K.T Simpson
My back aches, my legs are killing me, my phone died many times throughout the day trying to live tweet these panels but I am DONE. That is a wrap on Comic-Con 2019 for me!
The biggest event for the day (or arguably the whole SDCC in general) was the Marvel panel in Hall H. People camped out for days to get up and close to the action, and were not disappointed – Marvel certainly know how to put on a show!
Kevin Feige was on board to officially declare The Infinity Saga done, and the beginning of Phase 4. Let’s put this into perspective – what was announced today was just the next 2 years of Marvel – as Kevin Smith later declared: “I have so much to live for!”
So let’s wrap up all the action for the day.
“Eternals” will arrive November 6th, 2020 and has a massive line-up of stars, including Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Lia McHugh as Sprite, Don Lee as Gilgamesh and Angelina Jolie as Thena. Chloé Zhao will direct.
Fall 2020 will see “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” reunite Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson aka The Falcon, and Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes aka The Winter soldier. It’s a series that will appear on Disney+, making even more of a hot property! At the end, Daniel Brühl was revealed to return as the villain, Baron Zemo.
February 12, 2021 will see “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” be released. The big announcements were Simu Liu in the title role of Shang-Chi, and the Mandarin – to be played by Tony Leung. Awkwafina has also been cast in an unknown role. Destin Daniel Cretton will direct.
In Spring 2021 two of our favourites will unite for another Disney+ series – “Wanda Vision”. Elizabeth Olsen will reprise her role as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch and Paul Bettany is back as Vision. Both actors appeared on stage to chat about the series, which was confirmed to take place after the events of “Avengers: Endgame”.
Another exciting series for Disney+ is “Loki”, with Tom Hiddleston back in the titular role. But didn’t Loki die in “Endgame”? – Or did he…remember when he picked up the space stone and disappeared? Where he went – well that will all be explained in “Loki”. The series will begin in Spring of 2021.
Get ready for 7th May, 2021, when you’ll get the second film in the “Doctor Strange” series! Titled “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”, it will star Benedict Cumberbatch back as the Doctor and directed by Scott Derrickson. Elizabeth Olsen will also star as Scarlet Witch, and the feature film will directly link to the Disney+ series “Wanda Vision”. Derrickson also announced “we want to make the first scary MCU film” – so sounds to be a lot darker than the typical Marvel tone!
An exciting announcement was the very first animated MCU series: “What If…?”. The series will feature stories that present alternate realities in the Marvel universe. Feige mentioned that many actors from across the Marvel Cinematic Universe will reprise their roles as voice talent in the series. Jeffrey Wright appeared on stage with the announcement that he will voice the narrator for the series – The Watcher. Check it out on Disney+ from the summer of 2021.
Another event series is “Hawkeye”, with Jeremy Renner. Kate Bishop, a character well-known in Marvel comics, will be an integral part of the series. The series will also be on Disney+ in the fall of 2021.
The most popular part of the panel was perhaps the official announcement of the title for “Thor 4” – “Thor: Love and Thunder”. Director Taika Waititi, Thor himself Chris Hemsworth and Valkyrie actress Tessa Thompson all appeared on stage, before the big announcement in the female Thor was announced – Natalie Portman! November 5, 2021 is the official release date.
The next film on Marvel’s agenda is “Black Widow”, which is filming at the moment, before its release on May 1, 2020. Audiences were treated to some early footage – and I mean super early, it’s only been filming for a month – and it looks kick. ass. Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh are just incredible. Johansson is back as Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow, alongside newcomers to the Marvel Cinematic Universe: David Harbour as Alexei aka The Red Guardian, Pugh as Yelena, O-T Fagbenle as Mason and Rachel Weisz as Melina.
Just when you think you can’t handle any more Marvel news, “Blade” gets dropped on us. Feige announced Mahershala Ali as the star of the upcoming flick.
On top of all this, we can expect a “Fantastic Four” reboot, “Captain Marvel 2”, “Black Panther 2” and “Guardians of the Galaxy vol 3”.
I’m spent!
See the final timeline for Phase 4 below:
