Marvel Studios is set to roll its curtain down on Phase 4, and has revealed future plans for its cinematic universe at the recently concluded San Diego Comic-Con 2022. The studio announced an exciting line-up of live-action and animated projects in its next phases from 2023-2025.
Phases 5 and 6 feature new titles with familiar faces, starting with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and leading up to not just one but two back-to-back Avengers movies with much to explore in between in the Multiverse.
If you’ve missed those announcements and want more information, here is everything you need to know about Marvel’s latest slate of projects set to release on the big screen:
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Release date: February 17, 2023
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will be the beginning of Phase 5. That film is expected to reveal more mysteries of the pivotal Quantum Realm universe; it will be the first official introduction of Jonathan Majors as Kang (the big bad of this Multiverse Saga) and will debut a new young hero when Scott Lang’s daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) suits up as well.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Release date: May 5, 2023
James Gunn will be ending his Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy with this film – and he and the cast and crew are letting fans know in no uncertain terms that it is going to be an ending. The movie will be introducing some key cosmic figures – Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) and the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) – and it’s here that we begin to see a possible pattern forming in Phase 5: powerful villains rising in ways our heroes may not be ready for.
The Marvels
Release date: July 28, 2023
The Captain Marvel movie franchise will meet the Ms. Marvel TV series (with help from WandaVision’s Monica Rambeau) to form a new trifecta of cosmic-powered superheroines in the MCU. Plot details are unknown, but Ms. Marvel left us with a place-switching connection between Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), so that’s something. Based on other projects like Secret Invasion, The Marvels could have some serious Kree/Skrull drama to resolve – and again, we could be looking at a major shakeup in the cosmic order, as a result.
Blade
Release date: November 3, 2023
The Marvel Knights supernatural side of things has been teased through Moon Knight and Eternals’ post-credits scene, but Blade is the film that will really open the door to it all. Blade could be a pivotal dark horse story whose significance we can’t yet fully understand.
Captain America: New World Order
Release date: May 3, 2024
Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) has taken up the shield and mantle, but it sounds like the timing could be rather unfortunate. In the comics, the New World Order organization was founded by Red Skull in a clandestine plot to take over the world. There have been many similar stories in Marvel lore since then (Leviathan) that could be streamlined into the premise of Captain America 4. Either way, it sounds like Sam will find out there are some truly seedy (world threatening) things happening in the world of politics and espionage.
Thunderbolts
Release date: May 3, 2024
The end of MCU Phase 5 will be Thunderbolts – a series that started as a team of villains posing as heroes. Given everything we’ve seen in Phase 5 leading up to it, Thunderbolts makes us wonder if Phase 5 will end with a new world order of villains holding the reigns, and heroes left on the run.
While those Marvel Phase 5 plans took their rightful place in the spotlight at Comic-Con 2022, Marvel also announced the first three projects in its Phase 6 slate
Fantastic Four
Release date: November 8, 2024
MCU reboot of the Fantastic Four will be released in November of 2024, marking the first movie in Phase 6 and kickstarting the road to Secret Wars. This movie will be necessary to get to the final film of The Multiverse Saga as Marvels’ first family play a major role in that storyline.
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty
Release date: May 2, 2025
The summer of 2025 will kick off with Avengers 5, subtitled The Kang Dynasty and set to be directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. What’s unclear about the film is…who will be part of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in this movie? One guess is that Captain Marvel and Hulk have continued the team, as seen at the end of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Avengers: Secret Wars
Release date: November 7, 2025
The Multiverse Saga will officially conclude with this title, as the Avengers: Secret Wars will seemingly draw from the Jonathan Hickman-penned reboot of the title from 2015, one that combined multiple different Earths/timelines/universes into one planet, the all-new Battle World.
Sources: Techradar, Comicbook.com and Boxoffice Pro
The Super Bowl is a high-stakes game, and the ads and trailers aired during the event, in addition to the half-time performance, is as exciting as the game itself. With millions tuning in every year, the Super Bowl has become a prime advertising opportunity for big- companies, and studios hoping to whip up excitement for their upcoming blockbuster releases.
From the trailers of Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness and Jurassic World Dominion, to ads from brands such as BMW and Booking.com, here’s what wowed the viewers and fans at Super Bowl LVI:
Ambulance
In this breakneck thriller from director-producer Michael Bay, decorated veteran Will Sharp desperate for money to cover his wife’s medical bills, asks for help from the one person he knows he shouldn’t—his adoptive brother Danny – a charismatic career criminal, Danny instead offers him a score: the biggest bank heist in Los Angeles history.
Release Date: 07 April 2022
Starring: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jake Gyllenhaal, Eiza González
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
When Dr. Robotnik comes back, this time with a new partner, Knuckles, in search for an emerald that has the power to both build and destroy civilizations. Sonic teams up with his own sidekick, Tails, and together they embark on a journey to find the emerald before it falls into the wrong hands.
Release Date: 07 April 2022
Starring: Ben Schwart, Idris Elba, Jim Carrey
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Since he tampered with a forbidden spell (No Way Home) that opened the door to the multiverse, Dr.Strange has been unhinging the reality –which leads to an important question from Wanda. Why is he considered a hero when he does it, but she a villain? Get ready to experience ‘a new dimension of Strange’. Probably the much awaited trailer of the Super Bowl.
Release Date: 05 May 2022
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Rachel McAdams
Jurassic World Dominion
Even though the plot in this third installment from the franchise is kept under wraps, one thing is sure: Jurassic Park/World fans will be thrilled to see Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, and the original Jurassic Park trio all together in one movie!
Release Date: 10 June 2022
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern
Nope
Oscar winner Jordan Peele disrupted and redefined modern horror with Get Out (2017) and then Us (2019). Now, he reimagines the summer movie with a new pop nightmare: the expansive horror epic, Nope.
Release Date: 21 July 2022
Starring: Keke Palmer, Barbie Ferreira, Daniel Kaluuya
See the full line-up of blockbusters releasing in 2022 in our Sizzle Reel.
Porsche/Top Gun: Maverick
Porsche is bringing the speed in Top Gun: Maverick. Playing on the original movie’s “I feel the need for speed” quote, the trailer showcases snippets of the movie in-between promotional footage of some of Porsche’s cars.
BMW
Zeus (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is underwhelmed by all earthly electric things and becomes a shell of his former self. But right when we think all hope is lost, his wife, Hera (Salma Hayek), introduces him to the all-electric BMW iX and helps mighty Zeus reclaim his spark.
Squarespace
Zendaya plays the role of Sally, who is looking to grow her seashell business, so she creates a store on Squarespace, which helps her become a seaside sensation.
Booking.com
In this ‘Big Game’ ad, Idris Elba takes you on a special journey into the heart and soul of Booking.com. In a way that only he could pull off. While staying on-script – mostly.
Lay’s
Seth Rogan and Paul Rudd remember some beautiful moments together that all revolve around Lay’s Potato Chips. Stay tuned until the end.
Verizon
We have officially entered the era of Cable Guy nostalgia. Jim Carrey reprises his role from the movie only to learn that cable is a thing of the past.
Kia
Every dog deserves to find their forever home. Even Robo Dog, who risks it all in Kia’s ‘Big Game’ ad to live fully charged with the all-electric Kia EV6. Kia’s Robo Dog is probably the ad that made the viewers tear up as they feel affectionate towards the #Robodog.
Amazon
What if Alexa could read your mind? That’s the issue plaguing real-world couple Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost in this ad for Amazon’s home-based helper.
Flamin’ Hot Doritos and Cheetos
A group of animals are in the forest beatboxing the song “Push It” by Salt-N-Pepa, with a bunch of Flamin’ Hot chips nearby. What more could you want?
Nissan
The ad introduces Nissan’s brand-new range of 2023 high-tech models – Nissan Z and the all-electric Nissan Ariya. Eugene Levy stars as a high-octane pedal-to-the-metal action star, along with Brie Larson, Dave Bautista, and Danai Gurira.
Chevrolet
Continuing the all-electric vehicle trend of the evening, Chevrolet channeled ‘The Sopranos’ for a commercial starring Jamie-Lynn Sigler set to the show’s iconic theme.
Watch all the Super Bowl 2022 commercials here.
Source: Gamespot
Captain Marvel is on the cover of Entertainment Weekly’s latest issue, and we’ve got the first look at Brie Larson’s part-Kree, part-human hero. Audiences briefly saw Captain Marvel’s symbol in the end-credits scene of Avengers: Infinity War, but come March 2019, the Air Force pilot with alien powers will be getting her own origin story.
Photo Credit: Entertainment Weekly
Not only is Captain Marvel the first solo, female-led movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but it’s an introduction to the most powerful hero the MCU has ever seen.
Set in the 1990s – another Marvel first, Captain Marvel follows Danvers as she becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes after earth gets involved in a galactic war between alien races. Larson leads an all-star cast that includes Annette Bening, Gemma Chan, Colin Ford, Mckenna Grace, Robert Kazinsky, Jude Law, Lashana Lynch, Ben Mendelsohn, Chuku Modu, Algenis Perez Soto, Vik Sahay and Rune Temte.
Expect to see a few actors from previously released movies in the MCU, including Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson, Djimon Hounsou as Korath, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser.
The Captain Marvel costume is largely what fans likely expected from the Marvel Studios movie. Like the designs of fellow MCU heroes, it honors the comic book character while also adapting the costume so that it works in a live-action film. As seen by the second photo, which appears to be a still from the film, Captain Marvel’s costume will have slightly less vibrant colors in the movie than on the EW cover. While fans might like the vibrancy of the magazine cover, it’s unrealistic for a fight suit to remain as clean as shiny as that.
Photo Credit: Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios
The film sidesteps the traditional origin-story template, and when it begins, Carol already has her powers. She’s left her earthly life behind to join the elite military team Starforce on the Kree planet of Hala. Directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck describe Starforce as the SEAL Team Six of space.
Photo Credit: Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios
Jude Law plays the commander of Starforce, who views Carol as a mentee and pet project. “These extraordinary powers she has, he sees them as something of a blessing and something that she has to learn how to control,” Law says. “That’s a motif throughout the piece, the element of learning to control one’s emotions and to use your powers wisely.”
Photo Credit: Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios
The film also introduces one of Marvel comics’ nastiest and most notorious baddies: the Skrulls. Ben Mendelsohn plays their leader, Talos, seen here in all his bright-green glory. But he’s got another face, too…
Photo Credit: Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios
As any Marvel comics fan knows, the Skrulls are especially dangerous because of their unparalleled ability to shape-shift. On Earth, Mendelsohn’s Talos goes undercover as a human working within S.H.I.E.L.D. (seen here with directors Fleck and Boden). “It’s not easy being green,” Mendelsohn quips.
Photo Credit: Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios
MCU fans have met the Kree race before in Guardians of the Galaxy, and two familiar faces — Hounsou’s Korath and Lee Pace’s Ronan the Accuser — will appear in Captain Marvel. In Guardians, Ronan is an outcast with extremist views, but here, he’s still a high-ranking member of Kree society.
Photo Credit: Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios
Back on Earth, the 1990s are in full swing. Expect plenty of era-appropriate references — and fashion, judging by Carol’s Nine Inch Nails T-shirt.
Photo Credit: Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios
Captain Marvel marks Samuel L. Jackson’s ninth appearance as Nick Fury, but this Nick is a lowly S.H.I.E.L.D. desk jockey (who hasn’t yet met any superheroes). He’s younger than we’ve ever seen him (Jackson was digitally de-aged for the role), and perhaps most shocking of all, he’s missing his signature eyepatch.
Photo Credit: Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios
Even before she became Captain Marvel, Carol was an accomplished Air Force pilot, and Larson spent time with actual pilots for research.
Photo Credit: Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios
The film also introduces Lashana Lynch as Maria Rambeau, one of Carol’s oldest friends. She’s a top-notch Air Force pilot with the call sign “Photon,” and she’s also a single mother to a young daughter.
Photo Credit: Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios
Watch the first trailer for Captain Marvel:
MCU Key Release Dates:
Sources: Entertainment Weekly, ScreenRant, gadgets.ndtv, E News, Marvel and YouTube
