- Hello friends.
Holy (beep).
Marvel Studios dropped Mjolnir,
there, I said it right that time,
hard on San Diego Comic Con,
laying out its plans for Phase 4 of the MCU
and revealing some truly jaw dropping castings.
This week on Heat Vision Breakdown,
we digest all the craziness from Marvel's SDCC panel
and look at what the introduction of The Mighty Thor,
horror, and Doctor Strange 2 and, oh yeah,
Mahershala Ali as fricking Blade
means for the future of the MCU.
(upbeat music)
The first film of Marvel's Phase 4 is Black Widow,
a long promised standalone
for Scarlett Johansson's titular assassin.
ScarJo told me personally,
that's right, Aaron, I get answers.
- [Aaron] Oh, good for you.
- Yeah. "The only reason to make this film
"was if we could elevate the genre is some way."
What does that mean exactly?
Well, expect not only a lot of action,
the stars have been going through
some serious combat training,
but also a script with a lot of intrigue.
Johansson mentioned on a press line
that there were seven pages of dialogue
in the schedule for that week of filming,
noting it's a more talking than other Marvel films.
Black Widow, like this year's Captain Marvel,
is a prequel, but that doesn't necessarily mean
it can't also introduce plot points
that will have ramifications for the rest of the MCU.
However, expect 2020's other film release
to blow things even wider open.
The Eterenals.
Kevin Feige described the new film
as being full on Jack Kirby and star, Angelina Jolie,
said she will work 10 times as hard on this project
than on a normal one because of its responsibilities.
Does that mean she was half assing it as Maleficent?
- What an awkward situation.
- Little is know about this cosmic adventure
but I'm wondering if this could tie in to
the not yet dated Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 somehow,
perhaps by introducing Adam Warlock.
Both films center on Marvel's cosmic side,
so there is a good chance of some crossover happening.
Fall 2020 will also see Marvel's debut on the small screen.
I mean besides all those Netflix shows
and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
but apparently even Feige doesn't care about those.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will be the first series
to debut on the new Disney+ streaming service
and will be a major turning point for the MCU.
This is an opportunity for the studio
to truly explore transmedia storytelling
with movie stars hopping between
the big screen and the small.
Anthony Mackie walked out onto Hall H
carrying Captain America's shield,
a tease to how this connects
to the end of Avengers: Endgame,
which saw him pick up Cap's mantle.
Coming out three years after Black Panther
made February a viable month for the MCU,
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
will hit February 12th, 2021.
In addition to the casting of Chinese-Canadian actor,
Simu Liu, as the titular character
and Awkwafina in undisclosed role,
the big surprise came when it was finally revealed
that the real Mandarin will show up in this film.
You may remember a fake version
of the character from Iron Man 3,
in which Ben Kingsley played a drunk struggling actor
pretending to be the super villain.
If you don't remember that,
I envy you because it was dumb
and I spend way too much time thinking about it.
- [Aaron] Aw, it was so good!
- (laughs) Really?
Soon after Shang-Chi, Disney+ will have WandaVison
which sounds like a knockoff brand of television sets
but is actually a streaming series
set to debut in spring 2021.
We actually don't know that much about this one though.
- Well, actually we do because Elizabeth Olsen told me
that Kevin Feige pitched it to her himself.
And you wanna know what it's about?
- Kinda, yeah.
- Well she wouldn't tell me,
but sources said it's based off
of the classic comic book storyline, House of M.
That's when Scarlet Witch reshaped reality after a tragedy.
In this case, the death of Vision.
See, I do get information.
- Nobody likes a showoff, Aaron.
Get outta here!
Moving on, Loki will also come out
in spring 2021 on Disney+.
Feige confirmed at Comic Con that the show
will center on the 2012 version of the trickster god
who stole the Tesseract in Endgame.
What's he been up to?
Probably tooling around space and getting into shenanigans.
Likely even running into familiar heroes,
maybe even the Guardians.
This bigger question is this,
will Tom Hiddleston ever retire from this role
which forces him to sport the world's worst haircut?
Okay, enough streaming shows for now.
The next big screen adventure will be Doctor Strange
in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7th, 2021.
This will be the first ever major test
of Marvel's Disney+ strategy as WandaVision
will lead into Doctor Strange 2
and Elizabeth Olsen will also appear in the film.
Perhaps her reality distorting activities in WandaVision
will finally cause a rift in the multiverse
that Jake Gyllenhaal had promised
and not delivered on in Far From Home.
What a jerk.
Back on Disney+, the animated What If...? hits summer 2021.
It is based on the classic comic book series
that told alternate reality stories.
A few months later,
Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye hits in fall 2021.
Maybe he'll blame all the murders he committed in Endgame
on the fact that his family puts mayonnaise on hotdogs.
Pivoting to characters people actually care about,
in a pretty big deal,
Thor: Love and Thunder hits November 5th, 2021.
Not only will Thor be the only original Avenger
to continue on with his solo movies,
but Natalie Portman is returning to the series
in a new capacity, The Mighty Thor.
This was a huge surprise as Kevin Feige told me
the deal was made in secret six months ago
and dates back to when Taika Waititi
was directing Thor: Ragnarok
and discovered the comics of writer, Jason Aaron,
in which Jane Foster becomes Thor.
Also Tessa Thompson teased that Valkyrie
will be revealed to be Marvel's first LGBTQ superhero
who is searching for her queen
now that she's the official ruler of Asgard.
And that's it.
Oh wait, no, there's one more thing.
Blade!
(sirens ring)
This was one of the biggest
mic drop moments in Hall H history.
After Kevin Feige had already trotted out
numerous A-list stars and announced an impressive slate,
he invited two time Oscar winner,
Mahershala Ali, to the stage.
While fans had been given Black Widow hats,
Feige asked Ali if he was gonna put on a hat.
Ali did and the hat said Blade and the crowd went nuts.
Pretty sure some people fainted.
We don't really know that much about this project,
but it's probably safe to assume
it'll be a new film version of the legendary vampire slayer
given the pedigree of Ali in the title role.
Since it's been revealed that Doctor Strange 2
will take the MCU into the horror genre,
it's also a safe assumption to think
that Blade will continue that trend.
But does that mean it may also be
the MCU's first R rated outing?
Look, we want blood and we want lots of it.
Make it happen, Fiege.
So what are you most looking forward to in Marvel's Phase 4?
Let us know in the comments right down there.
Don't forget to subscribe and join us here
every Friday morning for new episodes
of Heat Vision Breakdown.
I wonder if Chris Hemsworth will still be fat.
(upbeat music)