MCU Phase 4: All The Rumors And Spoilers So Far

The curtains may have closed on Endgame, but that's by no means the end of the game for Marvel. You think they'd stop at a measly $1.2 billion opening weekend? There's plenty of material, on both the comic page and the silver screen, just waiting to be developed into further box office gold. But after the Avengers "blipped" Thanos' victims back to life and Spider-Man introduced us to a world without Iron Man, the future of the MCU was left uncertain for the first time in a long time. With no officially confirmed movies on the horizon, fans were left to speculate about what the coming years would bring, and how the studio could possibly follow up the game-changing 23-movie run of the Infinity Saga.

Of course, Marvel enthusiasts are nothing if not dedicated, and the curious acolytes of the Avengers immediately got to sniffing out all the rumors and news they could find. It's hard for a machine as large and complex as Marvel Studios to keep all its secrets, after all, and there were some intriguing scraps to be found. Then, of course, San Diego Comic Con 2019 arrived, and with it came the studio's grand reveal of the MCU's Phase 4. Some assumptions were confirmed, others quashed, and surprises were dropped like Mjolnir on an unsuspecting crowd.

Now that we know what Marvel movies and TV shows are on the way, we're starting to catch wind of some definite rumors, spoilers, and announcements about Phase 4. Here's what we've learned so far.

The stage was star-studded at San Diego Comic Con, and the cast of the confirmed Eternals movie set to release November 6, 2020 is just as brilliant. This, we think, befits a race of ancient, superpowered aliens. Did we mention that they were godlike? Because the Eternals are tangled up in Greek mythology. 

Angelina Jolie's role, for instance is Thena, a reference to the Olympian goddess Athena. Richard Madden of Game of Thrones fame is indeed playing Ikaris, one of the most mighty of Eternals, named after the boy who flew too close to the sun in Greek myth. Ajak (mistakenly called Ajax during the Trojan War) is male in the comics, but Salma Hayek will be portraying this Eternal on screen. The same genderbend goes for the deaf character Makkari, played by Lauren Ridloff, who bears parallels to the god Hermes. Kumail Nanjiani will play Kingo, who's been living in Japan for millennia following the way of the samurai. Eternal Phastos, played by Brian Tyree Henry, is a pseudo-Hephaestus because of his weapon-smithing skills, and Sprite is a Loki-like young trickster, played by Lia McHugh for another genderbent role. Finally, Don Lee will be playing Gilgamesh (we'll give you three guesses which historical figure he's a stand-in for.)

A big part of Phase 4 will be the content on the Disney+ streaming service. Rather than focusing solely on big blockbuster films, Marvel has decided to flesh out its offerings through TV series set to release on the new platform over the next few years, giving fans a more up-close-and-personal look at some of their favorite characters. 

The What If...? animated series slated for release in summer of 2021 is an especially unorthodox look at the world of Marvel. Based on the comic series of the same name, What If...? muses on alternate versions of the events in the MCU. The voice cast boasts a staggering number of Marvel movie stars, from Michael B. Jordan to Michael Rooker. We will watch these alternate timelines unfold through the eyes of the Watcher, voiced by Westworld's Jefferey Wright, seeing exactly what would happen if things had turned out just a little differently. The first episode of What If...? will find Peggy Carter taking super soldier serum in place of Steve Rogers.

Where did Loki go when he snatched up the Tesseract and disappeared from 2012 during Avengers: Endgame's Time Heist? Apparently we'll get the chance to find out in the upcoming Disney+ series Loki. Kevin Feige himself confirmed that the series picks up right after Loki winked out of existence. Tom Hiddleston, reprising his role as the God of Mischief, was effectively the conductor of the Loki hype train, saying at San Diego Comic Con, "Kevin has generously told me what his plans are. I can't tell you any of them, but it is one of the most exciting creative opportunities I think I've ever come across. This is new territory, a new world, new challenges, and I cannot wait to get started."

The Loki TV series, set to release in the spring of 2021, will indeed be a whole new world and maybe a whole new time period. A preview image teased at a Disney investor event in April shows Thor's baby brother in front of a promotional sign for the film Jaws, which was released in 1975. After Endgame, Marvel's no stranger to time travel, but Loki vamoosed with the Space Stone, not the Time Stone. What's he up to? Only time will tell.

Clint Barton may finally be taking center stage in the Disney+ streaming series Hawkeye, but he won't be the only Hawkeye. While we don't know much about the series, set to release on the platform in the fall of 2021, we do know that the logo is almost an exact replica of the one used for the much-loved, much-lauded Hawkeye comic run by Matt Fraction and David Aja. This stylish series featured Barton's life as a smart aleck coffee junkie trying his best to help the people around him. Fraction and Aja put particular focus on his various relationships — with his ex-wives; with his estranged brother; with his dog, Pizza Dog; and with his protege, Kate Bishop.

Kate Bishop is also known as the leader of the Young Avengers, a master strategist and fighter with a deadly aim, but otherwise a down-to-earth human like Barton. Bishop, who becomes the new Hawkeye after Clint returns from his years as the brutal Ronin, is confirmed to have a spot in the show. We can't wait to see Jeremy Renner (confirmed to return as Clint) as a more laid back, morally gray Hawkguy mentoring the sharply witty Kate Bishop.

Just because there's not another Avengers film currently on Marvel's slate doesn't mean that superhero team-ups are off the table. Phase 4 might be focusing on the development of new heroes, but it hasn't forgotten some of the old favorites. Doctor Strange is getting his own sequel film, ominously titled Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Avengers: Endgame and Spider-man: Far From Home confirmed the fact that there are multiple realities in the MCU, and it looks like Doctor Strange is going to trip right into them. 

Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch fittingly called strange herself, will be alongside the good doctor. At Marvel Studios' Comic Con panel, the filmmakers revealed that the WandaVision Disney+ series will tie directly into the Strange sequel. Of course, it could also cross over with the animated What If...? series, considering that the show's entire premise is exploring alternate universes. The title suggests some Lovecraftian adventures are in store for the sorcerer in this story that director Scott Derrickson called "the first scary MCU film." We'll discover the mysteries of the multiverse when the film is unveiled on May 7, 2021.

Thought the Avengers were a dysfunctional team? They've got nothing on the Dark Avengers. Think of them as the bizarro version of the team that we know and love. This alliance first came together in the pages of Marvel comics in 2009, in the aftermath of a Skrull invasion that's devastated the Earth. With Iron Man gone, a seemingly reformed Norman Osborn dons a supersuit of his own and takes it upon himself to start his own team of superpowered peoples. Rather than come up with an original team, he tries to make a knock-off version of the Avengers: Venom becomes the new Spider-Man, Bullseye takes Hawkeye's place, Wolverine's bad boy son enlists to spite his father, and Noh-Varr represents the Kree in place of Captain Marvel. A couple other baddies, like Ares and Sentry, are also along for the ride.

How could these obvious villains be accepted as heroes? Norman Osborn effectively turns himself into a folk hero upon killing the Skrull Queen on national television during the Secret Invasion storyline, in which the Skrulls plot to take over the world and S.H.I.E.L.D. is once again compromised. The former Green Goblin is then given control of S.H.I.E.L.D. by the government after the dust settles, and he reforms it into the more aggressive H.A.M.M.E.R. 

Very little is known about Marvel's plan for integrating this storyline into the MCU, but clearly, many of the important pieces are already in place in a post-Endgame world. The Hashtag Show has reported that somewhere in the bowels of Marvel Studios, there is a completed Dark Avengers script lying around. Maybe now that the Avengers are avenged and the Skrulls have arrived, it's time for a new kind of team to take the spotlight.

It's been a rocky relationship, but after a brief trial separation, Sony and Marvel have officially gotten back together for one more film. Spider-Man 3 will release on July 16, 2021, placing it between Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in May and Thor: Love and Thunder in November. No casting has been confirmed yet, but it's safe to assume that in addition to Tom Holland, we'll also be seeing the return of Jacob Batalon as Ned and Zendaya as MJ, as well as Marissa Tomei as Aunt May. As one of the only Spidey regulars whose character wasn't briefly snatched away from the MCU by Sony, Jon Favreau's Happy Hogan is also likely to return. And given the cliffhanger at the end of Far From Home, we'd be surprised if J.K. Simmons doesn't make an appearance as well. 

Like the first two films, the MCU's Spider-Man 3 will be helmed by director Jon Watts. This gives Watts membership to the exclusive club of directors who have shepherded an entire MCU trilogy — only James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Peyton Reed (Ant-Man) are set to do the same. No plot details have been released for the third Spider-Man outing yet, including whether or not it will cross over with Venom or any other part of Sony's own Spider-Verse, but considering the mess the last time Sony snatched back the webslinger, we expect it'll probably pave the way for Spidey to exit the MCU for good. 

Just when we thought we knew everything to expect in Phase 4 of the MCU, Marvel threw us for a loop by announcing a trio of additional new MCU shows at the 2019 D23 Expo, including Ms. Marvel, which will follow Pakistani American teen hero Kamala Khan. Bisha K. Ali, writer of Hulu's Four Weddings and a Funeral, has been tapped as showrunner. In the comics, Kamala is an Inhuman who idolizes Carol Danvers and takes up her pre-Captain Marvel mantle after discovering she too has superpowers. Marvel hasn't yet revealed whether the series will show this discovery and Kamala's first days as Ms. Marvel, or whether they'll pick up with the character after she's already been established, similar to Peter Parker's introduction in Captain America: Civil War.

Kamala already blazed new territory in the comics as the first Muslim character to headline her own Marvel book, and to see her on screen in the MCU will be a significant step forward in the battle for more diverse representation in Hollywood, especially if the character eventually crosses over to the films. We don't have any idea yet when Ms. Marvel will hit Disney+, or where it will fit into Marvel's increasingly crowded schedule, but since Marvel included it on its Phase 4 timeline when it was announced, we can safely assume it'll be before the end of 2021. 

The last of the Disney+ shows announced at D23 was She-Hulk, which will center around Bruce Banner's cousin, Jennifer Walters, an attorney who receives her Hulk powers from an emergency blood transfusion from Bruce. While both Ms. Marvel and Moon Knight could theoretically pick up after the characters have already discovered their powers and taken up their superhero mantles, She-Hulk will likely have to include her origin story, since she has such close ties to an original Avenger. Most likely, Jennifer will gain her powers sometime after the "blip," which will hopefully mean we'll get at least a Mark Ruffalo cameo in She-Hulk, if not a more extensive role.

As for who will play Jennifer herself, no casting has been announced yet, although fans have proposed a variety of talented actresses for the part including Jameela Jamil, Constance Wu, Stephanie Beatriz, and Blake Lively. Whoever Marvel casts in the role will likely not have to physically portray Jennifer in her Hulked-out state (that's what motion capture suits are for), but will need to embody her wit, intelligence, strong moral compass, and ability to snarkily break the fourth wall. Jessica Gao, the Emmy-winning writer behind Rick and Morty's "Pickle Rick" episode, will serve as She-Hulk's showrunner. As with Ms. Marvel and Moon Knight, we don't know exactly when She-Hulk will slot into the Phase 4 schedule, but expect it to be before the end of 2021.