With so many rumors and news tidbits floating around, It can be tough keeping track of what's
going on in the MCU, and what's coming up.
Well, strap on your Vibranium shield, because we're hitting you with every project you can
expect to see in Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
We've been promised it would happen for years, and on May 1, 2020, it finally will.
Black Widow, in which Scarlett Johansson will reprise the role of superspy Natasha Romanoff
for what very well might be the last time.
The prequel is set in the period between Civil War and Infinity War, but will likely also
flash back to the time before Romanoff's recruitment by S.H.I.E.L.D.
According to director Cate Shortland, the flick will find Romanoff in a dark place,
following her as she, quote, "[puts] the pieces of herself together and [comes] out a whole
person."
Much of the action will take place overseas, and yes, we may finally get to find out just
what went down in Budapest.
"Just like Budapest all over again."
"You and I remember Budapest very differently."
Johansson's co-stars include Florence Pugh and Rachel Weisz, who will appear as operatives
who have undergone the same Red Room training that honed Romanoff's deadly skills.
Also starring is David Harbour, who will portray the Red Guardian, Russia's answer to Captain
America.
Rounding out the cast will be O-T Fagbenle as Marcus, an underworld "fixer," and Ray
Winstone, whose role is undisclosed.
It's not yet known who will be playing the flick's reported villain, Taskmaster, whose
photographic reflexes allow him to perfectly mimic the fighting style of anyone he faces.
Another long-rumored project to receive final confirmation at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 was
the Disney+ limited series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which will see Anthony
Mackie and Sebastian Stan reprising their roles of Steve Rogers' two best buddies who
just happen to kind of hate one another.
"Can you move your seat up?"
"No."
Perhaps the announcement's biggest reveal is its logo, which sports a very Captain America-esque
design.
It seems that Sam Wilson will have a bit of reconciling to do between his old heroic identity
and the new identity, bequeathed to him by Rogers himself at the conclusion of Avengers:
Endgame.
Plot details have so far been kept under wraps, but we do know one thing: the six-episode
series will see the return of Zemo, the man who goaded the Avengers into the titular conflict
of Captain America: Civil War, and he'll be sporting his distinctive purple mask from
the comics.
Kari Skogland will direct every episode, with writing duties being handled by Malcolm Spellman
and Derek Kolstad.
The series won't be part of the original offerings Disney+ will feature at launch, but is expected
to hit the streamer sometime in mid- to late 2020.
Marvel Studios opened their Comic-Con panel with discussion of The Eternals, an interesting
if lesser-known property which should help anchor the Cosmic side of the MCU moving forward.
The titular race of superpowered beings were created eons ago by the Celestials to defend
the Earth from their polar opposites the Deviants.
Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige has teased that The Eternals' story may span, quote,
"tens of thousands of years," telling an epic story of the type we haven't yet seen in the
MCU.
The movie, which will be directed by The Rider helmer Chloe Zhao, has assembled a suitably
epic cast for its November 6, 2020, release.
The Eternals will star Richard Madden as Ikaris, Alongside him is Angelina Jolie as Thena,
Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Salma
Hayek as Ajak, and Lia McHugh as the trickster Sprite.
The starring vehicle for the MCU's first Asian superhero movie protagonist Shang-Chi, Master
of Kung Fu, was teased in late 2018, but until the title was revealed at San Diego Comic-Con
in July 2019, its iconic villain had only been rumored.
It turned out that the rumors were true: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will see the
supremely skilled fighter facing off against the Mandarin, the classic Iron Man villain
who had been cruelly teased with Ben Kingsley's impostor, actor Trevor Slattery, in Iron Man
3.
"Don't hurt the face!
I'm an actor!"
"You've got a minute to live, fill it with words."
Of course, the Marvel One-Shot All Hail the King revealed that the real deal was still
out there somewhere, and now, he'll finally make his presence known.
It seems that the Ten Rings, the terrorist organization who kidnapped Tony Stark in Iron
Man, will figure prominently into the screen origin of Shang-Chi, who in the comics is
perhaps the finest unarmed combatant in existence.
Destin Daniel Cretton has been tapped to direct, with Chinese Canadian actor Simu Liu holding
down the title role.
Also confirmed to be starring are Awkwafina in an undisclosed role and legendary Chinese
actor Tony Leung as the Mandarin.
Rumors have already begun swirling that the nefarious baddie will be retconned as Shang-Chi's
father in the flick, but for now, this is unconfirmed.
We'll find out when it's released February 12, 2021.
When it was first announced in late 2018 that Marvel Studios would be developing multiple
limited series for the Disney+ streaming service, it didn't take long to get confirmation on
the first of these: a show about Loki, which will see Tom Hiddleston returning to portray
the beloved trickster god once more.
While plot details remain scarce, Hiddleston did appear during Marvel Studios' panel at
San Diego Comic-Con to confirm a spring 2021 release for Loki, hinting that the series
will answer fans' questions about where the Avengers-era Loki went with the Tesseract
after disappearing during Endgame's time heist.
Of course, the character met a grim end at the hands of Thanos in the brutal opening
sequence of Avengers: Infinity War, and his death is expected to actually take this time.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the series will follow Loki as he, quote, "pops up throughout
human history as an unlikely influencer on historical events," like a less-friendly,
time traveling Forrest Gump.
The project has scored a showrunner who should know his way around this kind of material:
Michael Waldron, who has worked as a writer on Adult Swim's Rick and Morty and will be
credited as creator and executive producer, in addition to writing the pilot.
It's an inspired premise and a spot-on creative choice, but let's face it: Disney+ had us
at "Tom Hiddleston will return as Loki."
"This universe is only one of an infinite number.
Worlds without end."
2016's Doctor Strange gave us the MCU's first look at the Multiverse, so it was only to
be expected that the sequel, which has been in the works since before the first film even
released, should further explore the concept.
But this time around, it appears that traversing multiple alternate realities will be central
to the plot, as evidenced by the flick's title, revealed at San Diego Comic-Con 2019: Doctor
Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Returning director Scott Derrickson was previously most at home in the horror genre, having helmed
such flicks as The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Sinister.
For the further adventures of Stephen Strange, Derrickson has promised that he'll deliver,
quote, "the first scary MCU film," on May 7, 2021, which sounds like an amazing prospect.
But wait, there's more: fans at SDCC were also treated to the announcement that the
movie would co-star Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, along with her potent
and dangerous reality-warping powers.
It was also revealed that the film would tie directly into the plot of the upcoming Disney+
series WandaVision, which will see Olsen reprise the role along with Paul Bettany as a probably
less gray Vision.
We expected to see further team-ups along the lines of the Thor/Hulk pairing in Thor:
Ragnarok for Phase 4, and we must say that this one was quite unexpected, and inspired.
Among the more intriguing Disney+ limited series is WandaVision, which will be run by
Captain Marvel writer Jac Schaeffer and will feature the reunion of Scarlet Witch and Vision.
Of course, everyone's favorite robot boyfriend was looking just a tad bit dead the last time
we saw him, during the climax of Avengers: Infinity War, and he didn't return in the
"blip."
While it's not known exactly how the Avenging android will make his return, there are a
few bread crumbs we can follow that give us a clue.
Elizabeth Olsen has said that at least a portion of the series takes place in the 1950s, which
doesn't make a great deal of sense unless perhaps time travel is involved, or, perhaps,
alternate realities.
This seems a bit more likely, since we know the events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse
of Madness will tie into the events of the series.
But It could be that Wanda will travel to another world, one in which her lost love
is alive, but that, in doing so, somehow upsets the balance of the Multiverse, leading a certain
good Doctor to intervene.
We won't know for sure until the series drops, but it has been confirmed that the show will
take place after the events of Avengers: Endgame.
It won't be a terribly long wait to discover how it will all shake out.
WandaVision is slated to debut on Disney+ sometime in the spring of 2021.
What If? is an alternate universe anthology series which has run in various formats since
1977, exploring how events may have unfolded if crucial moments in the mainstream Marvel
timeline had played out differently.
It allowed readers to consider scenarios both intriguing (What if Spider-Man had joined
the Fantastic Four?) and unthinkable.
We're talking, "What if Doctor Strange were a disciple of Dormammu?"
Well, what it did for the comics, the Disney+ animated series What If? intends to do for
the MCU.
Like its comics counterpart, What If? will have an anthology format, with each episode
tackling one specific moment in the MCU timeline.
We know what you're thinking, what if Star-Lord hadn't picked the exact wrong moment to cold-cock
Thanos?
We can already tell you: Infinity War would have been a heck of a lot shorter and less
tragic.
We'll have to wait to see what weirdness this animated outing will have in store for us.
We did get some definite hints about a few possible scenarios during Marvel's 2019 Comic-Con
panel, which not only set a Summer 2021 date for the show, but revealed an impressive line-up
of MCU talent set to lend their voices.
They will be joined by Jeffrey Wright in the central role of Uatu the Watcher, likely a
Rod Serling-like host for the anthology's multiverse-spanning speculations.
Rounding out the first batch of Disney+ limited series will be Hawkeye, which will see Jeremy
Renner reprise his role as the Avenging archer.
The series' logo, which is heavily inspired by the one used on the character's well-received
recent comics run from Matt Fraction and David Aja, was dropped on the San Diego Comic-Con
crowd.
Along with the reveal came the confirmation of a long-standing rumor: that the series
will see the debut of Kate Bishop, a young protege who takes up the mantle of Hawkeye
in the comics.
The series is confirmed to take place after the events of Avengers: Endgame, so it'll
likely see Clint Barton adjusting to a world in which his beloved family has returned from
being dusted in the Decimation, and his trusted ally Natasha Romanoff is no more, having sacrificed
herself to further the Avengers' mission in Endgame.
While no plot details were announced, Renner did share one little tidbit with the Comic-Con
crowd which suggests that Barton's mentorship of Bishop will be key to the series' narrative.
He dished:
"I get to teach someone else how to be a superhero without superpowers."
Fans have been clamoring for this storyline to make its way to the screen for some time,
but they'll have to wait a bit longer to see it come to fruition: Hawkeye is scheduled
to debut on Disney+ in the fall of 2021.
Given his fantastic character arc over his last several appearances, culminating with
his decision to join the Guardians of the Galaxy at the conclusion of Avengers: Endgame,
speculation had been running high for some time that Thor would be the first Avenger
to land himself a fourth solo film.
It was confirmed in July 2019 that it was happening, with Thor: Ragnarok's Taika Waititi
returning to direct, but at that month's San Diego Comic-Con, further details were announced
that shocked those in attendance.
Specifically, the flick, now officially titled Thor: Love and Thunder, releasing November
5, 2021, will see the return of Natalie Portman's Jane Foster, who will follow in her character's
recent comic book footsteps by picking up Mjolnir to become Thor herself.
Tessa Thompson will also return as Valkyrie, and Kevin Feige has confirmed that this time
around, it will be made explicit that the character is bisexual, a first for a major
character in an MCU film.
This, along with the flick's title, have led some to speculate that the God of Thunder
just might find himself in the middle of a complicated love triangle, one involving two
women who are just as powerful as he, and who may prove to be slightly more interested
in each other than they are in him.
So far, so awesome, but we just have one question: is this a brand new Mjolnir, or the same one
Captain America returned to 2013 in Avengers: Endgame?
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