Marvel Studios couldn’t fix 2020 — that was a losing preposition that not even Captain America, Thor, Black Panther, Iron Man and the gang could have saved — but its going to try and make 2021 and beyond a lot better.
Based off these reveals, Marvel Studios has no intention of giving up its top spot anytime soon on the film front and looks set to dominate the TV landscape next. Let’s start with all the Disney+ offerings. And there’s a slew of them.
WandaVision (Jan. 15) This is the one we know the “most” about, but this new trailer suggests not everything is right in Wanda and Vision’s sitcom-y world.
The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (Mar. 19) – Sam Wilson and Sebastian Stan try to deal with the void left in the absence of their best friend Steve Rogers.
Loki (May 2021) – Given a second chance at life, Loki navigates through time for a favorable realm to create mischief.
Date to be revealed:
Armor Wars – Don Cheadle is back as James Rhodes as War Machine is forced to deal with the fallout when Tony Stark’s tech falls into the wrong hands. Justin Hammer maybe?
Ironheart – Genius inventor Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) creates Ironheart, the most advanced suit of armor since Iron Man.
Ms. Marvel – Following the adventures of Kamala Khan, who was inspired by Carol Danvers. This is set for late 2021.
Secret Invasion – Nick Fury and Ben Mendelsohn team up to deal with an invasion from the Skrulls. I’m curious how this will play out and if we should expect a plethora of lower level and possibly dead characters (Phil Coulson? Quicksilver?) showing up to make Nick Fury and Talos suspicious of a pending Skrull invasion.
Hawkeye – Clint Barton teams with fellow archer Kate Bishop plated by Hailee Steinfeld.
She-Hulk – Tatiana Maslany plays Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk and will be joined by the returning Tim Roth as Abomination and Mark Ruffalo reprising his role as The Hulk.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special will see James Gunn return to the franchise he helped make famous as writer/director for this 2022 event.
I Am Groot will feature Baby Groot in a series of animated shorts with other characters and creatures from the Marvel Universe.
Moon Knight – no official news on casting or a release date.
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The film division may not be at the forefront, but a lot of big news came out of these announcements as well.
Black Widow is still locked in for a theatrical release May 7 followed by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on July 9. We’ll see if that still holds true as they get closer to their release dates.
The movie slate is not overflowing in 2021, but 2022 will be packed with four offerings.
Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness (March 25, 2022) Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor are joined by Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez. Directed by Sam Raimi, the film ties to WandaVision & the next Spider-Man film. (Note: there was no mention of the Sony/Marvel Studios collaboration).
Thor: Love and Thunder (May 6, 2022) Thor gets the Free Comic Book Day slot with Christian Bale joining Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Natalie Portman, Chris Pratt and more. Bale will be playing Gorr the God Butcher.
Black Panther 2 (July 8, 2022) In maybe the most knee jerk disappointing news, Marvel Studios announced Black Panther 2 won’t feature a recast Black Panther for the late Chadwick Boseman and instead focus on the world of Wakanda. A spin-off would have been fine, but calling the film Black Panther kinda promises something it won’t deliver…at least not yet.
Captain Marvel 2 (Nov. 11, 2022) Nia DaCosta directs the second installment of the series with Brie Larseon joined by Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel and Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau.
Date to be announced:
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania – Peyton Reed is back for the third Ant-Man film starring Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer. Newcomers to the cast include Kathryn Newton (Freaky) as Cassie Lang and Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror.
Blade – No new updates on the film starring Mahershala Ali.
And now for the big one — the Fantastic Four is officially back as Jon Watts, the Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home director, will be shifting to tackle Marvel’s First Family.
Based on the tone Watts captured with Spider-Man, he’s a perfect choice for this potentially massive assignment. Done correctly, the Fantastic Four could be just as entertaining and epic as the Avengers films.
