New Marvel Trademarks and the Future of the MCU

Slashfilm recently came out with an article reporting that Marvel has filed for trademarks for the following properties last December:

Age Of Ultron, Alpha Flight, Black Panther, Guardians Of The Galaxy, New Warriors, Rocket Raccoon, Strikeforce Morituri, Journey Into Mystery, Irredeemable Ant Man

Of course some of these make sense. Age of Ultron is the subtitle for the next Avengers movies, Guardians of the Galaxy is the next Marvel movie on the roster, and the upcoming Ant-Man movie loosely follows the plot of the Irredeemable Ant Man. Contrary to what the Internet rumor mill will have you believe, I don't they are all movies in the works. I don't think we'll see an Alpha Flight movie any time soon (they're a super team that defends Canada from its three criminals for those unaware) or a standalone Rocket Raccoon movie. I think some of these are merely for actual comics. In fact, Rocket's own Marvel NOW title just debuted. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="538"] What? You all want 110 minutes of this?[/caption] But what's interesting is the potential in those trademarks. What movies or TV shows could be in there. Let's take a look

OH MAN, a Black Panther Movie

For those of you who don't know who Black Panther is, it's kind of understandable. Until recently, he was more of a side character. Originally, the people at Marvel kinda sat up and realized that all their characters were more or less the whitest white dudes (it's okay, Steve) and sought to make a character of color. By the way, I've seen people call him African American and it's terrible. He was born in and still resides in Africa. Anyway, T'Challa is the king of Wakanda, an African nation in self-imposed isolation that is centuries ahead of the rest of the world (except, I guess, for the Baxter building. Take that Africa). As king, he's taken on the mantle of their god, the Black Panther, and vows to protect his people. Imagine a regal Batman with more resources and god-king status. Yes. He's awesome. His stand alone movie has been hotly anticipated since the beginning of the MCU. Both because he's an awesome, complex character and because, outside of the occasional sidekick (Rhodey and Falcon, et al) and maybe Nick Fury if you stretch it, there aren't any major black MCU characters. Especially not any with their own movie. And it seems that it could happen sooner rather than later, due to the news of Marvel trademarking the brand along with the rumor that actor Chadwick Boseman is being looked at by Marvel for the part. Which would be great! For no reason, here's the opening to a motion comic series based on the critically acclaimed Black Panther comic series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVq5mRBfnmk

HO BOY, What About a New Warriors Animated Show

I would assume the New Warriors trademark is probably for the Marvel NOW comic. It would be weird as an MCU movie because it's an entirely different team and, also, do we really need teenagers in this? I think we're doing great with adult characters as is. HOWEVER. You know what would work better? A New Warriors animated TV series. Think about it. Disney already has that questionable-at-best Spider-Man show, a godawful Avengers show, and a Hulk show that I care so little about I don't even want to look up how its doing. And that show is written by Paul Dini. The man who wrote groundbreaking episodes of Batman: The Animated Series. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="503"] I know they gave you the tiniest spot on the logo, She Hulk, but this time they're doing you a favor[/caption] But they're missing one thing DC had with the DCAU and, briefly, Young Justice. Serious, universe-spanning stories to get people actually interested in the characters. New Warriors could be Marvel's Young Justice. But instead of sidekicks coming together to form a covert version of the Justice League, it's a dangerous, half crazed  vigilante who gets together a meticulously planed group of super-powered (usually young) people to help fight his war on crime. Alright, that sounded a tad dark. You don't have to be this gritty: I mean, look at the current Marvel NOW line up: Look at the smiles! Well... not the girl in the center. And I guess there's the Scarlet Spider that rips off people's faces sometimes. But there's potential! They could get into all kinds of scrapes going all over the universe! Nova's there! Space stuff, there ya go. I'm sure the Atlantian girl with the battle axe has some stories!

What? Strikeforce: Morituri?

So, in a future where aliens have conquered earth, the resistance is able to give a select few superpowers. But in doing so, they're doomed to die about a year after getting them. It was pretty dark and 80's gritty. This has to be a comic, probably a remake for Marvel NOW. Maybe incorporating it into 616 canon. The source material from the 80s didn't take place in Earth 616's timeline and, man, it wouldn't fit the MCU. This one was really out of left field. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="335"] Mmmm, but dig that crazy tech jargon[/caption] So what on that list made you the most excited? What do you hope for in the future? Let me know in the comments below!