The Avengers: Endgame is going to be one of the final movies of the third phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Only Spiderman: Far from home is left.
And while I loved watching Avengers: Endgame, I can’t help but wonder what’s next in store for one of my favorite cinematic universes of all time.But other than that we have no clue.
Kevin Feige, head honcho of Marvel Studios and architect of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has said that the next phase will be Marvel Cosmic. And I believe that the Cosmic Phase has actually already started.
Think about it: Captain Marvel was set against a Kree vs Skrull Background. The Guardians of the Galaxy, that’s a no brainer. Avengers: Infinity War, we get to see Iron Man and Spiderman going into space. We see Thanos traveling to several planets on and off-screen such as Titan, Xandar (off-screen) and Zen-Whoberi (Gamora’s homeplanet). We are also introduced to more alien species through the Black Order, Thanos henchmen. Thor: Ragnarok was set in the world of Sakaar and Asgard.
I believe that that laid the foundation for the Marvel Cosmic plan and it will be expanded. So what stories can be used as a reference? Well, I am glad you asked.
The Kree / Skrull war
The recently released movie Captain Marvel was set against the Kree / Skrull war background. However, all we saw were the refugees who didn’t want to do be a part of it. The real war is still being fought and that’s where I think we have a story for a movie.
The Kree / Skrull War was written by none other than Roy Thomas and illustrated by Sal Buscema and Neal Adams. The story is known for its’ and allegory and metaphors such as Joseph McCarthy and the HUAC. The term McCarthyism comes from the name and stands for unsubstantiated accusations and panic mongering. Which would suit the current political climate very well.
Operation Galactic Storm with the Avengers
Operation Galactic Storm was written in the wake of Operation Desert Storm. Although it takes its’ title from the infamous operation, it features none of its’ aspects. It does however feature the war between the Kree and the Shi’ar Empire. And in many ways this story was a sequel the previously mentioned Kree / Skrull War.
In fact we have seen parts of this already featured in the Captain Marvel movie with the Kree looking for a superweapon that was developed by Mar-vell. This makes me think that Captain Marvel laid out the groundwork for the Marvel Cosmic Phase.
In the comics, The Avengers get in the middle of the fight between the two heavyweight empires.
While we saw Skrulls in the movie, just remember that these were Skrull refugees and that the real battle is still to come.
Annihilation
Annihilus wants to take over The Positive Universe. He already rules the Negative Zone but why stick to that when you can have the Positive one too.
This comic features Annihilus, who is primarily a Fantastic Four villain. He is the ruler of the Negative Zone by using is Cosmic Control Rod.
Annihiliation would be an interesting one. Infinity War brought us the sad news that Xandar was destroyed by Thanos for the Power Stone. The Power stone was guarded by the Nova Corps. Now with Nova Corps destroyed, it’d be the perfect opportunity to have a sole survivor named Richard Ryder, also known as the superhero Nova. But it could also lay the groundwork for the heralds of Galactus before bringing in Galactus. Heralds such as the Silver Surfer.
Other reasons for Annihilation to be used for potential movies would be: The introduction of The Fantastic Four, Galactus and his heralds. Especially Silver Surfer.
Secret Wars
The Beyonder made his big entrance in the Marvel Universe back in the 1980s.
A cosmic entity called the Beyonder observes the mainstream Marvel universe. Fascinated by the presence of superheroes on Earth and their potential, this entity chooses a group of both heroes and supervillains and teleports characters against their will to “Battleworld,” a planet created by the Beyonder in a distant galaxy. This world has also been stocked with alien weapons and technology. The Beyonder then declares: “I am from beyond! Slay your enemies and all that you desire shall be yours! Nothing you dream of is impossible for me to accomplish!”
The heroes include The Avengers, The Fantastic Four , The X-men and quite a few solo heroes such as Spiderman, Spider-woman and The Hulk. Oh and Deadpool was there too apparently but because the Wasp made a mistake, the rest forgot he was there.
Secret Wars has a bit of controversial history. It was originally created to boost toy sales and thus toy companies asked for an event that would draw in a large audience so that the toymakers could build themes around that.
This is what Jim Shooter, editor-in-chief of Marvel back then had to say about it:
Kenner had licensed the DC Heroes, and Mattel had He-Man, but wanted to hedge in case superheroes became the next big fad. They were interested in Marvel’s characters, but only if we staged a publishing event that would get a lot of attention, and they could build a theme around. Fans, especially young fans often suggested to me “one big story with all the heroes and all the villains in it,” so I proposed that. It flew. Mattel thought that kids responded well to the word “secret,” so after a couple of working names bit the dust, we called the story “Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars.”
We went through a number of ideas for names for the toy line and series. Mattel’s focus group tests indicated that kids reacted positively to the words ‘wars’ and ‘secret’. Okay.
Mattel had a number of other requirements. Doctor Doom, they said, looked too medieval. His armor would have to be made more high-tech. So would Iron Man’s, because their focus groups indicated that kids reacted positively…etc. Okay.
They also said there had to be new fortresses, vehicles and weapons because they wanted playsets, higher price point merchandise and additional play value. Okay.
When time came to actually do it, I realized that only I could write it.
