After The 'Endgame': Here’s Where The Phase 4 Future Of The Marvel Cinematic Universe Goes - Page 2 of 4

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2021
2021 or 2022 is the year when it starts to get crazy and there’s going to be a need to have four Marvel movies in theaters in one year, or four if you at least consider Sony’s Spider-Man which is part of the MCU.

February 12, 2021 – “Shang-Chi”
Would it be ballsy of Marvel to release three relatively new franchises in a row (if you count “Black Widow”) without an easy slam dunk, established property placed in there somewhere in between? Frankly, yes. Marvel tends to shuffle back from new and established and mixes it up. But given how what’s ready (“Black Widow,” “The Eternals”), not ready (“Guardians of The Galaxy”) and what heroes are gone, the way 2021 shakes out, it sort of makes sense that “Shang-Chi” takes the ‘Black Panther‘ slot of this year and perhaps connects on a global level again as a big, overdue diversity play for Asian culture. “Shang-Chi” is still in the early stages, as there is no cast, but “Short Term 12” filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton has been hired to direct the film, and develop the movie, so we’ll probably start hearing casting info later this year. Shang-Chi is often described as “Master of Kung Fu,” and it looks like Marvel has leaped over the more well-known Iron Fist character (shown on Netflix), in order to favor diversity. Little else is known, but rumors certainly suggest it will be the third film in line to shoot hence its placement in early 2021. Update: Simu Liu was cast as Shang-Chi and Tony Leung is playing the real Mandarin. Awkwafina has also been cast in an unrevealed role. The release date and these details were confirmed at Comic-Con.

May 7, 2021 –“Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness”
Speaking of villains and Namor. Director Scott Derrickson, who is coming back to write and direct the “Doctor Strange” sequel, has already teased Namor on social media in an image with the good Doctor, but then quickly deleted the tweet (people saw it). Now is he just a) having fun, b) throwing the scent off the trail of ‘Black Panther 2’ or c) being earnest? Either way, it would not be out of the question for “Doctor Strange 2” to introduce Namor—both these characters were part of the Defenders team at one point (not the Netflix version) and “Doctor Strange 2” could sow the seeds for a “Doctor Strange 3” movie more like a “Thor: Ragnarok” team movie that’s an unofficial ‘Defenders’ movie. Who knows. But we do know the film is in development, being written and likely going to shoot in 2020, which makes perfect sense for ‘DS2’ to come out in 2021 and within the same November release frame of the original. Update: We had originally thought “Black Panther 2” would take this release date slot, but that Wakanda-set movie is still TBD.  At Comic-Con 2019, the title and release date of the film was revealed. Additionally, Elizabeth Olsen will reprise her role as Wanda Maximoff and “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness” will be directly linked to the events of the Disney+ “WandaVision” show that will be streaming a month or two before this new Doc Strange film.

July 2021 – “Spider-Man 3” (release date not confirmed)
Will Sony want to wait three years for another “Spider-Man” movie in 2022? And remember, none of this is up to Marvel. So, it’s very possible, even though no release date exists yet, that Sony could date “Spider-Man 3” to July 2021. Sony, so far, is releasing Spider-Man movies every two years. The question is, is there space and competition and is it an option? It’s tight and tough: “Indiana Jones 6,” “Sing 2,” “Mission Impossible 7” and “Space Jam 2” are all set for July 2021. What happens in “Spider-Man 3?” It’s totally unknown, but the key factor is this third film is the last film in the Sony/Marvel deal made during “Captain America: Civil War.” Does Spider-Man end his tenure in the MCU and revert back to Sony? Or does Sony keep Spider-Man in the fold and perhaps team him up with other Marvel heroes for other adventures? Once things for sure, they’ll likely have to decide this before they write the third movie. Both companies will likely need to know where they are headed in the future. The question is with “Venom” and “Spider-Verse” a hit and “Morbius” on the way, does Sony still need Marvel? And or is the opposite true? Sony’s doing so well with their own Spider-Verse, they really don’t need to rock the boat. Time will tell, but this will either be summer 2021 or 2022 and it’ll be Sony who do the release date revealing.

November 5, 2021 – “Thor: Love And Thunder”
We knew a “Thor 4” with Taika Waititi was in the works and Chris Hemsworth returning as the God of Thunder, but Comic-Con 2019 threw a major curveball at fans. The film is now titled “Thor: Love And Thunder” and what’s more, the major reveal, Jane Foster, played by Natalie Portman, will return and become the Mighty Thor, the goddess of Thunder. That’s pretty huge and speaks to the end of Hemsworth in the role; though perhaps the character is more sidelined than dead and completely out of the picture we shall see. Tessa Thompson will return as Valkyrie as well and hopefully they’ll be room for Korg (Waititi) and Miek too. Oh, and given that ‘Love And Thunder’ arrives before ‘Guardians 3’ now you can probably kiss the idea of an ‘Asgardians Of The Galaxy’ movie goodbye, but maybe there will be some fan cameo parts.