STORY BY NED LEEBRICK-STRYKER
It is an amazing time to be a comic book fan.
Last week, Marvel studios released their movie slate for the next four years. For a geek like me, Christmas came early.
The movies, in order, are “Captain America: Civil War” and “Doctor Strange” in 2016, “Guardians of the Galaxy 2,” “Thor: Ragnarok” and “Black Panther” in 2017, “Avengers: Infinity War Part I,” “Captain Marvel” and “Inhumans” in 2018 and finally “Avengers: Infinity War Part II” in 2019.
Holy cow. Where do I begin? I can’t cover everything, but lets start with “Captain America: Civil War.” This one is up there on my most-anticipated list.
First of all, the story line is really cool.
Essentially, Iron Man and Captain America duke it out over fundamental differences in their ideologies. If you’ve watched the previous movies, you know this has already been brewing. Iron Man is very much about sacrificing that freedom for safety of the people*, while Captain America for personal freedom*. It already looks like “Avengers: Age of Ultron” is setting that all up in a really cool way. Robert Downey Jr. is already confirmed to be in the movie, so I’m just itching to see this one.
“Black Panther” is another flick I cannot wait to see. Not only is it the first film with a black lead super hero from Marvel, but the character himself is fascinating.
The Black Panther is a king of a small, secret African country that is thousands of years ahead of any other place on earth.
They have technology that is unmatched. This gives Black Panther many opportunities to kick ass with some cool gadgets. He’s essentially Marvel’s Batman. It’s also exciting because this is a new hero and an new story.
Sometimes I get sick of sequels. Newcomer Chadwick Boseman is also confirmed to play him, so there’s a lot to like here.
Finally, my most anticipated film (not counting “Avengers: Infinity War” because, of course, everyone’s super excited for that) is “Thor: Ragnarok.” If you’re not a super-geek or Norse mythology buff, Ragnorak is the apocalypse. The end of all things. Uh-oh. I’ve always felt that Thor has gotten the short end of the stick in his film adaptions.
Yes, Chris Hemsworth is great, but the material has always been so-so. This could elevate the character to new heights.
It sounds like the scale is going to be huge and it could be a game-changer to the cinematic universe, much like “Captain America: the Winter Soldier” was.
If I can see Tom Hiddleston be Loki again, at least one more time, I’ll be a happy camper.
It’s disappointing that I have a 500-word limit, or I’d go on forever.
I didn’t mention the first female-led movie, Captain Marvel, from the studio.
I didn’t talk about the mystical “Doctor Strange,” the alien “Inhumans” or the presumably final time we’ll see the original Avengers together in “Avengers: Infinity War.”
One thing is for certain nowadays with a giant mob of comic book movies flying at our faces: You either geek out or get out.
*Correction: in the original article published on 11/05/14, it is originally stated as “Iron Man is for personal freedom and Captain America is about sacrificing that freedom for safety of the people. This is incorrect and has been changed for timesdelphic.com
