Marvel Studios Phase 5: Kevin Feige raises the curtain at Comic-Con

Three years after revealing Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige returned to Hall H to do the same for Phase 5, the announcements for the new Disney+ series ” Daredevil” and “Thunderbolts” included ” feature film. Cowardly Also gave a sneak peek at what’s coming in Phase 6, which is set to end in November 2025 with Avengers: Secret Wars – which Feige says will conclude the MCU’s Multiverse saga.

Here’s everything we learned about the rest of Phase 4, Phase 5, and what’s to come in Phase 6.

PHASE 4

“She-Hulk: Lawyer”
premiere date: August 17th

What we learned: A legal comedy with a Fleabag touch, this Disney+ series starring Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer Walters (ie Bruce Banner’s cousin) boasts a cavalcade of superheroes in need of a good lawyer – who’s also huge and green. The panel also included a trailer which (unlike many of the footage revealed in Hall H) was also released publicly.

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
Release date: Nov 11

What we learned: Namor (Tenoch Huerta) comes to the MCU as the Kingdom of Wakanda falters after the death of T’Challa (the late Chadwick Boseman). Joining the cast are Dominique Thorne (as Riri Williams), Michaela Coel (Aneka), Mabel Cadena (Namora) and Alex Livanalli (Attuma). This film will conclude Phase 4, although it’s unclear exactly how. Watch the trailer here.

PHASE 5

“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”
Release date: February 17, 2023

What we learned: Phase 5 begins with the introduction of Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), who meets Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) in the Quantum Realm after Scott mysteriously died along with his daughter Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) was sucked there), Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer). In footage shown only in Hall H, Bill Murray has a cameo as Janet’s old friend from the Quantum Realm, but given Kang’s title role in one of two “Avengers” titles announced Saturday (more below ), all eyes are on them as majors will reshape the MCU’s narrative. Additionally, director Peyton Reed confirmed to the crowd that another great Marvel villain would be making a cameo in this film, “You may have seen a shot of MODOK,” Reed said.

“Secret Invasion”
premiere date: Spring 2023

What we learned: Co-star Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill) was on hand to give a sneak peek at this dark and gritty political thriller, which stars Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury alongside Ben Mendelsohn (the Skrull Talos), Don Cheadle (James Rhodes) and Martin Freeman is seen (Everett K. Ross). They are joined by Kingsley Ben-Adir (seen multiplying into multiple identical forms in a confrontation with Fury), Olivia Colman (seen telling Fury he’s past his prime) and Emilia Clarke (to see her brandish a gun). The overall mood is one of paranoia and foreboding, contributing to a larger anti-heroic thread that seems to run through Phase 5.

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”
Release date: May 5, 2023

What we learned: An emotional James Gunn and his equally emotional cast – including Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Sean Gunn, Will Poulter and Maria Bakalova as Cosmo the Spacedog – gave the first look at the final Guardians film, hinting at how Rocket became a sentient, walking raccoon. Chukwudi Iwuji (formerly DC’s “Peacemaker”) plays the High Evolutionary and imagined Hall H in his role (implying that he played a part in Rocket’s transformation).

“Echo”
premiere date: Summer 2023

What we learned: Nothing more than the release timeline for the series that turns Hawkeye antagonist Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) into her own spin-off. Directed by Sydney Freeland (Reservation Dogs, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds) and Catriona McKenzie (The Walking Dead, The Shining Vale).

“Loki” Season 2
premiere date: Summer 2023

What we learned: The Disney+ series that introduced the multiverse to the MCU is currently filming and is set to debut next summer. There has been little mention of this critically acclaimed series, but images from the set have been fluttering around the internet lately.

“Blade”
Release date: November 3, 2023

What we learned: Feige made no casting announcements, but he did confirm that the reboot of the Marvel Comics vampire franchise starring Mahershala Ali — first announced at Hall H in 2019 — will be Marvel’s final feature film for 2023 and will begin filming in October. Directed by Bassam Tariq (“Mogul Mowgli”).

“Heart of steel”
premiere date: Fall 2023

What we learned: Following her introduction in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) will star in her own Disney+ series. Chinaka Hodge (Amazing Stories, Snowpiercer) is the executive writer and is directed by Sam Bailey (Dear White People) and Angela Barnes (Blindspotting).

“Agatha: Circle of Chaos”
premiere date: Winter 2023/2024

What we learned: Originally titled Agatha: House of Harkness, this WandaVision spin-off, centered on Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness, will be Marvel’s final Disney+ series in 2023. Jac Schaeffer, executive writer of WandaVision, will write and direct the series.

“Daredevil: Born Again”
premiere date: Spring 2024

What we learned: Originally launched as part of Netflix’s roster of Marvel TV series (which were nominally part of the MCU), Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock is (fully) brought into the Marvel Studios brought in for its first season. Cox’ Murdock first reappeared in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, and his nemesis Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) reappeared in 2021’s Hawkeye as the big villain. Both characters are slated to appear on Echo, and it appears that Daredevil will also appear on She-Hulk before returning to the main event of this series.

On Netflix, the Daredevil series was far more violent and gory than anything produced directly by Marvel Studios, further suggesting that Phase 5 of the MCU will delve deeper into moral darkness than ever before.

“Captain America: New World Order”
Release date: May 3, 2024

What we learned: We’ve known that Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) will be returning as Captain America in his own feature film since the conclusion of the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. In Hall H, Feige announced the title that raised eyebrows – more fear and loathing! — and a release date that gives the film the prime position on Marvel’s 2024 film list.

“thunderbolts”
Release date: July 25, 2024

What we learned: Phase 5 concludes with Marvel’s answer to DC’s Suicide Squad: A film about a team of MCU anti-heroes. Feige said he would talk about casting another day, but there are already many candidates including Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), Baron Zemo (Daniel Brühl), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Abomination (Tim Roth), John Walker (Wyatt Russell) and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko).

PHASE 6

“Fantastic 4”
Release date: November 8, 2024

What we learned: While Spider-Man: No Way Home filmmaker Jon Watts recently stepped down from directing Fantastic 4, Marvel Studios is in full swing bringing the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby original Marvel comics series into to bring the MCU. The Fantastic Four and main villain Victor Von Doom play a crucial role in comic book inspiration for the final film in the Multiverse saga, so starting Phase 4 with them makes sense.

What is What is surprising is that the entire phase 6 run takes less than a year.

“Avengers: The Kang Dynasty”
Release date: May 2, 2025

What we learned: Much like Avengers: Infinity War set up Avengers: Endgame, Feige made it clear that Phase 6 of the MCU — and the Multiverse saga — will end with two Avengers movies. Given the title, it’s safe to assume that Kang is the conqueror of Majors of Thanos (or maybe a Thanos) of the multiverse saga.

“Avengers: Secret Wars”
Release date: November 7, 2025

What we learned: After many fans – and some entertainment media – vociferously pondering exactly where the journey with the MCU would go this year, Feige took the time in Hall H to finally say: Here.

“Secret Wars” points to a 2015 Marvel Comics Crossover Miniseries involving an incursion between the Prime Marvel Universe (Earth-616) and the Ultimate Marvel Universe (Earth-1610) leading to the destruction of both. As a result, many variants of Marvel characters live on a post-apocalyptic planet called Battleworld.

It’s unclear, and will remain so for some time to come, how much Marvel Studios will draw from the 2015 Secret Wars miniseries — or the mid-1980s Secret Wars miniseries that inspired them. But perhaps the most important detail is what happened after The “Secret Wars”: Marvel Studios effectively rebooted, launching “completely new, completely different” versions of many of their most popular titles, as some (but not all) characters from Universes 616 and 1610 lived in a kind of timeline reboot .

Could the same be in store for the MCU? Only time (lines) will tell.