The Marvel Cinematic Universe started simply enough, making it easy for new audiences to
become fans of characters like Iron Man and Captain America without having to read back
issues to feel caught up.
With blockbuster success, however, comes great expansion.
Roughly a decade after it launched, the MCU now encompasses a huge array of movies and
tie-in TV shows.
Fortunately, you don't need Doctor Strange's Eye of Agamotto in order to see everything
Marvel has planned.
Keep watching for every MCU movie and TV series in development.
Runaways
Marvel's Runaways made a big splash by breaking the usual superhero formula.
The book's main characters are all teenagers who find out their parents are a secret group
of supervillains.
Ultimately, they go on the run from both their villainous parental units and the superheroes
who, unaware of what's really going on, think they're all just troubled teens who need rescuing.
Now, Runaways is being adapted into a show for Hulu, where it'll face comparisons with
the critically-acclaimed corner of the MCU that lives on Netflix.
The comic it's based on has become a classic, combining unique superpowers, dynamic characters,
and tongue-in-cheek stories.
The cast looks pretty perfect, so here's hoping Hulu does it justice.
The Defenders
In many ways, The Defenders is the culmination of Netflix's ambitious Marvel programming,
which set out to replicate on the small screen what Marvel had already built in theaters.
With its August 18 premiere, The Defenders represents a unique opportunity to see how
Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist will play off each other.
Will Matt Murdock be cool with Jessica Jones killing the villainous Killgrave?
Can Jones and ex-boyfriend Luke Cage work together?
Will the legendary comic team-up of Cage and Iron Fist be just as great on screen as it
is in the comics?
"I'm the Immortal Iron Fist."
"You what?!"
All in all, The Defenders is poised to make as big a splash in its corner of the MCU as
the Avengers did in theirs.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Season 5
Marvel's first attempt to extend its cinematic universe to television, Agents of SHIELD brought
back Clark Gregg's charming and unassuming Agent Coulson.
But as the show's first season went on, it quickly became apparent that Marvel's TV shows
would never really have an impact on their movies.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has turned this to its advantage, creating memorable characters
and adventures that aren't weighed down by trying to connect to the big-screen MCU.
The Avengers can keep Hawkeye; SHIELD got Ghost Rider.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has kept its characters and plot twists fresh over the course of its
first four seasons, and Marvel's TV chief Jeph Loeb is very optimistic about the series'
return in the fall of 2017.
From the depths of space to the heights of virtual reality, SHIELD has gone pretty much
everywhere.
The fifth season will also continue their touchy relationship with the next group of
weirdos on our list...
The Inhumans
After Marvel pulled plans for an Inhumans movie off their schedule, it looked like we'd
never see the adventures of Black Bolt and the rest of his royal family.
But instead of canceling the project outright, the studio turned it into a TV show, slating
it for a September 26 debut.
The Inhumans have already been a big part of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and it looks like
the new TV show has the potential to be huge.
In addition to featuring the adventures of a family from the moon and their enormous,
teleporting dog, the ability for the Inhumans to activate dormant Inhuman powers in seemingly
normal people is the closest thing the MCU has to mutants.
Throw in the fact that Marvel is debuting the first two episodes in a premium IMAX format,
and it's clear that this classic team has major potential.
The Punisher
Giving the Punisher his own show wasn't originally part of Marvel's plan.
While they had long-term, Defenders-shaped ideas for their main Netflix heroes, the breakout
popularity of Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle necessitated giving him his own violent corner
of the MCU to fill with bullets.
Marvel hasn't given us a lot to go on.
Punisher's rumored release date is November 2017, but it hasn't been confirmed.
Bernthal himself has hinted that the first season might tell an origin story, taking
place before his introduction to Daredevil.
We know Hannibal's former executive producer Steven Lightfoot will be running things, which
guarantees that we'll get blood alongside a solid story.
Thor: Ragnarok
The trailers for Thor: Ragnarok pretty much say it all: he'll lose his hammer, be cast
out of Asgard, and end up fighting the Hulk on an alien planet.
What more could you want?
"Yes!"
"We know each other.
He's a friend from work!"
Thor's third solo big-screen adventure looks like it'll have a little bit of everything,
from Asgardian mythology to Guardians of the Galaxy style planet-hopping.
Thor's growing friendship with Hulk also seems to signify that this will be a funnier MCU
entry than the comparatively dreary doldrums of The Dark World.
In order to see who wins that epic fight between Hulk and Thor — and find out whether the
thunder god manages to travel from Hel and back — you'll have to turn out for the premiere
on November 3.
Black Panther
Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther was a high point in Captain America: Civil War, letting
viewers see the classic Marvel character as both a fighter and as a reluctant king who
must take over after his father is killed.
Thanks to Civil War, we already know Black Panther's origins.
With that out of the way, the character's solo movie can focus on the mysterious and
exotic kingdom of Wakanda, a thoroughly unexplored corner of the MCU.
Details of the story have been pretty scarce, but we're still marking our calendars for
Black Panther's arrival on February 16, 2018.
Jessica Jones Season Two
In many ways, the first season of Jessica Jones gave us our first real antihero in the
MCU.
After surviving a traumatic crime-fighting experience, Jones tries to lead a normal existence
as a private eye.
That twist gave the series a unique appeal, as we saw a full and fleshed-out narrative
arc with genuine emotional weight.
In early 2018, we'll see what comes next for Jessica Jones when her second season debuts
on Netflix.
The previous season ended with Jessica and her ally Malcolm committing themselves to
saving the world one client at a time via Alias, her private investigation service.
Her second season will air after The Defenders debuts, and fighting alongside other heroes
may have changed how she sees the world and her role in it.
Get ready to stream your heart out when Jones returns.
Avengers: Infinity War
When it finally arrives on May 4, 2018, Avengers: Infinity War promises to deliver the first
big payoff for everything the MCU has been building toward since 2008.
The exact details of the story remain secret, but we know it involves Thanos seeking the
Infinity Stones he needs to complete his powerful Infinity Gauntlet.
He promises to be a foe unlike any the Avengers have faced before, so expect just about every
Marvel hero to show up in a live-action realization of everyone's childhood action figure battles.
You can probably expect a pretty huge cliffhanger too — Marvel has already scheduled a release
date for the next giant Avengers movie, set to premiere in 2019.
Ant-Man and the Wasp
The first Ant-Man movie offered more than a few surprises for comics fans and MCU junkies,
including the decision to focus on Marvel's second Ant-Man, Scott Lang, rather than the
original one, Hank Pym.
With the help of Pym and his daughter Hope, Lang succeeds in saving the day as an unlikely
new hero.
What, exactly, will the sequel entail?
Hope van Dyne, played by Evangeline Lilly, will take over her mother's old hero name,
which means we'll see the Wasp make her long-awaited MCU debut.
It seems likely that the movie will follow up on the quest to find the original Wasp
in the Quantum Realm, especially since Michelle Pfeiffer was announced for the role in the
summer of 2017.
The movie's July 6, 2018 premiere date places it in theaters just over two months after
Infinity War — and considering that the entire face of the MCU could be different
by then, it may be up to Ant-Man and the Wasp to pick up where other heroes have fallen
in their fight against Thanos.
Daredevil Season Three
Daredevil kicked off Netflix's side of the MCU by blowing everyone away with a tight
plot and perfect casting, including an unforgettable turn from Vincent D'onofrio as the Kingpin.
Daredevil's second season added fan favorite characters Elektra and Punisher.
Where, then, will Daredevil be going in season three?
Foggy has joined Jeri Hogarth's law firm.
Elektra has given her life to save Daredevil, only to be resurrected by the mysterious ninjas
of The Hand.
Finally, Daredevil has revealed his secret identity to girlfriend Karen Page, which should
change a lot of things.
And Frank Castle is still on the loose, so Daredevil's third season has plenty of chances
to show us a side of Daredevil that we've never seen before…but we'll have to wait
until sometime in 2018 to see how everything plays out.
Luke Cage Season Two
After his introduction on Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and his unbreakable body were a big hit
with audiences.
The first season of his solo show proved that Cage could carry an entire show on his broad
shoulders, but it left Cage in a pretty bad place, which sets up a lot of plot points
that the second season may help unravel.
Cage has been arrested, but has nothing to prove his innocence.
Even more concerning for our hero is that his enemies Mariah and "Shades" are still
active, and the doctor that gave him his powers is meeting with his brother-turned-enemy,
Stryker.
Luke Cage has a lot of cleaning up to do once he gets out of jail, and we'll be waiting
for another awesome adventure sometime in 2018.
New Warriors
One of Marvel's endless superhero teams, the New Warriors were a surprise '90s hit.
They've been reinvented from time to time, but the core idea has usually revolved around
younger heroes banding together to take out threats they couldn't handle alone, kind of
like a Junior Avengers.
But, y'know, not the actual Young Avengers.
Comics are complicated.
Anyway, the New Warriors don't seem like the likeliest fit for the modern MCU, but the
Freeform network thinks otherwise.
They're bringing a live-action New Warriors show to TV, complete with updated character
stories and a new leader: breakout comics star Squirrel Girl, who will be played by
AT&T spokeswoman Milana Vayntrub.
Her presence guarantees that this show won't take itself too seriously.
And if it means we get to see her in-depth conversations with squirrels, then we're excited
for New Warriors 2018 debut.
Cloak and Dagger
Another set of heroes that always seemed unlikely to get a TV show, Cloak and Dagger have a
pretty weird origin in the pages of Marvel Comics.
First appearing in the early 1980s, they were given synthetic heroin by a criminal chemist,
which gave them powers.
So, that alone doesn't really make for a TV-friendly origin story.
And yet, here we are, with another unique Marvel show coming to the Freeform network.
Cloak is able to make himself intangible and to teleport himself and others through the
sinister Darkforce dimension.
Dagger, meanwhile, creates daggers of light and can cure people of toxins.
Neither character's powers are really suited to the traditional fisticuffs of an MCU show,
but Marvel seems confident in Cloak & Dagger, which will premiere on Freeform in late 2018.
Captain Marvel
With a long history in comics, Ms. Marvel spent a long period of time on Marvel's back
burner.
In more recent years, she's been restored to prominence, given a new image, and the
rank of Captain.
Captain Marvel is now a cornerstone hit for the company, making the character a natural
to provide the MCU with some much-needed female representation.
Brie Larson has signed on to star in Captain Marvel, but beyond its March 8, 2019 release
date, it's anyone's guess what we can expect.
The only thing we know we want to see on the big screen?
MODOK, and his mega-crush on the superheroine.
Avengers 4
The fact that the fourth Avengers film is coming out only one year after Infinity War
means their stories should be very closely connected.
Considering that contracts are soon expiring for veteran Avengers like Chris Evans and
Robert Downey, Jr., it seems likely we'll see some of our favorite characters die or
be otherwise removed, forcing a new generation of heroes to step up.
Whether or not this comes to pass, it's a sure bet that the Marvel Cinematic Universe
will never be the same after May 3, 2019.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
According to writer-director James Gunn, the third installment in his popular Guardians
of the Galaxy series will be the end of the Guardians as we know them.
But the news surrounding Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 isn't all depressing.
Regarding the upcoming film's soundtrack, Gunn recently told fans on Twitter that he's
narrowed his musical choices down to 181 songs.
We can also look forward to seeing the return of Ayesha and the arrival of Adam Warlock,
one of the most anticipated characters in MCU history.
However, we'll still have to wait a little while to watch the final adventures of Peter
Quill and company.
On July 17, 2017, Gunn implied the film might hit theaters in 2020.
But the wait will be well worth it, as Gunn promises Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will
be an epic conclusion.
"I am Groot."
"No!"
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