Breaking Down Marvel Studios’ Phase Four Announcements for 2021 and Beyond
Kevin Feige’s presentation at the Walt Disney Company’s 2020 Investor Day was a blur of excitement for comic book and superhero fans around the world, with a plethora of shows, movies, casting news and animated offerings being announced.
But with so many things being released at once, it could be easy to become overwhelmed. Well have no fear, because we’re here to break down all of the Phase 4 announcements in one simple, easy to digest post.
So take a deep breath and let’s get started…
WANDAVISION POSTER AND FINAL TRAILER
Up first, and officially kicking off Marvel’s Phase Four, WANDAVISION is set to premier on Disney+ on January 15th 2021, and to help whip fans into even more of a frenzy, the final trailer – along with an exciting new poster – was revealed.
The new series will see Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany returning to their roles as Wanda and Vision respectively. They will be joined Kat Dennings, who reprises her role as Darcy Lewis; Randall Park, who reprises his role as Agent Jimmy Woo; and newcomers Kathryn Hahn, who plays their plucky neighbor, and Teyonah Parris, who plays an adult Monica Rambeau.
FIRST TRAILER AND POSTER FOR THE FALCON & THE WINTER SOLDIER
Another new series coming to Disney+, this time on March 19th 2021, THE FALCON & THE WINTER SOLDIER sees Sam and Bucky trying to bring hope to a post-Captain America world.
Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan are set to return in the title roles, while the six-part series will also star Daniel Brühl, reprising his role as Baron Zemo, Emily VanCamp, reprising her role as Sharon Carter, and newcomer Wyatt Russell as John Walker.
FIRST TRAILER FOR LOKI DISNEY+ SERIES
Spinning out of the timey-wimey events of Avengers: Endgame, LOKI sees Tom Hiddleston reprising his fan-favourite role in a new Disney+ series which will also star Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sophia Di Martino, Wunmi Mosaku and Richard E. Grant.
No release date for the series has been confirmed yet.
FIRST TRAILER FOR ANIMATED WHAT IF…? SERIES
The first animated offering on Marvel Studios’ Disney+ slate, WHAT IF…? brings the classic comic book series to the small screen in a series of self-contained stories.
Set to air in Summer 2021, the series asks questions like “What if Peggy Carter was given the Super Soldier Serum?”, or “What if T’Challa became Star Lord?”, and features Jeffrey Wright as the voice of The Watcher and a host of MCU stars reprising their roles, including Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter.
SIZZLE REEL SHOWS IMAN VELLANI AS KAMALA KHAN
We also got our first look at the upcoming Disney+ MS. MARVEL series in the form of a sizzle reel which broke down the popularity of the character and gave us our first glimpse at Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan.
The series is set to premier in late 2021, and will star Aramis Knight, Saagar Shaikh, Rish Shah, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Laith Naki, Azher Usman, Travina Springer and Nimra Bucha alongside Vellani.
ADDITIONAL CAST CONFIRMED FOR SHANG-CHI & THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS
The first big-screen offering in the presentation, Feige confirmed the full cast for the upcoming Phase 4 cinematic offering, set to open in July 2021.
It was also confirmed that production has now wrapped on the film, so it surely can’t be too long before we get a sneaky trailer or two.
HAWKEYE DISNEY+ CASTING NEWS
While this one is perhaps less of a surprise given the slew of leaked set photos in recent weeks, it was also officially confirmed that Hailee Steinfeld will join Jeremy Renner as Kate Bishop in the upcoming Disney+ HAWKEYE series, set to air in late 2021.
Renner and Steinfeld will be joined in the cast by Vera Farmiga, Fra Fee, Tony Dalton, Zahn McClarnon, Brian d’Arcy James, and newcomer Alaqua Cox who will star as Maya Lopez.
CAPTAIN MARVEL 2 CAST AND RELEASE DATE CONFIRMED
Feige also confirmed that Brie Larson will be returning to the title role in CAPTAIN MARVEL 2, set to hit cinemas on November 11th 2022.
Also, in a move that really shows the synergy between the big-screen and cinematic offerings being announced, Larson will be joined in the cast by Iman Vellani, who will have already made her debut in Ms. Marvel on Disney +, and Teyonah Parris, who will have made her debut in WandaVision. Pretty cool, I’m sure you’ll agree.
The film will be directed by Nia DaCosta.
SHE-HULK DISNEY+ SERIES INFO ANNOUNCED
In another Disney+ series, Tatiana Maslany will star as Jennifer Walters – aka She-Hulk – as we take a dive into the world of superhero-focused legal cases.
The comedy series will also see a plethora of MCU characters appearing, including Marc Ruffalo’s Hulk and Tim Roth’s Abomination, and will be directed by Kat Coiro and Anu Valia, with Jessica Gao serving as head writer.
No release date yet for this one, but it seems likely it’ll be early 2022.
MOON KNIGHT DISNEY+ SERIES INFO ANNOUNCED
Feige also spoke a little about upcoming Disney+ series MOON KNIGHT, which will tell the story of Marc Spector, a complex vigilante who suffers from dissociative identity disorder. These multiple identities who live inside him are distinct characters in the series and will appear against a backdrop of Egyptian iconography.
While Mohamed Diab was confirmed as director, no announcement was made yet about who would be playing Spector himself – although Oscar Isaac has been heavily rumoured to be in negotiations for the role.
No release date yet for this one either.
CHRISTIAN BALE CONFIRMED FOR THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER
It was confirmed that Oscar winner Christian Bale will join the cast of THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER as Gorr the God Butcher when it hits cinemas on May 6th 2022.
Bale joins Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman and Tessa Thompson in the cast, with Taikia Waititi returning as director and Portman getting set to pick up the hammer as The Mighty Thor, Goddess of Thunder.
ANT-MAN & THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA CONFIRMED
It was confirmed that Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly will return as Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne in the brilliantly titled ANT-MAN & THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA (do you guys just put the word Quantum in font of everything?), the third film in the series.
The pair will be joined in the cast by Kathryn Newton as Cassie Lang, and the returning Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer. Also, in some very exciting news, it was confirmed that the villain of the movie will be none other than Kang the Conqueror, who will be played by Jonathan Majors. Peyton Reed returns for the third time as director.
SAMUEL L. JACKSON AND BEN MENDELSOHN REUNITE IN SECRET INVASION DISNEY+ SERIES
In another Disney+ announcement, it was confirmed that Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn will be reprising their roles as Nick Fury and Talos in a brand new series that promises to tie directly into the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe.
No release date was announced
NEW IRONHEART DISNEY+ SERIES ANNOUNCED
In another new series announcement, it was confirmed that Dominique Thorne will be starring as genius inventor Riri Williams in IRONHEART as the young woman who creates the most advanced suit of armor since Iron Man himself, Tony Stark.
DON CHEADLE RETURNS AS WAR MACHINE IN “ARMOR WARS” SERIES
Another series confirmed to be coming to Disney+ in the future was ARMOR WARS, which sees Don Cheadle returning as James Rhodes – aka War Machine – when Tony Stark’s tech falls into the wrong hands.
BLACK PANTHER 2 TO EXPLORE THE WORLD OF WAKANDA
In the wake of Chadwick Boseman’s tragic passing, it was confirmed that his legacy would be honored and King T’Challa would not be recast in the upcoming BLACK PANTHER sequel, set for release on July 8th 2022.
Instead, the sequel – directed once again by Ryan Coogler – will continue to explore the incomparable world of Wakanda and all of the rich and varied characters introduced in the first film.
I AM GROOT ANIMATED SHORTS COMING TO DISNEY+
In yet more Disney+ news, it was announced that everyone’s favourite plant will be returning in I AM GROOT, a series of animated shorts featuring the seedling alongside several new and unusual characters.
No release date was confirmed.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY HOLIDAY SPECIAL ANNOUNCED FOR 2022
In more Guardian-related news, it was announced that ahead of his return to the director’s chair for the third Guardians of the Galaxy movie in 2023, James Gunn will write and direct the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY HOLIDAY SPECIAL in December 2022.
All of the main cast members will feature as the crew indulge in some spirited shenanigans.
THE FANTASTIC FOUR ARE COMING TO THE MCU!
And finally, in one of the most exciting announcements of the day, it was confirmed that the FANTASTIC FOUR were officially coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a brand new feature film set to be directed by Jon Watts.
No release date or casting news was announced, but expect all manner of excitement and speculation as we head into 2021.
The writer of this piece was: Craig Neilson-Adams (aka Ceej)
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Great to finally know that Fantastic Four is in the works, really excited for their debut in the MCU!
Definitely! Hopefully we get some casting news sooner rather than later
Hope so, the MCU will benefit greatly by having the Fantastic Four around, it got such a rich history of stories and characters – regular and supporting – that offer a wealth of potential.