Recently, we got an official release date for the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) series, Loki, and that got us thinking about everything that’s on the horizon from Marvel in 2021 and beyond. After some internet research, we have a decent outline of the various upcoming series and movies. So, let’s jump on in.
MCU Phase 4
Just a quick review for MCU fans who may not keep track of EVERY detail. Starting back with the early MCU movies, Marvel has organized their films and series into phases. Each phase included a group of titles that can be grouped together under a common theme.
- Phase 1 – Avengers Assembled and the beginning of the Infinity Saga. This phase really involved the origin stories of the various members of the Avengers, culminating in the first Avengers film in 2012.
- Phase 2 – Continuing the Infinity Saga, these films focused on the aftermath of the battle for New York in The Avengers and included titles like Iron Man 3, Captain Americal: Winter Soldier, and Avengers: Age of Ultron), with an intro to the larger universe with Guardians of the Galaxy.
- Phase 3 – This phase included the official wrap up of the Infinity Saga, with 11 films that included Infinity War and Endgame, and wrapped up with Spider-Man: Far From Home.
So, what is Phase 4? We don’t know exactly, other than it will tell us what’s next after the culmination of the Infinity Saga. One guess would include the full reveal of the multiverse, but whether that will be the primary element that pulls it all together remains to be seen.
Phase 4 kicked off with WandaVision, the first TV series in the fully official MCU universe. Yes, the various Netflix shows (Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Daredevil, etc.) and Agents of SHIELD are not technically part of the official MCU, at least not yet.
So, what’s next in Phae 4 after WandaVision? Here’s a current list with tentative dates – all subject to change.
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (series) (March 19, 2021) – Will the Falcon become the next Captain America?
- Black Widow (May 7, 2021) – This one’s release date has moved multiple times already, so who knows.
- Loki (series) (June 11, 2021) – Check out our recent primer for this series.
- Shang-Chi: And the Legend of the Ten Rings (July 9, 2021) – A new character origin story.
- What If…? (Summer 2021) (This will be some fun animated stories taking a “what if?” approach to various MCU storylines.)
- Hawkeye (series) (Late 2021) – We’ll see Hawkeye and his young protege.
- Ms. Marvel (series) (Late 2021) – Introducing a newer fan-favorite character, who is also set to appear in Captain Marvel 2.
- Eternals (November 5, 2021) – The introduction of an entire group of effectively immortal super-beings that have been around all along in the shadows.
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (December 17, 2021) – Following up on Spider-Man, now that his identity has been revealed to the world.
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (March 25, 2022) – There’s that Multiverse we mentioned. Wanda is expected to appear.
- Thor: Love and Thunder (May 6, 2022) – Will we see a new wielder of the hammer?
- Moon Knight (series) (2022) – Another brand new character to unveil.
- Black Panther II (2022) – Who will be the new Black Panther after the tragic death of Chadwick Boseman?
- Captain Marvel 2 (2022) – We are expecting both Ms. Marvel and Monica Rambeau (aka Spectrum?) to play major roles.
- She-Hulk (series) (2022) – This one has been discussed as more of a comedy, so we’ll see.
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (TBA) – Maybe some more Multiverse/Quantum Realm stuff?
- Blade (TBA) – Vampires make their appearance in the MCU!
- Fantastic Four (TBA) – Will the third time be the charm for movies about this superhero group?
- Secret Invasion (series) (TBA) – Skrulls!
- Ironheart (series) (TBA) – A new ‘Iron Man’ emerges.
- Armor Wars (series) (TBA) – War Machine gets to take center stage.
- I am Groot (series) (TBA) – A fun animated series about everyone’s favorite talking (kind of) tree.
Wow, that’s a lot of titles (24) and doesn’t even include the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022). At this rate Phase 4 will have far and away the most titles of any previous phase, mainly due to the big plans for those 12 Disney Plus series.
