Everything just blew the hell up on Tuesday, as Marvel Studios President and reigning ruler of the free world Kevin Feige took the to stage in Los Angeles (with the help from some friends) to announce Phase 3 of Marvel’s Cinematic universe. What resulted was a convergence of awesomeness the likes of which hasn’t been seen… since the last Marvel announcement event?

Okay, Let’s start running through these in order of release. (I was going to list them in order of excitement, but everything is at a ten for me when it comes to these Marvel movies.)

*As an aside, this news came on the day of the NFL’s trade deadline. I’m still glad I quit football.

 

Captain America: Civil War – May 6, 2016

Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans came out on stage for a little pose-down for the press in attendance, and we all were treated to the confirmation of the Civil War subtitle. Feige offered a little insight into the plot, saying that there would be an inciting incident, but that “secret identities” weren’t going to be the crux of superhero registration. It’s more along the lines of to what countries these heroes would report. To that end, we are getting Black Panther, in FULL costume for Cap 3. (More details on BP in a bit.)  Panther, real name T’Challa, is the ruler of a nation called Wakanda, so his involvement in a global government regulation of supers would certainly make sense. And this will carry some weight with it stemming from Age of Ultron, at the end of which we’re going to see a new cast of Avengers on the team.

Also, Steve and Tony might punch each other. SQUEE.

Doctor Strange – November 4, 2016

Much to everyone’s chagrin, there was no official confirmation of Benedict Cumberbunny as the good doctor. Feige explained that “If it were confirmed, we would have announced it today.” That doesn’t really mean anything other than the contract negotiations aren’t completely final yet. No one should be freaking out. I fully expect Benedict to join the Marvel roster… and for things to get weird. Who’s ready for floating flaming skull Dormammu action?

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (Electric Boogaloo) – May 5, 2017

We got a bump-up! The sequel to Marvel’s shocking smash hit will be out sooner than originally announced. Does that mean Baby GROOT won’t have enough time to grow up? This will be wonderful. I trust director James Gunn, who’s back for the sequel.

Thor: Ragnarok – July 28, 2017

If you saw Thor: The Dark World, you know something needed to be rectified with that ending situation (which I won’t spoil, you’re welcome KS). Feige detailed that this sequel would pick up immediately where Age of Ultron leaves off. In the comic world, Ragnarok is the term for Asgard’s “End of Days,” so to speak. That means I’m looking for a full-scale war movie out of Thor’s third outing. The destruction (or near-destruction) of Asgard is probably all the distraction Thanos needs to snag the Tesseract and Infinity Gauntlet out of Odin’s armory.

Oh yeah, and Tom Hiddleston will return as Loki. Commence freaking out.

Black Panther – November 3, 2017

Not only did we get a date and confirmation of the flick, but we saw its star as well! Chadwick Boseman came onstage to join Downey and Evans, adding a new Avenger to the mix! Not only that, concept art for the Panther was shown off on Twitter! My brain wasn’t handling all the news properly at this point.

Black Panther (and a movie still coming below) are significant steps for Marvel, adding a person of color and a woman(!!!) to their franchise’s list of stars.

Avengers: Infinity War, Part One – May 4, 2018

The onslaught of announcements ended with the reveal of Infinity War! Avengers! Thanos! Infinity Stones! Cosmic Stuff! Action Scenes! Avengers Re-Assembling!

This movie will signal the beginning of the end of Marvel’s lengthy Phase 3 slate of flicks. A war with Thanos over the Infinity Stones is what we’ll have been building towards for… what, 15+ movies? This should be an epic-level payoff for comic geeks everywhere.

Captain Marvel – July 6, 2018

Captain Marvel’s been a few different people in the comics, but Feige confirmed that this version would be Carol Danvers…This was the moment when I lost my shit.

The fact that she and the Inhumans are the only movies between Infinity War parts one and two is really interesting. But that can be ignored for a moment. BRING ON THE CAROL DANVERS. Captain Marvel’s been on of my favorite characters for years now and I’m ecstatic that she’s getting a chance to be badass on the big screen. For those of you that don’t know her (and there’s going to be a few of ya), she’s great. It’s like if you crossed Wonder Woman’s powers with Hal Jordan’s background (and gave them a better personality), you’d get Captain Marvel. She flies, she’s super-strong, she absorbs energy, she pilots spaceships, and ain’t beholden to no man. She could punch Thor in the face, and it would HURT. This is what the Marvel movies have been missing.

Casting Carol Danvers is a pivotal step here, and that can’t be understated. Get the RIGHT actress in here that can stand toe-to-toe with the other Avenger heavyweights and Marvel could have the first truly successful female superhero franchise. And when you add in Black Panther (the other movie fans have been screaming for), you have the beginnings of a universe that appeals to everyone.

Inhumans – November 2, 2018

Even more so than Guardians, Inhumans is a risk for Marvel and Disney. I know lots about the Inhumans… well, the top six to eight or so. Black Bolt is a badass whose voice can destroy mountains and stuff. Lockjaw is an adorable oversized bulldog who can teleport. Karnak is one of the best hand-to-hand fighters in the Marvel Universe. Medusa… has lots of hair.

All that said, this movie doesn’t necessarily have the funny factor that Guardians had (teleporting dog not withstanding), and its lead character would NEVER BE ABLE TO TALK. Still, Marvel’s going full-speed ahead by bringing Inhumans to the forefront of the comic universe and giving them their own move franchise. This is how Marvel’s movies will overcome the lack of X-Men (shhh… mutants) in their shared cinematic world.

Avengers: Infinity War, Part Two – May 3, 2019

Something something part two. Here’s the reveal trailer, shot in handi-cam loveliness.

THANOS IS PISSED NOW Y’ALL. AND HE’S ALSO FINALLY PROVEN HIS INDIVIDUAL EFFECTIVENESS AND NON-RELIANCE ON UNTRUSTWORTHY OR INCAPABLE UNDERLINGS TO RETRIEVE EXTRAORDINARILY SUPER-POWERED COSMIC ARTIFACTS BECAUSE HE FOUND THEM ALL HIS DAMN SELF AND SLAPPED THEM ON A SHINY GOLD GLOVE. BLING.

A “Part Two” for Infinity War would likely pull our cosmic heroes into the fold for some epic-level throwdownery. Guardians? Check. Captain Marvel? Check. Nova Corps? Check. Inhumans? Check. Mind-blown? Check.

 

Some other Notes of Note:

-No plans are set for a standalone Hulk or Black Widow movie at this time. They’re going to be popping up in all these Avenger flicks, though.

-Somebody asked about those pesky “Spider-man to the MCU” rumors. Feige answered by saying they were either “not true at all” or “not ready to be announced yet.” DON’T TEASE ME KEVIN.

–Superherohype has all the new film logos and a few videos too, if you want to go check out cool fonts and typefaces. I’m not taking up valuable cloud memory for all those uploads. Well, except for this one…

 

Any way you look at it, Marvel’s Phase 3 movie line-up is more ambitious than anything they’ve done up to this point. And if it works, it’s going to be an awfully fun next four years of my life… at the movie theaters.

Are you done here yet? My fingers hurt. I want ice cream.