Is Marvel Planning a Super Villain Team-Up Movie?

After a successful box office run, taking in over $458 million domestically and $1.4 billion worldwide,Avengers: Age of Ultrondebuted on Digital HD today, ahead of theBlu-ray and DVDrelease on October 2. This massive adventure, along withAnt-Man, marks the end ofPhase Two, with the upcomingPhase Threeset to be even bigger, spanning nine movies between 2016 and 2019. While we still have four years untilPhase Threeis complete, some are even looking ahead toPhase Four, which we know nothing about at this time, but we may have gotten our first hint in a newAvengers: Age of Ultronfeaturette.

The preview, entitled Connecting the Universe, shows how several characters fromAvengers: Age of Ultroncompare to theirMarvel Comicscounterparts, such as Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) and the villainousUltron(James Spader) himself. The end of this video mentions that both Klaue and Ultron were part of the same villainous team known as theMasters of Evil, who battled Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in the comics several times. This brief mention has some fans wondering if the video could be teasing a potential movie centering on this super-villain team.

This video is not a confirmation of this project, butMarvel Studiosdoes have a penchant for teasing projects years before they are ever announced. 2011’sCaptain America: The First Avengermentioned Wakanda, home to bothBlack Panther(Chadwick Boseman) and the indestructible metal vibranium, years before theBlack Panthermovie was even announced. More recently, 2014’sCaptain America: The Winter SoldiermentionedDoctor Strange, months before the project was officially confirmed as part ofPhase Three.

The Masters of Evil first debuted in the comics back in July 1964 inThe Avengers#6, with the original version of this villainous team lead by Baron Zemo, who will be played byDaniel Brühlin next year’sCaptain America: Civil War. The lineup also included Black Knight, Melter, Radioactive Man, Enchantress and Executioner. Later versions of this team did include Ultron and Ulysses Klaue, along with other iconic villains like Doctor Octopus, Absorbing Man, Yellowjacket, Gargantua and many more. Of course, Ultron died inAvengers: Age of Ultron, but perhaps the studio has plans for a new version of theMasters of Evil.

If Earth’s Mightiest Heroes manage to defeat the nefarious Thanos at the end ofAvengers: Infinity War - Part IIin May 2019, this could set the stage for the Masters of Evil to make their mark on the MCU. Would you like to see aMasters of Evilmovie as part ofPhase Four? If Warner Bros.' super villain ensembleSuicide Squadproves to be a success, that could lead Marvel do put together aMasters of Evilmovie. While we wait for more details, check out thisAvengers: Age of Ultronpreview below.