Marvel Phase 4
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.
Black Widow
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,
"[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.
[Black Widow]- "Just
like Budapest all over again."
[Hawkeye]- "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.
Falcon And The Winter Soldier
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.
[Winter Soldier]- "Can
you move your seat up?"
[Falcon]- "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.
The Eternals
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, "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.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
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!"
[Tony]- "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.
Loki
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
serieswill 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, "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."
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
"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, "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.
WandaVision
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?
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.
Hawkeye
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 protégé 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.
Thor: Love and Thunder
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?
But of course, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of these have been delayed. New release dates would be announced later.
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