A little over a week ago we learned that the film rights to Daredevil had reverted back to Marvel Studios and there was much rejoicing. While I'm sure Marvel has plenty of other characters to work with for their films I bet they are very happy to have one of their characters returning to its home.
Three additional superheroes have packed their bags and are heading back to Marvel as well. EW has learned and confirmed with Marvel Studios production president Kevin Feige that the film rights to the Punisher, Blade and Ghost Rider have been returned to Marvel. This news appears in the newest print addition of EW and Comic Book Movie was helpful enough to acquire this information. Feige also revealed that Phase 3 hasn't been mapped out yet and they are interested in using characters that have not been used before in Marvel's cinematic universe. However, that doesn't mean it's a guarantee that we'll immediately be seeing these superheroes in a future film.
Whenever a character comes back to us, it's usually because the other studios don't want to make the movies anymore – and that usually means the [previous] movies may not have been particularly well received," Feige said. "They all have potential, but we're not going to say, 'We got it back – make it!'"
Feige has a very valid point but Marvel isn't any studio and it's not like they're doing just stand-alone superhero films. Having the rights back means that even if Marvel isn’t sure about doing a solo film with any of these characters they could always have them make a cameo to help gauge people’s interest in the superhero and see if they warrant a new film.
And maybe it's just a coincidence but three out of the four newly acquired characters were a part of the Marvel Knights imprints. Would it surprise you if Marvel was building up to do a series of Marvel Knights films before teaming the characters up in one film, similar to what they did with Phase 1 and THE AVENGERS? Obviously I'm just grasping at straws but it's an exciting time to be a comic book fan and this boy feels like dreaming big.
Marvel's Phase 2 kicks off TODAY with IRON MAN 3.