Marvel Phase 4 announcement: The 10 biggest MCU revelations from Comic-Con panel
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Your support makes all the difference.Marvel has officially unveiled its slate for Phase Four revealing every film and TV show it'll release up until 2022.
The star-studded panel at San Diego Comic-Con was bursting with revelations about what MCU followers can expect over the coming years, ranging from exciting casting news and which villains will appear in specific films.
Studio boss Kevin Feige also provided some tantalising details about life beyond the fourth phase – and seemingly hinted at the arrival of a very famous group of superheroes.
Below are the 10 biggest things we learned at Marvel's Comic-Con panel.
David Harbour is officially in Black Widow
As well as divulging that Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh will play rival sisters in the new film, Marvel confirmed that the Stranger Things star will play Red Guardian, while the villsin will be Taskmaster who can mirror any fight move used against him.
The cast for The Eternals could be Marvel's best yet
Angelina Jolie and Bodyguard star Richard Madden will head up the cast of what is expected to be the central film linking the cosmic elements of the MCU. They'll be joined by Bryan Tyree Henry, Kumail Nanjiani, Salma Hayek and deaf actor Lauren Ridloff, who plays Connie in The Walking Dead. The Rider filmmaker Chloe Zhao directs.
Shang-Chi has found its lead star
After months of speculation, it'll be Simu Liu who'll play the MCU's first Asian lead in Shang-Chi: And the Legend of the Ten Rings. The superhero is a martial arts expert who discovers that the father he knew had ulterior motives – which propels him on a collision course with the film's villain, who'll be played by Tony Leung. Awkwafina is also set to appear in an undisclosed role.
Captain Marvel character to appear in WandaVision
The Disney+ TV show reuniting Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) will also feature a character previously seen in Captain Marvel: a grown up version of Monica Rambeau who'll be played by Teyonah Parris (Dear White People).
The Loki TV show will clear up one big mystery
You thought Tom Hiddleston was done with Loki? Think again. The British actor attended Comic-Con where it was revealed that his forthcoming standalone TV show will explore what happened to him after he absconded with the Tesseract in Avengers: Endgame.
Doctor Strange 2 will be scariest Marvel film yet
Alongside the revelation that Elizabeth Olsen will play Scarlet Witch in sequel Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it was announced by director Scott Derrickson that this will be Marvel's first true "scary" outing. It'll also be the first film to delve into the multiverse, which was most recently addressed in Spider-Man: Far From Home.
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Young Avengers confirmed?
While no official word was given on future Avengers projects, it certainly seems that Marvel is lining a Young Avengers film for its fifth or even sixth phase. Why? Well, because the character of Kate Bishop will appear in Hawkeye's standalone TV show. Comic book readers will know bishop to be a character most associated with a group of younger superheroes who is guided by Hawkeye.
Natalie Portman to become goddess of thunder
The most exciting news of the panel came with the announcement that Natalie Portman will be promoted from being Thor's love interest to becoming the goddess of thunder in Taika Waititi's sequel Thor: Love and Thunder. The actor posed for photographs holding Thor's hammer in the air.
Fantastic Four and X-Men are joining the MCU
Following the many announcements, Marvel boss Kevin Feige teased projects that will be released beyond 2020, also. "We didn’t even mention that we’re making Black Panther 2," he said. “We didn’t even say that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 is coming. We didn’t have time to talk about Captain Marvel 2." Then things got interesting as Feige added: “I didn’t even have time to talk about the Fantastic Four. And there’s no time left to talk about mutants and how mutants come into the MCU.”
This was all but confirmation that plans to introduce X-Men into the MCU are indeed underway.
Mahershala Ali is the new Blade
The final reveal of the panel came when Mahershala Ali walked onto stage wearing a T-shirt with one word on it: "Blade." The Oscar-winner will play the half-human half-vampire in an MCU reboot of the Wesley Snipes trilogy. No other details are known at present other than Ali is guaranteed to make the role his own.
Marvel's next film, Black Widow, will be released May 2020.
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