What is Coming for the Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
By: Callen C Robertson
Avengers Assemble! The Avengers will reunite for the 1st time since 2019’s Avengers Endgame in Avengers the Kang Dynasty and Avengers Secret Wars. Other projects coming soon are Captain America 4 and the Fantastic 4. Read on to find out more about these projects and other possible movies that have been rumored, hinted at, and teased by Marvel insiders.
Now, before I go into detail on phases 5 and 6 of the MCU, I will explain why phase 4 was a flop. the big idea of phase 4, which was to introduce new characters. While after Avengers Endgame was a good time to do this, they kind of overdid it. There weren't really any core characters holding all the projects together after (Spoiler alert) Iron Man and Captain America die in Avengers Endgame. And they didn’t establish any new core characters, so phase 4 was kind of all over the place.
We are already halfway through phase 5 of the MCU. The 6 projects we have gotten are Ant Man 3, Guardians of the Galaxy 3, Captain Marvel 2, Loki season 2, Echo and Secret Invasion. One of the 1st projects we will be getting in the 2nd half of phase 5 is the 18 episode series, Daredevil: Born Again. It is unknown whether this will be a continuation, or a reboot of the original Daredevil show. Daredevil did appear in Echo and in Spider Man No Way Home. of all the Defenders, Daredevil seems to be getting the most attention by Marvel studios.
Daredevil from the original Netflix show.
The two projects that have kind of been ghosted since their announcement and San Diego comic con 2022, are Agatha, Coven of the Caos, and Ironheart. Both of these projects will be Disney+ series. Other than that we do not know much about these two series.
The movie that has been delayed the most has been Blade. It has gone through 4 rewrites before the lead actor got a script he likes. It is honestly kind of incredible how almost all of the cast and crew has stayed with the movie.
The first of the 2 movies rounding out phase 5 will be the Thunderbolts movie. This movie will feature a group of reformed villains recruited to go on a dangerous mission. They did recently have to do a recast of Sentry after losing the original actor. This movie is expected to have a 2025 release date.
Samuel Sterns aka The Leader
The other movie rounding out phase 5 is Captain America 4. This will be the sequel to the Falcon and the Winter Soldier show. Sam Wilson aka The Falcon took on the role of Captain America in The Show. This movie will continue his journey as captain america. It is unlikely that Bucky Barns will return in this film, which is unfortunate for a character who deserves so much more. There are rumors of Bucky death in the Thunderbolts movie, if he does die that would explain his absence from captain america 4. The possible villains in this film are Samuel Sterns aka The Leader or Red Hulk. This movie will set up another rumored project that we will get into later.
That rounds out phase 5, so now we move on to phase 6. Deadpool 3 was supposed to start off phase 6, however that was the only project not delayed, its release has in fact moved up from fall of 2024 to spring/summer of 2024. This movie will tie Deadpool into the MCU. Deadpool 3 will be the only Marvel movie that will come out in 2024, but Marvel will make up for this by giving us 4 movies in 2025. Don’t expect it to stay this way though. After 2025 Marvel will likely go back to releasing 2 movies per year, and maybe one Disney+ series per year. With Deadpool 3’s releases being moved up, while all the others got delayed means that a new movie will start off phase 6, and that movie will be…
The Fantastic 4! This superhero team will be making their MCU debut in 2025. Some of the cast for this film has been confirmed, such as Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards aka Mr Fantastic. Vanessa Kirby will play Invisible Women, Joseph Quinn as Human Torch and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing. Galactus, who will probably be the villain in this film, will make his MCU debut. Javier Bardem seems to be the person to play Galactus in this film. It is a possibility that the movie will skip the team's origin story and jump straight to them as an active team. Silver Surfer could also appear in this film, but more about him later.
Kang the Conqueror in Ant Man 3
Avengers the Kang Dynasty will be the 5th Avengers Movie. This movie will be a continuation of Kang, who has appeared throughout the Multiverse saga. One of his variants appeared in the Loki series as He Who Remains. He came in as Kang in Ant Man 3 as the main villain alongside M.O.D.O.K.. And now he will be returning as the main villain in Avengers 5, The Kang Dynasty. Now there was some talk of Kang being sidelined, due to the original actor getting into some legal trouble. But it has been confirmed that it will stay the Kang Dynasty and Marvel will just do a recast of Kang. It has also been suspected that the Avengers will lose in the film. This is a possibility. If you look at the end of Phase 3 and the Infinity saga it ended with a movie where the Avengers lost, 2 movies in between, and then another movie where they get redemption. The slate for phase 6 looks just like that. So it is very possible that the Avengers might lose, and get some redemption in Secret Wars.
Speaking of Secret Wars, this movie will be the conclusion to phase 6 and the multiverse saga. (Maybe. We all thought Endgame would be the end of phase 3 and the infinity saga, but spider man far from home ended up being in phase 3. So they could do something like that again.) According to the secret wars comics the main villain is Beyonder who lives on a planet called battleworld and forces heroes and villains to fight to the death. The comics will set the tone for this film, Tate Robertson says, “ I am very interested to see if Avengers Secret Wars will be like the comic.” If Kang survives Avengers The Kang Dynasty (Which he most likely will) Then he could be one of the main villains in this film. There has also been talk of Doctor Doom coming in. While Doctor Doom would be epic, it might be best to save Doctor Doom for the MCU’s grand conclusion. Other possible villains to appear could be Galactus, if he survives The Fantastic 4, Abomination could come back as a villain, we know he is still alive when he was seen fighting Wong in Shang-Chi and the legend of the 10 rings. While there still are several good villains out there, some have been killed in their movies by the hero, among these are Whiplash, Killmonger and Yellowjacket, the well respected villains in Iron Man 2, Blank Panther and Ant Man. However they could still appear since Beyonder has access to the entire multiverse. They could even find ways to use villains like the Vulture or Red Skull in this film. They will just have to break Vulture out of prison and end Red Skull’s curse. There are several more villains that could appear in secret wars but it could take hours to list all of them. There is talk of this movie starting a soft reboot, Kevin Feige however has made it seem that he has no plans to reboot the universe.
One of the Projects that is confirmed is Armor Wars, we just don’t know when it will be released. This was originally slated to be a disney+ show, but is now being a movie. The likely villain in this film is damage control bringing back Ultron. If Ultron does not die in this project he could play a big role in Avengers Secret Wars. Another possible villain to appear in this film is Justin Hammer. The secondary antagonist in Iron Man 2 could return again, possibly as a secondary antagonist again, or a main antagonist. While a secondary antagonist would be more likely to happen, if they won't go the route where they bring back Ultron, then Justin Hammer would be the next best choice.
Ultron in Avengers age of Ultron
Another project that is basically confirmed is Spider Man 4. This would be a big change from the previous Spider Man movies due to nobody remembering that Peter Parker exists after (Spoiler alert) Dr Strange cast a spell so nobody remembers Peter Parker's existence to save their universe. One of the many questions that is being asked about this film is if MJ will find a way to remember Peter. To that I say, you’ll just have to wait and find out. Possible new villains for this film Are Venom, Scorpion, and Kingpin. Kingpin will be an antagonist in Daredevil Born Again and if he doesn’t die he could be a very important character in Spider Man 4. Scorpion was teased in the Post credit scene of Spider Man Homecoming, Marvel has yet to do anything with this as of now, but now would be a great time to do that. The last possible villain is Venom. In Spider Man No Way Home, Enemies of spider man from other dimensions came into the MCU universe, Venom from the Sony spider verse was transported, he did not fight peter, but he did leave behind the symbiote in the MCU dimension. This is a perfect set up for venom to come in. It is even possible that all 3 of these villains could come in and make for an epic showdown, but we will have to wait and see. There has been talk of Miles Morales spider man coming in, this another thing that we will just have to wait and see if it happens. If the Miles Morales spider man from another dimension does fight alongside peter, it would make the fight more fair if 2 or even 3 of the villains I mentioned earlier fight peter parker. This seems to be the Movie that EJHS students are the most Hyped for, with a heavy majority saying they are excited for this film. Ty Wadsworth says, “This should be a good movie as long as they do it right.”
Doctor Strange facing off against Dormammu
Another project that is essentially confirmed is Doctor Strange 3. It looks like this project will adapt the “Time Runs Out” storyline from the comics. It is Likely that Dormammu could return and play a big role in the movie. If Dormammu does not die in this film he too could be an important villain in Secret Wars. Other than that, we do not know much about Doctor Strange 3, but it is expected that this will draw a big crowd to the theaters.
The other project that is basically confirmed is Shang Chi 2. This movie is set to dive into the origins of the 10 rings. It is expected that the rings were created by a Kang Variant. It is expected that the Kang Variant could be the Villain. Kang seems to be the Thanos of the Multiverse saga. He has been in Ant Man 3, both seasons of Loki, and will appear in Avengers the Kang Dynasty, and likely Avengers Secret Wars, and Now possibly Shang Chi 2.
A rumored project that would be epic, is World War Hulk. This is said to be the 2nd part of Captain America 4. Since this is supposed to be a part 2 of Captain America, this could mean Both The Leader and Red Hulk could possibly come in. And we know that scientists are still trying to recreate the super soldier serum. This could set up more Hulks, such as Red She Hulk and other Hulks. With Hulk, She Hulk, Abomination, Hulk’s son Skaar, The Leader, Red Hulk, and possibly Red She Hulk. All of these Gamma powered individuals could have a big Hulk Battle. This would be one of the most entertaining fights to see.
Abomination in The Incredible Hulk
Thor Rocket and Groot arriving in Wakanda
Another rumored project is Thor 5. Chris Hemsworth said he is down to come back as Thor, provided that there is Character Growth. This is also what Taika Waititi wanted for the character, with the lead actor coming back Thor 5 is falling right into place. This movie is expected to introduce Ares and Hercules into the MCU. However, in the comics Hercules was a hero, but in the Thor 4 post credit scene, Zeus vowed his revenge on Thor and he would use Hercules to make it happen. Ares was a villain in the comics. Thor and Hercules may have to team up to fight Ares, but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves, this movie may not even happen.
Another rumored project is an Okoye show/Black Panther 3. While both are very much possible, only one should make the phase 6 slate. The one more likely to happen is the Okoye show. While Okoye would be the main character, Ayo, another member of the Dora Milaje will likely appear in this show. Black Panther 3 is very likely to happen, just probably not in phase 6.
One more rumored movie is Eternals 2. The celestials, the creators of universes, could fix some stuff that may happen in Kang Dynasty. If Kang wins. The celestials may have to heal some universes that Kang destroyed. If they use this storyline Eternals 2 would likely take place in Between Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars.
The Last rumored project is the Nomad project. This movie is set to take place during the secret Avengers time period when Black Widow, Captain America, and Falcon are on the run from the government. This could be a movie or a tv series. If this project happens it should take place between Black Widow and Avengers Infinity War. Joe and Anthony Russo are the expected directors of this project.
Some other shows that we don’t know the current status of are Wonder Man, Nova and a possible Silver Surfer show. The Silver Surfer show is only rumored to be happening. If Silver Surfer does not appear in The Fantastic 4, then the show is more likely to happen. What irks me is that Wonder Man is the least deserving of his own show, yet it seems to be the most likely to be a part of phase 6.
The Inhumans, The Midnight Sons and the Young Avengers are all rumored to have projects introducing their characters into the MCU. These projects are very unlikely to appear on the final phase 6 slate but could appear in phases 7-9.
Some shows could be renewed for another season. What If could get a third season, there is no reason for it not to have a 3rd season. I think that what if will continue as long as the MCU is a thing. And Kevin Feige says he wants the MCU to last 50 years. There has been talk of Ms. marvel season 2. Ms. Marvel season 2 might not happen because she appeared in Captain Marvel 2. This would confuse people because Disney+ puts it by show with all of the seasons as one in the MCU timeline. So somebody might watch both seasons of Ms. Marvel and then watch Captain Marvel 2 and be totally confused Disney+ could fix this, but they might not. Moon night could have a season 2. This isn't unlikely because Moon Night may not appear in the new Avengers films, so his character could be expanded on before he does appear in a movie. She-Hulk season 2 is possible, but it could suffer the same problem that Ms Marvel season 2 would have if it gets made, with World War Hulk, however World War Hulk is yet to be confirmed, so it could still work
The X-Men are going to have a movie, but that will not come into phase 7 or 8. It depends on if they give the individual Mutants time to build up in their own Movies or shows. However, we won't have to wait that long. We will see Wolverine and possibly some other in Deadpool 3.
Marvel is probably going to announce some projects and when they will be released at San Diego Comic Con 2024. We should have gotten some of this news at SDCC 2023, but Marvel Studios disappointed everyone by not attending. The stakes are high for these new films, as Marvel has Missed the Target on some projects. Mason “Microwave” McCarty says, “I feel like the new marvel movies have gotten worse after the last avengers movie and I'm hoping that marvel doesn't mess the new films up. He is centantly right. Hopefully Marvel does its job and we get some great films! As we all know not all of these projects can make the phase 6 roster, but almost all of these projects have a good chance of happening.
Author’s bio, Callen is a 6th Grader who has high hopes for spider man 4.