A good investor will take a frequent look at his/her portfolio and make sure that it is savvy and has a diverse set of investments that are built for the long haul. Comic books should not be all that different from a smart set of stocks.  Every so often you need to check out the latest speculation, ensure that you have a good idea of value development, and adjust your collection accordingly.  Are you ready for Phase IV?  Let's break down some of the characters we need to be keeping an eye on.

Just when I think Marvel is going to take a step forward, we seem poised to take a bit of a stutter-step backward to set up Phase IV.  Black Widow is most likely going to be set in the past and has ramifications that ripple forward in time.  We all know her fate, so why are we continuing to invest in a dead horse...as they say.  The Eternals should be hearkening back to the development of the Marvel Universe and introduce lore and legend that may become the future Marvel reality. We still do not know if the Infinity Stones and their removal, and then return, from timelines will hold any lingering effects from the earlier phases.  Yet, I have a feeling that they will continue to play a role in the upcoming Marvel Universe.

While we have some pretty good assurances that they are done featuring Captain America and Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) for the foreseeable future, there may be some callbacks that are worth investing in as Phase IV develops.  Thor: Love and Thunder should be a cosmic thrill ride that gives us some notable supporting characters, in the same guise that Thor: Ragnarok did.  One of the characters I am hoping will make his return is Jeff Goldblum's Grandmaster who made his first appearance in the pages of Avengers #69.  The wacky character was fun to watch and is easily poised to be given a sizable role to expand Grandmaster into a larger and more vicious villain.  The aforementioned Thor, along with the Lady Thor version, is receiving a lot of love from speculators and buyers.

Taskmaster may have met his peak a bit too early.  The instant he was confirmed to be in Black Widow, his first appearance popped but has simmered down recently.  I don't know if his actual appearance in the film can save his value.  Red Guardian is lucky enough to be extremely rare and has seen significant value in his first appearance book.  I wonder if they will do a little Red Guardian switch-a-roo with the character of Tania Belinsky, who served as Red Guardian II in the comics.  Personally, I am also hoping for a cameo from the Crimson Dynamo as a quick foil for Iron Man since there are rumors of Robert Downey Jr. making an appearance in the film.  Everything is up in the air as Marvel tries to develop their future, and the unknown should carry a bit of excitement for fans!

What characters are you banking on for the upcoming Marvel offerings?  Is there a sleeper that nobody has thought about yet?  Drop your comments and join the speculation!

 

GoCollect is the #1 comic book price guide for tracking sales data of all graded comic books in real-time. Fair market values are now at your fingertips. Check out all the features at www.gocollect.com