When in Manila (and not only in Manila, of course), 2014 is just around the corner! More than a year after the supposed “end of the world”, we have already conquered a lot of ‘villainous’ and armageddon-like events in the past twelve months. And as we look forward to the next twelve months, let us take a look at the most awaited Marvel films for the year 2014, and see how our favorite comic book movie protagonists battle it out with their own villains. Let’s get it on!!!

 

Marvel 2014 – Are You Ready?

 

APRIL 3/4, 2014 – Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Studio: Marvel Studios

Distributed by: Walt Disney Pictures

Being the sequel to “Captain America: The First Avenger” and picking up from “The Avengers“, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” focuses on Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) in Washington D.C. still adjusting to his renewed life in the modern era after the events from “The Avengers”.

Rogers will be accompanied by familiar characters such as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlet Johannsson) and Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson). Furthermore, new allies will also join up in the form of Agent 13 Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) and Falcon (Anthony Mackie), a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who also underwent military training and will be side-by-side with Captain America in battles.

On a side note, Maria Hill, depicted by How I Met Your Mother star Colbie Smoulders, is also rumored to appear.

While Captain America and the Black Widow continue to discover villainous plots against him, they stumble upon a surprise menacing foe: the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan). You can see him in the trailer wrecking cars and catching Captain’s shield in a HAIR-RAISING MANNER (from 2:19 to 2:27 of the trailer). The “Winter Soldier” is actually Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers’ best friend who seemingly fell to his death in The First Avenger.

Opposingly, Bucky did not die and has been brainwashed and trained to be an elite assassin to match Captain America from move to move instead! Apparently, The Winter Soldier will not be the sole enemy we will be introduced to, though. Also present in Captain America 2 are Batroc the Leaper, who will be played by UFC fighter Georges St. Pierre (awesome); and Crossbones, to be portrayed by Frank Grillo.

“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” will be the second movie under Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (“Thor: The Dark World” being the first, “Guardians of the Galaxy” to be the third, and “Avengers: Age of Ultron” to be the last Phase 2 movie). The film is directed by the Russo Brothers. It is set to be released here in the Philippines on April 3 or 4, 2014.

 

APRIL 30 – The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Studio: Marvel Studios

Distributed by: Sony Pictures

With Marvel and Disney teaming up to expand the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the Avengers cast, and with 20th Century Fox gearing up to revive the X-Men franchise; Sony Pictures wouldn’t want to let their rights to the Spider-Man franchise go down the drain with their movie reboots. As such, they are setting to expand it, as well, officially starting with “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”.

As you may have gotten from the tri-poster above, our favorite web-slinging hero will be up to a really really great task: to single-handedly defend New York from not one, not two, but three powerful enemies! When “The Amazing Spider-Man 2″‘s first official trailer was released, global social media sites went nuts!

Indeed, the trailer will make you gasp in awe as to how many threatening villains there will be. The film will begin with Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) and Gwen Stacy (Garfield’s real-life girlfriend, Emma Stone) graduating from high school. Peter will then reunite with an old friend, Harry Osborn, only to uncover an overwhelming dilemma coming at him.

If there is one word to describe Sony’s “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”, it would be ‘VILLAINSSSS’. With that, let me briefly introduce you to the film’s three main villains. First is the most obvious enemy Spidey will have: the blue-bodied villain Electro to be portayed by Jamie Foxx (aweeeesome). Second is Rhino to be played by Paul Giamatti. Hewill also be a major obstacle to Peter Parker’s hopes of living a ‘simpler’ life. Lastly, the Green Goblin will also return, but in a relatively new version and may be played by Dane DeHaan… IF Harry Osborn is set to become the Green Goblin, that is.

Now, why did I say main villains? Well, in the film’s trailer and movie site, there are some blurry hints on two appearances that could be made by some of Spidey’s other known comic book foes. The Sinister Six, for instance, are hinted through the short part of the trailer where large green tubes are seen in OsCorp. There was once a time where the Sinister Six consisted of Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Electro, Rhino, Mysterio and Chameleon.

With Doc Oc and Sandman already introduced in the original trilogy and with Electro and Rhino already present in “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”, we might just see Mysterio and Chameleon in “The Amazing Spider-Man 3”, thus incarnating the Sinister Six on the big screens!

On another interesting note, it was announced earlier in December that Spider-Man will appear in New York’s Times Square during the New Year’s Eve festivities. In U.S. time, from 9:57 to 10:00PM, Spider-Man and the film’s director, Marc Webb, will be part of an hourly countdown, leading the ten-second countdown to the 10 o’clock hour. How I wish I could be part of that moment!

“The Amazing Spider-Man 2” is set to debut in Philippine theaters by April 30, 2014 (as per The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s site). Are you ready to get your senses tingling?!