What’s coming in Marvel’s Phase Four?

After the absolutely perfect final chapter to the Marvel story that was Avengers: Endgame, it almost seems a shame for the MCU to continue. One of the big questions is, of course, where can it go now? Well, after Comic-Con this year, we got our answer as Marvel laid out its plans for Phase Four – but should we be excited? I’ll outline some of the picks from the big reveal, and let you make up your own mind.

The most exciting announcement was the one fans have been demanding for years – the release of a Black Widow solo movie. Scarlett Johansson returns in a film that takes place between Civil War and Infinity War, heading to Budapest for a mission. We’ll learn more about her past, and the chance to see Johansson in this role again will not be missed by fans, particularly as she’s joined by a stellar cast boasting (amongst others) Rachel Weisz and the always-brilliant Florence Pugh.

After the absolutely perfect final chapter to the Marvel story that was Avengers: Endgame, it almost seems a shame for the MCU to continue

You’ll find an equally strong cast in Marvel’s The Eternals, a bunch of cosmic space gods linked to the creation of life on earth. They don’t really have much in the way of fans, and despite a cast including Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek, there’s not much enthusiasm for the movie. However, Marvel managed to turn the Guardians of the Galaxy into a mega-hit, so maybe there’s potential here.

It’s been said that Marvel wants to break into different genres – apparently, The Eternals will be a romance, and the second Doctor Strange film will be a horror movie (but not really, because Marvel still wants your money). Titled The Multiverse of Madness, the film will unite Strange with Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch for multiverse shenanigans – details are otherwise incredibly light at the moment. One to watch if you enjoy seeing Benedict Cumberbatch playing the same character he always does.

The most exciting announcement was the one fans have been demanding for years – the release of a Black Widow solo movie

Marvel have made a big deal out of their increased diversity going into Phase Four, and this directly translates into two of their new films. Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings will star sitcom actor Simu Liu and Hong Kong movie legend Tony Leung in a martial arts movie that (given the latter casting) will hopefully pay close attention to its action cinema roots.

The other announcement to really hit the headlines was the fourth Thor movie, Love and Thunder. It will see Natalie Portman return as Jane Foster, who will take up the mantle of Thor (echoing a story-line from the comics that was really poorly received). Tessa Thompson also returns as Valkyrie, officially confirmed as Marvel’s first major LGBT+ character, as she searches for a Queen of New Asgard. There’s not much about the plot at the moment, with the film essentially being promoted on its diversity credentials – that said, all the major players from Ragnarok are returning, so there’s no reason it shouldn’t be another strong entry in the Thor franchise.

Marvel have made a big deal out of their increased diversity going into Phase Four, and this directly translates into two of their new films

Away from the films, another major announcement is that Marvel TV shows will be playing a large part in the franchise’s future (sure, we had Agents of Shield and the Netflix shows before, but connections were only tangential at best). However, these shows will only be available on Disney+, so you’re going to have to pay for the streaming service if you want to watch them. Whether that’s worth doing or not is very up in the air at the moment.

The highlight is the What If…? series, an animated anthology featuring Jeffrey Wright as the Watcher, which asks what would have happened if important moments in Marvel’s history panned out in different ways. Some individual heroes will also be getting their own shows – we’ve got Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision, Loki and Hawkeye all coming to our screens, looking to fill in the story around these characters in between films. They’ll be bringing back minor characters (like Daniel Brühl’s Baron Zemo) and introducing important new ones (like Kate Bishop, who takes up the mantle of Hawkeye in the comics).

Marvel’s Phase Four is the iffiest-looking of the lot – it feels like half an attempt to silence criticisms of its lack of diversity, and half to flog its new streaming service

We’ll end this look with some smaller nuggets of info. Mahershali Ali was announced to be taking up the role of Blade in a reboot but, good as he is, it feels a bit of a missed opportunity to not bring back Wesley Snipes. It’s also been announced that the Fantastic Four will be returning to the MCU, and so will ‘mutants’ (so, the X-Men). Both superhero teams have had highs and crushing lows in the cinema, so perhaps bringing them to the MCU is what they need. But do audiences really need another adventure with these teams?

Marvel’s Phase Four is the iffiest-looking of the lot – it feels like half an attempt to silence criticisms of its lack of diversity, and half to flog its new streaming service. The most anticipated film is also the one that’ll come first, and given that we’ve experienced the end of the Avengers story, it’ll be interesting to see whether Disney can keep people coming back to Marvel films.