On Monday night, Marvel Studios treated members of the press to a screening of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” at Marvel Studios’ headquarters on the Disney lot in Burbank. You’ll have to wait until April 24th to find out what we thought about the movie, but we can tell you plenty about the highlights from the studio tour Marvel held before the screening.
Among the highlights, we saw the first ever footage of “Black Panther,” a look at concept art from “Ant-Man and the Wasp” and got some interesting, if vague hints about the future of both the “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Spider-Man” franchises.
There was a lot to unpack, so we’ve broken it down for you in bite sized chunks. Read on to see the ten coolest things we saw during our Studio visit.
1) Marvel Studios will return to Hall H this summer for Comic Con
Nervous fanboys were bit worried that Marvel Studios wouldn’t return to Hall H this summer at San Diego Comic-Con. Disney’s D23 happens the week before in Anaheim, and the last time the mouse house had its own convention the same month as Comic-Con (2015), Marvel skipped the big show in San Diego entirely.
But this time, Marvel plans to do both. TheWrap asked Marvel Studios President Kevin Fiege directly about the company’s Comic-Con plans, and he confirmed Marvel will in fact be back to promote it’s wares at Hall H. Though he didn’t actually say what they’ll be promoting. The safe best seem to be advanced looks at “Captain Marvel,” “Avengers: Infinity War,” “Thor: Ragnarok,” and “Black Panther” which wraps principal photography in two days.
2) Marvel Studios won’t be chasing after the R-rated success of “Deadpool” and “Logan”
Kevin Feige says that despite the success of “Deadpool” and “Logan” for20th Century Fox, Marvel Studios isn’t planning to start churning out R-rated films of its own. But, he said, that’s only because focusing on the films’ ratings misses the point.
“My takeaway from both of those films is not the R rating, it’s the risk they took, the chances they took, the creative boundaries that they pushed,” Feige said. “That should be the takeaway for everyone.”
“I also believe that laughter is the way you hook the audience,” Feige added. “Then you can scare them. Then you can touch them deeper than they were expecting to in a film about a tree and a raccoon and aliens that don’t understand metaphors. Humor is the secret in into the audience’s other ranges of emotions.”
Joss Whedon is a mensch. Feige said that Whedon, who directed both “The Avengers” and its sequel “Age of Ultron” contacted him before the decision was made public. “He called. A couple months ago, which he didn’t have to do and was super cool of him and super nice of him… And we couldn’t be more supportive. We want to see a Joss Whedon ‘Batgirl’ film be awesome.
4) Kevin Feige thinks Thanos actor Josh Brolin will crush it as Cable in “Deadpool 2”
Jaws dropped when it was announced last week that Josh Brolin, the actor who plays the Mad Titan Thanosin the MCU, including the upcoming “Avengers: Infinity War,” will play time traveling mutant Cable in “Deadpool 2.” Feige was asked if there was an issue or there was non-competes in their contracts to which he responded, “We don’t have anything written into our contracts about other roles that people can do,” said Feige. “Indiana Jones and Han Solo are [played by] the same person … it hasn’t been a problem. And I think Thanos and Cable are two very different characters.”
Feige feels confident Brolin will excel in the role. “I think he’ll make one hell of a Cable,” Feige said.
P.S.: We were also showed concept art of what Thanos will look like in “Infinity War.”
5) First Look at Brie Larson as Carol Danvers in costume as “Captain Marvel”
Marvel execs gave us the very first look at Brie Larson as Carol Danvers in her “Captain Marvel” uniform. The Captain Marvel costume is absolutely incredible and comic-book accurate. The costume is an updated take to what Kelly Sue DeConnick did with “Captain Marvel” in the 2012/13 Marvel comic run.
Andy Park, Marvel Studios Visual Development Supervisor/Lead Character Concept Artist, pointed out that the costume is still evolving and Larson has not yet tried on the design featured in the concept art images.
Sidenote: One of the concept art images featured Danvers fighting what looks like Kree Sentry Robots.
6) James Gunn’s relationship with Marvel Studios may continue beyond “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”
James Gunn had already announced he’ll be returning to write and direct ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3’ hours before Marvel’s open house, but Feige hinted that the relationship could extend well past that film.
“I think James in particular has an amazing connection with these characters and with this cosmic world. So he, I think, could easily oversee additional stories beyond Vol. 3,” Feige said. “And I think has them and just continues to come up with them, which is cool. All of our core writers and filmmakers know what we are doing in other places and help give input on the various projects.”
Worth noting that Gunn also says “Guardians” will set up the next ten years of storytelling for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If so, having him stick around will probably be helpful.
7) A scorching hot “Black Panther” sizzle reel
The first stop on the tour of Marvel Studios was the first sizzle reel for “Black Panther,” and yes, it sizzled. Primarily focused on the journey key characters take to coronation of Black Panther/T’Challa’s (Chadwick Boseman) as king of Wakanda, the reel also included some funny character interplay and some stunning action too.
One scene saw T’Challa and ally Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) trading one-liners with villain Ulysses Klau (Andy Serkis): “Well, you brought quite the entourage, do you have a mixtape coming out?” “Oh yeah, I’ll actually send you link.”
However, the standout scene featured Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), a member of T’Challa’s personal bodyguards, as she single-handedly takes out a group of armed assailants somewhere in the jungle (presumably Wakanda).
Notably absent from the footage was the villain Erik Killmonger, played by “Creed” star Michael B. Jordan. Though Jordan did pop up for an interview after the sizzle reel ended.
8) Korg from the “Planet Hulk” Marvel comics run will be featured in “Thor: Ragnarok.”
“Thor: Ragnarok” director Taika Watiti showed up in person to announce that he’ll be appearing in his own film in the role of comic book fan favorite character “Korg.” Introduced in the “Planet Hulk” storyline on which “Ragnarok” is partly based, Korg is a member of the Kronan race who fights alongside the Hulk during “Planet Hulk” and later becomes a crucial friend of the not so jolly green giant.
Watiti showed offearly designs, visual effects animation tests, and movement tests for the character, who looks a lot like The Thing from Marvel’s “Fantastic Four” franchise. “Being so big he’s a slugger, he’s not very graceful,” said Waititi. “He sort of hits hard.”
9) Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is in “Avengers: Infinity War”and (whew) Marvel Studios has no involvement in the Venom spinoffs.
Shocking no one, Feige confirmed that in addition to a planned sequel to “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” the Spider-Man will appear in the next two “Avengers” films.
But is that it? “That’s as far as it goes for now,” said Feige. Paranoid readers might remember that back in March during Cinemacon, former Sony head Amy Pascal implied during an interview that Spider-Man’s time in the MCU might end after the sequel to “Homecoming.” But before you start sweating, bear in mind that at the time, a source with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap bluntly that Pascal’s assertions were not true.
Of course Sony is, for now at least, moving forward with it’s own Spider-Man-related films, one focused on the anti-hero Venom, and one featuring a team up between Silver Sable and Black Cat. But Feige confirms those films will have nothing to do with the Marvel cinematic universe, or with the latest incarnation of Spider-Man. “We had a very particular plan about Spidey himself,” Feige said when asked why Marvel wasn’t involved in Sony’s projects with those characters.
10) Marvel revealed a look at new concept art from “Ant-Man and the Wasp.”
Last but not least, director Peyton Reed was on hand to personally show off new costume designs for Ant-Man, Giant-Man, and the Wasp as they’ll appear in 2018’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” along with some new concept art.
One bit of concept art showed Ant-Man and the Wasp escaping a dog while miniaturized. Another showed Giant-Man in the city streets. But Reed also showed off two iterations of the flying Wasp suit, one of which was a major clue about the plot of the film.
The first, will be worn by Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lily) and appears largely the same as the costume shown in the post-credits scene of 2015’s Ant-Man, with some minor touches. But the other? It was the older version worn by Hope’s mother, Janet van Dyne, in Ant-Man backstory. It looks like that film may see the heroes rescuing Janet from the Quantum Realm after all.
All 61 Marvel Movies Ranked, Including 'Shang-Chi'
This year will end up bringing us five (5) new Marvel movies, but somehow we're just getting started. "Shang-Chi" is the second after "Black Widow" -- let's see how it stacks up against all the previous theatrically released Marvel movies, both inside and outside the MCU.
61. "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer"
Just a nightmare. A total nightmare. There have been a number of bad superhero movies, but from the talking gas cloud the filmmakers cast as Galactus to Jessica Alba's dye job, this one transcends bad.
60. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine"
A totally chaotic stir fry of nonsense that tells the story of how Wolverine got his claws. Features an early version of Deadpool (also played by Ryan Reynolds) whose mouth is stapled shut, which should tell you all you need to know about it.
59. "Elektra"
That five minutes when they tried to turn Jennifer Garner into an action star went about as well as it should have.
58. "X-Men: The Last Stand"
Just a total mess, incoherent from the word "go." After losing director of the first two X-Men films Brian Singer to the first Superman reboot attempt, replacement Matthew Vaughn gave way to eventual director Brett Ratner, who might have killed off the superhero genre entirely were "Spider-Man" not blowing up the box office.
57. "Fantastic Four" (2015)
There could maybe have been a good movie in here somewhere -- the cast (Michael B Jordan, Miles Teller, Kate Mara) certainly warranted one. But this Frankenstein of a film is a behind-the-scenes horror story, and you can see it in the totally disjointed final product.
56. "Daredevil"
This was basically "Early-2000s: The Movie," with Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Colin Farrell and Michael Clark Duncan as the main players. The cherry on top of this turd sundae was that damn Evanescence song.
55. "Fantastic Four" (2005)
Tim Story's first "Fantastic Four" is just sort of there, challenging you to remember it exists. With Chris Evans, who played the Human Torch here, going on to embody Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that gets tougher every year.
54. "The Punisher" (2004)
This is the Punisher as a straight revenge thriller, and it's not bad. Thomas Jane performs admirably, but the whole thing is missing that extra something that would have elevated it beyond standard genre fare. Setting it in Tampa didn't help.
53. "Spider-Man 3"
Maybe the bad outweighs the good here, but Emo Peter Parker's dance number remains one of the greatest single moments in any comic book movie, sorry, haters.
52. "Howard the Duck"
A notorious flop at the box office and, yeah, it's not exactly "good." But now, 30 years removed from its premiere, "Howard the Duck" is pretty fun as a relic of the '80s.
51. "The Punisher" (1989)
Dolph Lundgren and Louis Gossett Jr. star in a low-rent '80s grunge C-level classic. This one's all novelty value.
50. "Ghost Rider"
For a movie starring Nic Cage about a dude who rides a Harley and turns into a flaming skeleton, this is a surprisingly mundane movie.
49. "The Amazing Spider-Man"
We may never figure out what went wrong with Marc Webb's Spider-Man duology, but his choice of Andrew Garfield to play Peter Parker is still brilliant. It just sucks that this movie doesn't really make any sense.
48. "X-Men"
The beginning of the current wave of theatrical superhero movies, "X-Men" was kind of a cheapie and it showed. Novel at the time, now it just comes off as unremarkable mid-budget action fare as Fox was merely sticking its toe in the superhero waters. Timid.
47. "The Incredible Hulk"
It's sometimes hard to remember that this one counts as part of the MCU, since it placed Ed Norton in the Dr. Banner role since inhabited by Mark Ruffalo in the "Avengers" films. It's also hard to remember because it's generally not memorable.
46. "Thor"
The fantasy Marvel movie is directed by Kenneth Branagh, who covers the whole movie in canted angle shots and theatrical stylings. It's pretty boring, also, but at least it looks cool.
45. "The Amazing Spider-Man 2"
More of the same impossible-to-follow hack-n'-slash plotting from the previous movie, offset by Andrew Garfield continuing to be awesome and Jamie Foxx going way over the top as the big bad.
44. "Thor: The Dark World"
"The Dark World," in contrast to the first "Thor" movie, is certainly not boring. If anything, it suffers the opposite problem, going so hard and fast that it loses substance.
43. "Blade: Trinity"
Starring a pre-Deadpool Ryan Reynolds basically playing a vampire-slaying Deadpool, throwing out one-liners like his mama's life depended on it, this may not a "good" movie, but it sure is fun.
42. "X2: X-Men United"
A big step up from the first "X-Men" both in production values and quality, it still lacks much in the way of energy. Which is inexcusable when you've got Alan Cumming as the teleporting mutant Nightcrawler all over your movie.
41. "Spider-Man"
Sam Raimi truly assembled the prototypical superhero movie with this first entry in the "Spider-Man" franchise, in 2002. Like "X-Men" before it, "Spider-Man" is a bit underwhelming today, but unlike "X-Men" it was proud of its nerd roots.
40. "X-Men: Apocalypse"
Could have been a bizarre ironic summer classic if it were structured like a real movie and had any character development whatsoever. Instead it's just a shot of visual adrenaline that I'll probably want to revisit at some point -- but not when I'm sober
39. "Avengers: Age of Ultron"
"Ultron" is frustrating for what it lacks -- chiefly the feeling that it's advancing the overall story arc of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But as with the first "Avengers" movie its weaknesses are overcome by great character work.
38. "The Avengers"
The story is a total mess, relying heavily on moviegoers' memories of previous MCU films (if you didn't remember or know coming in what the Tesseract was, hoo boy). But the novelty of the Marvel's first big superhero team-up was irresistible, and director Joss Whedon balanced his ensemble expertly, giving everyone plenty to do so none of them ever fades into the background.
37. "Blade"
Pure B-movie trash, which is fine because that's precisely what it aims for: bloody, crass, awesome. Blade, by the way, remains the only black comic book character besides Shaquille O'Neal's "Steel" to get his/her own movie, though Marvel's "Black Panther" is slated for a 2018 release.
36. "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance"
For the sequel, they tapped the "Crank" director duo known as Neveldine/Taylor. It was an inspired choice, because "Spirit of Vengeance" was exactly as nutty as you'd hope a PG-13 comic book movie would be. Shame that it was apparently stressful enough to break up the tandem of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor.
35. "Captain America: The First Avenger"
A lot of folks like to complain that all superhero movies are the same. But this was actually a pretty good World War II movie, too.
34. "Guardians of the Galaxy"
Plot-wise, it never really adds up to anything, but the strength of the cast and the bizarre world they explore more than make up for it.
33. "The New Mutants"
It's an absolutely serviceable little piece of entertainment, and there's a lot of novelty in its overall strange vibe. But after years of delays and reshoots you can definitely feel the hand of the focus group a bit too much.
32. "Blade 2"
Beloved nerd Guillermo del Toro took over for this one and ramped everything up to 11. More vampires, more blood, more people getting sliced up -- and of course baddies whose jaws can split open and swallow a person's head whole.
31. "Big Hero 6"
Disney Animation Studios made a Marvel movie, and it's really sweet. Sure, it's the kiddie version of Marvel, but that doesn't prevent it from being a wholly satisfying experience.
30. "Captain Marvel"
It’s fine, but “Captain Marvel” feels like a movie from before Marvel Studios really hit its stride in Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Right now it’s a movie that seems very much out of place.
29. "Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2"
An improvement on the first film, and an absolute delight from moment to moment -- but it never quite coalesces into a coherent whole because so many subplots distract from the core story and rob it of its emotional impact. Would be a top 5 comic book movie if it had just reigned in the plot.
28. "Iron Man"
It was Robert Downey Jr.'s reemergence on the big screen, and he's flawless in this origin story that takes Tony Stark from billionaire playboy weapons manufacturer to billionaire playboy other-things manufacturer.
27. "Avengers: Endgame"
This movie is, frustratingly, far from perfect. In fact, it’s kind of a huge mess. But it’s also awesome and thrilling and hilarious and contains some individual moments that are perfect. I wish it was better, but with everything required of a movie that exists to wrap up 21 movies’ worth of story arcs, I’m glad it’s as good as it is.
26. "Hulk"
In 2003 the modern wave of superhero movies was still in its infancy, and Ang Lee -- still the best filmmaker to do a comic book movie -- got experimental with "Hulk." And what he made was an incredible melodrama with visual stylings meant to ape comic book panels. It didn't sit well with audiences, but "Hulk" remains one of the most compelling and interesting Marvel movies to date.
25. "The Wolverine"
This was, like, just a legitimately enjoyable melodramatic action movie. Sure, it turns into a video game boss battle by the end, but for most of its running time it's just an actual movie.
24. "Punisher: War Zone"
Whereas the previous "Punisher" movie was melodramatic and contemplative, this one is just murderous. And it's awesome.
23. "Venom"
How can anybody resist the pull of Tom Hardy doing comedy? This movie knows exactly what it's trying to be, and what it's trying to be is dumb and fun and nothing else. And it is extremely fun.
22. "X-Men: Days of Future Past"
Its time travel logic is a bit iffy, but "Days of Future Past" is still tremendously entertaining because, while epic, it's not overly serious. As "Back to the Future" taught us long ago, you can get away with a lot of logical leaps if you strike the right tone.
21. "Iron Man 2"
Swaps Terrence Howard for Don Cheadle, while Mickey Rourke breaks cars with laser whips. Who knows what was going on in this movie, but it was almost OK anyway.
20. "Deadpool"
In the angsty and angry times we live in, "Deadpool" is perfect. Aggressively violent and flippantly meanspirited, it's the exact emotional release we needed.
19. "X-Men: Dark Phoenix"
The main series "X-Men" movies have never achieved any sort of greatness, but at least "Dark Phoenix" ends the whole thing with one of the best efforts of the bunch. And that sequence on the train in the third act is easily the best action sequence of these movies.
18. "Spider-Man: Far From Home"
It’s frustrating that it doesn’t really deal with the immense fallout from “Avengers: Endgame,” but it’s still as visually creative as any movie in the MCU, and Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio is an all-timer of a villain. Dude goes all the way out in this.
17. "X-Men: First Class"
The first "X-Men" movie that could be described as "fun." It's basically two movies crammed into one, story-wise, but director Matthew Vaughn's touch is so breezy and enjoyable that it totally works anyway, thanks in large part to a brilliant cast that includes Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and James McAvoy.
16. "Shang-Chi"
There's some amount of "bit off more than they could chew" with this one because there is so much stuff we've never heard of that needs explaining -- the classic origin story problem. But the action is unbelievable, and probably the best and most interesting we've seen in the MCU in that regard. If they can hold on to director Destin Daniel Cretton I bet the second movie, unburdened from those standard first movie issues, is gonna rip.
15. "Spider-Man: Homecoming"
Not quite the best "Spider-Man" movie, but still an absolute delight, with a cast full of scene stealers. Michael Keaton as the Vulture makes for one of the best Marvel villains ever.
14. "Deadpool 2"
While you may get whiplash from the "Deadpool" sequel's occasional very serious and emo scenes, the rest of the movie is thoroughly delightful, somehow managing to be even funnier -- and more hilariously violent -- than the original.
13. "Ant-Man"
"Ant-Man" represented a first for the MCU by being a straight-up comedy. And it's a very good one, with a cast that's perfectly suited for it. Aside from Paul Rudd who plays Ant-Man himself, Michael Pena is the true standout as Scott Lang's best friend and former cellmate.
12. "Ant-Man and the Wasp"
It's ever so slightly frustrating that this one doesn't fully integrate into the "Infinity War" situation, but even so it's thoroughly a delight. Evangeline Lilly is so good at the Wasp that I'm retroactively irritated that she didn't don the suit in the previous "Ant-Man" movie.
11. "Doctor Strange"
If it weren't hamstrung with all the requisite elements of an origin story, "Doctor Strange" might have been the best Marvel movie ever. That's the power of the astonishing visual imagination on display here. People love to talk about the nebulous concept of capturing some long lost childlike sense of wonder though the magic of cinema -- "Doctor Strange" is one of the only movies I've watched as an adult that really accomplishes that.
10. "Spider-Man 2"
This is a movie that fully understands its main character and taps into what made him such a captivating figure for so long. Yeah, Peter Parker's a superhero, but he's also a college kid working a minimum wage job to make rent while also taking university physics classes. Peter buckles under the pressure, something we can all relate to.
9. "Iron Man 3"
As far as I'm concerned this is the "Iron Man" movie. Somehow, Shane Black was able to infiltrate the MCU and make a legitimate Shane Black movie with all the wit and raw humanity you'd expect from him. It carries exactly the sort of authorial identity we should want all these movies to have.
8. "Thor: Ragnarok"
A thorough delight. This might be the most fun we had at the movies in all of 2017, and so we can't help but love it.
7. "Captain America: Civil War"
Multiply the two previous best Marvel movies by one another and you get "Civil War." It packs the sort of emotional payoff all the disconnected Marvel movies can't really provide. And as an action film it's easily the best of the superhero genre.
6. "Avengers: Infinity War"
You could certainly make the argument that "Infinity War" does not really hold up on as a complete movie on its own, because it kinda begins with the second act. But I don't care. The culmination of this ten-year shared universe experiment should stand on the shoulders of the movies that came before it. The fact that it packs such a profound emotional punch, however, is what really makes it work.
5. "Black Widow"
Natasha's long-overdue solo is held back a little by some fully unnecessary trademark Marvel CGI nonsense, but otherwise this film has a vibe that is fully it's own thing. It does away with the Marvel house style, aside from in two big action sequences, in favor of a low-key indie look that feels so much more intimate than any previous MCU flick.
4. "Black Panther"
It's held back a little by being saddled with standard "origin movie" issues -- introducing audiences to the world of Wakanda isn't a quick and easy task, and it could use an extra 15-20 minutes to flesh out the supporting characters -- but still manages to be the most substantial superhero movie ever. It's kind of amazing that Disney let writer/director Ryan Coogler make this overt a political statement -- it's the most openly political mega-budget movie I've ever seen . Also, while I'm listing superlatives: Michael B Jordan delivers the best performance ever in a superhero movie. Good lord.
3. "Logan"
James Mangold's small-scale western is a game changer for the entire superhero genre, daring to defy pretty much standard by which you expect these movies to operate. It's just a great movie by any normal standard. Where "Civil War" elevated the genre, "Logan" opts instead to be something else entirely and we're all the better for it.
2. "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse"
The best superhero movies, and movies in general, are the ones that are truly most human. And "Spider-Verse," despite being animated, despite the wacky cast of Spider-People, despite the outlandish premise, is as real as movies get.
1. "Captain America: The Winter Soldier"
The Russo brothers, who made their entrance to the MCU directing "Winter Soldier" before taking the reigns on "Civil War" and, eventually, 2018's "Avengers: Infinity War," really impressed with "Winter Soldier." It's a classic spy thriller with a superhero twist. And Robert Redford as the bad guy is a really nice touch.
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Decades of big-screen Marvel adaptations demand a long, ranked list. This is that list
This year will end up bringing us five (5) new Marvel movies, but somehow we're just getting started. "Shang-Chi" is the second after "Black Widow" -- let's see how it stacks up against all the previous theatrically released Marvel movies, both inside and outside the MCU.
