There are a number of movies scheduled for release in the future that I am excited about seeing. With this post I am going to cover the future Marvel movies that are firmly on the schedule that I am looking forward to seeing. These movies include the following:

Iron Man 2 (7 May 2010)

Thor (6 May 2011)

The First Avenger: Captain America (22 July 2011)

The Avengers (4 May 2012)

Other Marvel movies that are in the works that I am not particularly excited about include Spider-Man 4 and Ghost Rider 2 (which I have heard is likely to be made), both of which are following up movies that did not really entertain me too much before (ie. the last Spider-Man movie, which was a big disappointment for me, and the first Ghost Rider movie -bleh). Funny that the least interesting future Marvel movies are ones not produced by Marvel itself, eh?

IRON MAN 2

I am really looking forward to this one given how well the first Iron Man movie was. With this sequel, Robert Downey Jr. and most of the other principle cast members will be back to further develope their characters. We will probably get to see Tony stark further develop and refine his armor and also get to see some new villains like Whiplash and Justin Stane. Also we will get to see another possible future Avenger – the Black Widow, and get our first glimpse of War Machine. If they follow the first film in sneaking in a teaser at the end of the credits it would be neat to see another future film or character lead up hinted at.

THOR

Some might think of this upcoming Thor movie as less of a draw given the lower profile of the film’s leading character. Marvel comics version of the mythological character Thor is the star of his own monthly book and has recently enjoyed a renewed popularity with readers. The movie version of the character will be directed by Kenneth Branagh and could possibly hook fans of the more mystical movies such as Lord Of The Rings, etc. depending on how Branagh chooses to develop or play out the story. I am not really familiar with Chris Hemsworth’s body of work so far so my feelings about him as the lead are pretty much neutral for this film.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

This is one that I am really curious about. the possibilities are here for a really good Captain America movie to be made: they have a capable director in Joe Johnston, and a decent cast with the choice of Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America and Hugo Weaving as the villainous Red Skull. Of course Johnston does seem to have a reputation of being somewhat ‘hit or miss’ with his past projects, with his most recent effort, The Wolfman, meeting with mixed reviews. Will be interesting to follow the progress of this one…

AVENGERS

Well this future Avengers movie is the one that really has me hopeful – that really has me excited. Of all the future Marvel projects in the works, this is the movie that it has all been leading up to. By the time work starts on this film, it will have pretty much cast itself, what with almost all of the major characters of the movie being already established in the previous films, from the first Iron Man movie, to the Incredible Hulk film, and the others yet to be released. It has been suggested that Loki might be the key villain of the piece which would be appropriate seeing as how he was the principle villain of the very first issue of the Avengers comicbook waayy back in the 1960s. even that villain (Loki) will have been previously used in the upcoming Thor movie before he would appear in the Avengers. Recent rumour has suggested that Ed Norton might be open to reprising his role as Doctor Bruce Banner/The hulk from the last Hulk movie. that would be more potential good news for me since I was a fan of his performance in the Incredible Hulk movie.

Well there you have it; over the next couple of years there are a few escapist movies coming out from Marvel itself that I am excited about and (I believe) for good reason. Marvel took a gamble on deciding to effectively go it alone with their future movie projects and it looks like their gamble might be paying off for them big time in the years to come.