This past week has been an exciting week for Marvel fans as the company has made several exciting announcements regarding their upcoming films and TV shows. Before we get into all that, I thought I would give a roundup of all the upcoming Marvel releases.
This week marks the final episode of Marvel’s “WandaVision,” starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany. “WandaVision” blends the typical action one would expect from a Marvel movie with classic television, creating a show that is truly unlike any other. The show follows Wanda Maximoff and Vision as they live in a suburban paradise that maybe is not exactly what it seems to be. The show also stars Kat Dennings, Kathryn Hahn, Randall Park and Teyonah Parris. The thrilling conclusion of this spectacular series is sure to change the Marvel Cinematic Universe forever. If you’re so inclined to see the finale as soon as it drops, then head to Disney+ at 2 a.m. on March 5.
Two weeks after “WandaVision” airs, Marvel will debut “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” starring Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan. The show will follow Sam and Bucky as they must learn to work together to save the world from a global threat. The show will also see Emily VanCamp and Daniel Bruhl reprising their roles as Sharon Carter and Zemo, respectively. “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” will have a total of six hour-long episodes, meaning fans are essentially getting a six hour cinematic television show. “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” begins streaming on March 19.
Next up, we have the “Black Widow” standalone film, starring Scarlett Johansson. Currently, Marvel is pushing for an “in theaters only” release, meaning that it will not simultaneously be available on VOD or Disney+ at the film’s theatrical release. Releasing on May 7, “Black Widow” takes place between the events of “Captain America: Civil War” and “Avengers: Infinity War.” The movie also stars Florence Pugh, David Harbour and Rachel Weisz. “Black Widow” has already been delayed two times due to the COVID-19 pandemic; however, Marvel is still pushing for a May release despite worsening COVID-19 conditions.
Next up is “Loki,” starring Tom Hiddleston as everyone’s favorite god of mischief. Originally, “Loki” was supposed to start streaming on Disney+ in May, but due to Marvel’s insistence of the “Black Widow” movie coming to theaters in May, “Loki” was unfortunately pushed back. This was one of the announcements made by Marvel this past week. Now releasing on June 11, “Loki” follows the “Avengers Endgame” alternate version of Loki from 2012, who escaped with the Tesseract. The show also stars Owen Wilson. As of yet, not much is known about the rest of the cast. “Loki” begins its six week arc on Disney+ on June 11.
Currently, Marvel also has the feature film “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” scheduled to release on July 9; however, Marvel has released little to no information about this film, which leads me to believe that it will unfortunately be pushed back. The film stars Simu Liu as the titular character and Tony Leung Chiu-wai as the Mandarin — the real Mandarin, not the fake Mandarin viewers saw in “Iron Man 3.”
Also currently scheduled to release this year is the feature film “The Eternals.” The star-studded cast includes Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Salma Hayek, Kit Harrington and Lauren Ridloff. “The Eternals” will follow a group of immortal alien people called the Eternals, who must save the Earth from an unnamed tragedy occurring after the events of “Avengers Endgame.” Currently, the film is scheduled to release on Nov. 5.
Finally, we have the big news Marvel announced this past week. Seemingly fast-tracking the film, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” will now release in theaters on Dec. 17. The stars of the film, Tom Holland, Zendaya and Jacob Batalan, all took to Instagram and posted three different fake movie titles for the film, including “Spider-Man: Phone Home,” “Spider-Man: Home-Wrecker” and “Spider-Man: Home Slice.” The next day, Marvel officially released the title with a video of the three. Along with the fake movie titles, all three actors shared stills from the movie. The film will follow Peter Parker as he deals with the aftermath of his identity being exposed by Mysterio from the previous movie, “Spider-Man: Far From Home.”
Many fans have speculated that this film will delve into the multiverse, which would include the previous Sony Spider-Men, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, reprising their roles. This speculation has only increased as “Spider-Man: No Way Home” has cast other actors from the Sony “Spider-Man” films to reprise their roles, which includes Jamie Foxx as Electro and Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” also marks Holland’s final contracted film with Marvel; however, it has already been speculated that his contract will be renewed.
It’s been an exciting week for Marvel news. After having a year with zero Marvel releases, we might now be getting seven releases in one year. Whether or not all seven of these releases go through with COVID-19 still on the rise, we will see. Regardless, it seems like Marvel’s Phase Four is well in-progress.
