2020 seemed to have put the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) on the back burner. We missed out on movies that were being released to theaters and the Disney+ shows were all delayed due to the pandemic. That is all behind us now and the House of Mouse seems ready to utilize 2021 to its fullest potential.
Wanda Vision kicks off later this month with Falcon and the Winter Soldier coming our way in March, but what about the films. The movies were the bread and butter for the MCU and since the beginning of 2020 the dates and productions have all been moved back. Now though they are giving an unheard of four movies this year. Which will be duds and which will rise to the occasion? Lets take a look.
1. Black Widow
This movie was set to release May 1, 2020 and now has a release date of May 7, 2021. This has been a long time coming. The fans have been crying for a solo Black Widow movie since her appearance in Iron Man 2. The good of this movie is that it has been a long time coming and it will be nice to see Scarlett Johansen once again take on the role and there has been several trailers to add to the excitement. The bad about this is that we know the fate of the character so any sequels , if any, will not add to the greater Marvel story. Its almost like this is a one shot film. My personal take is that it will do very well at the box office and hold a special place in the hearts of the fans because of the love of the character.
2. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
This is the first of two movies that serve up characters that are unfamiliar to the common fan. The major comic book reader may know who this is but the casual person on the street will have no idea. It started filming in March of 2020 but production was shut down. However in July of 2020 it was finally completed. Simu Liu stars as the titular character and this will be his first big budget outing althogh he has made several TV appearances. The good going for this is that it seems that Marvel is setting up the Mandarin character and will be utilizing him as an actual villain rather than a throw off character like they did in Iron Man 3. The bad is once again the fact that you are dealing with unknow characters so unless the story is told properly with good development it could be doomed for failure.
3. The Eternals
This movie headed by Richard Madden and Angelina Jolie was set for a November 6, 2020 release date has been pushed back nearly an entire year to November 5, 2021. According to IMDB this movie will be about “the Eternals, a race of immortal beings who lived on Earth and shaped its history and civilizations.” The good thing about this movie is that it will explore further the cosmic side of the MCU. The down side of this is you are dealing with a group that the average fan knows next to nothing about. The story and the characters are once again unfamiliar but the same thing happened with Guardians of the Galaxy and that went on to become a fan favorite of the franchise. My personal thoughts on this is that it will see box office draw because it is Marvel but will not be as loved as the rest of the franchise.
4. Untitled Spiderman Project
The Tom Holland offering of Spiderman has been truly terrific. He has brought the character to life and now since Disney and Sony came to terms there will be a third Spidey movie in the MCU. Originally slotted for July 2021 it has since been pushed back to December 17, 2021. Now J.K. Simmons reprised his role as J. Jonah Jameson in Far From Home and according to iMDB Jamie Foxx will be reprising his role as Electro which previously he portrayed in Amazing Spiderman 2 also Alfred Molina will be reprising his role as Doctor Octopus. The good about it is seeing these two reprise their roles from previous movies as well as possibly taking place in a multiverse situation. The bad, this very well could be the last installment of the Spiderman series due to the rights being owned by Sony.
Well there is some of my personal insight in to the up coming MCU films. What are your thoughts? Drop a comment and let me know.
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