by Nathaniel R
Angelina Jolie, Simu Liu, and Scarlett Johansson the stars of "Eternals", "Shang Chi", and "Black Widow"
Over the weekend Comic-Con was in full swing so Marvel Studios took the well-timed chance to share their "Phase Four" schedule now that Avengers: Endgame provided the behemoth finale to their first dozen years. Spider-Man Far From Home was its after dinner feast mint...
It's rare to get so many stars in one room but part of the golden handcuffs of franchise jobs is contractually obligated appearances so everyone who has a part in the immediate future of Marvel was there. It would be exhausting to even type out all the names, so "everyone" will do. Though I don't wish to be a pessimist, I do wonder if Marvel Studios can keep up their Hollywood dominance. Even Pixar eventually lost some lustre. The next few years feel very low-key compared to what we're used to them delivering: they've got a few new TV series, some risky C-level characters now that they've run out of the A and B legends... that is until they reboot Fantastic Four and X-Men but they're clearly waiting on both until the bad films from other studios recede in the collective memory.
The schedule with a few notes.
THE MOVIES
Black Widow (May 1st, 2020) Scarlett Johansson gets her looooong delayed solo outing with a very rich supporting cast: Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenie, Rachel Weisz... we love all of those people! Cate Shortland directs.
The Eternals (Nov 6th, 2020) Angelina Jolie headlines with Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Brian Tyree Henry, Salma Hayek, Lia McHugh, and Don Lee co-starring as the other immortal heroes. This is a big swing for Marvel because people don't really know the Eternals -- hell, I dont even know them and I was a comic book nut as a kid -- which are a race of beings called The Celestials. The backstory sounds very complex and a bit silly. But you never know. Marvel pulled off The Guardians. Chloe Zhao (The Rider) directs.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Feb 12th, 2021)
This is the one we're really excited about because Marvel f***ed up Iron Fist so badly and because our favourite Chinese actor of all time Tony Leung Chiu-Wai (In the Mood for Love, Hero, Lust Caution, etcetera) will be playing its big bad, the Mandarin! Yes, Mandarin, who already had one go with Marvel via Ben Kingsley's con-artist imposter in Iron Man 3. Simu Liu, a Chinese-Canadian actor, has won the lead role of the titular martial arts hero. Liu hasn't had much in the way of high profile roles though he's made guest appearances on several dramas and sitcoms. He's also a martial arts expert and former stunt double so they've clearly avoided the dumbness of casting somehow who couldn't do martial arts in a 'best there is' martial arts role (*cough* Iron Fist*). Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12) directs.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (May 7th, 2021)
Noooo. We were really hoping that Marvel didn't indulge in the Multiverse because all the alternate realities really destroy the ability to have actual dramatic stakes in stories. Doctor Strange (2016) was a slight underperformer for Marvel -- only the Ant-Man series is less box office popular as Marvel films go -- so we'll see if he has more bankability post all those Avengers outings. Elizabeth Olsen costars as The Scarlet Witch (yay!). No other cast members have been announced but Scott Derrickson (Sinister) is returning to direct and reportedly promises a more horror-tinged sequel.
Thor: Love and Thunder (Nov 5th, 2021)
Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, and Natalie Portman will star. Natalie Portman will wield Mjölnir this time becoming her own version of Thor. The very much indemand Taika Waititi returns to direct which means his adaptation/remake of the anime classic Akira is now on hold. This movie wraps up a short "Phase Four" for Marvel.
Blade (release date TBA... though we presume spring 2022 given their usual three-per year tactics)
Mahershala Ali stars in the rebooted franchise about the half-vampire vampire hunter that once starred Wesley Snipes.
WHAT'S NOT HAPPENING QUITE YET? That'd be Guardians of the Galaxy 3, Black Panther 2, and Captain Marvel 2... none of which are arriving before 2022 at the earliest. You'd think they would have moved quicker on the latter two. And obviously Fantastic Four and X-Men will get rebooted. But we're guessing they'll be very careful since the former is so obviously difficult to do right and the latter is so potentially Avengers-huge if they do the comics justice for once.
STREAMING SERIES ON DISNEY+
Disney and Marvel have relegated a bunch of non-lead heroes from their first 10 years onto the small screen now. But Elizabeth Olsen's co-starring role in Doctor Strange 2, suggests these TV series will be more tied to the "Cinematic Universe" than Marvel's various Netlix series or ABC's Agents of SHIELD were.
The Falcon and Winter Soldier (Fall 2020) Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan reprise their roles.
WandaVision (Spring 2021) Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany star. Somehow Vision is alive again? We don't understand but we love him (the actor and the character) so we're good with this. Teyonah Parris, who is a terrific actress (If Beale Street Could Talk) will play Monica Rambeau, the little girl character from Captain Marvel all grown up now.
Loki (Spring 2021) Tom Hiddleston stars. He's alive again too due to the shenanigans of Avengers Endgame.
What If? (Summer 2021) Those who grew on on comics will recognize this title... and though I got all tingly hearing about it, one wonders whether it will have broad appeal because it requires so much knowledge of Marvel history and mythology. It's basically one-off twists on the known formulas and characters. This concept is kind of redundant though if they're going with a "multiverse" moving forward.
Hawkeye (Fall 2021) Jeremy Renner reprises his role in a series about the archer superhero training Kate Bishop to replace him (she has not been cast yet).
What do you make of all this? Are you excited or do you only long for it to end?