Marvel Studios’ Iron Man and Guardians of the Galaxy franchises avoid a major MCU sequel trend that has become increasingly more popular.
The Iron Man and Guardians of the Galaxy franchises avoid a big Marvel Cinematic Universe sequel trend thanks to having no subtitles. Marvel Studios has launched roughly a dozen successful franchises over the last 15 years. Iron Man and Guardians of the Galaxy will always hold a special place in the MCU’s history thanks to what the first solo films meant for the larger franchise. Iron Man kicked off the shared universe with a grounded introduction to Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark. Meanwhile, Guardians of the Galaxy sent the MCU into the cosmos as James Gunn turned obscure characters into household names.
The success of the first films in the Iron Man and Guardians of the Galaxy franchises allowed multiple sequels to be made for each. Marvel prioritized making the Iron Man trilogy, resulting in the franchise wrapping up just five years after it began. Guardians of the Galaxy‘s sequels have taken a bit longer, especially when it comes to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 due to the various delays that James Gunn’s movie encountered. The Guardians of the Galaxy and Iron Man sequels were not only massively successful for Marvel Studios, but they avoid a major trend for MCU sequels.
Iron Man & GOTG Movie Sequels Don’t Have Subtitles
Throughout the franchise’s history, Iron Man sequels and Guardians of the Galaxy sequels are the only MCU sequel movies that do not have subtitles. Marvel Studios took a simple approach with the Iron Man franchise, electing to simply call the sequels Iron Man 2 and Iron Man 3. Some personality was brought to the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, as the sequels received Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 titles. The “Vol. X” titling decision directly plays on Star-Lord’s Awesome Mixes, which are a key piece to the space franchise. Noticeably, every other MCU sequel follows a different trend.
Marvel Studios has put subtitles or changed the franchise title for every other sequel. The Captain America, Thor, Black Panther, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and Avengers franchises all use subtitles in their sequels. Marvel has even altered the Ant-Man and Captain Marvel sequel titles to accommodate recognizing more heroes, with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania combining both sequel titling techniques. There is no specific reason known why the Iron Man and Guardians of the Galaxy sequels have no subtitles and avoid the MCU titling tradition.
What Iron Man’s Sequel Subtitles Could Have Been
Since the Iron Man sequels did not receive subtitles, there are some alternate paths Marvel Studios could have followed to give them one. Iron Man 2 revolved around Tony Stark’s battle with radiation poisoning, fighting Whiplash and Justin Hammer, introducing Black Widow, and the emergence of War Machine. A potential option for Iron Man 2‘s subtitle could have been Armor Wars as it deals with so many armored characters battling. It is also possible that Marvel could give the Iron Man sequel subtitles like Iron Man: War Machine or Iron Man: Duel of Iron.
As for a potential Iron Man 3 subtitle, the sequel’s new title would need to reference the story at hand. The controversial movie utilized Extremis, a fake Mandarin, AIM, and much more as Tony’s life after The Avengers was explored. This gives way to a few rather natural Iron Man 3 subtitles, such as Iron Man: Extremis. Marvel could have leaned even harder in the direction of its Trevor Slattery/Mandarin fakeout by titling the movie Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin, but that could have made the backlash even greater. Marvel Studios might have even considered Invincible Iron Man as an alternate title.
What Guardians of the Galaxy’s Sequel Subtitles Could Have Been
The Guardians of the Galaxy sequel subtitles could have more directly teased the stories that James Gunn tells. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 focuses on Peter meeting his father, learning about his Celestial ties, fighting Ayesha and the Sovereign, and bringing more members into the team. The movie does not directly adapt a key storyline from the comics, meaning the MCU might have gotten a bit more creative and original with the title, as they did frequently in Phase 4. So, something like Guardians of the Galaxy: Sovereign or Guardians of the Galaxy: Father & Son could have been chosen.
The titling options for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s subtitle would similarly need to come from the story. It is confirmed to introduce Adam Warlock, feature High Evolutionary as the villain, have Peter try to win Gamora back, and show how the Guardians team has evolved after Avengers: Endgame. The Guardians of the Galaxy 3 subtitle could have been as simple as Guardians of the Galaxy: Warlock. Marvel Studios also could have gone with Guardians of the Galaxy: Evolutionary War to signal High Evolutionary’s powers. Since it is also the last movie in James Gunn’s trilogy, Guardians of the Galaxy: Legacy could be fitting for the MCU sequel subtitle potentially.
source: screenrant.com
