Black Widow type Movie genre Superhero

The Marvel Cinematic Universe went to Infinity, and now it’s going beyond.

Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home brought the studio’s Phase 3 to a close, with several beloved characters taking a bow and departing the franchise. (R.I.P., Tony, Cap, and Nat.) But the MCU is showing no signs of slowing down, and during Marvel Studios’ panel at San Diego Comic-Con this year, president Kevin Feige unveiled a massive upcoming slate, stretching to 2021 and further. A month later at Disney’s D23 fan expo, he took the stage once again to add a few more details — and announce even more upcoming projects.

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Marvel’s Phase 4 includes both brand-new theatrical films and spin-off TV series on the upcoming streaming service Disney+ — with a mix of familiar faces and new characters alike. There are a few straightforward sequels in the works for heroes like Thor and Doctor Strange, while other characters (such as Loki, Black Widow, and Hawkeye) are finally stepping into the spotlight with their own solo projects. There’s no big group team-up movie to anchor the franchise, the way the Avengers films did in the past, and instead Phase 4 looks to be a collection of individual stories, all interconnecting.

It also looks to be a deeply weird and ambitious phase. As the MCU has grown, Marvel has started to venture into stranger, trippier territory, and Phase 4 promises magic, multiverses, and general interstellar adventure. (Just look at the film title Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — that’s pure comic book craziness, and I, for one, am here for it.) This is a franchise that started with a story about a man building a high-tech suit of armor, and it’s since evolved into a galaxy-spanning macrocosm that includes time travel, Infinity Stones, and talking raccoons. Phase 4 looks to explore that universe even further, while also venturing into some previously unexplored corners.

One thing to note: Feige hasn’t revealed exactly when Phase 4 will be ending, so some of these later, undated projects may wind up actually classified as Phase 5, whenever that may be. In the meantime, here’s our roundup of everything we know about Marvel’s future plans.

Black Widow (May 1, 2020)

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Black Widow may have met her end in Endgame, but Scarlett Johansson is reprising her role as the morally complicated spy in a solo movie. The character has appeared in multiple Marvel films over the last decade, beginning with Iron Man 2, but Black Widow (directed by Cate Shortland) puts her front and center.

“Where we find Natasha in her life at this point is very specific,” Johansson told EW at Comic-Con. “She really is in a dark place where she’s got no one to call and nowhere to go. She’s really grappling with her own self. When something huge explodes and all the pieces are landing, you have that moment of stillness where you don’t know what to do next — that’s the moment that she’s in. In that moment, you actually have to face yourself.”

Joining Johansson are Florence Pugh as a fellow assassin named Yelena Belova and Rachel Weisz as a woman named Malena, who has also been through the grueling Black Widow training program multiple times. The Handmaid’s Tale star O-T Fagbenle also appears as a fixer named Mason, who he says has a long history with Natasha. Also in the cast is Stranger Things’ David Harbour, who plays Alexei Shostakov, a.k.a. the Red Guardian, a costumed hero created by the Russians as a communist counterpart to Captain America.

So who will Black Widow be facing off against? The film’s primary villain is Taskmaster, a notorious mercenary and villain who, in the comics, can perfectly replicate any fight move he sees. Is one of the known cast members hiding under Taskmaster’s mask, or is it an actor we haven’t met yet? We’ll have to wait to find out.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (fall 2020)

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe will soon be coming to the small screen. The Mouse House is launching its Disney+ streaming service in November 2019, featuring both archival content and new shows and movies. Marvel is hard at work on several new miniseries, starting with Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Scheduled to debut in fall 2020, the series will follow Mackie’s Sam Wilson (now carrying Captain America’s shield) and Stan’s Bucky Barnes, as they team up against Daniel Brühl’s Baron Zemo. We last saw Brühl’s baddie in Captain America: Civil War, and in a pretaped video message shown at Comic-Con, the actor revealed that Zemo is alive and well — and he wanted to “say hello to some old friends.” (The footage shown at Comic-Con also included a flash of Zemo in his familiar purple mask from the comics.)

Also returning is Emily VanCamp’s Sharon Carter, while Wyatt Russell is joining the cast as John Walker (who, in the comics, was a shield-wielding, Captain America-type figure known as U.S. Agent).

The Eternals (Nov. 6, 2020)

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There may be no new Avengers films on the schedule, but the MCU is introducing a new superhero squad. The Rider’s Chloe Zhao is directing The Eternals, about a group of ancient immortal beings watching over the Earth. Comics legend Jack Kirby created them in the ’70s, when he returned to Marvel after a brief time at DC Comics, and the 2020 film will follow the group’s clash against their longtime nemeses, the Deviants.

On the non-Eternals side of things, Madden’s fellow Game of Thrones alum Kit Harington has also joined the cast as Dane Whitman, who, in the comics, is the superhero known as the Black Knight.

“It’s about this group of incredible immortals,” Zhao teased at Comic-Con, “but through their journey, we really get to explore what it means to be human and humanity on our time on this planet.”

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Feb. 12, 2021)

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In 2021, Marvel will release its first film about a superhero of Asian descent. Meet Shang-Chi, a martial arts master played by Simu Liu. Liu is best known for his role on the Canadian sitcom Kim’s Convenience, and he’ll be starring in The Legend of the Ten Rings with Awkwafina and Tony Leung. Awkwafina’s role has yet to be announced, but Yeung will be playing the notorious Marvel supervillain the Mandarin. (Not the fake Mandarin we met in Iron Man 3 — the real one.)

WandaVision (spring 2021)

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Paul Bettany‘s Vision may have died in Avengers: Infinity War, but he’ll still be appearing with Elizabeth Olsen‘s Scarlet Witch in the new Disney+ series WandaVision. It remains to be seen what the series will actually be about, but Olsen has promised that “it’s going to get weird,” and Feige has teased it as the MCU’s first sitcom.

The show will also find Wanda Maximoff and Vision teaming up with Monica Rambeau. The character made her debut as a child in Captain Marvel, but in WandaVision, she’ll be all grown up and played by Teyonah Parris. Also tuning in to WandaVision are Kat Dennings (who played Darcy the intern in the Thor movies), Randall Park (who appeared in Ant-Man and the Wasp as Scott’s parole officer, Jimmy Woo), and MCU newcomer Kathryn Hahn (who’s playing someone only referred to as “Nosy Neighbor”).

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (May 7, 2021)

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Speaking of Scarlet Witch, Olsen will also be starring opposite Benedict Cumberbatch in 2021’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Original Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson is returning for that one, and he promises that it’ll be “the first scary MCU film,” pitting Cumberbatch’s egotistical physician against all sorts of cosmic horrors.

Cumberbatch has said that although Strange was largely an authoritative, confident figure in Infinity War and Endgame, Multiverse of Madness will disarm the character and present him with some unexpected challenges. And according to Feige, the events of WandaVision will directly tie into the film.

Loki (spring 2021)

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Throughout the MCU, Tom Hiddleston’s mischievous Loki has served as both universe-threatening antagonist and reluctant ally, but now he’s getting a story of his own. The Loki we all know and love died at the hands of Thanos in Infinity War, but the new Disney+ series follows the Loki who nicked the Tesseract and disappeared after the Avengers went back in time in Endgame.

“The question I get asked more than any other question in Endgame was, where did Loki go, and what happened to Loki?” Feige said at Comic-Con. “This series will answer where he went.”

According to Hiddleston, this Loki hasn’t yet become the sympathetic figure in Thor: Ragnarok; he’s still the narcissist and bad guy we met in 2012’s The Avengers. “There’s a lot of psychological evolution that is still yet to happen,” Hiddleston said.

Spider-Man sequel (July 16, 2021)

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After weeks of back-and-forth drama between Disney and Sony, the two studios finally reached a deal in September about the future of Spider-Man. The character’s fate was in jeopardy after talks broke down between the two studios, and for a while, it looked like Tom Holland’s webslinger would be out of the MCU. Holland was always committed for a third Spider-Man movie, picking up after Spider-Man: Homecoming and Far From Home, but if the two studios couldn’t reach an agreement, Holland’s third movie wouldn’t be part of the larger Marvel universe — meaning no cameos or crossovers from characters like Tony Stark and Nick Fury.

Ultimately, Disney and Sony signed on to jointly produce the third Spider-Man movie, returning Holland to his rightful place and slating the next movie for July 16, 2021.

As part of the two companies’ arrangement, Spider-Man is also confirmed to appear in a future film in the MCU, although exactly which one has yet to be revealed.

What If…? (summer 2021)

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The MCU is getting animated. Marvel Comics has a long history of exploring alternate realities through its What If…? comics line, and now the MCU is doing the same through a new Disney+ series.

Westworld’s Jeffrey Wright is also lending his voice as the Watcher, an alien being who observes different story lines throughout the multiverse.

Hawkeye (fall 2021)

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Now, fingers crossed that the show includes an appearance by Lucky the Pizza Dog.

Thor: Love and Thunder (Nov. 5, 2021)

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Crank up the Led Zeppelin: Thor: Ragnarok’s Taika Waititi is returning to direct a new adventure with the Asgardian god of thunder. The aptly named Love and Thunder will hit theaters in 2021 and feature the return of both Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie. Plus, as Thompson revealed at Comic-Con, the film will confirm Valkyrie’s status as the first openly LGBTQ superhero in the MCU.

Also joining the cast is Natalie Portman, who will be returning as Jane Foster. This time, however, she’ll be wielding Thor’s hammer Mjölnir herself. Waititi has said the story will be inspired by Jason Aaron’s comic book series, which followed Jane as she took on the Asgardian god’s powers and transformed into the Mighty Thor.

Black Panther 2 (May 6, 2022)

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Ryan Coogler is also returning to write and direct a sequel to 2018’s Black Panther, which is expected to start shooting in late 2019 or early 2020. Pretty much the only thing we know about it right now is that it’s got a 2022 release date and that the film will return to Wakanda and once again follow Chadwick Boseman‘s righteous warrior-king T’Challa.

Blade (release date TBD)

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With all the news that Marvel dropped during its 2019 Comic-Con panel, perhaps the most unexpected and exciting was the announcement that Mahershala Ali will be playing a new version of Blade. According to Feige, Ali called Marvel after he won his second Oscar (for Green Book) and told them he’d be interested in tackling the iconic vampire hunter. Luckily for all of us, the studio immediately said yes.

The film does not yet have a director or release date.

Captain Marvel 2 (release date TBD)

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Also in the works is a sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel. A release date and director have yet to be announced, but Brie Larson will presumably be returning as the Air Force-pilot-turned-interstellar-superhero. Hopefully, a sequel means we’ll also see the return of Carol Danvers’ cat flerken, Goose.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (release date TBD)

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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is also back on track. Original writer-director James Gunn was fired after old, offensive tweets resurfaced, but after he apologized and cast members rallied to his defense, Disney reinstated him in March.

The new Guardians isn’t on the Marvel release schedule yet, but Gunn is expected to go into production on the film after he wraps Warner Bros. and DC’s Suicide Squad sequel.

Ant-Man 3 (release date TBD)

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Peyton Reed, who directed both the original Ant-Man and 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp, is back on board for another installment of the adventures of Scott Lang. Paul Rudd is expected to return once again as the shrinking superhero, and we’ll presumably see the return of Evangeline Lilly’s Wasp, too.

There’s no release date yet, but the new Ant-Man will reportedly start shooting at the end of 2020 or the beginning of 2021, with a release date some time in 2022.

Ms. Marvel (release date TBD)

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Most of Marvel’s Disney+ offerings focus on heroes and villains we’ve already met, but at D23, Feige also announced that the streaming service has three new live-action shows in the works, introducing some new faces. Up first is a live-action series about Kamala Khan, a.k.a. Ms. Marvel, the first Muslim-American superhero to headline her own solo Marvel comic.

A teenager living in Jersey City, Kamala has super strength and the ability to stretch and shrink her limbs, and her comic stories follow her as she juggles fighting crime with being a normal high schooler. She’s also a super fan of Captain Marvel, a.k.a. Carol Danvers (played on screen by Brie Larson). Feige has promised that Kamala and other Disney+ characters will also appear in big-screen MCU films, which means we’ll hopefully be getting a Kamala-Carol team-up at some point.

Moon Knight (release date TBD)

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Also coming to Disney+ with his own series is Moon Knight. In the comics, Marc Spector is an unstable vigilante who might be possessed by an ancient Egyptian moon god named Khonshu — or he might just be crazy. No casting or release date has been announced yet, but Feige teased at D23 that the series will be “something very unique and exciting for us.”

She-Hulk (release date TBD)

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Finally, the MCU is adding another big, green hero to its ranks: She-Hulk is getting her own Disney+ series, centering on the lawyer-turned-giant-green-hero.

“Bruce Banner is no longer the only Hulk in the MCU,” Feige teased at D23. “Jennifer Walters is a Hulk, she’s a lawyer, and she’s gonna star in a show unlike anything we’ve done before.”

In the comics, Walters is a cousin of Bruce Banner who gains Hulk powers after receiving a blood transfusion from him. But unlike Bruce, who transforms from human to Hulk whenever he’s angry, She-Hulk is permanently green, strong, and possessing of all of her mental capabilities. (So, more like the mild-mannered, sweater-wearing Professor Hulk we met in Avengers: Endgame.)

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