If you thought the awesome trailers and news released over the summer at DC FanDome was cool, here comes Disney Investor Day to blow that out of the water, and right at a time when people are paying really close attention to streaming services like Disney+ …and boy oh boy are they getting some great additions. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige made some major announcements today at the Investor Day, and we’ve done our best to sum them up below. First up, new original series from Marvel…
WANDAVISION got a brand new trailer (which you can see here), bringing back Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch and Paul Bettany as The Vision from the AVENGERS movies. This should be interesting to see how they bring Vision back to life, and there’s already a lot of possibilities within this show to use other Marvel characters.
THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER also got a new trailer (which you can see here) that brings back Anthony Mackie as Falcon and Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, and hits the streaming service in March of 2021.
LOKI is a series many have been curious about (see a preview here), and a story that started in AVENGERS: ENDGAME utilizing a time-traveling element. If you recall, Loki died in AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, but since this Loki is a past version of the character, we’ll get to see one of his past adventures. Owen Wilson also stars in the series that hits in May 2021.
WHAT IF…? is a particularly intriguing series (see a preview here), an animated anthology show that’s led by a character known as The Watcher. The show will give us alternate stories with popular Marvel characters (like Peggy Carter becoming Captain America, or T’Challa becoming Star-Lord), and will feature the voices of the actual stars who played those characters. Chadwick Boseman recorded his voice for this show, so technically we’ll at least hear him as T’Challa one last time, even if it’s not playing The Black Panther.
MS. MARVEL was another series teased, featuring a popular young superhero from the Marvel universe. Since the show just recently went into production, the show got a sizzle reel rather than a trailer. It will be late 2021 before we get this series on Disney+, but expect to see more on it soon.
HAWKEYE is another show that’s very early in production, but now we now officially that in addition to Jeremy Renner returning as his AVENGERS character, we’ll also see Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop, a young archer being trained by the original Hawkeye. Other cast members will include Vera Farmiga, Fra Free, and Alaqua Cox – hits late in 2021.
SHE-HULK – it was previously announced by several rumor sites that ORPHAN BLACK star Tatiana Maslany would be playing the popular Marvel heroine, but Maslany actually denied it! Well, now it’s official, she will absolutely be playing Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk. Feige also teased that both Mark Ruffalo would appear in some capacity as Hulk and Tim Roth would reprise his role as The Abomination from THE INCREDIBLE HULK movie.
MOON KNIGHT is on the list, and supposedly in pre-production, but not much was said about it at the summit. At the moment rumors of Oscar Isaac playing the title role have circulated, but no official confirmation has been giving.
SECRET INVASION plays off a popular Marvel storyline, and brings back elements from CAPTAIN MARVEL, in particular Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Ben Mendelsohn as one of the “good” Skrulls… or is he? I’m curious how this will be serialized for a show, but the story in the comics was a definite hit.
IRONHEART introduces Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams, a teenage genius who builds her own Iron Man-like armor and follows in Tony Stark’s footsteps. This will likely be multiple years away, but should help back issues of her comic books see a boost in value.
ARMOR WARS – now we’re talking. I’ve long said when the Iron Man story wraps up, it would be cool to see James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) and War Machine get the spotlight a bit. This show actually plays off another popular Marvel comic book storyline, in which the Stark tech falls into the hands of the bad guys, and War Machine must save the day.
And wrapping up the TV-like announcements, we’ll apparently also be getting a GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY “Holiday Special”, written and directed by James Gunn, which will compliment GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Vol. 3 in theaters. This is very obviously a loving nod to the infamous STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL George Lucas released after the popularity of the original STAR WARS. Gunn’s special will be shown during the 2022 holidays. It’s also said we’ll be getting some shorts featuring the lovable Groot, using the “I AM GROOT” title.
SHANG CHI AND THE TEN RINGS – this movie is actually done, just delayed, and brings the popular Asian superhero to theaters and officially begins the “Phase 4” of the Marvel movie universe on July 9, 2021.
CAPTAIN MARVEL 2 -perhaps the first big Marvel movie to cross over with the Disney+ series in a big way, as it’s said to feature both Ms. Marvel and WANDAVISION’s Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris). Brie Larson is expected to return as the title character.
ETERNALS – the cosmic epic starring Angelina Jolie and Kumail Nanjiani it’s pretty much done, we think, but like every movie out there has been delayed thanks to Coronavirus, and is opening November 5, 2021.
DOCTOR STRANGE AND THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS – perhaps my favorite Marvel movie title so far, director Sam Raimi helms this sequel than brings back Benedict Cumberbatch as the title character, ties in with WANDAVISION and the next SPIDER-MAN movie as well, and introduces Marvel heroine America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez). Expect this one in theaters in March of 2022.
THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER – Taika Waititi is returning to the director chair, and about to begin filming next month. Chris Hemsworth is back as Thor, Natalie Portman is back as Jane Foster (who becomes Thor in this film, likely on a temporary basis), and they finally revealed Christian Bale is playing the villainous Gorr the God Butcher in the movie. Expect to see this one on May 6, 2022.
BLADE – Mahershala Ali takes on the role of the bad-ass vampire hunter. It’s coming, but right now that’s all we know.
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA – another Phase 4 film that should be exciting, bringing back Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly are back, and Michelle Pfeiffer is said to return as well. Kathryn Newton will be starring as Cassie Lang, and Jonathan Majors plays Kang the Conqueror.
BLACK PANTHER II? – right now the only information given is Kevin Feige stating that Chadwick Boseman’s portrayal of T’Challa is one that will not be replaced or rather recast. The sequel is said to explore the world of Wakanda and the rich characters introduced in the first film, so perhaps more with Shuri and M’Baku? More Okoye? I love these characters, but it’s going to be weird without Boseman in there somewhere.
FANTASTIC FOUR! – one of the most exciting announcements was a new FANTASTIC 4 movie reboot on the way from director Jon Watts (SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING), written by Michael McCullers (THE BOSS BABY) and Shane McGoey. This will be the third time Marvel has attempted to bring their first superhero family to the big screen, or fourth if you count the unreleased Roger Corman effort. The first time in 2005 gave us two films that many thoughts were “just okay”, and a 2015 effort that was more like a horror movie than superhero fare… and didn’t do well. Oddly enough both times featured actors who would go on to start in more successful Marvel Studios movies – Chris Evans played Johnny Storm before playing Captain America, and Michael B. Jordan played Johnny Storm before playing “Killmonger” in BLACK PANTHER.
If you have not yer subscribed to Disney+, I would suggest you get on that, as with all the announcements made today, it’s very likely their subscription prices are going to rise. Tell us what you think of these announcements in the comments below.
Born and raised in Dallas, Mark has been a movie critic since 1994, with reviews featured in print, radio and National TV. In 2001 he started the Entertainment section of the Herorealm website, where he contributed film reviews and celebrity interviews until 2004. After three years of service there, he started Bigfanboy.com, which has become one of the Dallas film community's leading information websites. Bigfanboy hosts several movie screenings in the Texas area, and works closely with film and TV studios and promotional partners to host exciting events and contests. The site also features a variety of rare celebrity and filmmaker interviews, and Bigfanboy.com regularly covers the film festival circuit as well. In addition to Hollywood reporting, Mark has worked for many years as an advertising and sci-fi/comic book artist. Clients have included Lucasfilm Ltd., Topps Trading Cards, The Dallas Mavericks and The Dallas Stars. From 2002 until 2015 he managed the Dallas Comic Con, Sci-Fi Expo and Fan Days events in the DFW area. He currently catalogs rare comic books and movie memorabilia for Heritage Auctions, and runs the Dallas Comic Show conventions, but remains an avid moviegoer and cinema buff. 
