"Projecting and Predicting Phase 4of the MCU *SPOILERS*"
In this piece, I am going to go through and give a quick rundown of things to expect from each Phase 4 MCU properties, from the big screen all the way to Disney+. While being the shortest time span for a phase in the Marvel Cinematic Universe it is still jammed pack with entertainment and information to know. I will give quick tidbits of information that we know we already as well as predictions to things that will happen in each movie and show that will lead to the next. This is all assuming that things don't just change and fall apart completely because of COVID19
Black Widow (? 2020)
Black Widow is a flashback movie and we are being led to believe that it takes place during the gap from Civil War to Infinity War. I think this movie will encompass much more than people realize and will take place during at least three different timelines, post Civil War, around 2008 and possibly the 90's as well. Post Civil War is the one we know for sure, we will see Natasha Romanoff go back to Eastern Europe and Russia to uncover more about her past and reach out to her former family. The 90's or even 80's is a time period I think we will see showing Natasha growing up in the Red Room where she was trained to be a Black Widow soldier spy. We were able to get a glimpse of her original training in the flashback in Avengers Age of Ultron so we know what to expect from some of the horrors she went through while being trained there. Now, the 2008 range is interesting we see General Thaddeus Ross in the trailer, he was originally introduced in 2008 Hulk movie and was brought back for a reason we have to remember that. After not being seen for nearly a decade General Thaddeus Ross was brought back in 2016's Civil War, and we learned he had become US Secretary of State, but why was he brought back for Civil War then Infinity War and Endgame? Because he was shown leading the council that is in charge of the Avengers after Civil War. Now the world has completely changed after the events of Infinity War and Endgame and the power dynamic has shifted and the Avengers won't be answering to Ross anytime soon. SO the point of this tangent is that Ross is going to be shown in this movie forming his own superhero team the Thunderbolts. A team of some time heroes and "former" villains, Ross still obsessed with the Hulk finally cracks the code and turns himself into Red Hulk. Also, a prediction that David Harbour's character in this movie Alexei Shostakov aka Red Guardian will be joining Ross as a member of the Thunderbolts.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (August 2020)
Speaking of the Thunderbolts, rumors have been circling that they will be involved in this show as well. Kicking off as Disney+'s first MCU television show Falcon and Winter Soldier seems to be following the trials and tribulations of Sam Wilson aka Falcon becoming the next Captain America and the US government (maybe Thunderbolts lead by Thaddeus Ross) wants to anoint their own Cap instead (Wyatt Russell's character John Walker aka US Agent). Meanwhile, Daniel Bruhl's Zemo is back from Civil War and we will seemingly have some plot with Bucky and we will get to see if he is really cured of his Winter Soldier brainwashing. The surprise early on in the show will be that Zemo is now working with Thaddeus Ross helping lead the Thunderbolts, and that is why he will be donning his comic accurate purple mask to hide his identity since he is a known criminal.
The Eternals (November 2020)
Ok, this property and Shang-Chi are the two that vast audiences know absolutely nothing about, including me aside from my research, BUT so was Guardians of the Galaxy this is where Marvel Studios shines. virtually unknown characters getting to have good original stories while injecting the film with humor and a love story. This film is the biggest risk marvel has ever taken and could go boom or bust. This film is star-studded as seen above and not to mention Jon Snow is on the cast too with Kit Harrington playing Dane Witman. So we will finally have the reunion of the Kings of the North the Stark brothers I imagine they will be adversarial in this movie though. Expect to fall in love with Kumail Nanjiani's Kingo and Salma Hayek's Ajak as too of the funnier people on this cast. This movie won't cover decades like Black Widow this movie is going to cover millennia as the Eternals are near-immortal beings. Also expect hints toward the Eternals messing with human DNA at some point causing the present-day Mutants.
WandaVision (December 2020)
This looks to be one of the more exciting game-changing shows coming to Disney+. It was shown in the insanely fast clips released during Super Bowl promotions for the MCU Disney+ shows that in this insane world that Wanda and Vision have their two children William and Thomas aka Wiccan and Speed. These two could possibly be future members of the eventual Marvel Phase 5, or 6, team the Young Avengers. We have seen multiple possible members of this team pop up in the MCU already in Ant-Man's daughter Cassie Lang, played by Emma Fuhrmann in Endgame, who becomes the hero Stature and Harley Keener, played by Ty Simpkins, who was in Iron Man 3 (was also that random kid at the funeral in Endgame) will likely become Iron Lad. Most importantly this show seems to be the kick-off to break the multiverse and causing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness which will probably bring in Mutants finally to the forefront of the MCU.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (February 2021)
Okay, trust tree time, I have zero knowledge of this character 99% of fans do, only true blue hardcore comic fans really know him inside and out. BUT one thing I do know is that we will finally be getting the true Mandarin in the MCU. Back in 2013 Iron Man 3 was the first movie after avengers and it was the kick-off when a giant bulk of movie-going audience members really jumped on the MCU bandwagon. Iron Man 3 made over a billion dollars but there was a subset of fans absolutely pissed at the film writers for what they did to the Mandarin character. In the comics, the Mandarin is a huge Iron Man villain and uses his ten rings as these magical objects with great power to fight him, classic technology versus magic story. When Ben Kingsley's character turned out to be a fake Mandarin, fans were furious. But all seems to be on track to correct that "miss-step" (I loved IM3 I didn't have any issue with the fake-out story) and now the true Mandarin is being brought in to face down with Marvels greatest hand to hand fighter Shang-Chi. Simu Liu (pictured above) is playing the titular character and is apparently an avid fan of the character so I am very excited and I trust Kevin Feige and the writers to do this movie right. Corona side note, IF they decide to shift the movie release schedule this is the film that will probably be moved back the most as it not having deep connections to the rest of the movies.
Loki (Early 2021)
After a short snap appearance in Infinity War Loki returned in Endgame in a flashback showing him grabbing the Space Stone aka the Tesseract completely flipping the timeline set up an alternate timeline/universe. The Loki series on Disney+ will cover his escape from New York and run-ins with the Time Variance which is Marvels Time Cops. Owen Wilson is set to appear in it as well, assumingly, as a time cop detective that arrests Loki and then uses him to help solve other timeline issues. A possible big spoiler is that we are going to get different versions of Loki, possibly the version of Loki that got his neck snapped by Thanos is going to inhabit another body and we are going to see a female version of Loki for sure maybe others. Also a fun fact that picture is from the original Thor Ragnarok trailer and it never happened in the movie, seems to be a different cut of the final fight on Asgard in the city instead of on the bridge as it happens in the final product.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (May 2021)
This movie is going to be WILD, it was originally slated as a horror movie but it is not going to be straight horror but will have scary movie elements. As we talked about in the Lokie and WandaVision Disney+ breakdowns there are now multiple timelines in the MCU opening-up crazy opportunities for stuff to happen and characters to be introduced. I imagine this will be our super secret surprise cameo from Ryan Reynolds Deadpool to finally appear in the MCU, Doctor Strange will be going through and trying to fix the timelines after the Infinity Saga screwed them up with Loki stealing the tesseract and Wanda breaking multiple timelines with her show WandaVision. I expect Wanda to play a huge part in this film being trained by Doctor Strange and them working together to try to fix everything. With new realities and multiverses, this is the perfect stepping off point to shift the MCU as we know it. This is a game-changing movie and it is slated near the end of Phase 4 for that reason. Phase 5 will bring forth a different version of the MCU that we haven't seen before Mutants and all other goodies from Marvel comic lore that Disney finally owns since purchasing Fox. another big cameo that is possible is Mahershala Ali's Blade, we know for a fact he is playing him because of the announcement at D23 last year but we have no idea when Blade will be introduced. This film seems to be a perfect time to bring him in, showing him fighting vampires from another multiverse possibly.
Spider-Man 3 (July 2021)
Spider-Man Far From Home ended with Peter Parker being outted as Spider-Man to the public, and this movie could go the route showing him go through a court case since he is being falsely blamed for Jake Gyllenhaal's Mysterio's attack on London. If that is the case there are rumors going around that a certain blind lawyer from Hell's Kitchen Matthew Murdock might finally join the MCU from the now-dead Netflix branch of Marvel properties. Charlie Cox returning as Daredevil would be absolutely amazing, I still hold that that show is up there with anything Marvel has ever done, top 5 Marvel property of all time. OR maybe my dreams will be crushed and I will be sad and pout but we will get instead Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk as his lawyer. Marvel Studious President Kevin Feige already confirmed at D23 last year that we will be getting a She-Hulk show sometime in the future, how better to set up the vigilante lawyer than to show her in Spider-Man 3 defending Peter Parker.
Thor: Love and Thunder (November 2021)
This movie is one of my most anticipated, yes I have said that about twenty times sue me, I have high hopes that they are going to adapt three storylines from the comics for this movie. I am hoping that they adapt comic writer Jason Aaron's Jane Foster Thor, Unworthy Thor, and King Thor storylines. Jane Foster's Thor story covers how Natalie Portman's Jane Foster has cancer but takes up the mantle of Thor after Thor drops the hammer because he thinks he is unworthy and that leads to Thor traveling the galaxy trying to find himself just in a state of depression (basically how he is in Endgame). The King Thor storyline comes in because I believe Tessa Thompsons Valkryie is going to be killed by the new villain in this movie Gorr the God Butcher played by Christian Bale. Bale is confirmed for the movie but all of that is strictly predicting nothing confirmed, but having Thor finally assume his mantle of King and going balls to the wall crazy in an incredible fight with Gorr would be insane. quick information about possible Christian Bale character Gorr's character, he is an alien that was praying for some god to come and save his people (possibly from Thanos snap) and after no one shows up to save them he goes on a killing spree hunting down the gods of Marvel comics to kill them all for not answering his prayers. AKA Gorr the god butcher.
Hawkeye (Late 2021)
This is the question mark of the Disney+ shows, this show has been moved and canceled a few times with questions around if Jeremy Renner would return for his role as Hawkeye. Let us go under the assumption that he is. This show is the one we know the least about because it has not even begun filming yet, it is still in pre-production. But from what we do know is that it will cover Hawkeye training Kate Bishop the future Hawkeye, this was teased by him training his daughter at the beginning of Endgame. Kate Bishop is once again another possible future member of the eventual Young Avengers movie we will get in MCU Phase 5 or 6.
so here’s me for the next few months in quarantine waiting for all of these to finally go down and theaters to open back up and we get to enjoy to magical wonder that is going to see movies. Support your local theaters in this terrible time they are already on life support going month to month living on big blockbuster films. Maybe we can use this time to better ourselves and our families maybe learn a new skill. Be safe out there.
