Complete guide to Marvel's Phase 4: Thor, Black Widow, Loki all set to return to MCU

It’s a good year for Marvel fans as after Avengers: Endgame finally dethroned James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’, the creators have now lifted the curtains off what is to follow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

During the Marvel Studios’ panel at the San Diego Comic-Con 2019 on Saturday, the Phase 4 of the MCU was brought to light with the earth’s mightiest heroes returning, with the exception of a few, while many new faces are also being introduced.

Here are all the  details:

Eternals:

The first movie announced by the studio will feature Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani, Don Lee, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff and Richard Madden. Soon after the film was announced, the star cast took to stage thereby affirming the previous speculations that had been rife.

Falcon and Winter Solider series:

The logo for the series of the two superheroes closest to Captain America was unveiled earlier on Saturday as Marvel Preisdent Kevin Fiege confirmed that Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan will be returning to the MCU to star in the series. On the other hand, the return of major Marvel villain Baron Zemo, was also confirmed for the series.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings:

The real Mandarin is finally making its way to the MCU with Simu Liu getting starred as Shang-Chi. This is the first time an Asian will be roped in to star as the lead in a Marvel film. Moreover, Awkwafina who was seen last in ‘The Farewell’ will also be getting signed alongside Tony Leung. The film directed by Daniel Cretton will be showing Shang-Chi crossing swords with the Ten Rings organization that had made its appearance in Iron Man previously.

WandaVision series:

An upcoming series will be coming to television screens in 2021 as the famous duo of Vision and Scarlet witch aka Wanda Maximoff will bring back Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany on Disney Plus. Reports revealed that the series will be based after the events of Avengers: Endgame therefore, some questions have been raised as to how Vision will be brought back after he was killed by Thanos in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’.

Loki:

The new logo for the Loki series has also been announced which will hit Disney Plus on May 7, 2021. While the God of Mischief was killed by Thanos in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, the series will follow the events of him acquiring the Tesseract during the Avengers’ spoiled ‘time heist’ in ‘Avengers: Endgame’ where he was seen teleporting himself.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness:

Scarlet Witch and Dr Steven Strange will be teaming up for the first time in the MCU with the second installment of Dr Strange. Reports hinted that the film will be given a horror touch to it while the director termed it “the first scary MCU movie.” It was also revealed that the events of the web series WandaVision will tie into Dr Strange’s second film.

What If:

The animated anthology for the MCU was also announced by the makers who revealed that all the original superhero actors will be coming back to voice their characters.

Hawkeye:

Jeremy Renner is set to return for the standalone series of Clint Barton aka Hawkeye with the makers also revealing the logo for the series. “I get to teach someone else how to be a superhero without superpowers,” Renner had said jokingly about the plot of the series.

Black Widow:

While most of us were already aware of the Black Widow standalone film in the works, the official announcement came on Saturday as makers announced that the film will come as a prequel to the events of ‘Avengers: Endgame’ and may feature her on-screen sister Florence Pugh where the two will be going head-to-head with guns and knives.

Thor: Love and Thunder:

Perhaps the biggest announcement by the makers on Saturday was the God of Thunder returning to screens as Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman are all set for the fourth installment of the series. On the other hand, Tessa Thompson is also coming back as Valkyrie and will be playing the first LGBTQ+ hero of the MCU.

After the announcements, president Kevin Fiege got on to the stage and announced the sequels of other blockbuster hits to also be included in the Phase 4 as ‘Captain Marvel 2’, ‘Black Widow 2’, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’, ‘Fantastic Four’ and ‘The Mutants’ are confirmed to go on floors soon.