Yahoo News So what's happening in Marvel Phase Four?
How is it possible that Marvel Phase Four is nearly here already? It's seems like only yesterday that the Avengers were getting together in Phase One (OK, it was five years ago).
Time keeps moving on, and if you thought that the first three Marvel Cinematic Universe phases all blurred into one, Disney is preparing for a major shakeup in the wake of Avengers: Infinity War.
When does Marvel Phase Four start?
The final movie of Phase Three is the untitled 'Avengers 4', which is coming in 2019 after Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Infinity War, Ant-Man & the Wasp and Captain Marvel. Yes, Marvel's slate is going very busy over the next two years.
Avengers 4 completes the Infinity War story and leads directly into Phase Four, which kicks off with the (also untitled) Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel on July 5, 2019. And when we say directly, we mean directly – the movie "will start a few minutes after Avengers 4 wraps as a story", according to producer Amy Pascal.
Which films will be in Marvel Phase Four?
We've already mentioned the first movie, 'Spider-Man: Homecoming 2' (not what it will be called, but everyone's running with it for the time being).
James Gunn has also confirmed that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 will arrive in Phase Four to complete the trilogy of stories he has been telling about Star-Lord's team – although that doesn't mean it will be the last Guardians movie, so don't panic. He said that the film "will help to set up the next 10, 20 years of Marvel movies" and hinted at potential Guardians spin-offs and the revelation of Rocket Raccoon's "horrible" origin, as well as later confirming that it will have a 2020 release date.
Disney has been a bit shy on announcing other Phase Four films, with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige saying that they will be keeping it that way for as long as possible.
But we can make some educated guesses. Marvel loves a sequel, and so far the only movie it has out that hasn't had a follow-up announced (yet) is Doctor Strange. We would expect Doctor Strange 2, Black Panther 2, Captain Marvel 2 and maybe another Ant-Man and the Wasp film to be strong contenders for Phase Four.
As for new properties, we might have to see which heroes show up in Avengers 3 and 4 first...
How will Marvel Phase Four be different?
You probably noticed that we didn't mention any Iron Man, Captain America or Thor sequels as potential Phase Four films. Speculation as to when the MCU's biggest stars – especially Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans – will bow out has been a popular pastime among Marvel fans for years now, and 'Avengers 4' is widely expected to mark the end of the road for several characters.
Feige has hinted that some stories will be coming to an end at the "unprecedented conclusion to a 22-movie overarching narrative", and Avengers 4 co-director Joe Russo said at Comic-Con that "everything has to have an end at some point in order for it to have value".
Some actors will likely stick around, but we're expecting major change, with characters dying or retiring (ie Sebastian Stan's Bucky seems primed to replace Captain America) and Tom Holland's Spider-Man clearly being set up as a central character as the MCU enters Phase Four.
We'll be keeping our fingers crossed that Marvel continues to embrace diversity as it moves deeper into Phase Four. 2018's Black Panther will be the first MCU film to star a non-white hero, and they'll be keeping us hanging until 2019, the last year of Phase Three, before finally giving us a female lead in the form of Brie Larson's Captain Marvel.
Popular characters from the comics who could move Marvel away from the white-guys-called-Chris model include long-time fan favourite She-Hulk, the mixed-race Spider-Man Miles Morales, and the newest Ms Marvel – Kamala Khan, a Pakistani-American teenager from New Jersey.
And with Disney's purchase of Fox, there is the potential for incorporating the X-Men and Fantastic Four – somehow – into the MCU.
Marvel has the material – now we just have to wait and see how it chooses to use it.
Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Twitter account and you're all set.
You Might Also Like
