Yahoo News How Marvel's Disney+ TV shows will directly affect the MCU
From Supernatural to The Good Place, San Diego Comic Con 2019 was awash with exciting news and developments about a raft of fan favourites, but it was Marvel Studios which stole the show.
The MCU, which is owned by Disney, will play a huge role in the corporation's brand new streaming platform Disney+, set to launch in the US on November 12 (there isn't currently a UK date on the table).
The presentation, which took place in Hall H on July 20, saw president of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige take to the stage, alongside a number of famous faces, both old and new (Mahershala Ali, Tessa Thompson, Angelina Jolie, Anthony Mackie, Kumail Nanjiani,Natalie Portman and Tom Hiddleston), to introduce Marvel Phase 4.
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So, how exactly will this new era link to the MCU?
Speaking to ComicBook.com, Captain Marvel producer Mary Livanos previously said, "They will directly affect the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in some very real ways. That's what makes the opportunity to segue into the streaming space so attractive to us at Marvel Studios.
"You can really tell, like a full comic-book event, like a multi-issue story from the point of storytelling."
During the press rounds for Captain Marvel, Feige himself had also discussed how the streaming service offerings will link up with the wider universe (via Screen Rant).
"Marvel Studios is producing for Disney Plus," he explained. "And, without being too specific, we want to do something that's going to stand right alongside the MCU films and will be completely intertwined, and the story and the characters will go back and forth between Disney Plus programming and the films."
There are a number of titles, both TV and movies, in the works, and this is what the former has to offer:
Falcon and the Winter Soldier – (autumn 2020)
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It's expected to follow on from the events of Endgame, where we saw Chris Hemsworth's Captain America pass the baton to Anthony Mackie's Falcon/Sam Wilson, who has teamed up with Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes.
Daniel Brühl, who we last saw in Captain America: Civil War, is also returning as villain Baron Zemo, sporting that iconic purple mask from the comics.
And Emily Van Camp will be back as Sharon Carter, Peggy Carter's great niece, who was friendly with Cap, though they never (to our knowledge) became much more than friends.
WandaVision – (spring 2021)
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The series will centre around Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany), and will also take place after Endgame.
Excitingly, the daughter of Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers' best friend Maria Rambeau, Monica, will feature, only this time as an adult. She will be played by Teyonah Parris.
In the comics, Monica eventually takes on Captain Marvel's responsibilities, and even leads the Avengers for a while.
"If you thought that logo was strange, wait until you see this show," said Feige.
Loki – (spring 2021)
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"It is one of the most exciting creative opportunities I think I've ever come across," said Tom Hiddleston at SDCC (via Entertainment Weekly).
"This is new territory, a new world, new challenges and I cannot wait to get started."
Loki will explore what happened to the titular character after he ran off with the Tesseract in Endgame during the Avengers' time heist. It was knocked out of Stark's hands and Loki saw his opportunity to flee.
"You guys saw Avengers, right? He’s still that guy," he added.
"And just about the last thing that happened to him was that he got Hulk-smashed, so there's a lot of psychological evolution that hasn't happened yet, but Kevin has generously showed me what his plans are.
"[But] I can't tell you any of them."
*sulks*
Hawkeye – (autumn 2021)
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Jeremy Renner will once again feature as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, and this is what he had to say at Comic Con (via Comic Book Movie) about the new project: "What I get to do in the show ultimately is shepherd an amazing character, ultimately a better version of me and the sentiment of that is the fibre of what Hawkeye is, at least what I think Hawkeye is – a superhero without superpowers and I get to teach someone else to be a superhero without super powers, which is an amazing thing because that means everyone can be a dang superhero, right?"
That "someone else"/ the "better version" of Hawkeye, will be Kate Bishop (currently uncast), who he will be training up to take over from him.
Feige also revealed that the series could delve into Barton's life after Infinity War and his time as Ronin.
There's also What If...? (summer 2021), Marvel Studios' first animated project, which we doubt will play a commanding role in the wider MCU.
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The anthology series will explore alternate realities within the MCU (one potential story line is 'What if Loki had found the hammer of Thor?') and will feature the following characters:
Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Killmonger (Michael B Jordan), Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson), Thanos (Josh Brolin), Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper), Korg (Taika Waititi), Dum Dum Dugan (Neal McDonough), Kraglin (Sean Gunn), Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), Arnim Zola (Toby Jones), Korath (Djimon Hounsou) and Yondu (Michael Rooker).
Jeffrey Wright will voice The Watcher.
"The Watcher is a non-Earthly being who observes all things," Wright told Collider. "He's watching over the multiverse and occasionally may nor may not intervene with the doings of earthlings, other than that he's off doing his own thing."
Chatting to Screen Rant at SDCC, Feige said: "It is incredibly liberating, it is an amazing opportunity we have. Disney+ has sent a wave of creativity through Marvel Studios in a really great way.
"That show, as I said, is going to focus on events you think you know everything about from the MCU, and when you change one thing here or there, how everything is different.
"So you will see primarily characters you've met before but, again, in entirely different ways."
And if that weren't enough for you, Feige confirmed that Phase 5 is currently in the works.
#AvengersEndgame was the end of an era, and #Marvel Studios president #KevinFeige confirmed to us at #ComicCon that the next class of @Avengers will be a “very different team than we’ve seen before." We also asked if Phase 4 of the #MCU might be planting some big clues 👀 #SDCC pic.twitter.com/4mxOTmmJ0u
— MTV NEWS (@MTVNEWS) July 21, 2019
"We debated whether to announce 4 and 5 today. We've planned them out; we've got five years down the road. But I was like, 'Eleven projects in two years is plenty'.
"I love that things build up; they build to a crescendo."
Deep breaths, people. Deep breaths.
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