After watching Dr Strange, I am once again hyped up to own first appearances of these star characters. I am sure I am not the only one which means there will be profit making opportunities if you can spot the next set of characters who will have their sole movies.  I am not interested in supporting cast or villains. Just the main stars because it is proven they still have the power to move comic book prices.

How many new characters and teams will be introduced in Marvel Phase 4

It is entirely possible that the whole Phase 4 is made up entirely of sequels but I highly doubt it since new characters represents so much monetization potential. Looking at the history of Marvel studios, we can guess how many new characters and/or teams will be introduced.

In Phase 1 and 2, it is about establishing the foundation and this is where we get classic characters like Captain America, Thor, Avengers etc. The only new faces we saw during Phase 2 was GOTG. Phase 3 is where things got interesting as we saw 4 new sole movie characters (Antman, Dr Strange, Black Panther and Captain Marvel), despite all the sequels.

Based on the above, and the fact that each Phase has about 9 movies, it is likely that Phase 4 will have the following structure:

• 5-6 sequels: Avengers #4, GOTG #3, Antman #3, Dr Strange #2, Antman #3, Spider-Man #2
• 1 new team: Inhumans
• 2-3 new sole movies

There is also the potential of legacy characters having the mantle transferred to other characters. I would considered these being new as well since these new Thor, Captain America or even Iron Man will mean new keys will emerge.

With this structure in mind, let’s first look at candidates who can qualify for sole movies.

New movies: How Marvel studios picks them

In looking through the past 10+ Marvel movies, it is easy to see how they pick characters for their sole movies. It is also easy to see what kind of characters tend to become supporting, rather than the main star. Below is a checklist that you can use to narrow down your personal picks:

• Own series: All the characters who have or going to have their sole movies have a long history of being published. Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Inhumans etc all had their own series since silver/bronze age and had multiple volumes throughout the years. Characters like Vision, Scarlet Witch, Mantis, Valkyrie, Falcon, Winter Soldier had no such records and became supporting characters. The reason is simple. Marvel studios like to draw on the comics for story lines, supporting cast etc. Without a long comic book series, there is no materials for the studios to work with. I don’t think Marvel studios will break this habit with Phase 4.

• Unique: With this, I meant characters who are not derivative. One example is She Hulk. She had her own series but her similarity to Hulk puts her chances of a solo to be low. So far, all the sole movies are unique properties that have very little similarity to what came before.

• No modern age: This is not a absolute criteria but so far, we have not see any modern character getting a sole movie treatment. This goes for all studios besides Marvel. Fox, Sony and even DC has not given any characters introduced after 2000 their own movies. It means in terms of betting odds, it is better to invest in pre 2000 characters, preferably in the Silver/Bronze/Copper age. In fact, if you look the pattern, it seems that Marvel Studios have finished combing through the silver age characters and are now looking at the bronze age, starting with Captain Marvel.

Where is Phase 4 going

One important clue said by Kevin Feige is that the end of Phase 3 marks the conclusion of the first part of the trilogy. Phase 4 represents the beginning of stage 2 and will be different from what we have seen.

Going from the above, one can guess where the direction can go towards. For one, we are likely to see more non Earth based stories as this will surely be very different from what we have seen. Indeed, the cosmic side has many stories that are yet to be told such as the Annihilation Conquest (might need to replace the villain) or the War of Kings etc. All these will bring in the Inhumans as well as other cosmic characters into the MCU.

Another side is of course the supernatural or inter dimensional aspect, of which Doctor Strange is just the beginning. Stories like the Midnight Sons might surface and bring us characters like Morbius, Ghost Rider and other supernatural characters. Some of which will surely star in their own sole movies.

My picks

Based on the pattern of Marvel studios and the direction of which Phase 4 is going, here are what I think are good candidate to star in their own movies. I exclude first appearance books that have already appreciated by quite a bit over the past 2 years. Examples of such characters include Moon Knight, Ghost Rider etc. (I personally think Marvel Spotlight #5 has room to grow if you compare to Werewolf by Night #32 but it is just me). Also most of the books covered here has been mentioned before but using new perspective, we can another way of understand why they might be undervalued.

In conclusion, there are still buying opportunities to speculate for movies. However, don’t go for the small fry. Invest in the leads and you will enjoy a much better return in the long run.