The future of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) beyond the outrageously anticipated Avengers: Endgame remains shrouded in mystery, but that hasn’t dampened the excitement of the rabid Marvel fan base in the slightest. The public only knows a fraction of the Marvel's Lineup, but fans have latched onto those sparse details and fed them into the ever-churning internet speculation machine. Despite the frequent fan theorizing, nobody knows what's coming in Next Phase of MCU- except, of course, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and the higher-ups at Disney.
5. Marvel Officially Announces Development Of A Third Ant-Man Film, ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania’ :
At The Walt Disney Co.'s 2020 Investor Day, among tons of other MCU news, Marvel Studios Announced that the third film in the Ant-Man franchise will be Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, directed by Peyton Reed, who also helmed the first two movies.
The film will feature returning stars Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne/Wasp, Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym, and Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet van Dyne. Newly added cast members are Kathryn Newton as Scott Lang's daughter Cassie Lang, and Jonathan Majors as villain Kang the Conqueror (confirming earlier rumors).
4. In Honor Of Chadwick Boseman, Disney Will Not Recast King T'Challa In 'Black Panther 2' :
At The Walt Disney Co.'s 2020 Investor Day, Marvel Studious Announced that the upcoming Black Panther 2 film will honor the late Chadwick Boseman by not recasting King T'Challa. Instead, the next film will explore the lives of the other characters.
Black Panther, written and directed by Ryan Coogler, is set for release on July 8, 2022.
3. Marvel Announces A 'Fantastic Four' Feature Film :
One of Marvel Studio's biggest announcements at The Walt Disney Co.'s 2020 Investor Day was that it is developing a Fantastic Four Feature Film to be directed by Jon Watts, director of Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far from Home.
No release date or cast members were included in the announcement, so fans will have to wait to find out who will play Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and Ben Grimm/The Thing. Three Previous Versions of films featuring the foursome (in 2005, 2007, and 2015) had mixed success with audiences and critics.
2. Disney+ Announces New MCU Series And A 'Guardians of the Galaxy' Holiday Special :
As part of the windfall of updates at The Walt Disney Co.'s annual Investor Day in December 2020, Disney+ and Marvel Studios announced several new MCU-related projects for the streaming service:
• "The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special", written and directed by James Gunn, is set to air during the holiday season in 2022 before the 2023 release of the feature film Guardians of the Galaxy 3.
• "Secret Invasion" will star Samuel L. Jackson as S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury and Ben Mendelsohn as Skrull (no release date announced).
• "IronHeart" will star Dominique Thorne as inventor Riri Williams, AKA Ironheart (no release date announced).
• "Armor Wars" will star Don Cheadle as James Rhodes, AKA War Machine (no release date announced).
• "I Am Groot" will feature the seedling, along with several new and unusual characters joining Groot in a series of shorts.
1. Disney+ Releases Show Updates, Plus Trailers For 'Loki,' 'WandaVision,' 'What If...?' And 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' :
On December 10, 2020, during The Walt Disney Co.'s Investor Day, Disney+ released a slew of updates about upcoming projects, including trailers for its MCU shows. The following trailers were included:
• The first trailer for Loki, starring Tom Hiddleston as the Marvel villain, with a release date of May 2021. The yet-to-be-named character played by Owen Wilson is seen in the trailer.
• The second trailer for WandaVision, starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch and Vision, set for release January 15, 2021.
• The first full trailer for The Falcon and Winter Soldier, starring Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson/Falcon) and Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier), set for release on March 19 2021.
• The first trailer for What if...?, an animated series that "flips the script on the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reimagines famous events from the films in unexpected ways," set to debut in summer 2021.
Disney also announced that Hawkeye would debut in late 2021, with Hailee Steinfeld joining the cast as archer Kate Bishop. Other casting announcements included Tatiana Maslany playing the title role in SheHulk.
