Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

By the hoary hosts of Hoggoth: Doctor Strange, Ant-Man films lead Marvel Studios’ Phase Three

Earnest Cavalli
By
Doctor Strange
Image used with permission by copyright holder

When Marvel Comics first spun off a film-making wing specifically to turn the company’s comic book heroes into feature film stars, there was a lot of trepidation about the decision. Movies like Blade and X-Men were successful adaptations of Marvel properties, but it seemed very unlikely at that time that the superhero movie fad could prop up an entire film studio for very long. We don’t yet know the final fate of Marvel Studios, but to date it’s done very well for itself, and its plans for the future consist of sticking to the proven formula of creating legitimately quality films based on comic books.

At the moment, we’re right at the beginning of what Marvel Studios has dubbed “Phase Two.” Phase One included such films as Captain America, Iron Man 2 and The Avengers. Phase Two will include movies like Captain America 2, Iron Man 3, Thor 2, and The Avengers 2. Phase Three is still a few years off but as of this morning we finally know which movies it includes – or at least, which movies have been earmarked to kick off the next phase of Marvel Studios’ existence.

Recommended Videos

Speaking with MTV, Marvel’s president of production Kevin Feige offered a candid look at the first two films to emerge as part of Phase Three: Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man movie, and the upcoming film adaptation of Doctor Strange. That second one is especially notable, as Feige’s discussion of the Doctor Strange film is the first official confirmation we’ve seen that the Doc will be headed to the silver screen. Rumors of this movie date back nearly three years, but now we’ve finally got official word that it does indeed exist and is a part of Phase Three.

“Doctor Strange, which I’ve been talking about for years, is definitely one of them,” Feige said referring to the Phase Three films. “He’s a great, original character, and he checks the box off this criteria that I have: he’s totally different from anything else we have, just like Guardians of the Galaxy. He’s totally different from anything we’ve done before, as is Ant-Man, which keeps us excited.”

Marvel Studios may be positioning itself to use Phase Three to experiment with films it wouldn’t have had the opportunity to create prior to the massive success of The Avengers. That makes sense, and perfectly ties into Feige’s explanation of why the Ant-Man movie even exists in the first place.

“Ant-Man is definitely part of Phase Three,” Feige explained. “Like Iron Man 3, it’s certainly set in the Marvel Universe, but it’s also through the lens of [director] Edgar Wright – which is the only reason we’re making the movie.”

“I’ve known Edgar since our first lunch together at Comic-Con in 2004. He asked me what Marvel was doing with Ant-Man – we weren’t even a studio then; what a difference eight years makes! It’s very much an Ant-Man origin movie from the perspective of Edgar Wright and his co-writer Joe Cornish. It will of course be firmly planted in the MCU, but a different corner than we’ve seen before.”

Much of Phase Three may be influenced by the most egregious villain in all comics – legal hurdles. Now that the Daredevil rights have returned to Marvel, it would make sense to add that name to the list. But if Phase Three is dedicated to experimental movies, we’re left wondering which other B-list heroes the firm might tap for the silver screen. Iron Fist? the Inhumans? Forbush Man? There’s something for every comic book fan in Marvel’s lineup. Maybe after all these years our dreams will finally be answered, and we’ll have a live action version of the time Squirrel Girl singlehandedly defeated the real Doctor Doom. Sounds like an awesome way to spend a few hours.

Topics
Earnest Cavalli
Earnest Cavalli
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Earnest Cavalli has been writing about games, tech and digital culture since 2005 for outlets including Wired, Joystiq…
How to increase your approval rating in Manor Lords
A medieval market in Manor Lords.

Building your population in Manor Lords is one thing, but making sure they want to stick around and continue to grow is the real challenge. You could have the ideal design for a village, or the perfect tactical mind for conquering the entire map, but if your approval rating is too low, you won't survive your first winter.

Happy people are the grease that makes your kingdom an efficient machine, but what is it that people value? It can be hard to tell at times why your approval rating isn't going up, or worse going down while playing your first few games. We've zoomed in on all our citizens to learn exactly what you need to do to increase your approval rating.

Read more
Is Manor Lords multiplayer or co-op?
A medieval market in Manor Lords.

You can easily lose hours designing your village and appeasing your citizens in Manor Lords all by yourself. There are so many different avenues to achieve victory, but the only competition or help you can normally find is in the form of NPCs. Other factions around the map can be helpful or harmful depending on how you play, but what if you wanted to team up with a friend to combine resources, or perhaps compete to see who can crush the other first? Many strategy and city builders thrive on multiplayer components, but does Manor Lords offer those same modes? Make sure you know the answer before making your purchase if that's your intention.
Is there multiplayer or co-op in Manor Lords?
To cut to the chase, the answer is no. Manor Lords is a purely single-player experience through and through. There are no cooperative or competitive modes in the game at all, so there's no way to interact with anyone else either on PC or console. This game was just released out of early access, and there is plenty of content on the way, however, we regret to inform you that multiplayer is not in the plans for the time being.

One developer took to the Steam forums to release an FAQ on the game. One question specifically asked if there is any multiplayer or cooperative gameplay in the game. The response said that "he focus is on a refined single-player experience, with no multiplayer or cooperative modes planned at the moment."

Read more
All console commands and cheats for Fallout: New Vegas
The courier holding a gun with a welcome sign in the background in Fallout: New Vegas key art.

From the moment you begin your adventure in Fallout: New Vegas, you've already cheated death. Your first playthrough of the game should be done as the developers intended, though maybe with a couple of mods to make the experience a little smoother, but nothing that breaks the game. That said, it's been over a decade since the game came out, so odds are you've already played through the intended way at least once. This is when you can have some fun tinkering with the game and play using console commands and cheats if you're on the PC version of the game. There are a ton of commands you can input to manipulate your character, the world, objects, and more. Here's a full rundown of all the cheats there are and how to activate them.
How to enter console commands
Opening up the command console to type in your cheats is just a single keystroke away. While in the game (not paused), hit the ~ key located below your escape key. This will remove your HUD and bring up the prompt to type in any of the below cheats.
All Fallout: New Vegas console commands and cheats

Because there are so many console commands, we're going to break them down into general categories to make it easier for you to find what you're looking for based on what you want to do.
Faction and reputation cheats
addreputation <form id> <variable> <amount> -- Increases your reputation with a faction.

Read more