Every Marvel Movie Happening After The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Launching in 2008 with "Iron Man," the Marvel Cinematic Universe has gone on to become the most successful film franchise in history. With 37 films and counting, the MCU has grossed nearly $32 billion worldwide and became at one point a cultural phenomenon. But while the first three phases of the Marvel slate and some of the titles from Phase Four — like "Spider-Man: No Way Home" — have met with almost unparalleled success, Phase Five has largely failed to match the same amount of hype or acclaim.

The MCU's Phase Five finished with "Thunderbolts*" in May 2025, with "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" serving as the kickoff to Phase Six. The film's buzz prior to release indicates it will do well, hopefully ushering in a renewed era of success for the MCU following a string of disappointments. Meanwhile, quite a few projects are lined up to follow: While Marvel Studios is releasing four new TV series and specials alongside additional seasons for previously established shows, it's also prepping several films.

"First Steps" will be followed by three confirmed movies, stretching into late 2027. While projects are still in development for Phase Seven, online rumors suggest at least an additional four movies are in the works. Each of these seven projects is detailed here, and given the scope of what's to come, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and his team could once again guide the MCU into a newly successful era of box office dominance.

The first film to arrive after "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" will be "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," which is slated for release on July 31, 2026. Throughout his time in the MCU, Spider-Man (Tom Holland) has been linked to Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and the Avengers, with no dearth of resources. That changed in "Spider-Man: No Way Home," after everyone who previously knew Peter Parker (or that he was Spider-Man) had him wiped from their memories.

That will leave Spidey in a new situation, so the "Brand New Day" title, taken from the comics, is apt. While an official plot summary has yet to be released, the rumored storyline will find Peter trying to put his adventures as a superhero in the past and concentrate on college and a job, until a new menace forces him to team up with unexpected allies and once again defend the people and city he cares for. This aligns more closely with the comics, which have depicted Peter having to work on his own for most of his superhero career.

In addition to Holland, Zendaya and Jacob Batalon will reprise their roles as MJ and Ned, while Sadie Sink and Liza Colón-Zayas will play unnamed characters. Jon Bernthal will play Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, for the first time on the big screen after appearing in both the "Daredevil" TV series and his own show. He's likely to be the ally that our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man will join forces with to take on whatever threats the movie throws their way.

After Marvel Studios scrapped its plan to have Kang (Jonathan Majors) be the next Thanos-level villain, the studio pivoted to Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.), ultimately restructuring Phase Six around the infamous ruler of Latveria. This will result in the next "Avengers" film, "Avengers: Doomsday," which will probably not draw elements from an Ultimate Comics Marvel story with a similar name. The film is scheduled to hit theaters on December 18, 2026, replacing the now-canceled "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty."

Marvel rarely releases any details in advance of a film's release, and while "Doomsday" is in production, it has no synopsis from which to draw any assumptions. That said, because both this film and "Avengers: Secret Wars" were retitled and revamped to fit around Doom, "Doomsday" is bringing in a plethora of powerful players on both sides as the lead-up to the subsequent "Avengers" movie, slated to be released the following year. 

Kevin Feige hasn't revealed much, but he dropped a few bits of information to ComicBook.com: "We will see this world that we've introduced [in 'First Steps']. We're shooting on all the same sets that we built for 'Fantastic Four,'" he teased. "I would say the now iconic Baxter Building living room and kitchen where we saw the Four get to know each other in this movie, let's say, there are a lot more people in that kitchen in 'Avengers.'" The cast will likely feature everyone mentioned in the "Doomsday" cast reveal video, indicating an epic production.

Marvel Studios has no films scheduled for release after "Avengers: Doomsday" other than "Avengers: Secret Wars," which lands on December 17, 2027. Fans of the comics likely already know what "Avengers: Secret Wars" is going to be about, although it probably won't be based on the 1984 maxi-series "Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars" (by Jim Shooter, Michael Zeck, John Beatty, Christie Scheele, and Tom DeFalco). It's far more likely that the film will use the 2015 "Secret Wars" series written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Esad Ribić as a springboard.

That series focuses on the Beyonders' desire to create a variant of Molecule Man in every reality to destroy the multiverse. Doctor Doom takes center stage to thwart their plan, setting himself up to become a god on Battleworld, which brings aspects of multiple realities into one place. While it's not likely that the Beyonders will be introduced into the MCU, the complex premise will be tied directly into "Doomsday" as well as elements seen in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness." That film introduced the concept of universal incursions, which will probably be the primary driving force of the action in the Phase Six "Avengers" movies.

Marvel Studios has never fully adapted its source material; instead, it has forged its own universe with numerous tweaks, additions, and alterations. The cast will likely include whoever survives from "Doomsday" in addition to many others yet to be named, and it will ultimately reset the MCU, as Marvel plans to recast almost every major character after "Secret Wars" closes out Phase Six.

If there ever was an MCU movie that was mired in development hell, it's "Blade." The project was announced in 2019 and has undergone more struggles than most productions as it limps toward a possible finish line. The "Blade" movie has had some seriously problematic behind-the-scenes issues, as it's been delayed, soft-canceled, pushed back, and gone through a high turnover of writers and directors. Additionally, the original Blade (Wesley Snipes) appeared in "Deadpool and Wolverine," suggesting the new one was even further from completion.

Mahershala Ali is still attached to play Blade, although all we've seen or heard of him so far was an off-camera line of dialogue in a post-credits scene in "Eternals." "Blade" was scheduled to be released on November 7, 2025, but Marvel pulled it from the schedule and has not set either a director or a new release date. Rumors have abounded on the Internet that the movie is canceled, but Kevin Feige insists it's still in the works.

In a recent interview (via Variety), Feige said that "Blade" has been a victim of the over-expansion and quality issues that plagued the MCU in Phases Four and Five. "We didn't want to simply just put a leather outfit on him and have him start killing vampires. It had to be unique," Feige revealed. "It fell into the time when we started pulling back and saying, 'Only accept insanely great.' And it wasn't 'insanely great' at the time."

"Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" introduced Simu Liu as the title character, with the film performing moderately well considering it came out at the tail end of the pandemic and introduced a character that was largely unknown to the public. News of a "Shang-Chi" sequel was already making the rounds in 2021, indicating that the film's director, Destin Daniel Cretton, would return to helm a follow-up. Since then, Cretton has been tapped to direct "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," leaving his involvement with "Shang-Chi 2" uncertain.

While Marvel hasn't confirmed a release date for "Shang-Chi 2," it could drop on May 5, 2028, during Phase Seven. This is a date slotted for an untitled Marvel movie, which could be "Shang-Chi" or something else. Liu, meanwhile, is confirmed to appear in "Avengers: Doomsday" and may also stick around for "Avengers: Secret Wars" before returning in his own sequel. It's possible that Awkwafina will also reprise her role as Katy from the first film, though she said in August 2024 that she hadn't been contacted yet about participating in the project.

When Disney purchased Fox in 2019, it was clear that the X-Men would finally come to the MCU. Fox's "X-Men" films have had a confusing series of shifting timelines, which the MCU will hopefully correct. Several previously seen "X-Men" characters and actors have already made appearances in the MCU, including Beast (Kelsey Grammer), Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), and Pyro (Aaron Stanford).

Still, the fans want a proper X-Men movie, and Marvel Studios is hard at work to make that happen. "Thunderbolts*" director Jake Schreier is confirmed to be taking the helm of "X-Men," which will likely hit theaters in Phase Seven. It's possible that "X-Men" (which isn't a confirmed title) will take the scheduled release date of November 10, 2028. 

While some of the Fox "X-Men" actors — like Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen (Magneto), and James Marsden (Cyclops) — will reprise their roles in "Avengers: Doomsday" (and perhaps "Secret Wars"), the conclusion of Phase Six will open the door for a complete overhaul and reboot of the "X-Men" film franchise, with new actors coming aboard to play a fresh iteration of Marvel's mutants.

Both "Black Panther" films were critical and financial hits, so it's only a matter of time before "Black Panther 3" hits theaters. Kevin Feige announced as much in December 2024, but characteristically didn't reveal much more than the fact that it was officially being developed. As of mid-2025, the project was still in the early phases of development, and while no official casting announcement has been made, one cat did manage to get out of the bag.

Denzel Washington told Australia Today in November 2024 that he was involved: "[Director] Ryan Coogler is writing a part for me in the next 'Black Panther.'" Coogler confirmed the casting during an appearance on the "7 p.m. in Brooklyn" podcast. He didn't offer any details outside of mentioning that he's been trying to find a project to work with Washington for some time, adding, "I think he's the greatest living actor."

"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" transitioned the mantle of Black Panther from T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman, who died in 2020 from cancer) to his sister, Shuri (Letitia Wright). She will return to reprise the role in the threequel, alongside characters introduced in the preceding two movies. Neither a plot nor a release date have been made public, but it seems likely that "Black Panther 3" will tie into the previous films, the upcoming "Eyes of Wakanda" animated series, and the wider MCU in Phase Seven, possibly in 2028 or later.