Black Widow, The Falcon and the Winter Solider, Eternals, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, WandaVision, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Loki, What If…?, Hawkeye, Thor: Love and Thunder
This definitely feels more reminiscent to Phase 1 then Phase 3. Of course it does; this is basically a rebuilding Phase after what transpired in Endgame. They are adding the new elements to the pot to expand where they are taking things in the future. It is going to take a while to build up to something like a Phase 3 again but they are setting the stage now.
Maybe the most shocking thing that wasn’t announced was that there is no big team up/event movies in Phase 4, at least for right now. No Avengers, no Thanos level enemies teased. Scarlet Witch will be in the Doctor Strange Movie, but that was about it in terms of cross overs that I remember. But Marvel could be holding something back for D23? Either they are going to extend Phase 4 to make room for Black Panther, Captain Marvel; or add a movie (possibly Blade) into the Summer/Fall of 2021. And of course Sony decides where Spider-Man 3 falls, so that could easily take a slot in 2021, but my prediction would be 2022.
But I think the two most consequential projects that were revealed will be WandaVision and Doctor Strange. This is where we are diving head first into the Multiverse. The first Doctor Strange movie and Spider-Man: Far from Home teased the Multiverse, but I think in these two projects we are really going to drink from that Multiverse well. Honestly, heading into SDCC these two projects were my least exciting. But after the panel, WandaVision and Doctor Strange are in my top five most anticipated for Phase 4.
Black Widow and Hawkeye are all about passing the torch. Which isn’t bad and a good feel for these projects, and almost something we haven’t seen too much in the MCU. I think, especially for the Hawkeye show, it will be less focused on Jeremy Renner and Scarlett Johansson respectively and more focused on the newcomers. Could they be leading to a Young Avengers? Possibly. Could Young Avengers by in Phase 5? I hope!
Thor: Love and Thunder is so metal. Taika Waititi is returning to direct based of the stellar performance and ratings/reaction of Thor: Ragnarok. This is probably number one on my most anticipated films in Phase 4. The Logo is sweet, the name is sweet, Taika is sweet. I’m just going to go ahead and switch my direct deposit to Disney’s account.
Shang-Chi is a movie I am surprised to be pumped about. Not going to lie, a super hero movie where his only super power is being a Kung-Fu master didn’t get me hyped at first. But now that he is taking on the MANDARIN!! I WILL BE THERE FOR THIS! Finally Marvel is making up for their sin of Iron Man 3. Finally the fans will be avenged. Justice now reigns in all the streets of the world and everything is right in the universe. No, not really (Not until Jesus comes back). But at least this helps.
Eternals….okay. Probably will be excited to see it once the marketing gets kicked into high gear. But as of right now, not too pumped about it.
What If…? This is going to be a fun show. To see all the twists and turns they could have taken and how that spin would have ended up? Not sure if this was teased at the panel or where the main source of this is (I heard it from Screen Junkies) but one scenario is if they had given Agent Peggy Carter the Super Solider Serum. That is definitely interesting. I’ll be tuning in to watch that. I would rank this my number 3 most anticipated project in Phase 4, right after Thor: Love and Thunder and Shaung-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
The Falcon and the Winter Solider, Loki, shows I am definitely going to watch but not super pumped about right now. The Logo for The Falcon looks good, but was overshadowed by everything else that was announced. Once footage starts creeping out for it I’ll be more interested in the two shows.
Over all I am excited about Phase 4, but not Phase 3 level of excited. Its going to be a fun ride. And it’s kinda refreshing that we don’t have something like Endgame on the horizon yet, leaves more time to breath.
What are your thoughts on the Phase 4 announcement? What are you excited to see? And do you have any early predictions on where it might go from here? Sound off in the comments below.
J.E.Rowland 