A Geeky Viewpoint

There are currently two primary rumors that drive or divide speculation on what the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

First set of Speculation is based that Sony Entertainment is on-board.   We know that Sony Pictures and Marvel Pictures (and or Marvel Entertainment) have had high level talks.   We do not know the exact context of those discussions we must assume that the involve Spiderman and connection to the MCU.   Previously there had been discussions on making cameo or marketing connections between Spiderman and MCU, most notably the failed plans to put the Oscorp Building in The Avengers.    There are really three outcomes of the latest round of discussion:
1) Sony sells (or gives back) the rights to Spiderman to Marvel Studios
2) Sony continues to go it alone
3) Sony and Marvel create an agreement that allows Marvel to use Spiderman in Ensemble films.

For a long time I believed that Sony was looking for Marvel to make them an offer they cannot refuse to transfer the rights back to Marvel (option 1).   Up until last night the information we had clearly indicated that's what many people wanted or hoped would happen.

After last nights announcement involving Robert Downey Jr and Captain America 3 option 3 suddenly looks very much to be in play.   I know that a certain individual, Avi Arad, is very much against option 1 and 3, but he may suddenly be in the very small majority, especially if Marvel Entertainment is willing to provide financing to Sony for the Spiderman movies as opposed to the usual financing options that Sony uses (Bank of America / Merrill Lynch).

My looking at the Future Marvel/Sony timeline look like for a Civil War Story Arc assuming Sony is in the fold.

• 2015 - Avengers: Age of Ultron - The end of this movie would see the destruction of a small section of a city in New England laying the ground work for the US Government Super Hero Registration act.
• 2015 - Ant-Man - Introduction
• 2016 - Captain America 3 - Ground work Civil War - Steve Rogers in Hiding and Bucky taking up the Mantle of Captain America.
• 2016 - Doctor Strange - Introduction -
• 2016 - (SONY) Sinister Six - Minor Reboot of Spiderman
• 2017 - Speculative - Inhumans (Ms. Marvel)
• 2017 - (SONY) The Amazing Spiderman 3 - Conclusion of the Sinister Six story Arc
• 2017 - Guardians of the Galaxy II - Infinity Gauntlet
• 2018 - Avengers 3 - Part 1 (Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Ms. Marvel, Guardians of the Galaxy)
• 2018 - Avengers 3 - Part 2 (Ant-Man, Wasp, Quicksilver, Spiderman, Scarlett Witch, Falcon)
• 2018 - Speculative - Black Panther
• 2019 - Speculative - Captain America 4
• 2019 - Speculative - Iron Man 4
• 2020 - (SONY) - The Amazing Spiderman 4 - Civil War Story Arc
• 2020 - Avengers Civil War

Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones followed by the Defenders Mini Series will be released on Netflix.  There is only one movie missing from the list, Thor: Ragnarok and to be honest that has me scratching my head.  In addition you see Hawkeye and Hulk left from the list, but I understand those from a financial point of view. 




If we look at the Civil War Story Line excluding Sony and Spiderman.
I will note there is a real problem with this storyline as it lacks a true man in the middle without Spiderman.   Someone like Black Panther or Falcon has to be elevated to that position that Spiderman is in during the comic storyline and really that's less interesting for the fan base.

• 2015 - Avengers: Age of Ultron - The end of this movie would see the destruction of a small section of a city in New England laying the ground work for the US Government Super Hero Registration act.
• 2015 - Ant-Man - Introduction
• 2016 - Captain America 3 - Ground work Civil War - Steve Rogers in Hiding and Bucky taking up the Mantle of Captain America.
• 2016 - Speculative - Doctor Strange - Introduction - Infinity Gauntlet Story Arc.
• 2017 - Speculative - Black Panther - Introduction - Civil War Story Arc
• 2017 - Guardians of the Galaxy II - Infinity Gauntlet Story Arc - Nova
• 2018 - Avengers 3 - Part 1 (Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy)
• 2018 - Avengers 3 - Part 2 (Ant-Man, Wasp, Quicksilver, Spiderman, Scarlett Witch, Falcon)
• 2018 - Speculative - In Humans (Ms. Marvel)
• 2019 - Speculative - Captain America 4
• 2019 - Speculative - Iron Man 4
• 2020 - Avengers Civil War

The second major rumor that is running right now is the Joss Whedon is looking to step down (from his second best dream job, running the X-Men universe is his first) and that the Infinity Gauntlet story Arc be suspended until after the Civil War Story Arc.
There are many problems with this rumor.
1) Lack of connection between the Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers
2) Contract issues
3) Very difficult to incorporate Sony/Spiderman

Never the less here is what it would look like.

• 2015 - Avengers: Age of Ultron - The end of this movie would see the destruction of a small section of a city in New England laying the ground work for the US Government Super Hero Registration act.
• 2015 - Ant-Man - Introduction
• 2016 - Captain America 3 - Ground work Civil War - Steve Rogers in Hiding and Bucky taking up the Mantle of Captain America.
• 2016 - Speculative - Black Panther - Introduction - Civil War Story Arc
• 2017 - Guardians of the Galaxy II - AHHHHH, no clue - Nova
• 2018 - Avengers 3 - Part 1 - Civil War
• 2018 - Avengers 3 - Part 2 - Civil War conclusion
• 2018 - Speculative - Inhumans (Ms. Marvel) Introduction
• 2019 - Speculative - Thor: Ragnarok
• 2019 - Speculative - Guardians of the Galaxy III - First part of the Infinity Gauntlet.
• 2020 - Avengers: Infinity Gauntlet

With what we know today, at 1PM local option 1 looks like the best fit.  Lets not take that for granted that another rumor or denial or ...

I also want to point out I totally understand the frustration Marvel Entertainment is having with 20th Century Fox when it comes to the Fantastic Four movies.   While that might be another discussion lets point out that radical changes to the storyline of the Fantastic Four (ages, not from space, coming of age story line) makes it virtually impossible to connect with the MCU.   The fact that the movie is a low budget (wow I just called 85 to 100 million low budget) also isn't helping 20th Century cause.  
However the X-Men universe is shaping up nicely and hey there are X-Men posters in Marvel HQ and X-Men legos and X-Men toys and ...    
My personal opinion from connecting the dots is that the FF is what is keeping Wolverine and Beast from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.