It's hard keeping track of what's going on in the world of Marvel superheroes, so we're
here to help with this handy guide. Here's every Marvel movie coming out after Black
Widow, from Marvel Studios' entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to Sony Pictures'
projects in their universe of Marvel characters.
"Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" is the starring vehicle for the MCU's first
Asian hero, the titular Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu.
Destin Daniel Cretton is directing, and Chinese-Canadian actor Simu Liu will be holding down the title
role.
According to the "Shang-Chi" trailer, the film will find our hero being drawn into the
world of the Ten Rings — the terrorist organization that kidnappeds Tony Stark in "Iron Man" and
was mentioned by Darren Cross as a potential buyer for the Yellowjacket technology in "Ant-Man."
It seems their intimidating boss, Wenwu, happens to be both Shang-Chi's dad and the notorious
villain the Mandarin, and he wants his son to take his place in the terror group.
As you might assume, Shang-Chi has a few things to say about that — not to mention a lot
of people to punch. We can't wait to see all the action go down on September 3, 2021.
Sony's Universe of Marvel Characters kicked off successfully with "Venom," which cleaned
up at the box office despite critics not being as kind. Considering that the movie brought
in a mind-boggling sum of $856 million dollars, a sequel was all but obligatory, set up by
a credits scene with a villainous Woody Harrelson and a truly fantastic wig.
The sequel, titled "Venom: Let There Be Carnage," will see Andy Serkis stepping in as the director,
telling the story of Harrelson's Cletus Kasady character as he unleashes carnage on Eddie
Brock's world.
According to Serkis, the plot will pick up over a year after the events of the first
film, with Eddie Brock attempting to readjust to normal life with his symbiote roommate,
only to get pulled back into another chaotic conflict with an otherworldly foe. "Venom:
Let There Be Carnage" is set for release on September 24, 2021.
Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige has teased that the Eternals' story will span "tens of
thousands of years," telling an epic story of the type we haven't yet seen in the MCU.
The film will be directed by Chloe Zhao, who won an Oscar for Best Director for her work
on "Nomadland," which also nabbed the Academy Award for Best Picture.
The titular heroes at the center of the film are a group of superpowered beings created
eons ago by the Celestials in order to defend the Earth from the evil Deviants. In the real
world, they're the brainchild of the great Jack Kirby, who created the comic in the mid-1970s.
It features a packed cast that includes the Marvel debuts of Richard Madden, Angelina
Jolie, Kumail Nanjiani, and more, featuring a bonus "Game of Thrones" reunion with Richard
Madden as Ikaris and Kit Harington as the Black Knight. "Eternals" touches down on November
5, 2021.
The more we've learned about the third MCU "Spider-Man" movie, the less we understand
about where the series is going.
When J.K. Simmons reprised his role as J. Jonah Jameson from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man
trilogy during the end credits of "Spider-Man: Far From Home," we probably should've suspected
that something strange was afoot in the MCU. Now, reports have emerged that heroes and
villains from previous iterations of the "Spider-Man" series, like Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus,
Jamie Foxx's Electro, and maybe even Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, are all being
pulled into this movie for an interdimensional spider-summit.
"I'm sorry — you're saying there's a multiverse?"
While "Far From Home" teased a multiverse that ultimately turned out to be a ruse perpetuated
by Mysterio, this movie might be bringing in a multiverse for real.
"That's a question. Ah. That's a question!"
In addition to other Spidey characters, Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange is also joining
the cast, and he may be the key to understanding how all of these surprising casting announcements
fit together. We'll learn exactly how all of the various Spider-Verses (potentially)
fit together when "Spider-Man: No Way Home" hits theaters December 17, 2021.
Joining Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock in the Sony Spider-verse will be Morbius, based on the
"living vampire" and frequent Spider-Man nemesis who first appeared in the pages of Marvel
comics in 1971.
"Morbius" will star Jared Leto as Dr. Michael Morbius, a brilliant biochemist whose attempts
to cure his own deadly blood disease with an experimental vampire bat treatment go predictably
awry, transforming him into a superpowered ghoul who must consume human blood to survive.
The movie will also feature a surprising appearance from Michael Keaton, most likely reprising
his role as Adrian Toomes (aka the Vulture) from "Spider-Man: Homecoming." The film will
hit theaters on January 28, 2022.
In 2019, we learned that the "Doctor Strange" sequel would be titled "Doctor Strange in
the Multiverse of Madness."
The sequel will co-star Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, and it will be directly influenced
by the weird events of "WandaVision" (and possibly the events of "Loki"). Joining the
cast of "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" is "Baby-Sitters Club" star Xochitl
Gomez as America Chavez, also known in the comics as Miss America, a member of the Young
Avengers who also happens to be from another dimension.
The creative team for the second "Strange" film is changing in a big way, with "Spider-Man"
trilogy director Sam Raimi stepping in for original director Scott Derrickson. We'll
find out what else is changing in the MCU with this one on March 25, 2022.
Taika Waititi of "Thor: Ragnarok" will be returning to direct "Thor: Love and Thunder"
-- and also to voice the loveable rock alien Korg. But at 2019's San Diego Comic-Con, further
details were announced that shocked those in attendance.
Specifically, the "Ragnarok" sequel will see the return of Natalie Portman's Jane Foster,
who'll follow in her character's recent comic book footsteps by picking up Mjolnir to become
Thor herself.
Additionally, several of the Guardians of the Galaxy will also be reportedly joining
the cast, which makes sense, considering Thor was last seen joining the Guardians at the
end of "Avengers: Endgame."
Serving as the antagonist for "Love and Thunder" will be Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher,
a character who, in the comics, is obsessed with killing gods and absorbing their power.
How it comes together will all be revealed when "Thor: Love and Thunder" hits theaters
on May 6, 2022.
After the tremendous success of 2018's "Black Panther," a sequel was a sure thing, with
Chadwick Boseman expected to reprise his role as T'Challa, the king of the fictional country
of Wakanda.
Tragically, in August of 2020, Boseman passed away following a four-year struggle with cancer.
The news came as a shock to Boseman's fans and colleagues alike, as the actor had kept
his condition and treatment quiet, even as he continued to work.
While Marvel declined to comment too specifically on the future of "Black Panther" immediately
following Boseman's death, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" is moving forward with the
rest of the cast and crew dedicated to honoring Boseman's memory. The anticipated, bittersweet
sequel is set to be released on July 8, 2022.
No "Spider-Man" film before it was ever able to do what Sony Pictures Animation's "Spider-Man:
Into the Spider-Verse" did: win an Academy Award.
The Best Animated Feature of 2018 is considered by some to be among the greatest superhero
films ever made, with its supremely innovative animation style and focus on its eclectic
cast of alternate-universe Spider-People. Its success seems impossible to duplicate
— but Sony is still going to try.
The "Spider-Verse" sequel will center on the burgeoning romantic relationship between Miles
Morales and Gwen Stacy, reportedly taking place two years after the events of the first
film. Additional plot details are still a mystery, but a teaser shared by the official
Spider-Verse Twitter account flickers through several different spider logos, which seems
to indicate that once again, we'll be meeting a variety of different Spider-People from
across the multiverse.
One thing we do know is that Issa Rae of HBO's "Insecure" will be playing Jessica Drew — better
known as Spider-Woman. As for which other heroes will be joining the flick, we'll find
out soon enough, as "Into the Spider-Verse 2" hits theaters on October 7, 2022.
While Marvel is keeping quiet so far about what Carol Danvers will be up to the next
time we see her, we do know that she won't be alone. The film that was originally presented
as a sequel to 2019's "Captain Marvel" was revealed in 2021 to actually be a team-up
feature titled "The Marvels." Brie Larson will be returning as Carol Danvers, aka Captain
Marvel, the titular star of the first film, but joining her this time around will be Teyonah
Parris, who was introduced in "WandaVision" as a grown-up version of Monica Rambeau, and
Iman Vellani, who will be appearing in her own Disney+ series as Carol Danvers' #1 fangirl,
Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel.
The team-up adventure will be soaring into theaters on November 11, 2022.
While most of the other MCU titles for Disney+ seem intended to further the overarching,
interconnected plot for Phase Four and beyond, Marvel announced one title during Disney's
2020 Investor Day event that doesn't seem interested in epic battles or sprawling narratives
and is much more concerned with being jolly and bright. That's right — "The Guardians
of the Galaxy Holiday Special" is coming to Disney+ in 2022.
What can we expect from a holiday-themed MCU space special? One may need to look no further
than the much-maligned "Star Wars Holiday Special", which "Guardians" writer and director
James Gunn says he "unironically loved" as a kid.
"What's up?"
Gunn says he's had the idea for a "Guardians" holiday special for years, and that it's "one
of [his] favorite stories ever." The special will be live-action and will bring back all
of the main Guardians cast members. Gunn also confirmed that the special will be considered
MCU canon, and it will be set between the events of "Thor: Love and Thunder" and "Guardians
of the Galaxy Vol. 3"
It's still hard to picture exactly what to expect from the holiday special, but we'll
find out in late 2022.
Among the more interesting projects Sony has planned for their Spidey-centric universe
is a solo vehicle starring the classic villain Sergei Kravinoff, aka Kraven the Hunter. Descended
from an aristocratic Russian bloodline, Kravinoff has dedicated his life to becoming the world's
greatest hunter, and no quarry has ever stoked his obsession quite like Spider-Man.
While we're unsure of the plot, we know the screenplay will be penned by "The Equalizer
2" scribe Richard Wenk and screenwriting duo Art Marcum and Matt Holloway. Interestingly,
back in 2018 — before Marcum and Holloway came aboard — Wenk had some interesting
ideas about the project. In an interview with Discussing Film, the writer said,
"It's an interesting world. A great character. It's going to adhere very closely to the lore
of Kraven the Hunter. And he is going to come face to face with Spider-Man."
We don't know if that's true, but we do know who will be playing Kraven — MCU veteran
Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who portrayed the ill-fated Quicksilver in "Avengers: Age of Ultron."
"Kraven the Hunter" will be helmed by "Triple Frontier" director J.C. Chandor, and it's
scheduled to hit theaters January 13, 2023.
After playing a key role in saving the entire universe during the events of "Avengers: Endgame,"
Ant-Man will return for a third headlining feature, "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania."
Of the threequel, director Peyton Reed promised,
"The third 'Ant-Man' movie is going to be a much bigger, more sprawling movie than the
first two. It's going to have a very different visual template."
Returning for "Quantumania" are franchise stars Paul Rudd as Scott Lang and Evangeline
Lilly as Hope Van Dyne, along with Hope's father and Scott's mentor Hank Pym and the
long-lost wife he recently rescued from the Quantum Realm, Janet Van Dyne. Joining the
cast will be Kathryn Newton as the teenage version of Scott's daughter, Cassie, who was
briefly played by Emma Fuhrmann in "Avengers: Endgame." In the comics, Cassie becomes the
superhero Stature, one of the early members of the Young Avengers.
Plus, "Lovecraft Country" star Jonathan Majors will be playing iconic Marvel baddie Kang
the Conqueror -- one of Marvel's most notorious and powerful villains. Expect to see our heroes
battle their new foe on February 17, 2023.
Between getting fired and re-hired by Disney over some old tweets, James Gunn decamped
to Warner Brothers to write and direct his own take on The Suicide Squad, but he's coming
back to finish what he started with "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3."
We don't know much about the plot of the movie, but considering where things left off, we
assume it will have something to do with the Guardians searching for Gamora.
We also know Rocket Raccoon will be a major player; as Gunn explained on Twitter,
"Rocket is a big part of what's happening in the future — and a lot of this stuff
(like the scars we're about to see on his back) sets up what I've been planning for
Rocket all along."
As it now stands, "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" will be entering our orbit on May
5, 2023.
But wait — there's more…
These aren't the only Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures projects on the slate for the years
to come. Also reported to be in development, with no announced release dates, are:
Deadpool 3
Fantastic Four
Blade
Captain America 4
An Untitled all-female Spider-Verse spin-off
Nova
Jackpot
An Untitled Olivia Wilde project, reportedly centered on Spider-Woman
An Untitled S.J. Clarkson project, reportedly centered on Madame Web
Black Cat/Silver Sable
Nightwatch
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