Marvel Reveals New Movies for Phase Four in MCU

Marvel Studios has surprised fans at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend, with the announcement for it’s upcoming movies and TV shows for Phase Four in the MCU.

Here’s what is slated for the new phase:

The Eternals

Marvel Studios boss, Kevin Feige has confirmed that Kumail Nanjiani, Richard Madden and Angelina Jolie will be joining the MCU in lead roles in The Eternals.

The Eternals is based off of Jack Kirby’s comics about a group of imortal beings, with likes of Ikaris (played by Madden), Thena (played by Jolie) and Kingo (played by Nanjiani), who have been around for a very long time shaping our history and evolution.

It will also feature Mavel’s first deaf hero with confirmed director Chloe Zhao saying that the film will explore “what it means to be human”.

The Eternals is due for release in November 2020.

Blade

Marvel has managed to keep this one away from the rumor mills as Feige announced they will be rebooting Blade.

The original 1998 film, and its sequals, were played by Wesley Snipes but, this MCU intergration will be portraied by two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali (House of Cards, Alita: Battle Angel, True Detective).

No other details have been revealed.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Newcomer Simu Liu will be playing the hero in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Liu was originally an accountant before becoming an actor and landing as an extra on Pacific Rim. He later got small roles in Taken, Nikita and Kim’s Convenience.

The Grandmaster actor, Tony Leung will be taking on the role of the real Mandarin. The first taste fans got was a fake posing as the Mandarin in 2013’s Iron Man 3.

Shang-Chi is a half-Chinese, half-American superhero who is quite well-versed in martial arts, including wushu. In the film, Shang-Chi must face off against the Ten Rings crime syndicate, who have been previously mentioned in Iron Man.

Chinese-American screenwriter Dave Callahan will be writing the script while Asian-American Destin Daniel Cretton will be directing. It’s been rumored that Shang-Chi will be the Marvel project filmed in Sydney, Australia.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is set for release in February 2021, coinciding with the Chinese New Year.

Thor: Love and Thunder

A fourth Thor movie had been rumored but it was confired days earlier when director for Thor: Ragnarok, Taika Waitri had signed on for the next instalment.

The new film will reteam Aussie, Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Tompson (who have previously worked together on Thor: Ragnarok and Men In Black: International), but the big surprise was the return of Natalie Portman as Jane Foster.

Portman’s character had been largley absent scince Thor: The Dark World, with only fleeting referances that her and Thor split. Although, Portman did apper in Avengers: Endgame using rejigged archival footage.

The new film could see Jane Foster take on the mantle of God (or in this case Goddess) of Thunderas the movie seems to be based on The Mighty Thor comics, which introduced a female Thor, played by Jane.

Thor: Love and Thunder is set for release in November 2021.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

During Spider-Man: Far From Home, it was mentioned by Quentin Beck (a.k.a. Mysterio) that there was existence of a multiverse but, Feige said that it’s a real thing.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will explore this concept with Scott Derrickson returning as director and Benedict Cumberbatch returing as Doctor Strange himself.

Cumberbatch told fans at Comic-Con, “I’m really excited to be at the dawn of his next project and I think it’s vital to maintain the humour from the first film, with this twist of horror that I think will really have people gripped.”

Elizabeth Olsen’s character Scarlet Witch will also be joining in the Doctor Strange sequal.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be out in May 2021.

Black Widow

This is one that has been on the table for a while. A photo from the set could suggest that Black Widow is set either between Captain America: Civil War and Avenger: Infinity War or between Infinity War or Avengers: Endgame.

Feige has confirmed that it’s part of Marvel’s Phase 4, with Scarlett Johansson returning as Natasha Romanoff (a.k.a. Black Widow). She will be joined by Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Rachel Weisz and Ray Winston.

Pugh’s character has been described as a “sister figure” to Johansson named Yelena while Harbour plays Alexia, the agent who trained Yelena, and Weisz plays the villian.

While at Comic-Con, Johansson said, “I don’t think I could have played this iteration of Natasha 10 years ago and now I get to play her as a fully realised woman, with all of her many facets. I’m excited for fans to see the flawed side of her and I’m really looking to wipe out some of that red in my ledger.”

The film will be directed by Australian Cate Shortland and is set to be the first movie for Marvel Phase Four.

Black Widow is set to be released in May 2020.

Disney+ Shows

Among the announcements of their new movies, Marvel also introduced some shows that will be streaming on Disney+, with many taking place after the events of Endgame. These include Loki, Hawkeye, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision and What If…?.

Loki

Loki is set to be the aftermath from an event in Endgame, in which Loki captures the Tesseract during a fumble with it, when Tony Stark tries to bring it back to Endgame‘s present day, after the Battle of New York in 2012.

Loki’s actor, Tom Hiddleston said, “He’s still that guy. Just about the last thing that happened to him was he got Hulk-smashed. There’s a lot of psychological evolution that is yet to happen, I cannot wait to get started.”

Loki is set to premire on Disney+ in early 2021.

WandaVision

WandaVision centers around Scarlet Witch and Vision and is set to be taking place after the events of Endgame, but Marvel has kept a pretty tight lid as to how that’s the case considering Vision dies by Tanos in Infinity War and wasn’t snapped.

It will also feature Teyonah Parris (Mad Men, Dear White People) who will be playing Monica Rambeau, whose last seen as a child in Captain Marvel.

WandaVision is also set to premire on Disney+ in early 2021.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is another show taking place after Endgame and follows Sam Wilson (Falcon) and Bucky Barnes (The Winter Soldier).

The panel at Comic-Con teased a mysterious video by Daniel Bruhl’s character, Zemo (Captain America: Civil War), with the message “I simply wanted to say hello to some old friends, gentlemen. I’ll be seeing you very soon”.

It’s clear that Zemo will be associated in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier in some way but it’s unclear at this point.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will premire on Disney+ in late 2021.

Hawkeye

Hawkeye has been confirmed by Feige and will feture Jeremy Renner’s character, Clint Barton as well as another character named Kate Bishop.

Feige has also confired that it will look at the time Barton spent as ‘Ronin’ in Endgame‘s five year gap.

Hawkeye will premire on Disney+ in late 2021.

What If…?

What If…? is the first animated project for Marvel. The premise is an anthology series of short stories telling alternate senarios from the MCU.

The series will be narrated by Jeffery Wright, similar to The Twilight Zone. It will feature voice talents the main MCU roster including Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Ruffalo, Paul Rudd, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman, Micheal B. Jordan, Haley Atwell, Micheal Douglas, Jeff Goldblum, Sebastian Stan, Toby Jones and Dominic Cooper.

What If…? is set to premire on Disney+ in mid 2021.

Fantastic Four, X-Men and Sequals

In amonst all the announcements, Feige teased to fans some more reveals, though there aren’t many details on them.

Feige said, ” We didn’t even mention that we’re making Black Panther 2, We didn’t even talk about that Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is coming. We didn’t have time to talk about Captain Marvel 2.”

He also made a subtle referance to the Disney and Fox merger by pointing to the Marvel interllectual property in now under the creative control of Marvel Studios.

He added, ” I didn’t even have time to talk about the Fantastic Four, and there’s no time left to talk about mutants and how mutants come into the MCU.”

Which Marvel Studios feature are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments below.