We haven’t even reached ‘The Avengers: Age of Ultron’, the final film in Marvel Studios’ Phase Two, and there’s already talk about Phase Three and beyond. Aside from all the casting news for ‘Ant-Man’, there has already been talks of sequels for ‘Thor: The Dark World’ and ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’. There have even been rumors circulating about Phase Four being topped off by ‘New Avengers’. Now, it appears that yet another Phase Two sequel is being talked about before the film even hits theaters.
Previously, Disney announced that they blocked out release dates in 2016 and 2017 for three new films featuring Marvel superheroes. Many have speculated that ‘Doctor Strange’, ‘The Inhumans’, and ‘Black Panther’ will occupy those spots, but JoBlo claims that a sequel for ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ has one of the 2016 spots locked. With the studio firmly behind James Gunn’s upcoming film featuring Star-Lord and his team, and rumors of an animated series on Disney XD for 2015, Marvel appears to be betting big with the cosmic side of their cinematic universe. Like the report says, “You certainly wouldn’t bank a sequel and an animated series on something that was less than a sure thing.”
Of course, there is still the chance that ‘GotG’ could bomb, but based on the footage that was shown at last year’s San Diego Comic-Con (which I happened to catch online before it was taken down), this looks like something with franchise potential. Frankly, I’d be surprised if audiences don’t take to it. Sure, it’s a huge gamble for Marvel since this team isn’t as well known as The Avengers, but it also gives the studio a chance to really wow people with what they could do with a fairly obscure slice of their mythology to both movie and comic book fans. Plus, that footage made things look pretty awesome and that wasn’t even fully finished. Imagine how much better it’ll all look when it’s done.
On the one hand, I’m not too stoked about the idea of Phase Three being completely comprised of sequels since there are so many original properties just waiting in the wings, but on the other hand, if Marvel believes in these movies enough to talk sequels even before they’re out in theaters yet, then I’m ready to see what they have in store. Plus, we’re all clamoring to find out what happened to Thor, Loki, and the rest of Asgard after ‘Thor: The Dark World’, so I don’t think anyone would mind getting a Thor sequel in the next phase.
What do you think about ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ potentially getting a sequel before we know that audiences like the first one? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comment section.
‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ starring Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Benicio Del Toro, and Michael Rooker blasts off on August 1st, 2014.
