Marvel Phase 3

These are great times.

Nearly three decades ago, I picked up an issue of Secret Wars, and I was instantly a fan. Many kids of my generation grew up reading the comics with the Marvel superheroes. And sure, we dreamed of watching movies with our heroes, but as we aged, we realized that they very well could be similar to Street Fighter the Movie, or the TMNT movies. With this kind of quality as an alternative, I'd say it was a better option to not have superhero movies at all

Back in the late 90s, we actually started getting the superhero movies. Blade, Spider-Man, X-Men, followed by Hulk, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider and sequels to the first wave. Some of these were good, a few of them were great, most of them were just awful.

Hindered by technology, but even more so a lack of scope and ambition.
You see, one of the reasons I fell in love with the Marvel universe was that any and all hero and villain could have some sort of link to the others. After all, the first comic I consciously read was a massive team-up between the heroes and villains.

And up until Marvel Studios, we just haven't seen this. They managed to team up four superheroes that easily could be the sole superhero franchise at any other movie studio. And they're building the story lines towards a goal.

Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, X-Men - maybe the most popular Marvel characters at one point - are locked at other studios. But that kind of doesn't matter.

You see, another impressive feat with Marvel is that they're not afraid to take chances with lesser known characters. Iron Man? Sure, every comic book reader knows Iron Man, but at the time the first movie came out, he wasn't the most popular Marvel character, probably not even top ten. Guardians of the Galaxy? Popular in the comics the last few years, but in the mainstream? Not even remotely.

Now, look at that line-up of movies. Captain Marvel. Black Panther. Doctor Strange. Inhumans. This is sick. This is insane. These are ridiculously awesome times to be a fan. I'm so glad I grew up with these comics to build the enthusiasm, and I'm so glad I'm around now to see them come alive like never before.