It is far from endgame for the MCU. Kevin Feige, president of Marvel, has just announced the latest additions to the saga that began with Iron Man in 2008. The Marvel Phase 4 movie list is out and it is more than what the fans could have asked for.
(Avengers: Endgame spoilers ahead)
Here’s all you need to know.
Black Widow (May 1, 2020)
Bringing the Black Widow Arc to a close, the prequel will fill the time gap between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. With Scarlett Johansson returning as a younger Natasha Romanoff, the cast includes other big names likes Rachel Weisz, David Harbour and Florence Pugh. Harbour will play the character of Alexei aka the Red Guardian, the Russian counterpart of Captain America. Weisz’ character Melina could be the villain–the Iron Maiden. Florence Pugh will play Yelena Belova, who in the comics is the second Black Widow from Red Room Academy. The villain for the movie has been revealed to be the Taskmaster, a role that is yet to be cast. A clip from the movie was shown during the Comic-Con, which begins with a title card saying Budapest. This movie could finally be the one that reveals the Budapest mystery.
Eternals (November 6, 2020)
Directed by Chloe Zhao, the Eternals will hit the screens next year with characters entirely new to the MCU. With an Avenger level superhero line up, the movie has a dream cast including Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie. Eternals will also have MCU’s first deaf superhero Makkari, played by Lauren Ridloff. The Eternals are super beings, a group of immortals that shares the universe with human beings.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (February 12, 2021)
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the movie will follow the adventures of Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. Semu Liu, the Canadian actor has been cast as Shang-Chi, the martial arts expert who escapes his destiny of being an assassin for his father. The face of Mandarin, one of Marvels’ oldest villains was also revealed with Tony Leung playing the villain. Shang-Chi is planned as the Asian equivalent of Black Panther.
The movie will also go into the long running plot thread of the 10 rings. First introduced in Iron Man, the 10 rings tattoo made appearances in Iron Man 2 and Ant Man.
Wanda Vision (2021)
The series starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bethany will be released on Disney’s new streaming platform, Disney Plus. The show will follow Wanda and Vision post Endgame. How the show will deal with Vision’s apparent death in Infinity War remains to be seen. The series will also have an adult Monica Rambeau played by Teyonah Parris. Fans first met Monica (Lieutenant Trouble) as Maria Rambeau’s daughter in Captain Marvel.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (May 7, 2021)
Directed by Scott Derrickson, the movie will be MCU’s first-ever horror movie. The movie will have Benedict Cumberbatch reprising his role as the wizard and will also have Scarlet Witch/ Wanda Maximoff alongside him. The movie, which will follow the events of Wanda Vision, will finally show Scarlet Witch in all her deserving glory.
Loki (2021)
The fan favourite Loki series will air on Disney Plus in 2021 with Tom Hiddleston playing a pre- moral transformation Loki. The series will have Loki living up to the title—God of Mischief—and will also answer questions of where he went with the Tesseract in Endgame.
Falcon and The Winter Soldier (2021)
The show picking up right after Endgame will have Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie (who walked on to the Comic Con stage with Captain America’s shield) returning as the Falcon and Bucky. The show will also see the return of Zemo, the enigmatic villain from Civil War.
Thor: Love and Thunder (November 5, 2021)
Thor will make a return to the big screen in 2021 as the only Avenger to have a fourth solo movie. Directed by Taika Waititi, the movie, starring Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, will also have Natalie Portman returning to the saga. Not just as Jane Foster this time, but as the Female Thor: Goddess of Thunder.
What If (2021)
MCU’s first animated work, What If is set to stream on Disney Plus in 2021 and will show alternate realities and roads not taken. With the cast of the MCU stars voicing their characters, the would-have-been adventures of the superheroes are narrated by the Watcher – voiced by Jeffrey Wright (Westworld). Watcher is an all-seeing, all-knowing, non-earthly being in the comics who watches over the Multiverse and sometimes interferes in the fate of the Earthlings.
Hawkeye (2021)
The long-awaited series has been finally confirmed to be aired on Disney Plus, starring Jeremy Renner. The show will have Clint Barton training a young Kate Bishop in archery. Kate Bishop in the comics is the female younger Hawkeye. The series will also be looking into the Ronin aspect of Hawkeye.
Blade
The 2021 reboot of the 1998 movie (starring Wesley Snipes) was the biggest surprise among the Phase 4 announcements. The movie will have the human-vampire hybrid character played by two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali. Blade aka Dreamwalker is a feared hunter of bloodsuckers in the comics.
Captain Marvel 2, Guardians of The Galaxy 3, Black Panther 2, Fantastic 4 and Mutants are also in the charts, but most probably not before 2022.
