Marvel has officially announced its upcoming projects for Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and for the first time, this will actively involve TV shows.
Yep, none of that annoying stuff where the TV shows exist but its characters are not even mentioned in the films. Anyway, I digress.
Phase 4 is the perfect mix of sequels of known characters and with a few new introductions to the MCU. So let’s get into it.
1. Black Widow
May 1, 2020
Yes, it’s finally got a release date. The fact that Marvel were working on a Black Widow prequel was practically common knowledge, but now we’ve got a release date to look forward to. Of course Scarlett Johansson will reprise her role as the former assassin. The movie also stars Rachel Weisz and will be directed by Kate Shortland.
2. Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Fall, 2020
Yep, we’re getting the adventures of Sam and Bucky, hopefully in that tiny Beetle from Captain America: Civil War. The show will stream on Disney’s upcoming Disney+ streaming service. However, for fans in India, this should be available on Hostar. Yes, Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan will reprise their roles for the show.
3. The Eternals
November 6, 2020
This is a big one. To put it simply, the Eternals are Thanos’ race. So we’re expecting this movie to be a history of the the Mad Titan’s race and family. Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek will star in the movie, along with Game Of Thrones‘ Richard Madden and Kumail Nanjiani.
4. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
February 12, 2021
Come 2021, the MCU will get its first Asian superhero, the skilled martial artist Shang-Chi. And the title is great because it means we’re getting the actual Ten Rings and the Mandarin, not the fake (although fun) Brit one we got in Iron Man 3. The movie will star Simu Liu and will be directed by Deston Daniel Cretton.
5. WandaVision
Spring, 2021
Another Disney+ release, WandaVision will follow the adventures of the Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff and Vision. According to the announcement, the show will be set after the events of Avengers: Endgame. We’re not sure how they’ll bring back Vision, but if they could bring back half of all life in the Universe, I’m sure one android won’t be too hard. And yes, just like Falcon and The Winter Solider, the original actors will reprise their roles.
6. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
May 7, 2021
Okay so first, yes we’ll get a multiverse. Second, while Benedict Cumberbatch returns, this movie will also co-star Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff. Kevin Feige mentioned that this movie would be directly tied to the WandaVision show. And if that’s not all, director Scott Derrickson promised the San Diego crowd that he would make this the “first scary MCU film”. Okay, that’s got our attention. I mean it had our attention before, just that… you know what I mean.
7. Loki
Spring 2021
Loki is officially back. I mean we knew he was coming back, we just didn’t know when or how. Like the other two shows, Loki will be streamed on Disney+. The series will take off from where we saw Tom Hiddleston’s character in Endgame, just after he steals the Tesseract and escapes. Which is good, because we don’t get the reformed Loki from the second half of the MCU’s Infinity Saga. We get the original God of Mischief who wanted to conquer Earth.
8. What If…?
Summer 2021
Now, while all the announcements are exciting, this one is the one that’s truly interesting. One, this will be the MCU’s first animated series. Kevin Feige also announced that “the many actors from the MCU” will reprise their roles as the voices of their characters. And two, just like the name suggests, this series will explore alternate outcomes of major events in the MCU.
9. Hawkeye
Fall 2021
Starring Jeremy Renner as the title character, the show will follow Hawkeye as he trains and teaches Kate Bishop, who has taken on the mantle of Hawkeye in the comics.
10 .Thor: Love and Thunder
November 5, 2021
You get the feeling that this might be the biggest one of all the announcements today. Thor 4, officially Thor: Love and Thunder, is slated for a November 2021 release, completing a really packed 2021. And the big announcement of this movie? Natalie Portman will reprise her role as Jane Foster. Oh, and yes, she will become the first female Thor (in the MCU, she’s already done that in the comics). And yes, Taika Waititi will direct the movie, so this is going to be a doozy.
Kevin Feige wasn’t done yet. Marvel officially announced that they were working on a new Blade movie, with Mahershah Ali to play the title role. They haven’t announced a release date, but we’re guessing it’s somewhere in 2022. 2021 has enough on its plate.
Kevin Feige also confirmed that Black Panther 2, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, Captain Marvel 2 and Fantastic Four are in the works. However, he said there was “no time to talk about mutants”.
That’s okay, Kevin. We can wait.