Disney Investor Day revealed quite a bit of information about the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We officially got trailers for Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision, and Loki. We got a first look at Ms. Marvel and announcements for tons of shows and movies. It was an onslaught of information about the MCU and fans ate up every second. Marvel Report thought it would take a look at the upcoming projects in Phase 4 and beyond. So, without further ado, let’s check out the exciting action.
First up for the MCU is the feature-length films that will tell the bulk of these stories. Phase 4 is set to include Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings, The Eternals, Spider-Man 3, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, and Thor: Love and Thunder. It’s truly going to be a complex weave of comic stories we know and MCU stories we’ve yet to discover. This might be the most packed adventure for Marvel yet also.
Spider-Man 3 is already slated to see the return of Jamie Foxx as Electro, Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker, Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus and much more. It’s also set to have Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, as well. Cumberbatch will likely take over as the mentor for Spider-Man in the wake of Iron-Man’s death. This film seems like it will have almost as many characters as Endgame. Whatever they do, Spider-Man 3 will have a ton of effect on the MCU going forward.
The Eternals is also set to be a major step forward for the MCU. The film contains an all-star cast, including Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie. It will examine the first thousand or so years of Earth and the ways in which the Eternals battled the Deviants and the Celestials. Fans will get their first real look at Celestials in the MCU. So far we’ve only seen Ego, who wasn’t really the type of Celestial that Marvel fans picture. We’ve also had a glimpse of Eson the Searcher and Knowhere. Thanos is technically an Eternal, but he’s also part Deviant. We have yet to explore that in the MCU, but it seems like something they could definitely introduce, if they wanted.
With Sam Raimi replacing Scott Derrickson on Doctor Strange: The Multiverse of Madness, almost anything is possible. We know that the Disney+ series WandaVision, which is slated to release on January 15th, will absolutely have a tie-in to the Doctor Strange film. We also can glean from the casting of Spider-Man, previously directed by Raimi, will also have some tie-in with the film.
Shang-Chi: The Legend of the Ten Rings is also going to have major implications in the MCU. The movie is set to right one of the biggest wrongs and most poorly received villains in the MCU in the Mandarin. Previously played by Ben Kingsly as Trevor Slattery and alluded to with Guy Pierce as Aldrich Killian. With the Mandarin set to be played by Tony Leung, fans are champing at the bit to see this film. The film should be a loving homage to the kung-fu films of old.
Finally, we have Thor: Love and Thunder, set to be directed by the incredible Taika Waititi. The film will see the return of Natalie Portman as Jane Foster and Jamie Alexander as Lady Sif. We already know that Jane Foster will finally lift the hammer. The comic run with Jane Foster as the Mighty Thor was one of the best and most well-received books of its era. Waititi did an incredible job with Thor: Ragnarok and turned Thor into one of the MCU’s favorite heroes. Prior to that, there was a bit of trepidation surrounding Thor due to the writing. Waititi completely reinvented the character and it became a hit. Oh, Christian Bale is confirmed as Gorr the God Butcher. This film is going to own.
The crazy part about all of this is that we haven’t even hit the Captain Marvel 2 news. We know that Ms. Marvel herself, Iman Vallani, will be appearing in the film. We also know that Teyonah Parris will play a grown up Monica Rambeau, somewhat reappearing from the first film. The initial Rambeau in the first film was a young girl. We’ll also find out more about Monica Rambeau in the upcoming WandaVision series. It’s all tied together.
There’s so much more one could cover from Phase 4. We haven’t even gotten the chance to take a look at the Disney+ series’ that they’ve announced or the future slate of films we know we’ll get but won’t be made until the far-off future. Stuff like Black Panther 2 is still in the pre-production phase. We will get to the Disney+ series’ in a future column, but fans have a tremendous slate of films already shot or in the process of shooting. It’s been a process with COVID-19, but Marvel appears up to the challenge. Phase 4 is definitely going to change the game for Marvel.