The Multiverse Saga is Here – Marvel Confirms Slate for Phase 5 and 6 of the MCU.

On Saturday July 23, 2022, Marvel Studios held their panel at San-Diego Comicon, and while many fans had suspected the next era of the MCU would be tackle the multiverse, what wasn’t expected was the majority of the projects taking place within Phase 5 and 6, including 2 Avengers films scheduled for 2025.

First and foremost, a new trailer for She-Hulk, and the first trailer for Black Panther : Wakanda Forever, were shown off.  While She-Hulk showed off more of the comedy aspects of the series, including more of its forth-wall breaking humor, the trailer for the upcoming conclusion of Phase 4 was more vague.  Many were wondering how a sequel would work following the passing of Chadwick Boseman, and how the film would address the absence of T’Challa.  Thanks to the trailer, as well as an official premise, it’s now known that many of the characters, and Wakanda at large, are trying to come to terms with the death of the King of Wakanda, while also facing off against the upcoming ocean threat of Namor.  The trailer ends with a tease of the next Black Panther, although it’s uncertain of who will take responsibility for the role.

Moving onto Phase 5, the confirmed projects of the consist of the films; Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Marvels, Blade, Captain America: New World Order, with Thunderbolts concluding the film line up.  Meanwhile, the shows to come out in this phase consist of; What if…? season 2, Secret Invasion, Echo, Loki season 2, Ironheart, Agatha: Coven of Chaos, and finally Daredevil: Born Again.  This phase looks to have many key events happen throughout the MCU, with the first encounter of Kang the Conquerer in the third Ant-Man film, following the appearance of the original varient of the character towards the end of Loki’s first season.  Kang himself has been hyped up by Marvel Studios as the next bit cross-movie villain, similar to Thanos from the Infinity Saga.  In addition, concluding this Phase will be the formation of the Thunderbolts, a superhero team usually consisting of anti-heroes or former villains.  This is something that has been teased since Falcon and the Winter Soldier, as Baron Zemo is typically a leader of the team in the comics, and with Countess Valentine seemingly recruiting John Walker(U.S. Agent) and Yelena Belova, many are left wondering who else will join this psuedo-Avenger team.

Courtesy of Marvel Studios

Yet the announcements which caused the biggest waves, were the preview of what to expect of Phase 6, which is set to conclude the Multiverse Saga.  While Kevin Feigi hinted that there would be more in the final phase of the Multiverse Saga; officially the phase seems set to start with Fantastic Four(although it is uncertain if John Krasinski will return as Mr. Fantastic).  Yet afterwards, Phase 6 will conclude with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, and the highly anticipated Avengers: Secret Wars.  In much the same respect as Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame, Kang will be built up as the major antagonist for the these final two films, yet one of the biggest draws of this saga thus far has been the idea of seeing non-MCU characters appearing in the film series; such as Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield appearing as their respective Spider-Men in the third Tom Holland film, or Patrick Stewarts return as a varient of Professor X in Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.  This leaves many wondering, who would potentially be appearing in what is shaping up to be a great, multiversal crossover between Marvel series, both within, and outside of the MCU.

Courtesy of Marvel Studios

This also begs the question, how will Sony’s Spider-Man Universe tie into this?  While it’s known that a fourth Tom Holland Spider-Man film is planned, it’s currently uncertain which phase it will take place in.  In addition, it’s also unknown how much crossover will occur between the two franchises.  Well known to the general audience is the fact that Tom Hardy’s Venom was zapped into the MCU at the end of Venom: Let there be Carnage, only to show up for a short post-credit cameo in No Way Home, just to leave behind a portion of the Venom symbiote to set up Tom Holland’s eventual encounter with the iconic villain.  Not as well known, however, is after the end of the latter movie, Dr. Strange’s spell somehow sends Adrian Tommes, aka the Vulture, villain of Spider-Man: Homecoming, into Sony’s film universe, where he eventually encounters Dr. Morbius, hinting at a possible Sinister Six film.  Whether or not these characters will also find themselves in Secret Wars, it’s uncertain, though given the huge success both studios have found in their call-and-response approach, it maybe likely that Marvel Studios and Sony would both benefit both studios; Sony gets to have a taste of that MCU money, while Marvel Studios gets to utilize Spider-Man as a key part of the story moving forward.

While many were initially hesitant about the MCU moving forward after Avengers: Endgame, excitement has clearly picked up again following these announcements, and discussion will likely continue for the next few years as to what to expect from this saga of madness.