SDCC 2012: Marvel Studios Phase Two Films Confirmed: ‘IRON MAN 3’, ‘THOR: THE DARK WORLD’, ‘CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER’, ‘ANT-MAN’ and ‘GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY’

Breaking, from San Diego Comic Con. Marvel Studios has four five films in active development. They are calling this grouping of films Phase Two.

First up. May 3rd, 2013: Iron Man 3, directed by Shane Black. Don Cheadle returns as War Machine. It sounds like Sir Ben Kingsley is indeed playing the Mandarin, with a visual of ten mystical rings.

 

November 8th, 2013: Thor: The Dark World, directed by Game of Thrones’ Alan Taylor

 

Next, on April 4th, 2014: Captain America: The Winter Soldier from directors Joe and Anthony Russo (Arrested Development, Community)

 

And…finally on August 1st, 2014: Guardians of the Galaxy, featuring: Drax, Groot, Starlord, Gamora, and Rocket Raccoon. No idea about the director, but reports suggest Nicole Perlman wrote a very exciting script.

 

Oh, and Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man. That’s happening too. Wright showed the notorious test footage for fans in attendance.

Finally, we’ve got some Charlie Wen concept art from Guardians of the Galaxy! 

Comments

  1. Holy shit, Winter Soldier. Brubaker’s story had a very cinematic feel to it to begin with, and if done right, that’s going to be awesome.

    • I legit fist-pumped at work in the middle of my newsroom when I saw this. That’s how stoked I am.

    • Dude I’m right there with you. A friend sent me the pic and I was flipping out. This is awesome! Lets all give Marvel a hand clap for this one. Well done good sirs, well done!

    • Same here, I let out a small cheer. Hell yea, and I know for a fact brubaker is helping out with the movie adaptation so I’m fairly certain it’s gonna kick ass. Awesome!

  2. Winter Soldier?!? YES!!!

  3. A Game of Throne’s director on Thor… a Winter Soldier movie… live action Rocket Raccoon, holy shit is right!

  4. Bam. That’s a homerun and a slamdunk. Marvel’s really hoping to hit out of the park. Odd that there’s no word on the Black Widow movie, though.

  5. This is going to be awesome. Only thing I’m hoping for now is Major Victory to somehow be in the Guardians movie. There are a ton of problems with that, but still they could make it work.

  6. Avatar photo JFernandes (@jdfernandes) says:

    I’m honestly curious to see how many people listened to the director’s commentary for Captain America: The First Avenger. During the commentary, he explicitly says that Bucky doesn’t die from the fall because of the experiments HYDRA was doing on him when Cap rescued him. Anything other than a Winter Soldier follow-up would’ve shocked me.

    I’m just hoping Guardians of the Galaxy works, because that’s what I’m most excited for.

  7. Pumped that Wright’s Ant-Man will be moving into production. Obviously the others sound good, specifically Winter Soldier, but can’t say I’m too excited about Thor 2 or Guardians. I’m one of few who actively dislikes the first Thor and I’ve never been interested in Guardians of the Galaxy. Hey! Stop throwing things at me! Ow! Okay okay, I think Rocket Racoon is pretty awesome.

  8. I was hoping for another Hulk movie starring Mark Ruffalo. But I’m still thrilled about all of these movies.

  9. Any and all Marvel movies at this point is a very good thing. Guardians of the Galaxy? Cannot wait.

    Let’s hope the talk about Black Panther and other B-characters will come sooner than later. Maybe TV?

  10. I have never read anything about Rocket Racoon but goddamit! A swearing intergalatic Police Racoon with a British accent has always had me wanting to (but never getting) read anything he’s in.

  11. Pretty psyched about Winter Soldier, though a bit bummed I have to wait until 2014. Thought it was obvious Bucky was going to be back. Now just give me an Iron Fist movie and I’ll be all set!

  12. Here’s the GoG concept art: http://i45.tinypic.com/206zpfn.jpg

  13. StarLord! In a movie! With the mask! So happy!

  14. RE: concept art. “My god, it’s full of stars.”

  15. I know nothing about Guardians of the Galaxy aside from the cameo in Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes… so can’t say I’m all that excited, but I’ll go see it for sure.

    Anyone knows if it’s going to be CGI-based à la Avatar or mainly real actors in costumes?

    • In the same boat as you. I know they’re out there, but they’re not something I’d normally be into. But then, I’m more of a fan of the street-level stuff as opposed to Marvel Cosmic. Who knows, though? With Thanos and this, maybe I’ll pick up some of the cosmic trades, see what I’ve been missing out on.

  16. ANNTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT————-MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

  17. 2014 is going to be a great year.

  18. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    To those uninitiated in all things GotG, I highly recommend the Abnett & Lanning Annihilation event and Guardians of the Galaxy series. This movie looks like a direct response to that iteration of the team. Some of the best Marvel Comics to be had.

    And of course, Marvel Now! is already promoting characters like Rocket Raccoon to prominence, so there’s plenty of time and opportunity to get acquainted by 2014.

    • I agree: as long as Abnett & Lanning’s Guardians was being published, it was one of the best books out there. The Thanos Imperative was a first rate climax to the run . . .

    • Thanks for the recommendations Paul! I’ll ask around for those at my LCS!

  19. I’ve been hoping for a Winter Solider film ever since the first movie. Now, we just need to keep our fingers crossed that the Bucky actor has the chops to pull it off. Hopefully they can tie in Black Widow somehow. Not sure if comedy writers are best choice for creative, but we’ll see . . .

    Guardians of the Galaxy? Very glad to hear that this is actually happen’. However, I shall be quite disappointed if my namesake is not present . . .

    • Sebastian Stan did good dark and brooding as the Mad Hatter in Once Upon a Time, so I think he’ll be decent.

  20. Really interested to see how the general public reacts to a movie that stars a talking tree and a raccoon with laser guns. I know I’m excited for it, but it seems like a hard sell. Then again, look at Star Wars.

  21. I f@#kn luv it!!! All of it but most for Guardians of the Galaxy and that concept art is in the right direction, I couldn’t get enough of that last Guardians run. Edgar Wright on Ant-Man will be awesome!!! Winter Soldier!!! Holy shit yes!!! Another Ironman and Thor should be cool too, really like the Thor title. All this and Dark Knight Rises is out in a few days w a Man of Steel teaser, I still haven’t seen Spiderman….as I watch G4 SDCC coverage…….sensory overload!!!

  22. While this sounds cool and all, the Guardians of the Galaxy movie really doesnt’ do anything for me. I just don’t see why people like it. I am not saying that it is bad or anything, but I just don’t get it.

  23. Hopefully Disney doesn’t pull a John Carter and rename it “Guardians”

  24. Guardians of the Galaxy is our best shot in a while to see someone try and translate Kirby Krackle to film.

  25. Winter Soldier for the character & Ant-Man for Edgar Wright have got my attention. The others are not ringing my bell.

  26. While I am excited to see all of these movies, none of this is really big news is it? We all knew Iron Man 3, Thor 2, and Cap 2 were in development and all of this SDCC stuff is just giving us the titles really. Ant-Man is really the only surprise here and hopefully we can see some of that test footage soon.

    I’m not a huge Guardians fan but I will watch this movie to see if a cosmic movie can be done right. But I find it very hard to believe the average movie goer is going to be sold on a talking raccoon and a living tree. I’m imagining a lot of people going: “The fuck is this?….’ when the trailers start coming out.

    • I don’t know anything about the GotG, but I’m guessing that’s it’s going to be more of an all ages kid friendly presentation. Talking animals and trees just scream kids movie to me; not that adults couldn’t enjoy it, too.

    • Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

      Too soon to tell. I wouldn’t consider the DnA GotG series any more kid friendly than the contemporary Avengers books.

      And remember, Iron Man was not a house hold name before his first movie came out. That was a big gamble. The same for Thor, really. Have faith.

    • @triple: Considering this is all going to tie into Avengers 2 I doubt it’ll be very kid friendly….I mean Avengers was a pretty solid PG-13 movie that kids could watch. But I doubt it’s going to be ‘G’ type of film.

      @fuzzytypewriter: I get what you’re saying but still…..It’s a movie involving a talking raccoon (and let’s not forget they could add Cosmo the talking Russian Dog if they wanted too). Just imagining a raccoon going up to Chris Evans in Avengers 2 doesn’t sound very good…

    • Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

      I don’t think it’s any sillier than Star Wars and Avatar. The marketing is a challenge, sure. But if they use their momentum and enforce that Marvel Cinematic Universe brand, they can make this sing.

    • @fuzzytypewriter: Hit the nail on the head.

      This could be one of the toughest sells in movie history considering the characters involved.

      Although I hit on something big: RR voiced by Patrick Stewart?

    • Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

      Sky’s the limit.

    • Marvel Studios has gambled on all these films. It all started with the risk of Jon Favreau as an action director. If they think GotG can work then it’s they’re concern.

    • Star Wars man. Yoda and shit. Cosmic has been working for a long time.

  27. What are the chances we’ll eventually get Dr.Strange? It has magnificent potential for the silver screen.

    • Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

      I’d say quite possible. It’s been on several short lists.

    • If they do Dr. Strange I better hear Orpheus’s theme from Venture Bros in the trailer.

    • Dr Strange and even Cloak and Dagger could make excellent movies or TV shows if they keep it nice and supernatural.

    • @Paul good to know, it’s currently at the top of mine right now.
      @TheNextChampion I’m basically just wanting a Dr. Orpheus movie anyway. Every time I read Strange, the voice I hear is Orpheus now.
      @Wally I think Strange needs the movie sized budget to succeed, but Cloak and Dagger is perfect for TV.

    • @Max: I desperately want the line, “Who Wants Pizza Rolls!?” in the Dr. Strange movie.

    • @Wally@MaxPower Nah man. Strange would be great TV. Weekly monster and demon fodder is the best kinda tv there is. Strange is perfect for an anything goes show that is wildly different every episode.

  28. I want the Rock to play Drax & Bob Hoskins to voice Rocket Raccoon.

    • So, what you’re saying is you want this to fail right out of the gate. The Rock? Really? I mean, I get it from a meat-head perspective, but c’mon. Dude has no gravitas. At all.

    • You’re not a fan of the Rock, i take it? Meat head? Really? I don’t see that. Rock has a whole lot of charisma. I’m not looking for gravitas from Drax. He just has to be bad ass. Who would you suggest for Drax?

  29. I’m pretty meh for the most part. Well maybe Ant-Man with it being Edgar Wright.

    • Ah, yes, during his short, ill-conceived stint as the Wasp. Probably just so editorial could pair him with O’Grady for that dumb Ant-Man & Wasp mini to cash in with a nostalgia title.

    • Wow dude. If you haven’t read Dan Slotts Mighty Avengers you should. The reasoning for becoming Wasp and everything is in that series. Probably the best character study of Hank Pym around.

    • I’ve read it, and as a Spidey devotee, I worship at the altar of Slott. That said, I get why Hank did it any his motivations for doing so, but once Slott was off and Hank’s almost immediately thrown back into the Giant-Man/Ant-Man guise, I dunno, made it look like Marvel editorial or Christos Gage had no faith in that particular character arc and decided to wash their hands of it.

  30. I was a little worried about Marvel films after Avengers but it looks like they are making good decisions. The only worry I have is the Arrested Development directors doing Captain America because as far as I know they have just directed sitcoms.

    • They directed a buttload of Community episodes also.

      So they get geek cred.

      They directed You, Me and Dupree.

      Hmmm…I’m conflicted about this now.

  31. Yay Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay!

    Now all I hope for is some smaller movies. Iron Fist or Luke Cage want…

  32. Hmmm… the Winter soldier arc on screen? Yes please. Guardians of the Galaxy? Hell yes!

  33. This is all GREAT news for people sayings it “meh” or we “already knew” they were making sequels yeah we did but we all weren’t sure of the storylines and lineups sooo can we just all stop being so negative. Comics and Comic news doesn’t have to be followed up with negative comments ALL the time.

    GOTG can totally work, if Star Wars worked this can definitely work if done right and given some awesome voice actors.

    Brubakers winter solder adapted? COME ON amazing.

    Finally ant man 🙂

    and game of thrones/thor COME the fu** on this is all great news. I’m pretty happy with marvel right now, big thumbs up.

  34. Are we surprised that Nova isn’t in Guardians of the Galaxy? I haven’t read the recent comic (although it’s moved up on my to read list significantly), but I always assumed he was a part of that somehow.

    The idea of thousands of eager young actors in Hollywood frantically researching the roles of Rocket Raccoon and Groot really amuses me for some reason. “I really gotta be this tree guy!”

    Interesting that Marvel seems to be avoiding numbered sequels going forward as well.

    Anyway, super excited for all five of these (especially those last two!)

    Now to search for that test footage online…

  35. All great, but I’m most excited for Cap 2. Glad they’re not waiting too long to do the Winter Soldier story. Will a returned Red Skull be the bad guy, perhaps?

    • Baron Zemo!!! I love that they’re bringing in that perfect storyline to bring Cap up to date and Bucky did fall but not shown dead. Bucky with the sniper rifle shot was a hint at Winter Soldier I thought, Winter Soldier is a great title and plot for a Cap sequel.

  36. Wow! Guardians of the Galaxy, Winter Soldier and Ant-Man! When I saw this news posted on twitter last night, I confirmed it at Marvel.com and put it in the newscasts I was producing. 🙂

    Can’t wait for 2014!

  37. Wow. This is all great stuff.

    I still can’t believe we’re living in a world with characters like Rocket Racoon on the big screen. This is the kinda stuff we all used to dream about but knew would never happen. And yet here we are. It’s simply wonderful.

  38. I was hesitant about all these movies but the director from Kiss Kiss Bang Bang for Iron Man and a Game of Thrones-ey Thor has me excited. Though the directors for Cap seem weird since they are mostly known for comedies, but hey who knows.

  39. I’m still really shocked that Guardians is getting made. I’m sure they will promote the hell out of it and make it something cool. Outside of Rocket Racoon, i’ve never really heard of any of those characters and i’ m a comic reader. I’m sure it will be fun, and the Marvel Studios brand will carry a lot of weight with casual movie goers. I’m sure it will be awesome.

    Everything else sounds great.

    • I’m optimistic. Before Iron Man, Jon Favreau was an indie director with two “children” movies (Elf and Zathura) under his belt.

    • so am i. Its just seems like a really big risk. These characters aren’t household names by any stretch…but then again Pixar pulls off that exact same thing several times a year.

  40. so it looks like the line-up for the next avengers movie is captain america, iron man, thor, ant-man and…someone from guardians of the galaxy? maybe they’ll be bringing in rocket raccoon to match with the marvel now stuff that’s been going around…more likely they’re using guardians of the galaxy to introduce all of the celestial beings and adam warlock so that they’ll be ready for an infinity gauntlet (if thanos shows up in avengers 2). i still can’t see them going with an all male team for avengers 2. hopefully they’ll bring back black widow, but i was also really hoping to see the wasp and scarlet witch, too… plus there’d better be a hulk in avengers 2! this avengers team is getting to be pretty big for a movie.

  41. If Marvel had DC beat off of the finish-line before these movies……………DC might just want to pick up their ball and go home. #everythingafterdarkknightriseswillcontinuetofailforDC

  42. I’m stoked for Guardians, anyone have any recommendations for good cosmic marvel reads?

  43. I think I’m most excited about The Guardians of the Galaxy!!!!! GROOT!!!

  44. YESSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  45. Anybody notice the “Based on the Marvel comic book” above the GotG and Ant-Man logos? I LOVE that!!

  46. Hank Pym is one of my favorite characters but I don’t see how this is going to work out on film. But I do think Gaurdians of The Galaxy will work out well because of the success of Star Wars and other Sci-Fi movies.

  47. Does anyone read moviefone.com threads? I didn’t know until today it was officially owned or part of the Huffington Post and don’t know if I like that or not. Ariana Huffington has been a regular on Real Time With Bill Maher and pretty sure they disagree on most issues but maintain a healthy respect for one another. Anyway, I never comment anywhere but here on well almost anything, (Facebook/twitter once in awhile) but checked it out today cause I wanted to see some movie showing times and couldn’t help but notice the numerous SDCC articles/threads and then read a cpl of them and realized why I usually don’t, more pessimism and haters on they’re with the most narrow minded of opinions collectively anywhere on the internet I’ve seen. A few obvious comic fan optimistic comments but mostly trash talk and what I don’t get from people who don’t care about Ant-Man or Guardians of the Galaxy, why hate on it? If you don’t like it or even care about it, don’t watch it and stop worrying about what comic movie is being made if they’re not your cup o’ tea. Right? Anyone feel me on this?