Why Avengers 3 Without The Avengers Could Be A Great Idea

Risk-taking is at the heart of Marvel Studios' enormous success. From their choice of star or director, to the stories they’re telling, the characters they’ve introduced and the very idea of a connected universe of films - near enough everything they’ve done has come with some kind of risk attached.

How long the Marvel model can be sustained for remains to be seen, but one fact which could see its downfall is the loss of its biggest stars. Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth won’t be around forever, so Marvel will always be looking for new stars to take over the mantle.

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This year’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ has provided the answer for Marvel, or at least the confidence. They successfully introduced the world to a group of heroes few had heard of, and did so to the tune of (so far) over $650 million at the worldwide box office.

Marvel know now that unknown properties can succeed if treated with respect, which will give them confidence for the future debuts of other new heroes, like ‘Ant-Man’ next year, ‘Doctor Strange’ in a couple of years and beyond that Black Panther, Ms Marvel and many more.

Which brings us to a report which surfaced this week claiming that ‘Avengers 3’ may not star key members of the team that have been there from the beginning, but rather second tier heroes whose profile Marvel hopes to raise.

Captain America may have hung up his shield, Thor could be busy ruling over Asgard, Hulk may have been jettisoned into space. These aren’t spoilers, just speculation as to what might lead to a new team of Avengers teaming up in a film that will, according to the original report, “springboard to… something else” in which Marvel will bring everyone together.

Whatever that something else is (and we have a good idea, but we’ll get to that later) Marvel want it to star both their big names and the names they hope will become just as big thanks to the new-look line up of ‘Avengers 3’.

This plan would also allow Marvel to prolong the contracts of its biggest stars and give them a lengthy time off, which in turn could make them more open to starring in more films down the line.

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Take Chris Evans for example, he has barely stopped since the first Captain America, making three films in three years and promoting each extensively. Then there’s Scarlett Johansson, who will have starred in five Marvel films between her first appearance in 2010 and 2016’s ‘Captain America 3’.

So about that something else, what could it be? The obvious answer is The Infinity Gauntlet, the story everything Marvel has made is moving toward. A story big enough to be its own film, free of the Avengers name, a film simply called ‘Infinity Gauntlet’, which pits an entire Marvel universe against Josh Brolin’s Mad Titan Thanos.

So who could star in ‘Avengers 3’? The original report says Robert Downey Jr will likely star as his contract specifies his last film be ‘Avengers 3’, which means he would be gathering a new set of heroes to face whatever threat rears its head.

The ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ are obvious candidates given their success, but they might be best served building to the Infinity Gauntlet story and its villain Thanos, who made his first full appearance in the film and who is closely linked to its characters.

Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch and Aaron Taylor-Johnson would be good bets to stay, while Hawkeye’s more substantial role in ‘Age of Ultron’ could also see him star. Then there’s Paul Bettany’s Vision, Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man and whoever ends up being Doctor Strange. Marvel are definitely not short of options.

Whether or not the report is accurate, the idea behind it is great, carrying on the tradition of risk-taking at Marvel and yet again displaying of the constant planning for the future which has reaped such huge rewards so far.

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Image Credit: Marvel Studios