What Marvel Hero Will Take The Second 2014 Release Date?

With yesterday's announcement that Captain America 2 has been given the greenlit and the release date of April 4th 2014. We're one step close to finding out what that mystery Marvel film will be in May 2014. Cap 2 likely won't start shooting until later in the year or even until 2013 given it's two years away from release and that untitled Marvel film will shoot not soon after. The studio has finally lined up their three main sequels so they can now focus on new characters. Marvel has been pussy-footing around the thought of spin-offs that include Black Widow, War Machine, Hawkeye and even Winter Soldier. Yet they have yet to lock down a release dates for their many new hero projects. A few other movies that have been in the works include Black Panther, Guardians of The Galaxy, Inhumans, Runaways (put on-hold/axed), Sub-Mariner, Luke Cage and Iron Fist which all seem to be still in development phases. Currently there seems to be only three films ready to go into production at this point and below is a quick rundown.

ANT-MAN: Ant-Man is a clear standout between the three films as it has both a script and direct set for it. Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish have been working on the script for years with Wright being on board for eight years. Marvel will have to move quickly because there is already talk of Edgar lining up at least three other films. The characters of Hank Pym (Ant-Man) and Janet (Wasp) would have been added to Avengers but Wright had been stating their introduction and origins were meant for his film. Edgar has promised a spectacle to a scale we've never seen from him before along with Simon Pegg (Hot Fuzz, MI3, MI4, Star Trek 1-2) stating he'd love to play the film's villain.

DOCTOR STRANGE: Strange is another future film that Marvel producer Kevin Feige has been spending a lot of time winking at during the summer flood of press interviews last year. Quoted as saying it would be coming "sooner rather than later". Given the fact it has a script in place from Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer it's a strong candidate. There have been previous casting rumors linking Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek 2, Sherlock Holmes, Hobbit) and Javier Bardem for the film. I think Doctor Strange is just different enough from the other characters with the horror/occult genre, he could be a great second wave of heroes added to Avengers 2. Since it's already been hinted that Marvel is planning on working towards that in their second phase. Including heroes like Ant-Man, Wasp and Strange into the Avengers lineup could shakeup the sequel.

NICK FURY/S.H.I.E.L.D: A S.H.I.E.L.D. film has aslo been in development for years. With a script from Air Force One screenwriter Andrew Marlowe that's been kicking around. However, the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. have mostly been sprinkled in as filler supporting characters in other Marvel Studios films. There has been talk of Nick Fury (Sam Jackson) playing a larger role in Avengers than previously seen before. Personally, I'm not sure if we really need a S.H.I.E.L.D. film if we already have them in the other franchises. It's been stated that S.H.I.E.L.D. will have a large presence in Avengers and the upcoming Captain America sequel. If Marvel does make this project they're going to have to hurry up as Sam Jackson isn't getting any younger if they're looking to make this a franchise. I assume that the ten directors being looked at for Captain America 2 might also end up in the running to direct the S.H.I.E.L.D. film among their other projects. This would be the first spin-off from the studio and could lead to other supporting heroes getting their own films.