cube throws off relative power a lot, and you possibly end end up with a story line of some smart hero (Iron Man?) getting control of the thing and winning the fight. Yawn. Some gossip/theories have Infinity Gems already in play, and I can't say I'm excited about a storyline that has both the Gems and the Cube active at the same time - just seems like an excuse to go crazy with CGI and be lazy with the story.

If Whedon is in charge, I'm less pessimistic, and Thanos is probably my favorite Marvel character, so maybe it'll all work out. Who knows?

I don't understand this thread.

i'll watch anything directed by edgar wright. even something called "ant man." count me in.

no

but he has to be the first.. he is the op


So I'm gonna have to sit through another Captain America? damn

I understand I wrote it like a review/article, but it's meant to engage a discussion about the future of the franchise. I would love to get input other than my own about what's to come

I agree with you, Thanos is a difficult character to bring into play. I mean if we assume he comes into direct contact with the Avengers in a future film, rather than pulling the strings of another alien army, who's there to take him out? Thor and Hulk are definitely capable of going toe to toe, but what help are the rest of the Avengers? Will they just be sitting in a rebuilt Stark Towers waiting for everything to blow over or will there be perhaps a second (more mortal) villain to deal with?

Maybe one logical explanation is to show just how powerful Thanos is. Maybe upon his first confrontation with the Avengers, the writers prove his effectiveness by having him kill someone like Hawkeye immediately. Believe me I am the number one supporter of Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, but perhaps the killing off of a supporting character is just what the Avengers II needs to a) show the audience just what kind of villain we're dealing with and b) pave way for some new recruits i.e. Ant-Man or Black Panther?

Just my thought

...Movie universe != Comic universe

They'll tone him down to be a bit stronger than Hulk, weaken him with a plot device, and gang up to finish.

I hope Dr. Strange comes to the big screen. He was far and away my favorite character in the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance game.

He would be a nice addition

There are too many comic book movies already and most of them suck. Just give me the Greatest Hits characters and put some effort into making good movies with them.

Ant Man? Seriously?

Better than Lady Bug Man

I know he sounds childish but learn a thing or two about him and you'd appreciate him a lot more I think. He is a founding member of the Avengers and arguably one of smartest characters in the Marvelverse

Shouldn't the inclusion of Ant Man be a given to future Avengers movies? I was actually quite disappointed he wasn't in the first especially with him being a found of the Avengers. Hopefully they add the Wasp as well.

That's exactly what I thought. Edgar Wright was actually involved in an Ant-Man project since like 2006 in what turned out to be an on-again, off-again relationship. I actually remember in early drafts of the IMDB Avengers cast Nathan Fillion and Malin Akerman set to play Hank and Janet - shame that never went down.

I don't mind them leaving Ant Man out until phase 2, it may come in handy if one of the regulars is written off the show

Hope they land Garrett Morris for the role.

More interesting news: Anthony Mackie joins the cast of the Captain America Sequel and is expected to be playing Falcon. Sebastian Stan is also slated to return in Captain America, the Winter Soldier, to play the character of the same name

This is not a ****ing spoiler, person who reported this post.

lol