Marvel’s marvellous movies from the past, present and future

Movies based on Marvel Comics technically go all the way back to 1944 and the release of “Captain America”. But there were no further movies based on the comic until Hollywood suddenly woke up to the possibilities again some 42 years later when Universal brought out “Howard the Duck”, a comedy starring Tim Robbins.

Of course – a duck called Howard isn’t exactly what we associate with Marvel’s super-hero series of movies which really began in earnest with the 2000 release of “X Men”, starring Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry and Sir Ian McKellen.

The rest is history as they say; the whole franchise has proved more popular than anyone could really have imagined over the last 14 years, and we’ve seen five different Spider Man movies, more X Men movies, two Incredible Hulk movies and, of course, three hugely successful Iron Man movies, each starring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, the Iron Man to excellent effect – as well as a whole lot more Marvel movies.

This year alone has seen the release of a number of Marvel movies including Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, X-Men: Days of Future Past and Guardians of the Galaxy.

          Spiderman merchandise in action (image from cipher).

Now there is a little of the “treadmill” feel about all this – but remember when you were young and what appealed to you most when you were a kid? There’s a certain magic in these productions and each mini-generation of kids laps them up. Of course, there’s a commercial reality about it all too, and the spin-off product ranges are phenomenal with everything from toys to costumes, PC games to the Iron Man 2 online slot game – there’s seemingly no end to the commerciality of a successful Marvel creation.

But this is all part of the magic for children who, at a certain age, love to imagine themselves with their hero’s super-powers. And when the two worlds coincide, as happens in a number of Marvel movies when one super-hero makes what could be described as a cameo in another – well it’s the stuff of legend for youngsters.

So, what’s next in the marvellous Marvel pipeline? Well, to put it mildly, there are some big plans for the years ahead from Marvel Studios films, which makes most Marvel movies these days (though not all of them).

2015

Marvel has just two movies left in what it calls its “Phase 2” set of movies, the first of which will be Avengers: Age of Ultron, due for release on May 1^st. This much anticipated sequel to the first Avengers movie brings an incredible line up of Marvel’s super-heroes together including Iron Man, Thor, Captain America Black Widow, The Incredible Hulk and Hawkeye all back together to see off the threat from the villain Ultron.

The Incredible Hulk cardboard cutout – merchandising at its scariest! (image from Sam Howzit).

Then on July 17^th, we’ll see a new type of hero welcomed for the first time to Marvel: Ant-Man. This is a Marvel super-hero who is able to shrink to the size of an ant but retain his strength as if he were normal man-size.

2016

Marvel’s Phase 3 gets underway in 2016 with Captain America 3: Civil War, due for release on May 6^th. This movie will see Iron Man, Tony Stark, at odds with Captain America / Steve Rogers. The movie also sees actor Chadwick Boseman debuting as Black Panther.  

Then November 4^th sees Doctor Strange making its debut. Benedict Cumberbatch will play the surgeon whose life changes after a car accident that damages his hands. In his search for a cure, Strange is assisted by a sorcerer who trains the Doctor in the art of magic.

2017 and beyond

Further out still, we’ll see Guardians of the Galaxy 2 in May 2017, Thor: Ragnarok in July of the same year, Black Panther in November, 2017, Avengers Infinity War Part 1 the following May, 2018, Captain Marvel in July, 2018, Inhumans in November 2018 - with a whole host of new characters, and finally Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 in May 2019.

Marvel’s marvels show no signs of slowing just yet!