Marvel Studios usually never disappoints when they attend the San Diego Comic-Con, and this year was no different. They revealed their entire Phase 4 slate, while teasing what was to come for Phase 5. It was a night of big surprises, so we’ve rounded them up into this extensive post. It’s going to be a lot of worthwhile scrolling.
We’ll be going in order of release date.
Black Widow (May 1, 2020)
Black Widow was finally officially announced. The film will be set between Civil War and Infinity War. Taskmaster will be one of the villains (concept art below), and apparently we will also find out what happened in Budapest!
David Harbour will be playing Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian. He’s essentially the Russian Captain America, and in the comics he was Natasha’s ex-husband. Florence Pugh is playing Yelena Belova as previously rumored! It looks like the MCU has found its next Black Widow. O. T. Fagbenle as Rick Mason will play “an ally from Romanoff’s past from S.H.I.E.L.D., who is romantically interested in her.”
Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Fall 2020)
Anthony Mackie has revealed that he has already tried on his Captain America outfit! Daniel Bruhl was also confirmed to be returning as Baron Zemo, and the first look Marvel showed the fans had him in the character’s iconic purple mask!
Derek Kolstad of John Wick fame has boarded the staff in the writing department.
Eternals (November 6, 2020)
The film will follow the “super-powered and near-immortal beings known as Eternals and a more monstrous off-shoot known as the Deviants that were created by the cosmic beings called Celestials.” They’ve been on Earth for 35,000 years, we just haven’t seen them yet.
The full cast list was confirmed. Salma Hayek is Ajak, the leader of the Eternals, Richard Madden is Ikaris, Angelina Jolie is Thena, Don Lee is Gilgamesh, Lia McHugh is Sprite, Kumail Nanjiani is Kingo, Brian Tyree Henry is Phasto, and Lauren Ridloff, a deaf actress, is Makkari, who will be the MCU’s first deaf character. Additionally, someone in Eternals will be a LGBTQ+ character.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (February 12, 2021)
Simu Liu was announced to be playing Shang-Chi (who sort of predicted his casting back in late 2018 by tweeting to Marvel to hire him). The cast also includes Tony Leung as the REAL Mandarin and Awkwafina in an unknown role.
I think it’s extremely cool that the beginnings of the MCU are still shaping its future. The Ten Rings has been around since the first Iron Man and now we’re finally going to see them in full force, with the real Mandarin. Fingers crossed for a Trevor Slattery cameo!
WandaVision (Spring 2021)
Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany are back playing Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch and The Vision. Olsen said viewers were finally going to understand Wanda, meaning this show will dive deep into her character.
Probably the most interesting bit of news to come from this is that Teyonah Parris was cast as an older version of Monica Rambeau, the daughter of Carol’s best friend from Captain Marvel. How she fits in is up to anybody!
Loki (Spring 2021)
This series will directly springboard off from Avengers: Endgame. Tom Hiddleston is back as Loki, but its the Loki that escaped with the Tesseract in one of the many time travel scenes from the film.
Hiddleston explained:
“Just about the last thing that happened to him was he got Hulk smashed. So there’s a lot of pyshclogical evolution that is still yet to happen. Kevin has generously showed me what his plans are. It’s one of the most exciting creative opportunities I’ve come across. This is new territory, a new world, new challenges I can’t wait to get started.”
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (May 7, 2021)
Director Scott Derrickson revealed that this will be the first “scary” and “horror” film in the MCU. Nightmare was also confirmed as the villain. That’s not all, Elizabeth Olsen will be returning as Scarlet Witch for the film, and her role will directly tie into WandaVision.
What If? (Summer 2021)
The first animated MCU series will explore alternate realities and what if scenarios. Jeffrey Wright was cast as The Watcher (a role once thought to belong to Stan Lee’s various cameos).
Twenty five actors have so far been announced to voice their characters in the show. They are Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), Thanos (Josh Brolin), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), T’Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), Dum Dum Duggan (Neal McDonough), Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper), Kraglin (Sean Gunn), Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), Kurt (David Dastmalchian), Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci), Korg (Taika Waititi), Arnim Zola (Toby Jones), Korath (Djimon Hounsou), Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), Yondu (Michael Rooker), and Taserface (Chris Sullivan).
We know the first episode will deal with Peggy Carter taking the super soldier serum instead of Steve Rogers.
Hawkeye (Fall 2021)
YES! YES! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! It’s about time! I mean look at this teaser!
What a fun line up @marvel so happy to be on this ride #cominginhot #2021 pic.twitter.com/pDC8tcrL0H
— Jeremy Renner (@Renner4Real) July 21, 2019
Jeremy Renner is back as Hawkeye who for the first time gets to lead a freaking MCU property! Based on the logo, the series will draw on Matt Fraction and David Aja’s critically acclaimed comic run. The show will also introduce the female Hawkeye Kate Bishop.
The series will find Hawkeye teaching someone else how to be a superhero without super powers. “That makes everyone a superhero,” Renner said.
Thor: Love and Thunder (November 5, 2021)
Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, and Natalie Portman will all be returning for Thor’s fourth film as Thor, Valkyrie, and Jane Foster… who will become Lady Thor!
As well, Valkyrie was confirmed to be LGBTQ+ and will be looking for a queen to rule Asgard with (I’m not 100 per cent sure if this was just a slight joke, or if a plot point will be her finding a queen *shoulder shrug*).
How this impacts Thor’s journey with the Guardians of the Galaxy has yet to be revealed. Perhaps Thor 4 is more of a Valkyrie and Jane Foster tale and Thor only makes a small appearance.
PHASE FIVE
The Godfather of the MCU Kevin Feige teased that phase 5 of the MCU will include sequels to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Black Panther and Captain Marvel, the MCU introduction of the Fantastic Four and mutants, and Mahershala Ali as Blade!
What was your favorite announcement to come out of Marvel’s SDCC Hall H presentation? Shoot us a comment below!
