After months of speculation – and Black Widow set photos – Marvel Studios finally confirmed its Phase 4 film slate at Comic-Con International: San Diego and fleshed out some of those titles at the D23 Expo. And they’ve been dropping tidbits ever since, including a recent update on Ant-Man 3. If you’ve been following our regularly updated list of upcoming Marvel productions, some of the films announced may not have been a surprise, but some of the details were certainly shocking. Others were downright thrilling: Mahershala Ali as Blade? Natalie Portman to play a new Thor? We’re in. Disney and Marvel doubled down then at D23 in August, revealing new footage from Black Widow that shed some light on where the film’s story is going, and introducing the full cast of Eternals with images of their full costumes. That cast includes – in a big surprise for fans – Kit Harington, who will reunite with his Game of Thrones co-star Richard Madden in the film. But all the while, trouble brewed across the summer as Disney and Sony could not come to an agreement about Spider-Man. Happily, the two studios have made an accord and Peter will continue to have a role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For now, at least. It’s been an eventful summer and fall for the MCU and we’ve added all the big new Marvel revelations from the last few months into this comprehensive guide of every upcoming Marvel movie so you gave a one-stop shop. And if you’re looking for details on what Marvel has cooking on new streaming service Disney+, well, we’ve got that too.
As always, we will continue to update this page frequently as new details emerge. And be careful, if you haven’t seen Avengers: Endgame or Spider-Man: Far From Home, there are spoilers ahead. (Want to see what the other camp is up to? Check out our full breakdown of upcoming DC movies.)
COMING SOON IN PHASE 4
These are the projects Marvel announced and dated at the Comic-Con presentation and D23. They represent the entirety of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s fourth phase and feature a number of sequels – but at least one new concept will likely become your latest Marvel obsession.
BLACK WIDOW:
Release Date: May 1, 2020
What We Know: Confirming our guesses, Marvel has announced that the Scarlett Johansson-led film will be the first project to emerge from the studio next year. First revealed in January of 2018 with Jac Schaeffer writing the script, the film became Marvel’s fastest-track project ever with Lore’s Cate Shortland signing on to direct in July of last year. The film is currently in production with David Harbour as Alexei – a.k.a. The Red Guardian – Florence Pugh as Yelena, O-T Fagbenle as Mason, and Rachel Weisz as Melina.The film is likely a prequel to the events of Avengers: Endgame and set just after Captain America: Civil War – although it is still possible the film may all be a phantasm of sorts as Nat’s soul rests on Vormir. But if it is a true prequel, expect it to still make some reference to the Phase 4 conflict and Nick Fury’s (Samuel L. Jackson) space fleet.
How It Fits in the MCU: Flashbacks to Nat’s training in Avengers: Age of Ultron tie back to ideas explored in the short-lived Marvel television series Marvel’s Agent Carter – a series we know the films acknowledge thanks to Edwin Jarvis’s (James D’Arcy) cameo in Endgame – in which a Soviet-trained deep cover agent is assigned to eliminate Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). Investigating the operative, Peggy discovers the brutal facility charged with creating these sleeper agents using methods teased in the Ultron flashbacks. Both Nat and Yelena came out of this program,
known by their time as the Red Room.
ETERNALS:
Marvel Studios)
Release Date: November 6, 2020
What We Know: In April of 2018, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige revealed a film based on the Eternals comic book and concept was in development. Soon after, The Rider’s Chloe Zhao became its director. Based on characters and situations imagined by Jack Kirby, the Eternals are a race of fantastically powerful proto-humans engineered by the Celestials (more on them in a moment) to harness vast amounts of “cosmic energy.” Generations of infighting and wars against another Celestial experiment, the Deviants, followed. According to reports, the film will center on an Eternal named Sersi with the powers of flight, strength, immortality, and molecular manipulation, but as of the Comic-con presentation, the part has not been cast. Confirmed cast members include Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Lia McHugh as Sprite, Don Lee as Gilgamesh, and Angelina Jolie as Thena.
How It Fits in the MCU: Because the Eternals and the Celestials are old and powerful — the Celestials are some of the oldest creatures in the universe — they run into just about everyone. When the Kree happened to learn about the Eternals, they tried duplicating the Celestial experiment and created Inhumans on Earth. In Marvel’s 616 universe, Thanos is himself related to the Eternals thanks to their colonization of Titan in the distant past. Meanwhile, the Celestials have already appeared in passing during both Guardians films. In the first film, one appears in a hologram during The Collector’s (Benicio Del Toro) explanation of the Power Stone. And in the second film, Peter Quill’s (Chris Pratt) father Ego (Kurt Russell) self-identified as a Celestial. Whether or not this means Ziran the Tester will feature in Eternals or any other MCU film remains to be seen.
SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS
Release Date: February 12, 2021
What We Know: In March, Short Term 12’s Destin Daniel Cretton emerged as the director of a film based on Marvel’s 1970s comic book The Hands of Shang-Chi: Master of Kung-Fu. In the comics, Shang-Chi was the son of legendary literary villain Fu Manchu. Learning the truth about his dad’s business, he used his martial arts prowess against his father and any other Marvel baddie ready to go against his mighty hands. But considering Fu Manchu is one of the few IPs not owned by the Walt Disney Company, fans online are already speculating Shang-Chi’s father – whom Marvel later turned into a different immortal villain in the comics – may turn out to be the “real” Mandarin teased in the Iron Man 3 Blu-ray short film “All Hail the King.” At Comic-Con, Marvel announced the full title, the release date – replacing our guess of a Black Panther sequel – and the cast, which includes Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Awkwafina in a to-be-announced role, and HardBoiled‘s Tony Leung as the real Mandarin.
How It Fits in the MCU: Seeded in Iron Man, but never carried out to fruition as the Infinity Saga took shape, the Ten Rings is a crime league embedded across the world, but owing allegiance to no country. The group gives Shang-Chi a nice international opponent with an established MCU footprint. Also, the 10 rings the Mandarin wears have cosmic origins which may play into the larger Phase 4 story. And, we’ll be honest, we hope he uses them to conjure up legendary Marvel Comics creature Fin Fang Foom.
DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS
What We Know: Director Scott Derrickson finally signed on to return in December of 2018, suggesting the film will end up as one of the Marvel releases for 2022 (as we always assumed). But at Comic-Con, Marvel revealed the film will take the spot we originally reserved for Shang-Chi in May 2021. Benedict Cumberbatch returns as the Sorcerer Supreme with Elizabeth Olsen joining him as the Scarlet Witch in what Derrickson calls “the first scary MCU movie.” Though not announced as a participant in The Multiverse of Madness, we still think Strange will face Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) as he tries to amass all the magic for himself, a notion teased in the first film’s post-credit stinger.
How It Fits in the MCU: The mystic realm of the MCU is still ripe for exploration, even as Endgame tied it closer with the underpinning of its universe. The film will also tie into Olsen’s upcoming Disney+ series WandaVision, illustrating Marvel Studios’ plans to connect the streaming service’s limited series to the ongoing film world.
SPIDERMAN 3:
What We Know: After a tense summer in which, it seemed, Spider-Man would blip out of the MCU again to face off against Venom (Tom Hardy), Sony Pictures and the Walt Disney Studios agreed to produce a third film with Tom Holland as Spider-Man. Considering the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home, we expect the film to be called “Spider-Man: Homeless” and see the web-slinger clearing his name while evading those who would bring him in — including whichever Avengers might be active at that time. While the fine details of the studios’ new agreement are not known — beyond Disney reportedly increasing its share of the profits to 25% — we do know Spidey will appear in one additional MCU outside of his third solo film.
How It Fits in the MCU: Nick Fury has big plans for Peter, but will he be able to set everything in motion before Sony calls him back to their Spider-Verse? Considering the film will slot into Phase 4, one imagines it will push forward the overall storyline even as Peter clears his name. It almost has to considering how precarious his existence in the MCU continues to be. But with one additional appearance guaranteed after the third film, maybe the first Phase 5 film will revolve around his multi-versal instability.
THE NEXT PART OF THIS WILL COME SOON. TELL ME HOW MUCH YOU ARE EXCITED IN
