Marvel Studios did not disappoint during their Hall H presentation at San Diego Comic Con 2022! Marvel CCO Kevin Feige confirmed several release dates, announced several new projects, and officially named the Saga that is Phases 4-6 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe! Almost every single thing that I was hoping for and expecting happened during the presentation, except for one glaring omission, which I will get to here in a bit. First, let’s just get right into what we learned on Saturday night!
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BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER FIRST TRAILER AND FULL PANEL
Director Ryan Coogler joined Kevin Feige on stage with cast members that included Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Florence Kasumba, and Dominique Thorne. Tenoch Huerta was confirmed for the role of Namor the Submariner.
The trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (released on YouTube and elsewhere) was an emotional one, as evident by the reaction from the on-stage cast after it was shown in Hall H. The late Chadwick Boseman appropriately loomed large over the entire ordeal and this trailer boasted what appears to be a funeral for T’Challa (with everyone wearing white) as well as a majestic mural of T’Challa. It does not seem that the anyone involved are shying away from Chadwick’s loss, and this film is probably going to inspire a great deal of tears from viewers.
Aside from that, it looks like we are indeed getting Atlantis vs Wakanda, and that should make for some epic action and some remarkable visuals. It looks like we are getting a lot of water shots, which should be expected with Atlantis involved, and Ryan Coogler seems to have captured the look and spirit of the first film with vibrant colors amidst a raw grittiness and a ton of heart mixed in with a lot of action and some powerful performances! I am intrigued by the Mayan influences that seem to be a big part of this film and I think Namor is going to be a great (and long overdue) addition to the MCU.
We did not get to see who the new Black Panther is, but a new Black Panther was teased at the end of the trailer. I’m still guessing that it’s Shuri who will be donning the costume and taking over the mantle.
Anyway, I think this looks really good! Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will hit theaters on November 11, 2022.
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SHE-HULK: ATTORNEY AT LAW FINAL TRAILER AND PANEL
Kevin Feige was joined on-stage by showrunner Jessica Gao and star Tatiana Maslany, plus other members of the cast. A final trailer was shown to the fans in Hall H and released on YouTube and elsewhere.
I still have a lot of reservations going into this show, as once again, I’m just not sure it’s going to be my thing. Of course, I’m going to watch it and review it, but I don’t know, the tone feels kind of all over the place, and I’m sort of over the whole comedic Hulk thing. I want my monster back!
Rumors coming out of SDCC seem to suggest that could be in the works, but first, we’re getting this She-Hulk show. This trailer featured a lot of Jennifer Walters as She-Hulk. The CGI was greatly improved from the first trailer, but still hit-and-miss. As I theorized in my SDCC predictions post, this show looks like it is going to have a lot of goofiness and a lot of silliness, and we saw a fourth wall break in this trailer as well. Whether or not all of this comes together and works remains to be seen.
My favorite part of this trailer was at its end, and that was the appearance of Daredevil in his suit (and it is red and yellow). So, yes, Charlie Cox IS going to be in this show as Matt Murdock / Daredevil!
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law will be released on Disney+ on August 17, 2022.
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GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOLUME THREE PANEL AND FIRST LOOK (ONLY FOR HALL H)
James Gunn, Chris Pratt, Karen Gillen, Sean Gunn, Pom Klementieff, Will Poulter, and Maria Bakalova joined Kevin Feige on-stage. The cast were noticeably emotional in discussing this film, which means this is probably going to be another tearjerker. Also, James Gunn seemed very grateful to be back in Hall H and extremely excited about this film.
Maria Bakalova was confirmed to be voicing Cosmo the Spacedog in the film and Chukwudi Iwuji was introduced in full costume as The High Evolutionary.
Guardians of the Galaxy Volume Three will be released in theaters on May 5, 2023.
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MCU PHASE FIVE!!!
Kevin Feige confirmed that Phase four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will wrap-up at the end of the year. Feige noted that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever would conclude Phase Four, though we know that the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special will release in December. Maybe that will actually kickoff Phase Five, I don’t know, but discussing specifically what Kevin Feige announced and confirmed for 2023-2024, here’s what we have to look forward to:
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania confirmed for release on February 17, 2023.
M.O.D.O.K. is confirmed to be appearing in the film.
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Secret Invasion confirmed for release in the Spring of 2023 on Disney+. Cobie Smulders appeared to promote the series.
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Echo confirmed for the Summer of 2023 on Disney+.
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Loki: Season Two confirmed for the Summer of 2023 on Disney+.
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Ironheart confirmed for the Fall of 2023 on Disney+.
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Blade announced for November 3, 2023, in theaters.
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The renamed Agatha: Coven of Chaos announced for late-2023 / early-2024.
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Captain America: New World Order announced for May 3, 2024, in theaters.
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Daredevil: Born Again announced for Spring of 2024 on Disney+.
This will be an 18-episode show and will star Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio. Kevin Feige did utter the words “First Season” and the series does boast a new logo that is different from the logo used for the now former Netflix series. Born Again was a name that I suggested right here on this site earlier this year, so that’s really cool for me, and the fact that new logo and the absence of a “Season Four” title point to this being a character reboot with a new presentation in the MCU 616-Universe.
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Thunderbolts announced for July 26, 2024, in theaters.
This one took me by surprise, as I was expecting a Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings sequel to be announced, but this is an exciting project. Let the speculation begin as to who is going to be on this team, and let’s see if they will come together in Captain America: New World Order as I suggested in my prediction post.
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Speaking of surprises:
Fantastic Four announced for November 8, 2024. Fantastic Four will kick off Phase Six of the MCU! No new director was announced nor were any cast announcements made, but it’s nice to have an official date on the calendar, though I am a little disappointed that this movie is still over two years away.
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars announced for May 2, 2025, and November 7, 2025! Kevin Feige also named Phase 4-6 The Multiverse Saga!
I am still shocked that we got two 2025 announcements and that they are Avengers films! I think most of us have believed we were heading towards Secret Wars ever since Loki dropped last Summer, and the fact that this is being called The Multiverse Saga should thrill everyone that felt underwhelmed by Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness this year. We ARE going to get a Multiversal War and we ARE going to get some more big team-up films, and I expect we are going to get some of those desired cameos that we were hoping to see this past Spring! We just have to be patient.
Kevin Feige also announced dates for two more Phase Five films on February 14, 2025, and July 25, 2025.
Those movies were not named Saturday night. Several Disney+ slots for 2025 were also listed, but none of those projects were named either.
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FRIDAY
On Friday, Marvel Studios discussed their forthcoming animated projects. This was met with much less fanfare than Saturday’s Hall H presentation, but there were still some things to unpack.
I Am Groot Trailer
Baby Groot is adorable! If you agree with that sentiment, then you’re probably going to enjoy these shorts. Bradley Cooper was confirmed to be voicing Rocket in the series.
The first five shorts of I Am Groot will be released imminently on Disney+.
What If …? Season Two
This series is set to premier on Disney+ in early-2023. Neil Gaiman’s comic book series 1602 is getting an adaptation (just go read it, it’s amazing)! We’re going to see Steve Rogers as The Winter Soldier! And we’re getting more Captain Carter! A third season was also confirmed to be in development.
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Marvel Zombies
This series is coming in 2024. It is going to spin out of the What If … Zombies episode of What If …? Season 1, as a lot of us speculated that it might. However, unlike that episode, this spin-off series will be rated TV-MA. That suggests we’re going to get some crazy violence.
Spider-Man: Freshman Year
This series is coming in 2024 and will not feature Tom Holland in a reprisal of his MCU role as Peter Parker / Spider-Man. This series is being promoted as being MCU canon, but the inclusions of Norman and Harry Osborn and Doctor Octopus seem to suggest that it isn’t. I imagine it will be canon via the Multiverse, if anything, and sounds like a sort of What If …? deal akin to “What If Norman Osborn mentored Peter Parker instead of Tony Stark?” A Season Two titled Spider-Man: Sophomore Year was also confirmed to be in development and Charlie Cox was confirmed to be voicing Matt Murdock / Daredevil in the series.
X-Men ’97
This series will see Magneto leading The X-Men and will be a continuation of the 90’s’ X-Men: The Animated Series. Original characters Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Wolverine, Beast, Rogue, Gambit, and Jubilee will all return, with characters such as sunspot, Cable, and Nightcrawler joining the series.
X-Men ’97 will hit Disney+ in the Fall of 2023.
Interestingly, none of these animated series were referenced by Kevin Feige on Saturday night or shown alongside the other Phase Four, Phase Five, or Phase Six shows. That alone makes me wonder exactly how canon these projects are. What If …? was marketed as canon before and after its release, so I assume Season Two will be as well, but it’s hard to know for certain at this point, but it doesn’t seem like most of these series are going to be canon to the 616-Universe. Of course, this is The Multiverse Saga, so, again, maybe these shows do take place in Alternate Universes, and perhaps we will see some of these characters in Secret Wars, be they animated or live-action appearances. Time will tell.
NO DEADPOOL
The big MISS for me in terms of what I wanted and predicted at SDCC 2022 was Deadpool. I hoped to see Ryan Reynolds in-costume and had Deadpool penciled-in for the previously announced February 16, 2024, release slot. Well, that slot was not acknowledged by Kevin Feige at all, so it has either been removed from the schedule, or Marvel Studios is saving their Deadpool announcement for D23 in September. We are only around six-weeks away from D23 and we knew Marvel Studios would save some things for that presentation, so, though I’m disappointed, I still believe Deadpool is coming to the MCU and that we are going to get this film eventually. Hopefully, it’s before 2025, but that unannounced February 14, 2025, slot could be Deadpool’s for the taking of February-2024 has in fact been taken off the table.
OTHER NEWS COMING OUT OF THE CON
There was also no mention of either the Disney+ Halloween Special nor the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. I assume these will be promoted at either D23 or for Disney+ Day.
On top of that, there was no mention of the previously announced Armor Wars Disney+ series. Has that series been scrapped? I’m not sure, but I do wonder if maybe Ironheart is going to be used to tell the story that the Marvel Studios team wanted to tell there?
Overall, I’m over the moon concerning everything that we learned and all of the announcements that were made! It’s been fun to get caught up in all of the hype and speculation over the course of the weekend and to get this little part of normal back in my life!
Now, all eyes of Disney+ Day (September 8, 2022), and D23 (September 9-11, 2022).
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