Marvel announces Phase Three plans, Captain America: Civil War, and more!

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Marvel have now outlined their ambitious plans for the next several years in a major announcement for Phase Three that seems poised to rival DC and Warner Bros ambitious slate through 2020. We have titles for all of the upcoming sequels to GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, THOR, CAPTAIN AMERICA, and two more AVENGERS movies along with the formal announcements of CAPTAIN MARVEL, DOCTOR STRANGE, and BLACK PANTHER. See the full story below.

Marvel is currently liveblogging an event in Los Angeles at the El Capitan Theater. We will update this story as reveals are made.

First up from Kevin Feige comes the news that CAPTAIN AMERICA 3 will now be known as CAPTAIN AMERICA: SERPENT SOCIETY. The film will be released on May 6, 2016. They also have formally announced Scott Derrickson is directing DOCTOR STRANGE set for release on November 4, 2016. Also, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2 from director James Gunn will hit May 5, 2017, moving up from the originally announced slot at the end of that summer.

July 28, 2017 will see the release of THOR: RAGNAROK! Exciting news that many have theorized since THOR: THE DARK WORLD hit theaters! November 3, 2017 will now be the release date for BLACK PANTHER! We have confirmation! July 6, 2018 will see the debut of CAPTAIN MARVEL. Feige also confirms it will be the character of Carol Danvers.

November 2, 2018 will be the INHUMANS movie, but the big reveal is that May 4, 2018 will in fact be AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR. A trailer was shown to the crowd which will hopefully be online soon. As a bonus, AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR will be split into two films, one released on May 4, 2018 and the second on May 3, 2019.

Joss Whedon was on hand to debut a new scene from AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, one that differs from anything shown before or what will be debuting tonight on AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.

Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr appear to confirm that CAPTAIN AMERICA 3 is not SERPENT SOCIETY but what we all theorized! CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR! We also now know that Chadwick Boseman is locked in to play Black Panther along with our first look at concept art for his costume. No confirmation on Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange. Feige claims only finalize details were announced today. Their original plan was to make this news back at San Diego Comic Con, but they were not ready.

Feige confirms that Black Panther is a major player in CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR and will appear in the film. He did add that writer and director for CAPTAIN MARVEL will be announced soon but casting is still a long way off. Feige indicates that the big screen CIVIL WAR will differ greatly from the comics and also that there are still no plans for a standalone Hulk film, yet. But, Hulk will be a character in AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR.

Feige was also asked about the rumors that Spider-man may be built into the Marvel Cinematic Universe to which he replied it is “either not true or not ready to be announced yet”. Hmm, take that for what it is worth. Feige also danced around whether we would see small screen characters on the big screen by saying TV is “it’s own department”.

The question was asked about RUNAWAYS and Feige says he likes the script but it isn’t ready yet. Discussions have been had about RUNAWAYS as a contender for both big screen and TV treatment.