The last time Marvel was on the Hall H stage at SDCC was 2019. Less than a year later the world went dormant and so did the biggest pop culture event in the world. As San Diego Comic-Con came back to full form in 2022; Marvel made sure everyone in attendance knew Comic-Con was back. On Saturday at SDCC 22 with the exception of the X-Men and Deadpool, Marvel Studios did not f*** around!
The End of Phase 4
Kevin Feige stood on stage and announced that She-Hulk and Black Panther Wakanda Forever would mark the end of a tumultuous phase of change in the MCU. It was time to talk about the future, Phase 5 of the MCU was timelined for the 6,000 in attendance which will begin on February 17,, 2023 with the release of Ant-Man & The Wasp Quantumainia. The audience was given a look at the movie and along with Johnathan Majors playing Kang The Conqueror, Bill Murray will play the floating head of AIM MODOK.
We now know that Charlie Cox’s Dardevil will be the first Netflix character to continue in Marvel Studios MCU as Feige announced Dardevil Born Again for 2024. The series will also mark Disney+ first oversized Marvel show planned for a whopping 18 episodes.
Phase 5 of the MCU
- Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania – February 17, 2023
- Secret Invasion – Spring 2023
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – May 5, 2023
- Echo – Summer 2023
- Loki: Season 2 – Summer 2023
- The Marvels – July 28, 2023
- Blade – November 3, 2023
- Ironheart – Fall 2023
- Agatha: Coven of Chaos – Winter 2023/24
- Daredevil: Born Again – Fall 2023
- Captain America: New World Order – May 3, 2024
- Thunderbolts – July 26, 2024
James Gunn showed off a brief teaser of GOTG Vol 3 which featured a look at baby Rocket Raccoon and gave fans their first look at Will Poulter as Adam Warlock. The guardians will also be facing off against the High Evolutionary a villain played by Peacemaker star Chukwudi Iwuji. Gunn also told the audience that Vol 3 will mark the end of his Guardians Of The Galaxy in the MCU.
Dates for several projects were also updated as we now have confirmed dates for the new Blade film and the next chapter of Captain America.
Marvel did not stop at five though. Kevin Feige teased the future future with some major bombshells. As Thunderbolts closes out Phase 5 of the MCU the first family of Marvel will kick off Phase 6 as we now have a date for Fantastic Four on November 8,, 2024 and end in 2025 with two Avengers movies. Avengers The Kang Dynasty will be released on May 2,, 2025 and Avengers Secret Wars will be in theaters on Novemeber, 7 2025.
Officially phase 4-6 of the MCU will be known as The Multiverse Saga and we’ll soon begin to see how threads from Doctor Strange, Shang-Chi, Ms. Marvel, and Loki all come together as the Marvel Universe faces its next extinction level event.
Marvel’s SDCC panel closed with a special look at Black Panther Wakanda Forever in which director Ryan Coogler and the cast reflected on the late great Chadwick Boseman’s spirit influenced the film. Coogler showed footage from the film which included a mural in Wakanda dedicated to Boseman’s T’Challa and the first look at Namor in the MCU. Wakanda Forever’s first official teaser was also released online and it looks to have a big part in shaping the next frontier of the MCU.
NOTE: In true Marvel movie fashion, the phase 6 graphic shown had 8 dated projects yet to be announced. At least some of this will likely be revealed at the upcoming D23 Expo in Anaheim which celebrates all things in the Disney family.
