The Marvel Comic Con Panel Sparked So Much Joy

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If, like me, you spent this past Saturday night furiously refreshing Twitter during Marvel’s Comic-Con panel, then you’ve been freaking out since then about all the exciting content fans are about to get in the next two years. However, if, unlike me, you actually have a thriving social life, then you may still be catching up on everything that has us losing our minds. With The Infinity Saga and Phase 3 of the MCU now over, Marvel fans have been dying to know what’s next, and now we do. As announced to an absolutely packed Hall H, Phase 4 will consist of five movies and five series on Disney+, the upcoming streaming service. It’s still early days for all of these projects, but here’s what we know so far.

Black Widow

First up is Black Widow, directed by Cate Shortland (yay for female directors!) out May 1st of next year. Since Natasha sacrificed her life in Endgame to get the Soul Stone, it was clear that this film is going to take place at some point in the past. We now know that it will be set in the span of time between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, but I think we’ll probably also see flashbacks that go further back into Nat’s past as well. 

Scarlett Johansson will of course reprise her role as Natasha Romanov/Black Widow. Stranger Things star David Harbour will play Alexi Shastakov/Red Guardian, who he described as “the counterpart to Captain America on the Russian Soviet side”; Florence Pugh will play Yelena Belova, another former Red Room trainee; O-T Fagbenle will play a character named Mason; and Rachel Weisz will play Melina Vostokoff. The audience was shown a clip from the movie, and while it’s not online yet, you can read a description of what happens here. 

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

In Fall 2020 the first show we’ll get to see on Disney+ is The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and as much as I love Loki, this is the one I’m the most pumped for. Sam and Bucky are two characters that I’ve always been dying to see more of, and the natural chemistry they had together in Civil War led to fans wanting them to team up again. All six episodes will be directed by Kari Skogland (double yay for female directors!), and while we don’t know exactly what the plot will entail yet, we do know who Sam/Falcon/Cap and Bucky/Winter Soldier/White Wolf/my husband will be up against. After Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie took the stage and bantered back and forth a bit, Daniel Brühl’s Zemo appeared on screen, telling the two that he’d see them soon.

The last time we saw Zemo he was locked in a cell after the events of Civil War, and if I had to make a guess at this point, I’d think that the Snap had something to do with him being on the lose and back to his villainous ways again. Either enough people guarding him were dusted, allowing him to escape, or he was dusted himself and then slipped away when he reappeared. Sharon Carter has also been rumored to appear in the show, but there was no mention of her at this panel, so we’ll see.

Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan are a delight together in interviews, and we found out in one that Mackie has had his first fitting for his Captain America costume, and in another that in Sebastian’s movie 355 “the people are getting what they want.”

The Eternals

The first project to introduce a whole new slate of characters, director Chloe Zhao (TRIPLE yay for female directors!) will helm The Eternals. Since I don’t read the comics, I had to look into who exactly they are, and as usual for comic book characters, they have a long and storied history. Someone who knows far more than me gives a detailed explanation here, but the cast list alone for this one is enough for me: Angelina Jolie as Thena, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari (Ridloff is deaf and Makkari will be the MCU’s first deaf superhero),Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Lia McHugh as Sprite, and Don Lee as Gilgamesh. The Eternals will be released on November 6th, 2020.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Endgame wrapped up most of the storylines in the MCU thus far fairly neatly, but something I was still wondering about was the Ten Rings, an organization dedicated to destroying world peace. Mentioned in all three Iron Man films as well as Ant-Man, I found it odd that in a world this meticulous something like that was dropped. But of course it won’t be, because even though we don’t know a lot about it yet, I feel fairly confident that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will be at least a little bit about the Ten Rings. Everyone’s favorite imaginary BFF Awkwafina and Tony Leung Chiu-wai were announced as part of the cast, but it’s Canadian actor Simu Liu who’ll play the title character, and I already love him. 

An instant icon. Shang-Chi will be released in February 2021.

WandaVision

The next Disney+ series is WandaVision, and despite still having absolutely no clue what it’s going to even be about, I know that this one’s weird. Elizabeth Olsen said as much when it was presented. It’ll be set after Endgame, so Vision is just going to…be there somehow? Stranger things have happened in the MCU.

I have to admit that while I like them both on their own, I was not a fan of them as a romantic pairing, so while I was obviously always going to watch it, this show wasn’t super high on my radar. BUT THEN. Teyonah Parris was brought out, having been cast as an all grown up Monica freaking Rambeau and suddenly I’m all in on this show. It was a foregone conclusion that she’d show up again after her introduction in Captain Marvel, it was just a question of when.

Loki

Ok. It’s no secret that I adore Loki. But I HATE this logo so much. It looks like some kind of crazy Asgardian ransom note and it’s ridiculous. I’m sure there’s a reason behind it that will reveal itself once the show airs, or it may be an allusion to his shapeshifing, but just…no. 

T Hiddy was there to hear everyone chant at him, and as we all suspected the second we saw it in Endgame, we learned that the show will follow the Loki that escapes with the Tesseract during the chaos that ensues in the alternate 2012 timeline. So it looks like those of us who are still pissed that the Loki we’ve loved since Thor who was killed after trying to kill Thanos in the absolutely dumbest way imaginable will continue to be pissed until the end of time. Loki will hit Disney+ in Spring 2021.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Mysterio may have lied about it in Spider-Man: Far From Home, but the Multiverse is real, and Doctor Strange is going to be the one to check it out. The movie, out May 7th, 2021, will tie in with the events of WandaVision and Scarlet Witch will be in it as well.

What If…?

The concept of this show has been fascinating to me since it was first announced. Jeffrey Wright — who has the perfect voice for it — will narrate this animated series, which will explore alternate, hypothetical versions of the stories we already know. The first episode will ask what if Peggy Carter had been the one to receive the Super Soldier Serum instead of Steve Rogers. (The war would have been over and done in like 45 minutes, that’s what, but we’ll see what they go with.) Someone on Twitter noticed something in the logo that could hint at what another episode might ask. 

Hawkeye

Jeremy Renner took a break from his sweet new music career to present the Disney+ series Hawkeye, which will introduce Kate Bishop, something I know a lot of comic fans have wanted for a long time. Bishop is Clint’s protégé, and I’m always happy to see another female character in these stories.

Thor: Love and Thunder

Oh boy, there is SO. MUCH. to love about this one. Despite the recent announcement that Taika Waititi was coming back to direct a fourth Thor film, I wasn’t sure if we’d hear more about it at this year’s Comic Con. I thought maybe we’d be getting the second Black Panther movie first. But not only will we get to see Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5th, 2021, we already know that it’s going to be the single greatest thing we’ve ever seen.

I need the entire film to have to energy of that photo. Jane Foster being Mighty Thor is a very popular comic storyline, which you can read more about here, and I could not be more thrilled that this is the direction they’re going in. As much as I like Thor: Ragnarok, I did miss Jane and sadly thought that she was gone from these movies for good. The lesson here is to never doubt Taika Waititi.

Tessa Thompson was also there to share her hopes for Valkyrie, who became the new King of Asgard at the end of Avengers: Endgame.

And we were all Taika.

Source

This is without a doubt my most highly anticipated Phase 4 film.

But wait, there’s more!

With a stage full of cast and crew and the panel about to end, there were still a few last minute announcements.

Kevin Feige said in an interview after the panel that after Mahershala Ali won the Oscar earlier this year he reached out to Marvel and came right out and said during their meeting that he wanted to do Blade. What an absolute power move. And because Kevin Feige clearly isn’t an idiot, we’re getting it. 

Which one of these has you the most excited?!

Check out all our other Marvel coverage here.

All photos courtesy of Walt Disney Studios

About Jamie W

Jamie W's Current Obsessions: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. The beach. Tom Hiddleston and the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Buying new books without reading the ones she already has. Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. Trying to buy more than just sweatpants when she goes shopping. Follow her on Twitter @jamiewhitebread

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