This week at Disney’s D23 Expo, Marvel fans got a first look at two new upcoming Marvel films from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that being Captain America: Civil War and Doctor Strange.
First to be introduced to the fans was Doctor Strange by Marvel Studios’ president Kevin Feige. “The goal is to continue expanding what a comic book movie is, what the Marvel Cinematic Universe is. The comics traverse these dimensions, and film by film, we try to do that in a cinematic way”, he said, introducing the upcoming film.
Stephen Strange is set to be played by British actor Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, The Imitation Game, Star Trek: Into Darkness). The concept art – which has not yet been released to the public – shows Cumberbatch in a costume very similar to that of the comics (pictured below), rather than muted colors that we’ve seen in previous MCU films. However, we’re far from receiving footage of the film, since production only begins in November.
Moving on to the introduction of Civil War, the audience got to see a trailer of the film which showcased fan favorites such as Iron Man, Captain America and Black Widow. New characters introduced in the film including Crossbones and Black Panther, both of whom were briefly introduced in previous Marvel Cinematic Universe films (Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Age of Ultron). Also featured in the film are Falcon, Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier, Ant-man, War Machine, Hawkeye, the Vision, and Scarlet Witch. No word of a Quicksilver resurrection, but there is always hope.
The Civil War storyline focuses around a Superhuman Registration Act – a legislative bill that requires the registration of every person with super powers. Tony Stark thought the Act to be reasonable for heroes to have “proper training”, whereas Captain America believed that heroes needed to maintain a level of secrecy, in order to keep up a normal life.
A character who hasn’t been featured in the trailer – or in any confirmed statements for that matter – is the famous web slinger, soon to be played by Tom Holland, who plays a pivotal role in the original comics. The series published in 2006 shows how Spider-man was convinced by Iron Man (pro-registration) to reveal his identity to the public, but later switches sides and joins Captain America (anti-registration).
The film adaptation will allegedly feature Black Panther as a third party, a character who doesn’t take the side of either Captain America or Iron Man, but will still have a major role in the film.
Doctor Strange is scheduled to be released on November 4, 2016, while Captain America: Civil War (or rather, Avengers 2.5) will release on May 6, 2016.
