As Avengers: Endgame, which served as the end of the third MCU phase recently passed Avatar as the biggest movie ever in the box office, Marvel has turned to new projects that would keep the cash spring flowing.
These new set of projects should appeal to various societal and racial groups, which should rake in more money for the mouse house in this PC era. Ranging from higher influence for racial minorities in the movies, to strong women, down to the LGBTQ. They all hit the checklist for various groups. With these introduced, what remains is a question of how the storytelling would be delivered. Hit? and they should look forward to bigger box office records. Miss? just minor social media backlash while still making their money. WIN-WIN it is for the studio.
These new movies were announced at the SDCC, a convention where studios and creatives tease new projects and provide us with some kind of advance foreplay. The projects include both cinematic movies and series that would be released on the new streaming service, Disney+.
- Black Widow: May 1, 2020. Featuring Scarlett Johansson, David Harbour, amongst others.
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Fall 2020 (Disney Plus). This would feature Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan.
- The Eternals: Nov. 6, 2020. Featuring Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Brian Tyree Henry, Salma Hayek, Lia McHugh, Don Lee, and Angelina Jolie.
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: Feb. 12, 2021. Simu Liu and Awkwafina take the lead in this.
- WandaVision: Spring 2021 (Disney Plus). Featuring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany.
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: May 7, 2021. You should expect to see Benedict Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olson in this.
- Loki: Spring 2021 (Disney Plus). This features Tom Hiddleston as the mischief master.
- What If…? Summer 2021 (Disney Plus). Starring Jeffrey Wright and other MCU characters.
- Hawkeye: Fall 2021 (Disney Plus). Starring Jeremy Renner.
- Thor: Love and Thunder: Nov. 5, 2021. Featuring Natalie Portman, Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson.
Beyond 2021, we were also teased with the arrival of a Blade movie starring Mahershala Ali in the titular role, an X-men movie and a new Fantastic Four. Yes, you read that right. Fantastic Four comes to our screens again. Never forget: we are still getting sequels to Ant-Man, Black Panther, Captain Marvel and Guardians of the Galaxy. I am looking forward to Disney+ for some classics and whatever drains lesser cash from my pocket.
I envy Disney/Marvel for being able to bring such a talented number of faces together in their movies. I wonder how it is in the negotiation room. Do they just mention Disney or Marvel? Then they land the signature on the dotted lines just like that. For example, regarding the case of the Blade movie, Kevin Feige (Marvel’s fine boy president), announced that Mahershala Ali contacted studio after his Oscar win for Green Book, asking to play the role of Blade, which of course was jumped at. It is Mahershala (my black Keanu), an oscar winner ffs! Like this latest info isn’t big enough. We are still being teased to expect something bigger as this next phase only ‘acts as seeds’, as Mr. Feige called it for a ‘bigger’ next next phase. Just add a pipe to my pocket, you bastards!
Which of these projects are you most excited for?
Bis Bald!
