Here’s what to expect from Phase Five of the MCU
Marvel has expanded its boundaries, introduced a slew of fresh faces, and charted a path that figures to explore plenty of new territory
Film Features Steve Ditko
As the Marvel Cinematic Universe closes out Phase Four with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever—and with the TV one-off, The Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special, still to come before the month’s end—the current MCU evokes publishing forerunner Marvel Comics as the 1970s were winding down: more sprawling than ever, with a diverse array of characters, all interconnected to certain degrees, yet not quite as cohesive in its meta-narrative.
But that all seems prime for change as the Marvel heroes, and a few antiheroes, take their first steps into Phase Five.
In the first decade of the comic book Marvel Universe during the 1960s, creators Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and Roy Thomas revolutionized the industry with a flood of fresh, spectacularly powered characters saddled with down-to-Earth problems, neuroses, and anxieties. They used storytelling styles that broke every traditional mold, making for an epic period of discovery, which was later replicated to some extent when the MCU brought its top-tier characters to the big screen.
By the 1970s, Marvel was riding high on its laurels but not resting on them, pushing into new genres and trends—horror, martial arts, blacksploitation, feminism, underground comix styles, and more—and even quirkier new characters emerged. Everything was on the storytelling table, from the biting socio-political commentary of Steve Englehart’s Captain America to the cosmic questing of Jim Starlin’s Warlock to the empowered adventures of superheroines like Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, and Spider-Woman. And while any Marvel character could, and often did, show up in another hero’s storyline, the Marvel Universe didn’t seem quite as close-quartered and chummy as it did when most of the characters were superheroing in or near Manhattan.
The world had rightly gotten bigger, and better populated, but it wouldn’t be until the 1980s—after the ascent of the X-Men, which amped up the soap opera elements and tight-knit continuity of superhero storytelling, and the smash success of early crossover events like The Contest Of Champions and Secret Wars—that the Marvel Universe began to feel more cohesive than ever, with readers sensing that every new title was again part of a greater narrative mosaic.
New characters assemble
The MCU had already accomplished that sense of “must-see” cohesiveness in its build-up to Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, but in Phase Four, the focus has turned largely inward, especially with the advent of breakout TV series on Disney+ that introduced or reintroduced a small army of new characters and genre-samples.
All the while some of the MCU’s remaining leading lights—Spider-Man, Thor, Doctor Strange, and Loki—have been dropping breadcrumbs constituting the Multiverse Saga’s first act. As a result, the MCU has seemed decidedly bigger and broader than ever, but also—especially for fans hungering for a similar sense of drive that fueled Phase Three in particular—more splintered into self-contained fiefdoms than even its earliest pre-Avengers days.
But as Phase Five signals the beginning of the Multiverse Saga’s second act, expect a greater crossover cohesiveness as the MCU begins to assemble characters into intriguing configurations and reveal more of the stakes posed by the increasing bleed-over of alternate chronologies. Every announced Phase Five film and TV series to date spotlights characters the audience is already familiar with—even Blade and Daredevil, to a certain extent—so in most cases origin stories and explainers can be set aside in favor of advancing each protagonist’s place in the unfolding meta-story, even as we meet some new faces along the way.
The next big-screen arrival, Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, will likely go a long way toward uniting some of the multiversal elements introduced in Phase Four, specifically in terms of the saga’s presumed Big Bad, Kang the Conqueror, as played by Jonathan Majors: we’ve gotten a glimpse of one variant of Kang in Loki. This may not be the version that goes the distance, but certainly audiences will get a stronger sense of the stakes posed by the destabilizing multiverse and the big picture threat Kang(s) poses. Plus we’re getting a live-action Modok, Bill Murray as a mystery villain and The Good Place’s William Jackson Harper in an unspecified role. The second season of Loki will likely add even finer points to just where the Multiverse Saga is heading.
The Blip-aged Cassie Lang, now played by Kathryn Newton, will also play a key role in Quantumania, and it appears early on that, as in the comics, she’ll emerge as the size-changing Stature. Cassie is one of several youthful new superheroes now prominent in the ranks of the MCU, including Ms. Marvel, Ironheart, America Chavez, Hawkeye Kate Bishop, Thor’s foster daughter Love, maybe even a mystically powered Ned Leeds, and Wanda and Vision’s magically created twins.
Preparing for the Thunderbolts
Although Marvel has yet to formally announce a Young Avengers or Champions film, many of these characters have ties to one or both groups—as does a certain young variant of Kang, one that initially united the Young Avengers under the guise of Iron Lad (although a young variant of Loki might also make an intriguing uniter). It shouldn’t be surprising if more steps toward assembling a Gen Z Avengers-type team emerge in Phase Five or Six.
Speaking of super-teams, we already know the Thunderbolts are being assembled by the anti-Nick Fury, Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus)—now intriguingly revealed as the ex-wife of Black Panther’s Everett Ross (Martin Freeman). We also know the team makeup: Black Widow Yelena Belova, U.S. Agent John Walker, Red Guardian, Taskmaster, Ghost, and the Winter Soldier (and maybe some surprise additions, like the Hulk’s newly revealed son Skaar, or Thor’s impending nemesis Hercules, who both seem suited to the team’s Dark Avengers vibe?).
With the Winter Soldier leading them, some of the groundwork setting up Thunderbolts will likely be laid in Captain America: New World Order, which promises a return of general-turned-politico Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, to be played now by Harrison Ford, who will almost certainly have a role in the team’s deployment—and given their shared surname and connection to Val, possibly a familial tie to Everett Ross. Between Captain America and Secret Invasion, expect plenty of international intrigue ahead in the MCU, as a temporary story reprieve from the Multiversal Saga.
As it seems that the MCU might be poised to explore both Young Avengers and Dark Avengers-style teams, audiences may be wondering what that means for the team-up prospects for legacy Avengers like Thor, Hawkeye, War Machine, Hulk, Cap Sam Wilson, Ant-Man, and Spider-Man, among others. Nothing in Phase Five suggests a reunion is imminent. What’s intriguing is that Phase Four put several members of the comics’ very popular, early ’90s lineup of Avengers—including Hercules, Sersi, and the Black Knight—on the MCU table; as well as additional characters with comic book Avengers bona fides, like Shang-Chi, She-Hulk and whatever superhero name Monica Rambeau settles on.
With James Gunn about to depart to shape the future of an entirely different comic book universe, the events of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 could be the last hurrah for this particular assortment of characters, though some will likely soldier on elsewhere. But now that the Guardians have opened the spaceways to the cosmic corners of the MCU, there’s plenty to suggest that deeper explorations are on the way, thanks to toe-dips into the impending arrival of Adam Warlock. And recently seen allies like Pip the Troll and Thanos’ sibling, Starfox, promise that Warlock’s story—long viewed as one of Marvel Comics’ 1970s high points—will be arriving soon enough, likely tied into the next appearance of at least some of the Eternals.
An open door for Marvel horror
The supernatural side of the universe is also percolating on a number of fronts: with an MCU-retooled Blade coming and a strong reception to Werewolf By Night, the door to Marvel horror has been flung wide open, offering the promise of introductions to characters like Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, and maybe even—finally, fanboy speculators—Mephisto.
Another Marvel triumph from the ’70s—a rights-unentangled public domain character—The Tomb Of Dracula is also a possibility. Moon Knight and especially the forthcoming Agatha: Coven Of Chaos series are also ideally suited, with one foot planted in the mystic realm and one in the super-heroic realm, to help bridge the two, storywise. Wong’s increased—and always welcome—presence as the Sorcerer Supreme also bodes well for him to help build out the mystic side of Marvel—and let’s keep an eye out for Ned Leeds in the mix here, too.
There’s so much more to consider for Phase Five that will be revealed in due time: Will The Marvels and Secret Invasion expand the cosmic landscape of the Kree-Skrull conflict? Will Echo and Daredevil: Born Again revitalize a new urban street-level MCU? But perhaps the hottest burning question of the moment, one that Kevin Feige needs to seriously ponder, is exactly where, when, and with whom will Madisynn—you know the proper spelling by now—resurface in the MCU? It’s almost assuredly not where you thiiiiiiiiink…
142 Comments
Nah. Doesn’t feel like 70s Marvel at all, no sense of the inmates running the asylum, no endless procession of editors who also want to keep a hand in writing, no Vietnam vets and acidheads running amok. It’s a finely tuned, smoothly-running Hollywood machine.
Theyre introducing a LOT of the weird 70s horror heroes and street heroes, though.
The tone feels pulpier lately too. I’m into that, but it seems to be rubbing a lot of people the wrong way.
Dont think it should. Its just extra, its not replacing anything.
This is the correct take.
This article is talking about the content, not the inside baseball of things.
I’m talking about the content too. it’s all smooth Hollywood output, none of the weird rough jagged edges of 70s Marvel. Disney wouldn’t be a hiring personalities remotely like Steve Gerber or Jim Starlin. They’ll use their ideas now and give them a teeny tiny 6 point font credit, but they wouldn’t be hiring people like that to write movies or TV.Feige isn’t running the shop AND writing Spidey on the side.
Well yeah, given the many orders of magnitude in the expense of making a motion picture versus a comic book, the studio can’t be as experimental as a comic publisher could be.
Phase Five: Diminishing Returns
I gotta say, I don’t know whether it’s because I’m getting older or if it’s because I don’t follow comics nearly as much as I used to, but all of this just seems…exhausting.Eventually I think I’ll get to the point where I ended up as a reader: stick to two or three individual titles I like, and find recaps on the rest. This is not a “superhero movies suck” comment. I just can’t do it anymore.
I feel the same way. It’s like if you don’t watch the movies and shows you’re not fulfilling your geek status.
Well yah with the impending Champions or Young Avengers or whatever that seems to imply a YA fiction vibe that I’m just not interested in. The target audience for She-Hulk was more niche too.
I was telling a friend that I just don’t care about the Agatha spin-off show so I don’t think I’ll watch that one. I might skip this new Ant-Man too cuz it looks like candyland bullshit but like…
…at the end of the day, I’m releasing myself from the obligation of watching this 20 + film run that’s all technically just a spin-off of the first Iron Man film.
I really LIKED Iron Man but…. I don’t owe it this much of my free time.
I strictly watch the shows and movies I find interesting, while reading spoilers for the things I didn’t watch, online.
What kind of logical approach is that?!?!?/s
“The target audience for She-Hulk was more niche too.”You mean… women and… general audiences?
Not that the movies/TV generally live up to the inventiveness or quality of the source material, but the Gillen/McKelvie Young Avengers book was fantastic. As an X-men fan, I often prefer the Young X-Men/New Mutants/etc books and there have been many runs where the writing on those is more mature and interesting than the mainline books. I wouldn’t assume that the age of the characters dictates the quality of the material (though my initial caveat holds).
It’s less that it’s “niche,” than that a lot of dudes cannot watch things where they can’t project themselves into the hero.
Young Avengers is not Young Adult.
Ant Man is perhaps my favorite Marvel series just because I like that it’s funny, and not just tacked on jokes, but really it’s focused on being a comedy.
Eventually I think I’ll get to the point where I ended up as a reader: stick to two or three individual titles I like, and find recaps on the rest. I’ve been doing that for years, and it’s working fine for me. I’ll catch the projects I care about, avoid characters or arcs I dislike.
For 2022, there have been or will be three movies (DS2, Thor 4, and BP2), three shows (Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk), and two specials (Werewolf by Night, GotG special). In total it’s about 21 hours of content over the course of a year. That really is not that much – the fourth season of Stranger Things alone was over 10 hours this past year.Maybe keeping track of everything being built to is a bit tough but usually newer shows and movies just reference old stuff that happened anyways.The real problem, IMO, is that the content itself has been a bit disappointing and people, including myself, are not as excited about future projects because of that. DS2 and Thor 4 were really disappointing efforts.
i think 21 hours is a lot when we were previously dealing with, at most, 6 or 7 hours a year that were released in 3 pieces, as opposed to having to check in weekly for another 40 minutes.
I mean they had TV shows during the first three Phases too. AoS was loosely connected, more tightly so in the first few seasons. Without AoS, the Hydra plot in the MCU is resolved between the end of TWS and the opening scene of AoU. Agent Carter was pretty directly linked as well. Netflix had all of the Defenders shows and a lot of those actors are now being reused on D+. You could have skipped all of that and not missed much with the movies, sure. But same is largely true now too for the most part.
right but even at its peak it was still less annually. i think we just disagree whether or not 21 hours is a lot or not. i think it is.
To be pedantic – no it wasn’t. At it’s peak, we were getting 3-4 Netflix shows (most with 13 hour long episodes each) a year and 20+ episode seasons of AoS (40 minutes without commercials). If you watched all of that stuff plus the MCU movies, you likely watched more Marvel content back then than you are this year.
In a just world, more people would have watched Agents of SHIELD.
i guess it’s just cumulative over the years. what was easy breezy in 2014 feels like a chore now, even if the math says different.
Thats interesting… for someone who is a self-confessed fan of the saga, I have found myself feeling quite detached from Phase 4 and one of the things for me has been the seeming wall-to-wall content. If you’d have asked, I’d have said it was closer to 30/40 hours but seeing it in stark (pun intended) terms like that as equivalent to a series of Stranger Things and House of the Dragon in a year, I can only think that you’re right and it must be that the quality just hasn’t been up to the heights Phase 3 found
“DS2 and Thor 4 were really disappointing efforts.”I really liked both of those films. It feels like the franchise is big enough, with enough of a range of tones, that not all of it will be to everyone’s taste; but a divisive entry isn’t necessarily a weak one.
I didn’t mean to imply that everyone found those movies disappointing – I know they have their fans. And that’s fine. I like just about all of the MCU D+ shows and plenty of people don’t agree with me there. Also fine. People can like or dislike whatever they want with entertainment.My point was more that the movies were divisive and consensus (per reviews) was that they were a step down from previous installments. And anyone who found those movies disappointing, like me and maybe OP, would be less excited for the future movies and may find the prospects of watching even more MCU content to be a chore. Which in turn makes a (IMO) reasonable amount of content for a year seem bigger than it is.
Yeah, I get that. What I mean is the most interesting films tend to be the ones that people either love or hate, and it’d be a huge shame if Disney were to balk, shift gears and shit out an attempt at more crowd-pleasing fare, as they did with the Star Wars sequels.In other words, treating entries being divisive as “the real problem” is about the worst mistake they can make.
I enjoyed them both, but also thought that they were empty calories. DS2 was definitely better than DS1, during which I dozed off in the theater.
21 hours starts seeming like an impossible task when the content quality is as low as it has been
Coincidentally, I haven’t been able to bring myself to start watching the fourth season of Stranger Things yet either. Whenever I have time to sit and watch something I find that I don’t feel like sitting through a 90 minute episode. I just caught up with Better Call Saul so I know I’m good for a solid 45-60 minute episode of a show.Agreed on the Marvel content quality though. I’ve been having a real issue with the CGI in the latest movies/shows. She-Hulk’s CGI was tough to sit through even though I didn’t mind the rest of the show.
Stranger Things was more like 15 hours this year
Looked it up – looks like 13 hours or so total. So yea, even closer than I had originally thought.
Especially with the acquisition of Marvel by Disney, and all of the extended storytelling going on via Disney+. It’s one thing to keep up with theatrical releases, but I’m not going spend the time and money for streaming series. Basically the same thing is happening for with the Star Wars universe.
I have endless amounts of free time to watch all the content (and do) but I get you. When the MCU had just 6, or even 16 movies, the sum total felt tighter. At 25-30, 35-40 (and all the shows) it’s a bit overwhelming.
This. Since the MCU came out I got married and had kids. I don’t hate the content and like that it is out there, but I don’t have the time and energy to devote to it any more.
I’m not a Marvel fan, but I’m living just how true this is for any pop culture I used to follow. If you had told me in, let’s say, 1995 that in the early 2020s, I could watch multiple Star Wars TV shows with cinema-quality FX, I would have marked my calendar and started thr countdown. As it stands now, I’m trying to keep my kids distracted with the same episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse that they’ve already seen hundreds of times. Maybe in a few years I’ll finally get to watch episode 2 of Andor.
Oh buddy, I am right there with you.
I am not there yet but may get to this point one day (I’ve only seen about half of the Phase 4 stuff after having watched every Phase 1-3 movie multiple times). And I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I actually think Disney/Marvel are purposefully moving in the direction where, like with the comics, each fan just picks and chooses what to follow (and hopefully they all show up for the big “crossover” events). It’s hard for some of us to get over the idea of being completists, but it might not be a bad thing in the long run.
Oh, this shit has been exhausting for a WHILE. When I was younger, before the MCU started, the idea of a big interconnected universe of superhero films sounded awesome. In reality though, it’s just resulted in an overwhelming oversaturation of the genre. It’s too much and has been for years. I’ve always loved superheroes (admittedly more of a DC person though; yes, I have suffered) and I’m glad they’re more popular now and no longer strictly for my fellow awkward nerds. But as with anything run by capitalists, it inevitably loses its heart and becomes a big ol’ business aimed at cranking out as many factory-assembled products as humanly (or digitally) possible. They no longer have to be good, they just have to stimulate the right parts of audiences’ brains and be as numerous as possible.Anyway, I’ll stop ranting for now. I’ve got a lot of clouds to yell at today and I’m behind schedule.
Yeah, I have a very Milhouse as Fallout Boy reaction to every new comic book thing announcement. We already did it. It took 23 movies and a mid-sized city’s worth of VFX artists, but we did it.
This stuff’s been going on since 2008. It was a worthy distraction that occasionally ventured into greatness but I’ve more than had my fill. I had been trending that way since Endgame, but it was probably somewhere around the 25-minute mark of Thor: Love and More of the Same that I officially reached the point of no return. If others want to stay on the ride or get on, I hope they have fun, but I’m moving on.
You are not along. I was never a comic book reader as far as super heroes go, but I watched some of the old cartoons and 70s/80s TV shows (Spiderman and Hulk). It does seem a bit exhausting, especially when some of the newer movies weren’t all that great like the last Thor, Eternals, or even Dr. Strange imho. I have enjoyed the D+ shows way more.
As a diehard diehard Marvel fan, the type to track down every appearance of third-stringers like Darkhawk [username checks out], I too am exhausted. I just can’t muster the energy anymore to sit down for 2.5 hours (film) or 8+ hours (TV) for a cookie-cutter adventure built to set up another one. The last time MCU got interesting was WandaVision, and even that ended on a CGI skyfest.
It does seem like a bit much. I appreciate growth and new characters, but there is a LOT here…this is a recipe for the MCU to become unwieldy in a way that could impact the overall flow of overarching narratives. I hope it will play out effectively.But yeah…I’m old. I don’t know how much longer I can stay with it.
I think this is the reason underlying a lot of the criticism of Phase 4 (most of which are about things no one minded in Phase 1).But for me, it doesn’t feel that overwhelming. With the scarcity of good big-screen films coming out lately, at least there are a couple of reliable movies each year.
I gave up after Endgame, and Agents of SHIELD ended. Then they started saturating everything with shows. I watched the latest Spiderman, Thor, Doctor Strange and Wakanda Forever, but like, everything feels like it’s too much. Black Widow, Eternals, Shang Chi, I didn’t bother to see.Out of the shows they released I really liked Wandavision. Falcon and the Winter Soldier seemed to be too boring. I didn’t bother with the other shows. I watched some of Moon Knight, but it feels like it’s too much now.
I’m kind of at that point. As we get further and further from Phase 1 and those characters, I find it harder to care about the recent stuff. Didn’t like Eternals, Shang Chi, or Black Widow; Strange was Raimi enough that it was interesting, but not really “good”. Thor was neither interesting nor good. Sadly Black Panther doesn’t move my needle. The fact I didn’t like Black Widow means Thunderbolts characters are souring that prospect.Secret Invasion does look interesting, so maybe that will be the shining light.
I’m old too and it really is exhausting. I’ve missed a couple of MCU movies in the cinema. I don’t mind reading spoiler-filled review of these movies anymore. Watching them on Disney+ a few months later proved it wasn’t necessary to watch on the first weekend. The TV shows are hit-or-miss and mostly mediocre fare. Many of my friends and colleagues feel the same. Too much, as some people have criticized, but I doubt Disney will slow down.
I don’t know how old you are, but no matter what, you’re not alone. Granted, I have a lot more going on in my life with work, kids, and middle-age-dom than I did when Iron Man premiered and I was in my late 20s, but I don’t think its just that. The prospect of trying to keep track of quite literally hundreds of hours worth of story at this point is just too much.
And the porn cosplay is disappointing. I was really hoping for some high-dollar parody porn, and it just ain’t happening.
Agreed. This article made my head hurt.
If you were that tired you wouldn’t bother posting about it.
3 films a year isn’t a big ask for me but the TV shows are becoming a nuisance.
What to expect from Phase 5?Doubling down on Diversity Quota Avengers. Social Justice > Story & Characters. More crossovers! More setting up what’s maybe coming next! Faster release schedules! Increasingly convoluted narratives and bad CGI!Consume. Consume. Consume.
Who let this clown out of the greys?
No, you’re right, of course… I am 100% certain that a bunch of gender/race swapped heroes with nothing but failed comic book series’ to their names are going to have the mainstream appeal to appear as anything other than the obvious agenda based marketing gimmick they so clearly are! Fuck you if the truth hurts your precious sensibilities. Maybe ask your mommy for a Kinja participation award and start a Twitter support group for retards. Yeah, I’m ableist too motherfucker. What are you gonna do about it? Cry?
Says the person who took the time and effort required to save a picture to their computer to post so they could own grey commenters anonymously on the internet. Don’t you have a famous painting to vandalize, dummy? Maybe write a strongly worded Tweet condemning me? Oh shit, Elon Musk!!! Riiiiight… what are you disphits going to do without Twitter to tell you which celebrities you’re supposed to be mad at?
awww, crybabies gonna dismiss… lol.
hot take: Ant-Man 3 looks like utter shit. It looks like Spy Kids 3D.
I honestly had to check twice to verify that this is not a video game screenshot. From a visually extremely bland and not really impressively rendered game at that.
CGI studios on blockbuster movies have to crunch hard, on limited budgets, and Disney is infamously demanding in terms of deadlines and reworks.Most likely the finished product will look far better than the trailer, but still pretty bad.
‘limited budgets’?!
Yeah, blockbuster projects are very competitive, so effects houses are forced to bid really low prices for their work. The team that got an Oscar for Life of Pi were already bust before they won it. It’s a major problem.https://www.avclub.com/vfx-artist-discusses-absurdly-long-hours-marvel-movies-1849335004
I fell asleep in the theater to Ant Man 2.
here’s what.too expect from phase 5 of My Nuts
lol they’re out of ideas. I think the panic is setting in behind the scenes“Plus we’re getting a live-action Modok, Bill Murray as a mystery villain and The Good Place’s William Jackson Harper in an unspecified role.”lmao wow
Its weird that they completely avoided using Warlock for the Thanos story, when he was such a huge part of it, and now theyre introducing him in the Guardians movies, when that series is ending. Dont know where theyre taking him unless theyre going to form a totally new Guardians team. Also dont know how much point there is having him around without Thanos.
I walked out of GOTG2 absolutely convinced that Adam Warlock was going to have the soul stone (the only one yet to be revealed at that time) and be a major part of Infinity War. It just made too much sense. The actual soul stone scene was such a bitter disappointment.
They had the rights. I dont know what the hold up was, why they would wait on it so long.
I have a feeling that Thanos will be back at some point. Even if they have to regrow him into a teenager. There’s just too much story left on the table and, as you referenced, he and Adam Warlock are basically a pair.
They could make the storyline a buildup to him becoming the Magus, make him the big bad, like they did in the comics, except without Thanos.
Yeah, I guess I could see that. Personally, I just find Thanos so vastly more compelling that Magus kind of pales in comparison, but everything depends on execution. Thanos, in the comics at least, has such complex psychology that he provides a fascinating counterpoint to Warlock’s stoicism. Magus is just evil Warlock, which is a well that they’ve already drained pretty dry. We’ll see, I guess. I will always just be more attracted to the basic concept of a villain who can only be self-defeated through an innate sense of his own inadequacy for the roles that he pursues. I love that so much. Jim Starlin was a weird dude, lol.
They did make a point of introducing Starfox as “brother of Thanos” at the end of Eternals.
They’ll probably do some sort of character-swap while keeping the same basic story structure, the way they swapped out Hank Pym for Tony Stark for Ultron.
In a kind of inversion of the comics, Death could bring Thanos back.Death, of course would be played by Eva Green.
Wtf happened to Evangeline Lilly? She looks like a man. And that haircut sucks on her.
She looks like a woman in her early/mid forties, and a very good-looking one at that, with a short haircut. If you’re wondering what happened to her, she is a human woman who ages just like every other human woman. If you think she looks like a man, I don’t know who you’re looking at.
Did you even watch the trailer, or look at the screencap in this article? My comments stand. Maybe she’ll look better in the actaul movie, i dunno. Maybe i just dont like her, im allowed to not like her.
Yes, I did. I wanted to know what the hell you were talking about and I still don’t get it. Have you just never seen a woman over the age of 35 before maybe?
I have to agree with him. I’m a fan of hers, but in the screencap either something looks off, or she aged more in the last 5 years than she did in the previous 40. It almost makes me wonder if they’ve put an effect on her for some plot reason.
That’s still just “people age.” Paul Rudd is the extreme exception, not the rule.
Avengers Endgame was only 3 years ago, Antman and the Wasp 4 years ago. People don’t age like that in Hollywood anymore. If they aren’t making her look that way on purpose, it makes me wonder if something else is going on health wise. Even then, Marvel has always fixed that up in post, like erasing ScarJo’s pregnancy in Avengers:Age of Ultron(She was heavily pregnant by the end)I still think that look might be a choice. maybe at some point in the movie she gets aged by all the Quantum stuff going on, getting stuck for years in an alternate timeline. In any case, it’s a huge change in her look in just 3 years.
Paul Rudd is older but is definitely not showing his age, due to some deal with Satan.
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All the article says is she’s one of many kids with superpowers that has been introduced which is true. In reality, I agree with you that her appearance was likely meant to be a gesture from Marvel to Liam (letting him work with his daughter on set for a few days) than a sign of things to come.The article also doesn’t mention that Eli Bradley (who is Patriot in the comics) was introduced in TFATWS. Seems odd to speculate that Ned may get mystical powers somehow but not include Kid Loki or Eli.
I agree they should have included Eli Bradley but Ned has already shown he has magic powers, no?
He did? I haven’t seen NWH in a while so maybe I am forgetting something.
I’m surprised you’ve forgotten that, as Ned is that one that summons the other Spidermen.
I remember he opened the portal, I didn’t remember any significance to him doing that (like only sorcerers can do that type of thing). I thought anyone was able to open those portals with the right technique and practice. But another user pointed out that his grandma said their family had sorcerers so maybe the point was he was a natural due to his ancestory.
Phase four just kind of came and went like a fart in the night.
More of the same but worse?I’m going to go with more of the same but worse.
A lot of stage setting for Phase 6?
Real cool attitude down around here
Are they supposed to be TRONs or Power Rangers?
There’s only one Tron, now hand in your geek card!
Wait, are they having a star war?!
.
Could you repeat that?
This is the correct take.
I’m just gonna go ahead and drop this image of Spy Kids 3D and Quantumania side-by-side right here *whistles*
Do you see it yet, Feige?
Yes, I’m sure he’s combing over this forum right now.
Spy Kids is better lit
“Plus we’re getting …. Bill Murray as a mystery villain”Molesterio deserves his own film or series.
Mentioning a bit of Marvel Comics crossover history reminds me of what they briefly did during the 80s/90s; as the quality of their company-wide crossovers started to decrease (Evolutionary War, Atlantis Attacks, etc), they came up with mini crossovers in their Annuals over a small handful of titles for a couple of years. That’s how we got The Korvac Quest involving the Avengers or another story where Spider-Man gets shrunk down to Ant-Man size.Considering the MCU has gotten so massive, that’s probably what they should be doing now. Self-contained story arcs involving a handful of characters, kept separate from each other. The only link through all of them should be Kang (or a presence of Kang), and considering there’s like a million versions of the guy, it’s perfectly doable. So you can do government/political intrigue with Captain America and Thunderbolts on one end, and horror-themed stuff with the Midnight Sons on the other.
That’s really the only way I can see the MCU working nowadays, because it’s just gotten too damn big. Way too many characters being introduced, when they’d be better off working with what they already have.
An example: Riri Williams was a good character, but how about making Phastos the techie Eternal be the guy that actually creates that vibranium detector or whatever it was? No one except the audience will know he’s an Eternal, and it’s a good way to start introducing the new guys to the MCU.
I also had a couple of ideas which pretty much no longer matter since the Netflix shows are being swept under the carpet, but how about this?- Scott Lang’s bumbling sidekicks carry out a heist, bungle it completely and end up arrested. Cue Matt Murdock bailing them out in court (they don’t know he’s Daredevil, but we do).- Spider-Man faces off against someone who can actually fight (let’s say, Kraven), realizes he can’t brawl for shit and gets his ass kicked. Then he realizes he needs to train and ends up finding a flyer for Colleen Wing’s dojo. You can take it from there.
I’m just spitballing. I’m a huge fan of the MCU and what they’re doing, but I’ve been thinking it’s been getting way too massive for its own good since Age of Ultron.
Monica Rambeaux becomes a robot? Winter Soldier gets a cellphone? How about a crazy wedding?
John Majors’ Kang is perfectly doable, if you know what I’m saying.
Can we talk about that still image? Looks like something from Spy Kids. Marvel movies just embracing the ugly.EDIT: I didn’t see that multiple people had made this reference but glad I’m not alone!
Phase 6 is everybody is Skrulls, only they don’t know it.
Phase 7 is finally dealing with the giant hand sticking out of the Earth that everybody forgot about.
It was acknowledged on She-Hulk!
It’s weird that half the Thunderbolts team is essentially composed of Captains America.
I think it’s a cool outgrowth of the fact that so much of the initial superheroing in the MCU came from failed, semi-successful, or actually-successful attempts to recreate him.
But what should I expect from Phase 12 of the MCU?
Stop living in the past! It’s all about Phase 24 now.
But, She Hulk will ruin it… She’ll mug at the camera, then stop the narrative to go tell her assistant to get her a latte. The last 30 minutes of the movie will be her doing self-care in her trailer and complaining about the MCU system.
I wonder if long-time watchers of something like The Young and the Restless feel the same way? Seriously though, I am so grateful for Endgame. For all of it’s flaws, it was the spectacle I needed. It was permission to stop and I took it. I was able to release my Marvel Fomo and never look back. Sure, I will continue to watch a few things here and there – but the obligation is gone and I appreciate that.
Man-Thing was already introduced (and played a very prominent role) in Werewolf by Night
Define “explore”.In his review of Black Adam, awesome-as-hell formerly-of-the-BBC reviewer Mark Kermode expressed his frustration and exhaustion with the “more stuff” that these superhero movies seem to be resting their laurels on.The last time I had a genuinely interesting time with a super hero film was with Justice League, and the comparison of theatrical with extended. That was a ride ….but not because of the quality of the overall film (but gosh was there some great stuff in the extended one). I am hoping the new Black Panther is able to stimulate with the gravity of what it needs to overcome due to out-of-film events.But I really relate to being exhausted with quantity. I need quality in here, I feel we used to have that. I couldn’t even be bothered to finish She Hulk, and that was at least trying something new.
One thing that’s missing in this phase and beyond is the core character at the center of it, that role that Iron Man provided previously. Thor is the only original Avenger who isn’t dead or feeling like they’ve taken a step back from things, and he’s not right for that role. Black Panther could have been it, but obviously that ended tragically and the new Shuri version doesn’t feel like right for that role. In an ideal world, Spider-Man would be it, but the Sony ownership of the film rights will always keep him on unsteady ground, even if they continue to partner on the films for years to come.
Tomb of Dracula with Blade as the lead character. Make it happen.
What to expect from Phase 5: Hank Pym hangs dong.
With every TV show and movie introducing (at least) two spin-off characters, the bloat seems insurmountable. They’ve got to start recombining and constricting. I think Young Avengers will only have half the characters available to them. No to Wanda’s kids. No Kid Loki. Scarlet Scarab stays with Moon Knight. Teen Kid from FATWS is underdeveloped but maybe (so far). Ned Leeds – no. Sony will play ball up to a point, but Ned, Miles, Gwen etc will stay at Sony. Love Gorrsdaughter (would that be her last name?) is still too young. Black Panther Jr is too young. Shuri is on her own path. Skaar seemed like an afterthought in She-Hulk. The 7 young avengers will be Yelena, Kate, America, Spidey, Riri, Cassie, and a teenage guy. Joaquin Torres’ Falcon, probably. Where’s the God or God-powered strength Guy? Well, Spidey has super-strength, Riri, and Cassie (in their suits) have super-strength. Falcon might, depending. Skaar seems irrelevant and baggage-heavy. Adam Warlock might work. Peter would be crushing on all the girls, and all the girls would be crushing on Adam Warlock – so that would be a fun dynamic. So maybe a team of 8 – but the 5 women seem like a lock.I’d have them assemble at the Avenger’s compound and get training from… Melinda May and Quake.Now you could have a “Kid Avengers” team. But recall how The Incredibles 2 ended with the kids having to bail out the adults, and it sort of went over with a whiff. Think that times 3. Plus, by Phase 7, all those kids will (sadly) be well old enough to take the lead.Plus… Wonderman? Really?
Seems like every phase is just the preview for the next phase. I’m waiting for the phase where they get tired of putting “post credits” scenes on everything.
“Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus)—now intriguingly revealed as the ex-wife of Black Panther’s Everett Ross (Martin Freeman).”
While that is intriguing, isn’t the far more intriguing detail that she’s the Director of the CIA?
I’ve enjoyed Ant-Man so far, but what I don’t need more of is the precocious-kid-screws-up-everything plot. It truly didn’t work in Runaways, and yet every new character has to be the uncharismatic child of an existing hero. The new Hawkeye had to literally save a dog for us to not hate her completely.
I found her completely likeable. She started out as a kid pest, but by the end had already grown out of it.
“Have no fear / We’ve got stories for years!”
This is what some people are spending their lives on, an infinite adolescence.
A crumb of Alison Brie in the MCU please
Sadly it seems to be a phase to transition to focus on characters I don’t care about. I’ve never liked the Young Avengers. I actually hated Gillen and McKelvey’s Young Avengers, which they’re drawing heavily on. (I do like them both as creators, Gillen’s X-Men has been great, and I’ve been waiting Uber #18 for over 4 years).The few characters I do care about are getting a mixed bag of TV shows. (She-Hulk was great, the rest were… fine? Ms. Marvel seemed good, but didn’t hit with me).So I’ll get hyped for Black Panther, and Guardians, maybe Ant-Man, Shang-Chi2, but it’s definitely gone from something with 95% hit rate to like 50%.
I’d like to say that it’s kind of a privilege to have enough super hero shows to not care about some of them. When I was a kid, we’d have murdered to get any decent Marvel material at all. Now it’s everywhere, and I’m never going to be on the side of the Hollywood fussbudget actors that complain about them not being real movies.
I’m not excited about this phase either, but we’re in a golden age right now and some of it will likely surprise. There’s Marvel everything, and nostalgia shows like Cobra Kai and even Time Bandits around the corner. We’ve been blessed with Anthony Hopkins and Matt Damon dressed as goofy vikings. It’s an embarrassment of riches and we should try to enjoy it.