Captain America and The Invaders

I know this is just a little late, but Avengers: Endgame wrapped up a storyline from some twenty or so Marvel films across eleven years. It all started with 2008's Iron Man.

Marvel just announced the next phase of films. I'm excited for the Black Widow origin film and Taiki Waititi's sequel to Ragnarok, Thor: Love and Thunder. 

My wife, my friends and co-workers and I are all having a debate over the prospects of Love and Thunder. No one is excited about Natalie Portman's Jane Foster becoming worthy to wield Mjolnir. I stand on the fact that Ragnarok was the most successful film in the first Thor trilogy. I liked the first Thor film. My wife and I saw it for our anniversary. Kind of. The second Thor film was just okay, bordering on "Meh". I usually like Christopher Eccleston. But his character was a vague cipher bent on destroying ALL life. "Hey, there, Sparky... uh, what's next after you destroy ALL life in the universe?" Can't go to Disneyland. Why?! It's gone. See... You. Destroyed. Every. Thang. Waititi may have saved the franchise with Ragnarok. It may have felt silly and campy, with Chris Hemsworth channeling Adam West; it may have been a missed opportunity for Karl Urban's Executioner... Once again, the film put bodies in seats in the theater and made money. If he can do that again, and make Natalie Portman watchable... he will be my hero.

I'm excited for the Black Panther and Doctor Strange sequels, too. I'm not as into those characters as I am Iron Man, Captain America and The Hulk. Honestly, before the films, I thought Thor was pretty lame.

Yes, that's Thor. Played by the actor that went on to play Alan Hale, Jr./The Skipper in Surviving Gilligan's Island and then the dad on Good Luke, Charlie. The Return of The Incredible Hulk could probably have been better if it had featured the Ultimate Marvel version of Thor, like the films have gone with.

I'm glad Marvel and Sony have decided to share Tom Holland.

It looks like The X-Men and Fantastic Four will be part of Phase Five... maybe. I might get to see those films in my retirement years. Heh.

What I would really like to see, other than Robert Downy, Jr. back as Iron Man, is Chris Evans back as Captain America!

Remember that Easter egg in First Avenger, the pan shot of the World's Fair that showed the android? That's Jim Hammond, The Golden-Age Human Torch. I would love to see a fourth Captain America film, set during World War II, featuring his time leading Hammond; Namor, The Sub-Mariner, along with Bucky and Toro.

I would love to see Captain America and The Invaders! Yes, First Avenger told a complete story.

Captain America and The Invaders could tell another story. The Invaders was a '70's comic book written by the legendary Roy Thomas. Thomas had Churchill bring together Captain America, The Human Torch and The Sub-Mariner to defend England. They fought other Nazis besides The Red Skull. One of them was a traitorous vampire named Baron Blood! The trio also attracted colleagues such as Spitfire, The Whizzer and Union Jack. Yeah, Whizzer's kind of a goofy name for a WWII speedster. But The Flash and Quicksilver were already taken.

The only hiccup to this movie actually seeing the light of day is that Universal has the license for Namor, just like it has for The Hulk. There may be a way to include Namor, like The Avengers and Marvel films have included The Hulk - and Tom Holland's Spider-Man. Now that Marvel and Disney have access to the Fantastic Four, they may be able to use a Human Torch.

I'm a Golden-Age fan. I like The Invaders as much as I like the Justice Society; and, Roy Thomas' '80's All-Star Squadron.

A fan can dream!