Sabina Pedido
The Marvel franchise has built a monopoly on superhero entertainment since the mid 2000s. Starting in movies with the first, and very successful “Iron Man” in 2008, Marvel has only continued to grow since. Their expansion to TV shows in Disney+ began with “WandaVision” (2021) and have widened the franchise’s reach since.
To organize these projects, such as movies and shows, Marvel has a system called the Phases. The projects in a phase are released within a few years next to each other and typically share a story arc. After only a year and a half, Marvel has reported their plans to close Phase Four (which includes shows on Disney+) with the highly anticipated “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”.
Meanwhile, the announcement of Phase Five and Six came during the summer, at San Diego’s very own Comic Con, which shook the internet for the following days. While some felt the timeline of the projects being released were too short, others were simply excited for more entertainment, like the latest installment from the Ant-Man movie series.
Phase Five-which will spotlight the stories of familiar side characters while exploring the multiverse-returns to its roots and opens up with a film, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”. In the new film scheduled to release on February 17th, 2023, Scott Lang, (played by Paul Rudd) returns to his superhero roots with Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and her parents to explore the Quantum Realm.
Next to release is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, potentially the final movie in the trilogy. Much like how fans get a sneak peek of Lang’s life because of “Ms. Marvel”, fans also have a small idea of how the characters in “Guardians of the Galaxy” are currently living their lives after the Blip thanks to “Thor: Love and Thunder”.
Peter, Nebula, Drax, Rocket, Groot, and Mantis are shown to be flying from planet to planet to help protect the worlds against any potential threat. Noticeably without Gamora, (played by Zoe Saldana) fans are wondering where she went after “Avengers: Endgame”. However, a fan-leaked video from Comic Con shows that Gamora has now become the new leader of the Ravagers. Therefore, while not much is known about the upcoming film’s plot, die hard fans are already excited for the drama set to ensue.
Two more movies, “The Marvels” and “Blade”, are also set to release in 2023. Meanwhile in 2024, “Captain America: New World Order” and “Thunderbolts” will be released.
In terms of Disney+ Originals, central figure Nick Fury (played by prolific actor Samuel L. Jackson) will star in the new show “Secret Invasion”. There is no specific release date as of now, but the comics that the show is adapted from hint at the plot. “Secret Invasion” is centered around Skrulls, a race of shapeshifting, reptilian humanoids taking on the identity of superheroes over a long period of time.
Nick Fury isn’t the only returning character getting their own show. Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox), the main antagonist from “Hawkeye”, will star in upcoming show “Echo” as will Agatha Harkness, (played by Kathryn Hahn) in “Agatha: Coven of Chaos”. Other shows to be on the lookout for are “Loki” season two, “Ironheart”, and “Daredevil: Born Again”.
