Marvel Studios: All The Major News From SDCC 2024

And that’s a wrap on the San Diego Comic-Con 2024 Marvel panel! Packed with cast appearances, big announcements, trailers, teases, title changes and some huge casting news. As well a significant chance in the direction of the MCU.

Here are some of the biggest announcements from Marvel at SDCC 2024.

Avengers: Secret Wars and Avengers: Doomsday

Both new Avengers movies will be directed by the Russo Brothers. The previously titled Avengers 5: The Kang Dynasty has been officially renamed Avengers: Doomsday scheduled for release May 2026, with Doctor Doom taking center stage as the primary antagonist. With Kang no longer in focus, this opens the door for one of Marvel’s most formidable supervillains to step in, along with potential appearances from other characters. This marks a significant change in Marvel’s future plans, but it’s an exciting development. Avengers: Secret Wars is scheduled for release on May 2027.

Kevin Feige has announced that the casts of Fantastic Four (Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach) , Thunderbolts (Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell) and Captain America: Brave New World will all be featured in the upcoming Avengers films.

Robert Downey Jr. is returning to Marvel cinematic universe as villain Doctor Doom

Courtesy of Michael Buckner

Perhaps the biggest and most delightfully shocking news to come out of Hall H was that Robert Downer Jr. would be returning to the MCU. The beloved hero Iron Man would now be playing on of Marvel’s most feared supervillains Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday. “New mask, same task,” he quipped on stage. The actor who kicked off the MCU would now be taking it to forward to the next chapter.

The Fantastic Four

Courtesy of Marvel Studios

The Fantastic Four film will now officially be titled The Fantastic Four – First Steps. The new title hints at Marvel Studios intentions for a long-term presence for the Fantastic Four in the MCU. The film is described as taking place in a “retro-future” version of the 1960s. Test footage featuring Ralph Ineson’s Galactus was also presented. This initial step could potentially lead to something much grander. Fantastic Four is set to kick off Marvel Phase 6. Pedro Pascal will play Reed Richards, with Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing, and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm. The rest of the cast includes Julia Garner as Silver Surfer and Ralph Ineson as Galactus, with Paul Walter Hauser, Natasha Lyonne, and John Malkovich in mystery roles. The Fantastic Four: First Steps begins filming on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. The film is currently scheduled for release on July 25, 2025.

Captain America: Brave New World

Courtesy of Marvel Studios

Ever since it was announced that Giancarlo Esposito would be starring in Captain America: Brave New World, his role was kept tightly under wraps, and no one has been able to guess it. So he could hardly believe it when he was given the go-ahead to reveal it by Kevin Feige on stage in Hall H. “There’s been a lot of going on about who I really am,” Esposito continued. “Can I say it? I am… Can I say it? I can say it! Wow, let’s finally unleash it… I am the King of the Serpent Society… I’m Seth Voelker… Sidewinder!” He revealed. Sidewinder, aka Seth Voelker, is the crafty leader of the Serpent Society. Known for his teleportation abilities and strategic brilliance, he is set to be a formidable adversary for Captain America. In the comics his most notable clashes have been with the likes of Scarlet Witch and Fantastic Four’s The Thing. Fans were treated to a clip from the movie which reveals they have found adamantium, this could lead to future involvements with the X-Men. Along with a new trailer which shows us Thaddeus Ross turning into Red Hulk in the White House.

Thunderbolts

Courtesy of Marvel Studios

Hall H was treated to a sneak peek of Marvel’s Thunderbolts with an exclusive trailer behind closed doors, and here’s the scoop. The footage shows Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) visiting Red Guardian’s (David Harbour) apartment, where she reveals that her only purpose in life is to kill. They then meet the rest of the Thunderbolts team—Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Wyatt Russell as John Walker, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster—and learn that they’ve all been assigned to the same perilous mission, raising questions about the purpose behind it. The Thunderbolts, a team of reformed villains or antiheroes, are recruited by the government for top-secret operations. Think of them as the Suicide Squad of the MCU. The film also stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Thunderbolts is set to arrive on the big screen on May 5, 2025.

No new announcements were made regarding TV shows like Agatha All Along or Daredevil: Born Again, but both are slated to be released later this year and early next year. Marvel’s latest triumph Deadpool & Wolverine, the year’s only Marvel release, is in cinemas now. Things are about to shift in the MCU, in a good way, so buckle up, because Marvel is looking to the future by embracing the past, and with the Russos at the helm, a new Captain America in the lead, another 2 movie team ups on the way, we are in for a very exciting phase of the MCU.