A Look into Marvel's 2016
2016 is another big year for Marvel films both MCU and Fox with four new movies and a new Netflix series on the way. Coupled with the returning two shows (and any news on the rumored ones), this looks to try and break the records of the past year, until of course the next year. That being said, here is the list of Marvel products to view this year. You are on your own for something to enjoy.
Agent Carter Season 2
I can’t be the only one surprised that this show got not only a season two but one with ten episodes. As you could probably tell, this may be the first Marvel product out this year, but it is probably the one I am looking the least forward to watching. It’s not Fant4stic bad fortunately, but the show has a lot to be desired when it comes to likeable characters and interesting plots outside of Peggy Carter and maybe Jarvis. Those two are back, so there may be some hope in the new season. However, with the rest of the cast returning, that hope doesn’t really stretch too far for my tastes. Also, this season takes place in Los Angeles. That doesn’t really make a difference to me, much like the show.
Deadpool
Now we’re talking serious projects. Deadpool’s a major fan favorite, so regardless of how the film will turn out, people will watch it. It’s plenty more irreverent and cruder than any other Marvel project this year, giving it a chance to be more interesting. Of course, Deadpool has some detractions, mostly stemming on how long a film can go on fourth-wall breaking jokes, characters with debatable amounts of likeability, and words beginning in f. Still, it’s a nice break from the MCU and the on-again, off-again decency of an X-Men movie. How good of a movie is ultimately relies on what you think of Deadpool himself. If you like him, you’ll probably love this movie.
Agents of SHIELD Season 3B
The return of Agents of SHIELD’s third season, like its other two seasons, will hopefully bring about answers to the last half. Granted, there are fewer obvious hangers left from this season, and none are more important than a possessed former Grant Ward and a semblance of a Secret Warriors team. We are officially passed predictable plotlines after the evil Hydra cult, though the Andrew is Lash follow-through won’t help anything. Still, the superpowered escapades and immensely more likeable characters make me way more interested in how this story will turn out rather than Agent Carter. Or at least it makes me wonder if they’ll ever use the name Quake (hey they changed her name already).
Daredevil Season 2
The renewal everyone saw coming, thirteen new episodes of Daredevil. This year, we have an appearance of both Elektra and the Punisher for the season following the official emergence of Matt Murdock as Hell’s Kitchen newest “hero.” What else that could mean is still under wraps, but it’s the guaranteed good season of Marvel TV this year. Who knows, maybe they’ll pull an Iron Man 2 move and actually remember that this series is building up to The Defenders. It’s already the Iron Man of the Netflix world, but even without the greater universe connection, season two is sure to be a great show. You can’t say that for everything.
Captain America: Civil War
The center of Marvel projects this year inside or outside the cinematic universe, Captain America: Civil War will be the biggest conglomeration since at least Avengers: Age of Ultron…minus the Hulk and Thor of course. While a movie at this time could never measure up to the Civil War of the comics, this is still the point of the MCU where we go “wow, they’ve gone pretty far.” If it’s anything like The Winter Soldier, the movie’s sure to change the landscape of Phase 3 until the end of Infinity War which gives the highest expectations. After all, it revolves around what the governments of the world now think of gifted individuals. And it’s the first MCU appearance of both Black Panther and Spider-Man. That was going to be a big deal no matter what movie this was.
X-Men Apocalypse
Pretty much the Civil War of the X-Men movie series, this one’s the motherlode of mutant escapades featuring old and new characters in the eighties (which is probably a lot better than that sounds). It does include one of the X-Men’s most powerful villains who’s never seen a live action debut compiling the whole destroy the world scenario. The only questionable feature of the movie is the fixing of the timeline from the last film which was great for erasing The Last Stand but confusing when trying to move forward with sequels. It’ll be great to see Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, and Angel in significant roles again, so this is definitely on the must-see list for 2016. Since it’s an X-Men film, however, we’re going to have to wait and see how it does.
Doctor Strange
It would be cliché to call this the strangest movie Marvel’s ever attempted, but it is. It’s one thing to take a stab at the massive universe with Guardians of the Galaxy or the odd premise of Ant-Man, but this is freaking magic. They’ve had to do some creative mental gymnastics to go around the mythology of Thor, so the fact that they are trying actual magic is a whole new step in the canon. Almost more so than Civil War, Doctor Strange would be the movie that completely rewrites the canon of the MCU by introducing a new genre to the world. Granted, Doctor Strange is not the most loved of the Marvel characters, but there have been bigger uphill climbs for these movies. Until we know more about the movie other than it exists, there’s not much to say.
Luke Cage
This is the third Marvel Netflix series which is filming now, so I’m assuming that it will premiere by the end of the year. At this point, after Daredevil and Jessica Jones, we can assume that this series will be good as we explore the aftermath of Luke Cage after his bar exploded. We could probably learn more about the origins of his unbreakable skin and strength in the midst of developing a new hero for Hell’s Kitchen. Someday, they are going to have to explain why these people never see each other, but that question will not be answered now. Still, it won’t be a bad way to top off the end of 2016, and we could get the beginnings of the Heroes for Hire.
Those are the Marvel projects for this year. That doesn’t really answer anything we didn’t already know, but that’s the pattern of these things until they’re officially released. One of them could introduce Squirrel Girl for all we know. Okay, that’s probably the first on the “never gonna happen” direction, but it’s still a long year to go.
