Ever since the release of Iron Man in 2008, the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) has been a dominant force in modern pop culture. From its humble beginnings, the brand has grown from strength to strength, first with successful sequels like Iron Man 2, then with team up movies like The Avengers, then with crossover events such as Infinity War and Endgame.
Marvel Studios has also widened its scope expanding into the universe with Guardians of the Galaxy, across time with Captain Marvel, into the Quantum Realm with Ant-Man, and now the multiverse with Loki, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Doctor Strange 2.
Read more: Actors with the most MCU appearances
The MCU has also conquered the small screen too with the first canon TV series hitting Disney+ in 2021, so as the brand keeps on growing, we take a look at all the upcoming adventures planned in the Marvel realm.
Disney+: She-Hulk: Attorney At Law (From 17 August, 2022)
Directed by Kat Coiro (Episodes 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9) and Anu Valia (Episodes 5, 6, 7) with Jessica Gao as head writer, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law follows Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) as she navigates the complicated life of a single, 30-something attorney who also happens to be a green 6-foot-7-inch superpowered hulk.
Charlie Cox’s Daredevil will also appear.
Watch the She-Hulk trailer below
The nine-episode series welcomes a host of MCU vets, including Mark Ruffalo as Smart Hulk, Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky/the Abomination, and Benedict Wong as Wong.
The cast also includes Ginger Gonzaga, Josh Segarra, Jameela Jamil, Jon Bass and Renée Elise Goldsberry.
Disney+: Werewolf By Night (7 October, 2022)
Composer Michael Giacchino has directing his Halloween special which is scheduled to be released on Disney+ 7 October, and was described by Kevin Feige at D23 as being ‘fun-scary’.
Gael García Bernal stars as Jack Russell, and Laura Donnelly will also appear in the black and white special which will also introduce Man-Thing to the MCU. You can watch the trailer here.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (11 November, 2022)
After Black Panther smashed box office records as the second-highest grossing film of 2018 with over $1.3billion, the sequel is nearly upon us. Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige announced that Wakanda Forever would serve as the final chapter of Phase Four of the MCU.
Watch the first Black Panther: Wakanda Forever teaser below:
The film will not star the late Chadwick Boseman who died from cancer in 2020. Lupita Nyong’o returns as Nakia, Daniel Kaluuya as W’Kabi and Letitta Wright as Shuri.
Here’s the synopsis: “In Marvel Studios’ ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,’ Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba), fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death.
“As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda.”
Disney+: The Guardians of The Galaxy: Holiday Special (Christmas 2022)
The Guardians of the Galaxy crew return for a festive edition of the hit galactic crew this Christmas. Chris Pratt returns as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Bradley Cooper as Rocket and Vin Diesel as Groot.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (17 February, 2023)
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is the third instalment in the Ant-Man series which sees Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man and Evangeline Lilly reprising the role as Hope van Dyne/Wasp.
Directed by the returning Peyton Reed, the movie will also see the return of two-time Academy Award winner Michael Douglas and three-time Academy Award nominee Michelle Pfeiffer, as well as Kathryn Newton as Scott’s daughter Cassie.
They’ll all face off with Jonathan Majors’ Kang The Conqueror, first introduced in Loki on Disney+, with classic villain MODOK also set to appear.
The audience at D23 was treated to an exclusive look at the film that features Super Hero partners Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne, who team up with Hope’s parents, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), and Scott’s daughter, Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), to explore the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that will push them beyond the limits of what they thought was possible.
Disney+: Secret Invasion (Spring 2023)
Secret Invasion centres around Fury and Talos trying to stop the Skrulls, an alien race who have infiltrated the highest spheres of the Marvel Universe. The cast includes Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Ben Mendelsohn as the Skrull Talos—plus Olivia Colman, Emilia Clarke and Kingsley Ben-Adir.
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At D23 fans were shown a scene and the brand-new trailer (above) from the event series that showcases a faction of shapeshifting Skrulls who have been infiltrating Earth for years.
What If… S2 Disney+ (Early 2023)
The MCU’s first animated show returns for another series of hypothetical stories that explore alternate realities created when the timeline branches off in another direction. A trailer shown at SDCC showed many classic characters returning, as well as a glimpse of Marvel 1602, a Neil Gaiman-penned story set in the 17th century.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3 (5 May, 2023)
James Gunn returns to direct the third movie in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, which recently wrapped production.
Once again the movie is littered with an array of Hollywood A-listers including Chris Pratt who returns as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax, and Bradley Cooper as Rocket. It’s rumoured to be the final outing for this incarnation of the team.
Will Poulter will join the MCU as fan favourite character Adam Warlock, who has already been teased in the movies several times. Borat 2 star Maria Bakalova will play Cosmo the Space Dog. Yes, really.
“I couldn’t be more honored to join the MCU,” she told Comic Con. “I feel like I’m doing something meaningful and hopeful and I hope you love Cosmo because she’s gonna bring lots of laughs and love and a bit of strength.”
Disney+: Echo (Summer 2023)
Echo will follow Maya Lopez/Echo, the deaf Native American adopted niece of Kingpin (crime lord in New York) detailing her life as the leader of the Tracksuit Mafia, a criminal organisation based in New York.
Alaqua Cox once again reprises the role of Maya Lopez, and Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin and Charlie Cox as Daredevil are also rumoured to appear.
Devery Jacobs will also be joining the team although it is in an undisclosed role.
Audience members at D23 were treated to a special look at the upcoming series that also stars Tantoo Cardinal and Zahn McClarnon.
The Marvels (28 July, 2023)
The Marvels is the official title for Captain Marvel 2, which will see Brie Larsson reprise the role of former Air Force pilot Carol Danvers.
Samuel L Jackson returns as Nick Fury with Iman Vellani as Ms Marvel and Teyonah Harris as Monica Rambeau joining the team. The movie has swapped release dates with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which was initially meant to be released on 28 July 2023, however with the movie being ahead scheduled and The Marvels experiencing delays the changed was made.
Disney+: Loki S2 (Summer 2023)
Following the huge success of the first season of Loki on Disney+, the thought of another season is sure to please Marvel fans around the world. It is hard to judge when the new season will be released however filming is now underway, and will picks up in the aftermath of the shocking season finale when Loki finds himself in a battle for the soul of the Time Variance Authority.
What we do know however is that Tom Hiddleston will reprise the role of Loki, Owen Wilson as Agent Mobius and Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ravonna Renslayer. Ke Huy Quan has also joined the cast for the second season.
Disney+: Ironheart (Autumn 2023)
The new television series stars Dominique Thorne as super genius Riri WIlliams, who has created the most advanced suit of armour since Iron Man.
Sam Bailey and Angela Barnes have been hired as directors, with Ryan Coogler on the producing team. Ironheart will make her MCU debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
The synopsis explains: “Dominique Thorne returns as Riri Williams, a young, genius inventor determined to make her mark on the world. Her unique take on building iron suits is both brilliant and flawed, and Ironheart delves into the dynamics of tech versus magic.”
Feige invited Anthony Ramos to the D23 stage to greet fans and share a little about his character, Parker Robbins aka The Hood.
The new series is slated for Disney+ next year.
Disney+: X-Men ’97 (Autumn 2023)
Not much has been revealed about the upcoming animated television series, X-Men ’97 but the show is a continuation of the beloved 1992 X-Men animated show with Beau DeMayo writing and producing the show.
The programme is expected be released in 2023.
The Blade (3 November, 2023)
Having made his first appearance as part of the MCU in The Eternals, two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali will headline his own movie as Blade, the vampire hunting bloodsucker previously played by Wesley Snipes.
Written by Watchmen’s Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Blade recently lost its director Bassam Tariq at the eleventh hour, throwing the production into last minute turmoil. “Due to continued shifts in our production schedule, Bassam is no longer moving forward as director of Blade but will remain an executive producer on the film,” Marvel said in a statement. “We appreciate Bassam’s talent and all the work he’s done getting Blade to where it is.”
Tariq also put out his own statement: “It’s been an honour working with the wonderful folks at Marvel.
“We were able to put together a killer cast and crew. Eager to see where the next director takes the film.”
Disney+: Wonder Man (TBA)
This MCU series will focus on the Marvel character Simon Williams (yet to be cast) who — in the comics — is the son of a wealthy industrialist who falls on hard times due to the growth of Stark Industries. In the show, he’s said to be an actor and stuntman.
Williams is imbued with ionic superpowers by Baron Zemo (Falcon and The Winter Soldier’s Daniel Bruhl) becoming an antagonist of The Avengers, before later joining their ranks. Reports suggest the show will be a Hollywood satire, with Sir Ben Kingsley’s Iron Man 3 character Trevor Slattery set to appear.
Disney+: Agatha: Coven of Chaos (TBA)
Agatha: House of Darkness is a WandaVision spinoff which sees Kathryn Hahn reprise the role of Agatha Harkness.
This is the second Marvel character from a Disney+ show to have to star in a spinoff after Echo from Hawkeye. Jac Schaeffer (WandaVision) is on board the series as writer/exec producer.
Disney+: Daredevil: Born Again (Spring 2024)
Daredevil is being revived at Disney+ after Charlie Cox returned as Matt Murdock in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Vincent D’Onofrio reprised Kingpin in Hawkeye.
A report by Variety in May, 2022 Covert Affairs co-creators Matt Corman and Chris Ord are attached to write and executive produce a new series of the Hells Kitchen-based superhero show. The move follows the cancellation of Daredevil by Netflix, when the streaming service relinquished the rights to the character to Disney.
The show, along with the other Netflix Marvel series, arrived on Disney+ in March, 2022.
The new 18-episode series will be released in Spring 2024, but not before Cox returns as Daredevil in She-Hulk.
Captain America: New World Order (3 Mar, 2024)
Anthony Mackie will reprise his role as Sam Wilson but in the new role as Captain America replacing the outgoing Chris Evans.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier head writer Malcolm Spellman will write the screenplay for the fourth Captain America film, along with Dalan Musson.
Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson/Captain America), Danny Ramirez (Joaquin Torres) and Carl Lumbly (Isaiah Bradley), all return to join Tim Blake Nelson (The Leader) as well as Shira Haas (Sabra).
Thunderbolts (26 July, 2024)
Marvel enters the supervillain team up genre with this highly secretive MCU project that will mark the final chapter of Phase 5 of the MCU.
Jake Schreier (Robot and Frank, Paper Towns) will direct from a script by Black Widow’s Eric Pearson.
In the comics the Thunderbolts were a team of heroes that were formed after the death of the Avengers, but who turned out to be acting as villains. Members have included Baron Zemo, Yelena Belova, Ghost, Abomination, John Walker and Taskmaster.
The movie team will comprise of Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Valentina Allegra de Fontaine), David Harbour (Red Guardian), Hannah John-Kamen (Ghost), Sebastian Stan (James “Bucky” Barnes/The Winter Soldier) and Wyatt Russell (John Walker/U.S. Agent). The esteemed team also features Black Widow’s Olga Kurylenko (Taskmaster) and Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova).
Deadpool 3 (6 September, 2024)
Hugh Jackman will return as Wolverine for the third Deadpool film opposite Ryan Reynolds in the title role. Shawn Levy will be the director of Deadpool 3 although dates for production and the release date are yet to be finalised.
The second Deadpool sequel has suffered many setbacks since the release of Deadpool 2 in 2018 following complications with Disney’s takeover of 20th Century Fox, which distributed the first two movies. This movie will mark Deadpool and Wolverine’s arrival in the MCU.
Fantastic Four (8 November, 2024)
The Fantastic Four will make their long-awaited MCU debut November 2024 as the first entry in Phase 6 of the MCU. The movie recently lost its director when Jon Watts quit the movie to work on his upcoming Star Wars series. WandaVision’s Matt Shakman will direct.
Reed Richards, Susan Storm, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm make up the team, and while John Krasinski recently cameoed as Reed in Doctor Strange 2, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll return for this third movie incarnation of Marvel’s most beloved super-family.
Disney+: Spider-Man: Freshman Year (2024)
Spider-Man: Freshman Year is an upcoming animated television series which is a prequel to Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming.
The voice of Peter Parker/Spider-Man is yet to be announced however Jeff Trammell is to write and executive produce the show.
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (2 May, 2025)
After being absent from our screens since the record-breaking Avengers: Endgame in 2019, the Avengers will reunite to face Kang in the first of a two-part finale for Phase 6 of the MCU.
Avengers: Secret Wars (7 November, 2025)
Releasing seven months after The Kang Dynasty, Secret Wars will be the epic conclusion to Phase 6 of the MCU, and with it the Phases 4-5-6 arch known as The Multiverse Saga.
In the comics, the Secret Wars centered around multiversal battle between all of Marvel’s beloved characters,
Shang-Chi 2 (TBA)
Simu Liu will reprise the role of Xu Shang-Chi in Destin Daniel Cretton’s Shang-Chi 2. With the deal only being signed in December 2021, production has still not been announced so it is hard to determine when the sequel will be shot and subsequently released.
X-Men (TBA)
Like Deadpool and Fantastic Four, an X-Men-centric movie will also be part of the MCU following Disney’s purchase of 20th Century Fox.
With the cast and director yet to be announced and Phase Four movies already slotted in for the coming years it seems a release date is still some years away.
Disney+: Armor Wars (TBA)
Don Cheadle is set to reprise the role as James Rhodes/War Machine in the upcoming television series Armor Wars, set after the events of Secret Invasion.
A release date is yet to be announced although production is expected to take place later this year.
“Armor Wars will be different and I think it’s going to be pretty unique,” Cheadle told Yahoo in 2021.
“We’re breaking the story now in the writers’ room and figuring out what direction it’s gonna take, but I think people are going to be very surprised at where we’re gonna go with this, for sure.”
Disney+: Untitled Wakanda series (TBA)
Following the box-office hit, Blank Panther, with the sequel already in production, director Ryan Coogler has announced that a television series is also on the way.
The cast is yet to be announced so it seems like the series is still some years away.
Disney+: Marvel Zombies (TBA)
Marvel Zombies is an upcoming animated television series, which is a spin-off of What If…?. She-Hulk’s Zeb Wells is set to write and executive produce the series.
No further announcements have been made in terms of cast and production.
