Some of the third slate of Marvel's sprawling unified narrative world came with some inevitabilities: Captain America leading into Civil War might not have been the specific direction some may have predicted but that narrative slant was as nailed on as the Infinity Wars arc. And with Guardians Of The Galaxy proving an astute, disarming choice for the studio, a sequel was written large in the stars. But that doesn't mean even those obvious points weren't hugely exciting: the chance to see Cap vs Iron Man has been top of the bill for a lot of Marvelites since Robert Downey Jnr and Chris Evans were initially cast and the Infinity arc should give Thanos the grandiose frame he deserves as an arch-villain. And more Guardians in any form is a plus. Aside from those big moments, it is Marvel's bravery that really sticks out for the new slate: bringing in four new character properties including a black superhero and a female one (which shouldn't need to be watershed moments, but such is the bias of the comic book movie world) is a big step when sequels could have dominated. And the perseverance with Thor is brave considering the inferior quality of the sequel: whether it's foolish endurance will be clear later, but at least the war motif might help.
