Marvel Unveils Phase 4 MCU Plans At San Diego Comic-Con

Marvel Studios(SAN DIEGO) — At San Diego Comic-Con, Hall H is reserved for the biggest, most anticipated press events and announcements.  And this year, the biggest event was Marvel Studios announcing what fans have to look forward to, now that Avengers: Endgame signals the end of 11 years, 23 films and Phases 1-3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige revealed the lineup of feature films for the next two years, along with an update on the brand-new Marvel Studios’ series created exclusively for Disney+, Disney’s upcoming streaming service, launching in the U.S. on November 12 — all of which will mark Phase 4 of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe.

Marvel’s upcoming slate of feature films kicks May 1, 2020 with Black Widow, starring Scarlett Johansson, reprising her Avengers role as Natasha Romanoff, whose past as a Russian spy has been hinted at in the Avengers films but never fully explained. She’ll be joined by new MCU members including Stranger Things star David Harbour, Florence Pugh, O-T Fagbenle and Rachel Weisz.

Next up, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani, Brian Tyree Henry, Don Lee, Lia McHugh, Lauren Ridloff and Richard Madden team up for The Eternals, debuting November 6, 2020. Adapted from Jack Kirby’s 1970s comic, The Eternals are a strange but peaceful group of immortal beings committed to peace, but locked in an ongoing war with their hateful, warlike counterparts, known as the Deviants.

February 12, 2021 will see the release of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, with newcomer Simu Liu stepping into the role of the titular character, a martial arts expert and assassin-turned hero. Liu stars alongside Crazy Rich Asians‘ Awkwafina and Chinese actor Tony Leung.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the second installment in the Doctor Strange franchise, features Benedict Cumberbatch returning as the Sorcerer Supreme opposite Elizabeth Olsen, who reprises her Avengers role as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch. Scott Derrickson, who directed the first Dr. Strange movie, is back at the helm for this one, which he describes as the “first scary MCU film.” Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness hits theaters May 7, 2021.

November 5, 2021, will see the release of Thor: Love and Thunder, the fourth film in the Thor franchise. Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi, who returns for the new film, was joined by Ragnarok‘s Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson in Hall H, along with Natalie Portman, who revealed her Jane Foster character from the first two Thor films will become the Mighty Thor, Goddess of Thunder.

Finally, Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali joined Feige on stage at Comic-Con to announce that he’ll star in a reboot of the Blade franchise, playing the half-human, half-vampire character Wesley Snipes played in three films.  No release date for Blade has yet been announced.

On the TV side, Disney+ will debut its Marvel slate with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which pairs Sam Wilson, a.k.a. The Falcon, and Bucky Barnes, a.k.a. The Winter Soldier, again played respectively by Anthony Mackie and Sabastian Stan. They star in “a series of action-filled adventures as They fight together against evil after the events of Avengers: Endgame.”

Coming in the spring of 2021, Paul Bettany reprises the role of Vision and Elizabeth Olsen the Scarlet Witch in WandaVision, and Tom Hiddleston will answer the question from Avengers: Endgame — “Where did Loki go after taking the space stone?” — when he returns as the fan-favorite god of mischief in Loki.

Hawkeye, coming to Disney+ in the summer of 2021, features Jeremy Renner reprising his role as the titular character from the Avengers movies. We’ll also get to see Kate Bishop, a well known character from the Marvel comics but missing from the movies, who’ll play a key role in the series.

Finally, many actors from the Marvel Cinematic Universe will reprise their roles in What If…?, the first animated series in the MCU, which will feature stories that present alternate realities in the Marvel universe. That launches in the fall of 2021.   

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