From left, Zoe Saldana, the character Rocket Racoon, voiced by Bradley Cooper, Chris Pratt, the character Groot, voiced by Vin Diesel and Dave Bautista in a scene from “Guardians of the Galaxy.” (Photo credit: Disney – Marvel)

By Gina McIntyre
Los Angeles Times

Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Captain Marvel and the Inhumans will be starring in their own films as part of Marvel’s Phase Three wave of comic-book blockbusters.

The announcements about Marvel’s upcoming movie projects took place Tuesday in Hollywood at the El Capitan Theatre at a special event attended by the company’s brass and key filmmaking partners.

Marvel movie chief Kevin Feige identified key dates for new releases that will make up Phrase Three. They included:

May 6, 2016 — “Captain America: Civil War”
Nov. 4, 2016 — “Doctor Strange”
May 5, 2017 — “Guardians of the Galaxy 2″
July 28, 2017 — “Thor: Ragnarok”
Nov. 3, 2017 — “Black Panther”
May 4, 2018 — “Avengers: Infinity War Part I”
July 6, 2018 — “Captain Marvel”
Nov. 2, 2018 — “Inhumans”
May 3, 2019 — “Avengers: Infinity War Part II”

Actor Chadwick Boseman, who earned raves in roles as Jackie Robinson and James Brown in earlier films, will play Black Panther.

He joined Marvel stalwarts Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans on stage at the conclusion of the presentation, where the latter two teased their rivalry in the next Captain America film, which will follow the Civil War story line first introduced in the comics in 2006 that saw Iron Man and Cap on opposite sides of a debate over registering superheroes with the government.

“With Black Panther, he is definitively a big part of ‘Civil War,’” Feige said. “We will meet him for the first time in Civil War in costume.”

The announcement comes two weeks after DC Entertainment revealed its own superhero lineup (including plans for Wonder Woman and Cyborg stand-alone films) during Time Warner’s investors conference.

“We wanted to do this at Comic-Con but things were not set,” Feige said during a Q&A with members of the press after the event.