2016 was a big year for Marvel. We got things like Daredevil season two, Luke Cage season one, Captain America: Civil War, Deadpool, X-Men: Apocalypse, Doctor Strange, and more!
From a comic book standpoint, 2016 had its share of hits and misses. Overall, though, things remained pretty steady for one-half of the big two.
Now that we’re in 2017, though, it’s time to look forward. With a full slate of content coming this year, here are the top 8 most anticipated things coming from Marvel in 2017:
Monsters Unleashed
Kicking things off is Marvel’s first comic book event of 2017 – Monsters Unleashed. In a callback to their early days, the Marvel Universe will be forced to deal with simultaneous attacks from some of the most legendary and notorious monsters the company has to offer, as well as six new monsters that are sure to leave their massive footprints in the MU.
Written by Uncanny X-Men writer Cullen Bunn, this bi-weekly, five issue mini-series will begin on January 18, 2017, with art by Steve McNiven. As for the remaining issues, Bunn will still be writing, but he’ll be joined by a different superstar artist for each installment. With names like McNiven, as well as Adam Kubert, Greg Land, Salvador Larroca, and Leinil Yu, there’s no doubt this series will have some serious curb appeal.
What’s more, Monsters Unleashed will include several tie-ins and will also spawn at least two new ongoing series. The tie-ins, which will be numbered as #1.MU, will span through Spider-Man/Deadpool, Avengers, All-New X-Men, Champions, Doctor Strange, and Uncanny Inhumans. As for the new ongoing titles, the news was confirmed by Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso during a press conference in November 2016, but things have been kept under wraps since then. In any case, it seems as though there will be enough content between the event, itself, as well as the aftermath, to keep readers busy well into 2017.
ResurrXion
For a while now, it’s seemed as though Marvel has been pulling back on the X-Men in favor of the Inhumans. However, X-Men fans have plenty of reason to rejoice in 2017 as the events of Inhumans vs X-Men will lead to a massive revamp of the entire line of X-books under the banner title ResurrXion.
ResurrXion will begin with a one-shot that will pick up the pieces from Inhumans vs X-Men titled X-Men: Prime. This primer will also set the stage for what’s to come as things really begin to kick into gear.
The two tent-pole titles, of course, will be X-Men: Blue and X-Men: Gold, whose names are sure to bring a warm dose of nostalgia to long-time X-Men readers. Written by Uncanny X-Men writer Cullen Bunn, with art by Jorge Molina, the blue team will be lead by current Uncanny leader Magneto. Joining him will be the time-lost original X-Men of the All-New X-Men series - Jean Grey, Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, and Angel.
The gold team, on the other hand, will be written by Arrow co-showrunner Marc Guggenheim, with art by Ardian Syaf. Kitty Pryde will lead this team, reuniting with her original X-Men teammates Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Rachel Grey, and Old Man Logan.
If that’s not enough to get your motor revving, several classic X-Men characters will also be getting their own solo series this Spring, including Iceman, Jean Grey, and Cable. In addition to these, this Spring will also see the launch of Generation X and Weapon X, which should also ring bells for X-Men purists.
Although no official release dates have been announced at this time, things will definitely be in full swing by this Spring, so it could be as soon as March that things kick off with X-Men: Prime.
Thor: Ragnarok
Although many seem to believe the Marvel Cinematic Universe can do no wrong, it’s hard to argue that Thor: The Dark World left a bit of a bad aftertaste for many moviegoers. Fortunately, things seem to look far more promising for the third installment in the Odinson’s solo series, Thor: Ragnarok.
Fans have long been clamoring for a live-action interpretation of the Planet Hulk storyline, but due to licensing issues, that may not be possible. However, when we learned that Thor: Ragnarok would prominently feature Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner/Hulk, and that the film would take place largely off-planet, fans began to speculate. Then, there was the reveal of Hulk’s gladiator armor at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con, adding further fuel to the fire. Finally, in an interview published in Total Film, Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi confirmed himself that Thor and Hulk would be reunited on the planet Sakaar, the same world featured in Planet Hulk.
As if this isn’t enough reason to be elated, the mid-credits stinger from Doctor Strange that featured Chris Hemsworth’s Thor seemed to hint at the Sorcerer Supreme’s involvement in the upcoming film. Now, this appears to be a reality. According to a new plot synopsis from the Disney fansite, D23, "Thor: Ragnarok in November brings together Thor, the Hulk, and Doctor Strange to face off against intergalactic baddies both familiar and new."
Thor: Ragnarok certainly seems to be out to appease fans that may have been put off by The Dark World¸ and all things considered, it seems like Marvel Studios is on the right track. However, there’s still a ways to go, as Thor: Ragnarok hits theaters on November 3, 2017.
Logan
The X-Men movies have gone through more than their fair share of ebbs and flows. X-Men was a great introduction, and then the first trilogy peaked with X2. Then, we had the abomination that was X-Men: The Last Stand, before the franchise underwent a soft reboot of sorts.
It was at this point that 20th Century Fox decided to take the face of the franchise, Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, and create a series of solo films featuring the man who’s the best he is at what he does. X-Men Origins: Wolverine was a massive swing and miss, and The Wolverine provided a bit of redemption but wasn’t exactly par for the course.
Now, this March, we’ll get what appears to be the golden ticket of the trilogy, simply titled Logan. The title is no coincidence; from what we’ve seen and read thus far, this film seems to take a decent amount of inspiration from the Old Man Logan comic series, featuring an aging Wolverine who’s losing his powers, and taking place in a near future where little to no mutants remain.
Logan will also reintroduce fan-favorite X-23, the female clone of Wolverine, to the franchise. Given that Hugh Jackman has long said Logan will be the last film in which he portrays Wolverine, perhaps we’ll see somewhat of a passing of the torch.
Whether this is the case or not, we’re sure to find out soon, as Logan will be released in theaters
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Guardians of the Galaxy was by far the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s biggest gamble to date. How could such an obscure group of “heroes” that includes the likes of an anthropomorphic, hard-nosed raccoon and walking, talking tree get butts into movie theater seats? If you’re looking for an answer, I really don’t have one, but somehow, the GotG captured the attention, and hearts, of fans across the globe.
That being said, anticipation is certainly high for the sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. If anyone can catch lightning in a bottle twice, though, surely the Guardians can. After all, they have Baby Groot!
Cuteness factor aside, the trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 looks to have all the pieces that made its predecessor so great. There’s no shortage of action, with space battles and massive monsters galore. Plus, it appears to have much of the humor that made the original film shine, especially Dave Bautista’s unique blend of over-the-top and deadpan joke delivery as Drax the Destroyer.
Despite Guardians of the Galaxy succeeding with a difficult August release date in 2014, it seems as though Marvel Studios is putting way more eggs in the GotG basket this time around, as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has secured a prime early-Summer release date of May 5, 2017.
Spider-Man: Homecoming
When it comes to everyone’s favorite wall-crawler in films, we’ve been hurt so many times before. The Spider-Man trilogy, much like the X-Men trilogy, started off strong and then peaked with the sequel before taking a complete and utter nosedive. The Andrew Garfield Amazing Spider-Man reboot had its moments, but Sony was a bit too overzealous, resulting in a messy two-part story that will always feel incomplete.
Enter: Tom Holland.
From the moment Holland first appeared on-screen in Captain America: Civil War, web-heads across the globe let out a collective sigh of relief. For the first time ever, Spider-Man was appearing on the big screen in a movie produced by Marvel Studios, and it was every bit as great as we could have imagined. Now, after getting a brief taste of what a Marvel Studios Spider-Man feels like, we’re all patiently waiting for the main course in the form of Spider-Man: Homecoming.
The first trailers are promising, depicting a high school-aged Peter Parker awkwardly juggling his personal life with his responsibilities as Spider-Man. It also appears that Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man, will have a rather large role in the film, acting as a mentor to the young superhero.
In the spirit of doing things differently, we’ll also see Michael Keaton portray the first live-action depiction of The Vulture, a classic, older member of Spider-Man’s rogues gallery. Having such a young Peter Parker square off against a much older villain creates an interesting dichotomy, and definitely feels refreshing after two franchises that both featured the Green Goblin.
Like I said, we’ve been waiting so long for Spider-Man to come home (to Marvel Studios), and the wait is nearly over, as Spider-Man: Homecoming swings into theaters on July 7, 2017.
Iron Fist
Although DC may have the market cornered when it comes to cable and network television, they have nothing on Marvel’s Netflix universe. After two seasons of Daredevil, one season of Jessica Jones, and one season of Luke Cage (which is arguably the weakest series, but still solid), the powers that be seem to have a pretty firm grasp on what it takes to make a successful 13-episode season of on-demand television. This March, we will see the premiere of the fourth and final series leading up to the Defenders, as we see Danny Rand in live-action for the first time in Netflix’s Iron Fist.
Game of Thrones’ Finn Jones will play the titular hero, who will return to New York City after being missing for fifteen years, presumably in K’un-Lun, to reclaim his family company. Not much else is known about the series yet, but one would assume Danny’s training in K’un-Lun will be featured at least somewhat prominently by way of flashbacks.
Despite the minimal details available at this time, it’s hard to not have faith in Marvel’s Netflix series given their track record. The first season of Iron Fist will be available for streaming on Netflix on March 17, 2017.
The Defenders
This is it – this is what Marvel’s Netflix universe has been building towards for the past two years. Finally, this year, we’ll see Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist come together as The Defenders.
Despite multiplying the main protagonists by four, The Defenders will seemingly trim some of the fat in comparison to the previous series, opting for an eight-episode season instead of 13. Still, this should be no reason to fret. If anything, it just makes the whole season easier to binge.
Although I mentioned there aren’t many major details available regarding Iron Fist, even less is known about The Defenders, other than the fact that there will be some sort of threat, played by Sigourney Weaver, who warrants the team-up between the four heroes. In addition, we’ll also see several returning faces from the four solo series, including Stick, Foggy Nelson, Misty Knight, Karen Page, Jeryn Hogarth, Claire Temple, Trish Walker, and Elektra Natchios.
With so many characters, it will be interesting to see how everything fits together in a mere eight-episode season. Still, Marvel hasn’t given us any reason to doubt them yet when it comes to their Netflix series, so there’s no reason to start doubting them now.
Although there’s no release date for The Defenders at this time, we know it will be coming in 2017, and we will likely learn more in the coming months.