EDITOR’S NOTE: Now updated with new release dates in boldface.
This past week’s Disney Investor Day 2020 announcements were a cornucopia of geeky goodness. Here are the Marvel shows and theatrical release announcements in our order of interest, from most to least!
WandaVision – This looks like it is going to be insane. From all reports, the series goes from being a wacky sitcom parody to a full-fledged Marvel spectacular in the end, and I’m there for it. The whole concept of alternate realities is going to be brought to the forefront and end up impacting Spider-Man 3 and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. This level of interconnectivity is what I go to the Marvel movies for and it’s going to be great to finally see the TV properties playing a part in the ongoing MCU saga. I can’t wait to see how Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and S.W.O.R.D. play into this one. Streaming January 15.
Loki – Confirmed cast of Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sophia Di Martino, Wunmi Mosaku, and Richard E. Grant. No date given for this one and it’s killing me! As crazy as WandaVision looks, Loki just may top it. All we really know at this point is that after escaping with the Tesseract at the end of Avengers: Endgame, Loki gets captured by the enigmatic Time Variance Authority and is coerced into working for them, traveling through time and altering human history. Wilson’s Mobius M. Mobius is pure Owen Wilson and hopefully plays a large part in the story. I’m very interested to see what the D.B. Cooper scene is all about, and it looks like they’re touching on the Vote Loki four-issue mini-series from 2016 by Christopher Hastings and Langdon Foss, too. Streaming May 2021.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier– Captain America: Civil War [PM1] [PM2] [PM3] is probably one of my favorite MCU films so far, and one of the highlights of that story was the pairing up of Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky (Sebastian Stan). They have a great chemistry and the story of who will take on the mantle of Captain America is a classic that the comics have touched on time and time again. It’s going to be interesting to see how they work in elements of the Mark Gruenwald Eighties comics introduction of John Walker (Wyatt Russell) as the new, more politically conservative Captain America and the Flag-Smashers (anti-nationalist terrorists in the comics), especially in light of contemporary politics. Throw in appearances from Zemo (Daniel Brühl), a trip to Madripoor (and the potential introduction of a mutant or two), and more globe-hopping action than you can shake a stick at, and this might be one of the biggest and brightest series that Disney+ produces. Streaming March 19 2021, and it can’t get here quick enough.
What If…? – The animation in this looks amazing and they’ve got a lot of the original actors returning to do voice roles, so this one’s a no-brainer. Jeffrey Wright strikes just the right note as Uatu the Watcher, introducing each of these alternate versions of the MCU. Peggy Carter as Captain Britain looks perfect and as an old-school fan of the Marvel Zombies, I can’t wait to see that episode. To be honest, every second of that trailer is full of glorious goodness. No date given for this one, either. What the hell, Feige? Just tell us when it’s coming! Streaming Summer 2021.
Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special – All we know about this is that James Gunn is writing and directing, so that’s good enough for me. I fully expect non-canonical insanity and lots of Star Wars Holiday Special references. No date for it, though. Bummer. Streaming Holiday Season 2022.
She-Hulk – Finally putting the casting rumors of Allison Brie to rest, Feige confirmed the casting of Tatiana Maslany as She-Hulk/Jennifer Walters, and the return of Mark Ruffalo and in a surprising twist, Tim Roth reprising his role as Abomination from 2008’s Incredible Hulk. I hope we’ll get a meta-moment as Roth’s Emil Blonsky comments on how Banner has changed since they last met. No story details yet, but Feige did say that since it’s a courtroom show, there can be all sorts of super powered guest appearances. Fingers crossed for Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock/Daredevil!! Directors Kat Coiro and Anu Valia are confirmed.
Ms. Marvel – Confirmed the casting of Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan, a Pakistani American ten living in New Jersey. I’m not the target audience for this one, but it still looks like it could be great. The segment also confirmed Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah as Directors/Executive Producers, along with Meera Menon and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy as Directors. Streaming Late 2021.
Secret Invasion – Confirmed cast of Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn, but that’s about it for details. Given that the last time we saw either Nick Fury or Talos was in Spider-Man: Far from Home, with Talos standing in for Fury while the real Fury was in space, this one could have far-reaching repercussions for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The comic story it’s adapting was huge, dealing with nearly every hero in the MU, so it will be interesting to see how big they go. Will this be a huge crossover series that the other series lead up to? We’ll see.
Hawkeye – Confirmed cast of Jeremy Renner and introducing Hailee Steinfeld as his protégé Kate Bishop. There was no mention of Pizza Dog, but he’s been seen in set photos already!! Pizza Dog!! The aesthetic here is matching up with the Matt Fraction/David Aja Hawkeye series from 2012-2013, so we’ll see if he ends up protecting an apartment block from the track-suited Russian Mafia. No word about his wife and kids so far, though. Vera Farmiga is confirmed as Eleanor Bishop (Kate’s mom who has some nefarious connections in the comics), Fra Fee as Kazi (we’ll have to wait and see if this is the same villainous character from the comic), and Alaqua Cox will be playing Maya Lopez (Echo in the comics), while Rhys Thomas is confirmed as Director/Executive Producer and Bert and Bertie are also confirmed as Directors. Streaming Late 2021.
Moon Knight – They didn’t even confirm Oscar Isaac as Moon Knight/Marc Spector, but instead just mentioned that it involves Egyptology, which according to Feige, is a very hot subject. This could be something special. Mohamed Diab is confirmed as Director.
Ironheart – This one could be good, but the only info we got was that Dominique Thorne will be starring as Riri Williams, the creator of the most advanced set of armor since Tony Stark invented Iron Man. This has a lot of potential and could go anywhere.
Armor Wars – No real info on this one other than Don Cheadle is headlining as War Machine and will apparently be adapting the 1987-1988 Iron Man story arc (issues #225-#231) by David Michelinie and Bob Layton with art by Mark D. Bright and Barry Windsor-Smith where Tony Stark’s technology falls into the wrong hands. Could be good, but I need more info!
I Am Groot – A series of animated shorts that I don’t really have much interest in. I suppose they will be cute.
Bonus News:
We didn’t get any new footage for any of the films, but there were a few announcements, nonetheless.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – Confirmed cast of Benedict Cumberbatch, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Elizabeth Olsen, and introducing Xochiti Gomez as America Chavez!! We still don’t know any real details about the plot or who the main villain is, but does it really matter at this point? This is going to be mind-bending, dimension-spanning adventure with Sam Raimi directing. Release date, March 25, 2022.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – Confirmed cast of Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, and introducing Kathryn Newton as Cassie Lang and Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror!! Peyton Reed is still attached to direct. We have no real news about this one’s plot, although the title alone promises a return to the Quantum Realm, where we may discover Kang the Conqueror holding court. Will the Fantastic Four appear, too? Who’s to say!
Spider-Man 3 – Just a brief mention that it ties in directly to WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Black Widow – No news but confirming a release date of May 7, 2021.
Eternals – This was only briefly mentioned, confirming the cast that we already know, but confirmed a release date of November 5, 2021.
Thor: Love and Thunder – Confirmed cast of Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, and introducing Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher!!! This was already going to be interesting with Portman taking up the mantle of Thor, but Gorr the God Butcher is a seriously messed up villain. Those comics by Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic were epic and eon-spanning. Can’t wait to see how Taika Waititi uses the character. Releasing May 6, 2022.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings – Confirmed cast of Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, with Awkwafina, Tony Leung, and Michelle Yeoh! Production has wrapped and it is due in theaters on July 9, 2021. Really want to see some hardcore kung fu action in the tradition of Enter the Dragon.
Blade – No news, but reconfirmed that Mahershala Ali is starring as Blade. I’m hoping that they go all in and make Dracula the main villain. And I’m restating my prediction that Keanu Reeves will play the king of the vampires. When I’m wrong, you can all mock me.
Captain Marvel 2 – Confirmed cast of Brie Larson (sorry, haters) and introducing Teyonah Parris as an all grown up Monica Rambeau (crossing over from WandaVision) as well as adding the new Ms. Marvel Iman Vellani!! Will this roll out of Secret Invasion? Can’t wait to go even more cosmic this time around! Releasing November 11, 2022.
Black Panther 2 – The late, great Chadwick Boseman will not be recast as Black Panther and Writer/Director Ryan Coogler is hard at work on the new script. This is going to be touch and go. I assume (as does most people) that Shuri (Letitia Wright) will be taking up the mantle. Releasing July 8, 2022.
Fantastic Four – The First Family of the Marvel Universe is on the way with the Sony/Marvel Spider-Man director Jon Watts at the helm. It’s going to be very interesting to see if Marvel can make this work on-screen after so many failed attempts by other studios.