Yes, yes, we know that Phase 4 hasn't even started yet but it's time to have a think about Phase 5.
Following Marvel's show-stopping Comic-Con panel, Kevin Feige revealed that the studio had already planned out Phase Five: "We debated what we should announce today, should we announce four and five? We've planned them out, we've got five years down the road."
Given the sheer amount of detail in the Phase 4 announcement (which included Marvel TV shows for the first time), Feige was right to hold back on what Phase 5 would entail, but that doesn't mean we can't speculate.
So that's exactly what we're going to do.
When does Marvel Phase 5 start?
First things first, we have to assume that Phase 4 will only last around a year and a half and end with Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021, since that was the last release date announced at Comic-Con.
"It is the complete Phase 4 the way I announced the complete Phase 3 five years ago – things can move, things can change as they did if you go back and look at what we talked about five years ago for Phase 3, but we've been working on this for quite a while and it's pretty set. But there are always changes possible," Feige told Collider.
What to Read Next
That doesn't mean that Phase 4 won't be extended into 2022, but we'll assume for now that Thor: Love and Thunder will mark the end of Phase 4.
That means that the currently untitled Marvel movie set for release on February 18, 2022 will be the first Phase 5 movie with two other Marvel movies set to hit cinemas on May 6, 2022 and July 29, 2022.
But what will those movies be? We're glad you asked.
Which movies will be in Marvel Phase 5?
We can solve one of those release dates already. Black Panther 2 will be out on May 6, 2022 as confirmed by director Ryan Coogler at D23.
And it also seems likely that Ant-Man 3 will take the July 29, 2022 release date since it's planned to start filming in January 2021. But that's just an educated guess from us for now and not officially confirmed.
But what about the rest of Phase 5? Just when it appeared that Feige was finished with the announcements at Comic-Con, he confirmed that Marvel was working on a host of other movies, most of which won't come as a surprise.
Captain Marvel 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy 3 are both on the way, and given they don't have a release date, we can assume that they will form part of Phase 5, if it starts in 2022 as we expect.
What Feige did tell us about, though, was that they were working on a Fantastic Four reboot and something to do with "mutants", aka X-Men.
We can expect both of those offerings in Phase 5, but probably towards the end of Marvel's current five-year plan – so you could be looking at 2024 at the earliest.
And Feige still had one surprise up his sleeve at Comic-Con, unveiling that Mahershala Ali would star as Blade in a reboot, another Phase 5 treat for the fans.
As with Phase 4, there will be space in Phase 5 for Marvel's Disney+ shows, but whether it'll be new seasons of the likes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki or brand-new shows remains to be seen.
And there will be a Deadpool 3 if Ryan Reynolds gets his way.
Will there be a new Avengers team?
One thing you might have noticed missing from both the Phase 4 announcement and the expected Phase 5 slate is an Avengers movie.
Phase 1 had The Avengers (Avengers Assemble in the UK), Phase 2 had Avengers: Age of Ultron and Phase 3 had Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame but, so far, there's no similar team-up movie on the horizon.
That doesn't mean Marvel isn't working towards one, though, as Feige revealed that there will be a new team. "It will be a very different team than we've seen before. That's what Endgame was all about," he teased.
"It will be a very different incarnation of the team with some people you've already met and some people you haven't met yet."
Cryptic.
Our best bet at the moment is some form of Young Avengers in the MCU as Kate Bishop is confirmed to make her debut in the Hawkeye Disney+ series. Perhaps that movie is being kept off the radar as even revealing its name would be a spoiler.
Either way, we can be assured that our favourite superheroes (both old and new) will be facing a new threat in Phase 4 and beyond. It's possible that after Phase 4 has set the future for the MCU, Phase 5 will be the time for the new Big Bad to emerge.
We don't know what that villain could be yet, but we do know that we'll need Earth's mightiest heroes again – whatever form they take.
Disney+ Watch the MCU on Disney+
Abrams Books The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe by Tara Bennett and Paul Terry
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Disney/Marvel Studios Avengers: Endgame 4K Includes Bonus Disk [Blu-ray] [2019] [Region Free]
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Disney/Marvel Studios Avengers: 1-4 Complete Blu-ray Boxset Includes Bonus Disk [2019] [Region Free]
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Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
