All The Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe Films And TV Shows To Get Excited About
The MCU is only just getting started.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe may have completed its first major story arc, with Avengers: Endgame closing out The Infinity Saga that began with Iron Man — but the franchise is showing no signs of slowing down.
Many of our fave Avengers have moved on, but there are still plenty hanging around — and a bunch of new characters being introduced — to keep the machine running for a very long time to come.
In 2020, we are officially entering Phase Four of the MCU. Here’s what to look out for…
Movie: Black Widow
Out on April 30 2020, the first movie of Phase Four strongly connects it with what came before: the focus is on Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, aka Natasha Romanoff.
Considering what happens in Avengers: Endgame, this is obviously a prequel to that movie. It’s set after the events of Captain America: Civil War, which means Nat is on the run. Black Widow sees her grappling with her past, including father figure Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (played by Stranger Things’ David Harbour) and fellow Black Widow spies Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz) and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh).
Many fans have speculated that Pugh will become the official Black Widow in future MCU movies, but nothing has been confirmed.
Series: Agents of SHIELD Season 7
Set for a mid 2020 release, this will be the final season of Agents of SHIELD.
There’ll be 13 episodes and the show will no doubt pick up where (or rather when) the Season 6 finale left off — with the team having travelled back through time to the 1930s. Marvel Television head Jeph Loeb has promised that the series will tie up any loose threads left dangling in previous seasons.
Movie: The Eternals
The Eternals will be the second — and last — MCU movie we get in 2020.
It’s slated for release in Australia on November 5. The movie will span 7000 years (!), telling the story of the Eternals, a race of immortal aliens. The Eternals were created by the Celestials — ancient beings, only a few of which we’ve encountered in the MCU so far (Peter Quill’s dad Ego was a Celestial, making Peter Quill a Celestial/human hybrid, while Knowhere — the place where the Collector’s Museum was situated — was the severed head of a dead Celestial).
Not much more is known about the plot of the movie, but the cast is incredible — it includes Angelina Jolie, Kit Harington, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Salma Hayek, and Gemma Chan.
Series: Helstrom
We don’t have a release date for Helstrom yet, but it is expected to drop sometime in 2020 and run for 10 episodes. Relative unknowns Tom Austen and Sydney Lemmon have been cast in the lead roles of Daimon and Ana Helstrom, the son and daughter of a serial killer who spend their time hunting the “worst of humanity”.
Series: WandaVision
There’s no set date as yet, but we can expect WandaVision’s six episodes in 2020.
Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany return to the MCU as Wanda Maximoff and Vision, because while Vision doesn’t return from the dead in Avengers: Endgame like many of his colleagues, he will come back somehow in this series.
Meanwhile, we’ll see Wanda officially become Scarlet Witch. We’ll also see MCU comic relief characters Darcy (Kat Dennings) and Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) in this sitcom (?!), plus an adult Monica Rambeau (previously seen as a kid in Captain Marvel, and now played by Teyonah Parris).
Series: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Consisting of six episodes to be released in late 2020, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier sees Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan reprise their roles as Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes from the movies.
The story will pick up right after Avengers: Endgame, in which Sam receives Captain America’s shield from Steve Rogers. Emily VanCamp and Daniel Brühl will also return in their roles as Sharon Carter and Baron Helmut Zemo respectively.
Movie: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Filming in Australia this year, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is set for release in February 2021.
Kim’s Convenience star Simu Liu has been cast in the lead role of Shang-Chi, while Hong Kong actor Tony Leung will play the villain, the Mandarin (whose identity was stolen, you might remember, by Ben Kinglsey’s character in Iron Man 3).
Series: Loki
Tom Hiddleston returns once again as the beloved trickster in this six-episode limited series, slated for early 2021. The show will follow Loki’s adventures after the 2012 version of him steals the Space Stone in Avengers: Endgame, so it takes place on a different timeline than the one we’re used to.
Movie: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
After two movies that introduce new characters, we’ll see a familiar one in May 2021 with the sequel to Doctor Strange.
Benedict Cumberbatch will return in the lead role, and the movie will tie directly into the WandaVision and Loki TV series, so expect to see the stars of those appear too. This movie will lean more into gothic/horror elements than the first, heading into new and darker territory for the MCU.
Movie: Spider-Man 3
No official title has been released for the third instalment of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man adventures, but it will likely deal with the fallout of the events in the mid-credits scene of Spider-Man: Far From Home.
If you need a refresher: basically a giant flashing billboard set Spider-Man up as a villain using edited footage of his fight with Mysterio, before revealing Peter Parker’s true identity. If all goes well, we’ll get this movie in July 2021.
Movie: Thor: Love and Thunder
The fourth Thor instalment will see Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi returning along with, of course, Chris Hemsworth himself.
Even more exciting for people who always thought Jane Foster was done dirty: Natalie Portman will be reprising the role, and not only that, but taking on the mantle of Mighty Thor (yes, she will get Thor’s powers). Tessa Thompson will also return as Valkyrie, and she’s teased that she’ll get a female love interest.
Bring on November 2021.
Series: Hawkeye
This limited series is currently slated for late 2021.
Jeremy Renner will return as Hawkeye, likely for the last time, as the show focuses on him passing the identity on to Kate Bishop, a girl who becomes a member of the Young Avengers in the comics. A lot of fans believe this could mean we’ll get some Young Avengers movies in the future, but nothing has been confirmed.
Phase Five and Beyond
There’s a bunch of stuff in the works that we don’t have many details about, including a Ryan Coogler-directed Black Panther II to be released in May 2022, and a James Gunn-directed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, which hasn’t got a release date yet.
Marvel are also developing a Blade movie starring Mahershala Ali, a third Ant-Man movie, a sequel to Captain Marvel, a new Fantastic Four movie, as well as a third Deadpool movie that will integrate the character into the MCU. We’ll also likely see a mutants/X-Men movie in the MCU in the future.
On the TV series front, there are a few in very early stages of development: Ms Marvel, Moon Knight and She-Hulk.
We’ll share more details on those projects as soon as we have them!
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Jenna Guillaume is a Sydney-based writer who loves all things TV and pop culture. She tweets @JennaGuillaume, and her new book, ‘What I Like About Me’ is available now.