Marvel Phase 5: Everything We Currently Know About Upcoming MCU Films & Series

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With how close the MCU keeps secrets to their chest, we’re desperate to get any and all updates that we can about Marvel Phase 5!

Phase 4 has brought us not only incredible movies like Spider-Man: No Way Home but amazing Disney series as well. Disney+ has given us the opportunity to enjoy new Marvel releases more periodically than ever before.

But what do we have in store for Marvel Phase 5? Let’s speculate on what’s to come.

Kevin Feige Teases Upcoming Phase 5 Announcement

Marvel is well-known for keeping developments under wraps. Practically the only person who knows all that’s to come with Marvel Phase 5 is Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige. And while he hasn’t announced any specifics, we believe a formal announcement is on its way.

“As we’re nearing the end of Phase 4, I think people will start to see where this next saga is going,” Feige tells TotalFilm. “I think there have been many clues already, that are at least apparent to me, of where this whole saga is going.”

I mean… we would hope they’re apparent to Feige. Since he’s in charge.

He has yet to tell us when we’ll get more details. But we have a suspicion that his alleged attendance at either the San Diego Comic Con in a few weeks (July 2022) or D23 in September 2022 will come with hints on what’s to come.

One of the largest changes that Phase 4 brought was the inclusion of TV series into the main storyline. With the popularity of shows like WandaVision and Loki, we expect to see more shows on the horizon.

Marvel Phase 4 – As was originally announced.

The shows played an integral role in expanding Phase 4 and weren’t just bonus content. Without watching WandaVision, you’d miss a lot of context for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

This periodic dropping of more manageable-sized content allowed viewers to enjoy more Marvel over time. They didn’t have to wait for the next big movie to drop to reenter the MCU. We see this trend continuing as we move into Marvel Phase 5.

New Heroes

With a new phase comes new heroes. In Endgame, we watched the heroes we knew and loved pass on the gauntlet to the next generation. This passing was literal with transitions like Captain America handing over his shield to Falcon. But other transitions were more subtle.

Here are some of the new heroes we expect to see headlining the newest generation of the Avengers.

The Young Avengers

In Phase 4, we’ve seen new heroes rise to the occasion. Many of them are closer to Peter Parker’s age than Tony Stark’s.

We watched Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) shoot arrows alongside Clint Barton, becoming the next Hawkeye. Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) got her own show as she became Ms. Marvel. America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) entered as Ms. America in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Tommy and Billy Maximoff, Wanda’s children, entered the MCU in Wandavision. In the comics, they become Speed and Wiccan. Future Patriot Eli Bradley (Elijah Richardson) joined the crew on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Cassie Lang will become Stature.

The question isn’t if they will unite. Instead, the question is only when.

And furthermore, what evil force will require them to assemble?

New Villains

With Thanos gone, the role of the “Big Bad” in the MCU is wide open. With some critics citing this absence as a source of boredom in Thor: Love and Thunder, it’s up to the writers to give the heroes another enemy to rally against.

But who will it be?

Kang the Conqueror

The finale of Loki made it fairly clear that Kang the Conqueror was someone to be deeply feared. His character is so powerful that he had to stop himself from ripping the universe apart. And when Sylvie put an end to him, she unleashed hell.

With his ability to essentially unlock time, there are infinite realities of himself to fight.

We’ve already been promised that Jonathan Majors as Kang will appear in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. And it’s all but guaranteed he’ll rear his many heads again in Loki Season 2. He certainly has the potential to become the next big bad.

Thunderbolts / The Dark Avengers

The MCU might pull from the concept of the Thunderbolts, an idea that showed up in 1997 in the comics. When the Fantastic Four and Avengers seemed to be vaporized, Baron Zemo decided to fill the void. He took members of the Masters of Evil, gave them fake superhero identities, and sent them out into the world. The idea was to get the public to trust these heroes, thus allowing them to take over the earth.

However, some of the villains turned heroes decided they wanted to be heroes for real. They become a government-run team and essentially the parallel to DC’s Suicide Squad. The Dark Avengers was Norman Osborn’s idea to revive the Thunderbolts concept. He had villains like Venom pretending to be Spider-Man and Bullseye pretending to be Hawkeye.

Here are some characters that hint that this is where the MCU is heading:

Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) in both Black Widow and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
John Walker (Wyatt Russell) as US Agent in Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) in Black Widow, potentially suiting up as White Widow
Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) as the Abomination in Shang-Chi and She-Hulk

Marvel Phase 5: The Next Generation of Heroes

We’re excited to see what Marvel’s got up its sleeve for Marvel Phase 5. What characters will we see passing on the responsibility to the next generation of heroes? Will we get more Disney+ TV shows like Moon Knight? Which new characters will get their own movies? And when will the new legion of Avengers finally assemble?

We’ll keep you posted on any updates and release dates in the Marvel Cinematic Universe! But until then, tell us your theories in the comments! What is Marvel Studios up to next? What do you think should be next on the release calendar?