The world is now a week or so away from the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home, the final film of Marvel Studios’ decade-encompassing Infinity Saga. That means, once Peter Parker hits the big screen, we’ll have no official idea of what to expect from the next phase of the MCU.
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While the next slate of movies is likely to drop at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, we’ve gone ahead and compiled a list of every rumored film and the likelihood of their imminent production below to see what we know about what’s on the way. Suffice it to say, the next few years look pretty exciting.
- Black Widow – Natasha Romanov’s standalone feature is currently shooting with Scarlet Johansson in Budapest, but its official production still hasn’t been confirmed by Marvel Studios. It’s likely Disney is saving the announcement for their Comic-Con presentation, but at this point it’s not going to come as a surprise to anyone paying attention.
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – At the moment, more is known about GotG Vol. 3’s troubled production history than its actual plot, but rumors persist that the film will find an antagonist in Adam Warlock. It’s also likely that James Gunn’s script will delve deeper into Rocket Raccoon’s backstory while also bringing the initial team’s story arc to a close. This is one of the other confirmed, 100% happening Marvel movies, though it’s not expected to start production until after Gunn’s finished shooting The Suicide Squad for Warner Bros. next year.
- Doctor Strange 2 – Scott Derrickson, who directed the first entry in the Benedict Cumberbatch-starring franchise, will return for the sequel. Multiple villains have been tossed around the rumor mill, each hinting that the story is expected to voyage into the darker aspects of the character’s history. We don’t know exactly where Doctor Strange 2 will fit in Marvel’s announced release schedule, but we know Kevin Feige himself is very interested in making it happen.
- Black Panther 2 – We know that a direct follow up to Ryan Coogler’s hit Black Panther is on the way because The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed it with Marvel. That’s not a surprise, of course, as the 2018 movie became a phenomenon. Thankfully, Coogler will return to both write and direct the sequel, which is expected to bring back Michael B. Jordan’s iconic Killmonger in a pretty cool way.
- The Eternals – Potentially the most interesting of all the movies Marvel has lined up, the studio hasn’t officially announced that it’s happening, even though it has a director attached and casting is already taking place. Based on the cosmic lore of the Marvel Comics universe, The Eternals is expected to star Angelina Jolie and Kumail Nanjiani, though it’s currently unknown when shooting will commence.
- Shang-Chi – Again, Disney hasn’t confirmed this film is actually coming, but we know they’re currently in the process of casting its titular character. Short Term 12 director Destin Daniel Cretton will helm the feature, which will follow the journey of a martial arts legend played by Marvel’s first Asian lead.
- Nova – Kevin Feige himself claims that a Nova movie has been sitting in the wings for quite a while now, though it’s unknown if the pic is actually being developed for Phase Four. Just pull the trigger, Feige. Please.
- Captain Marvel 2 – The first Captain Marvel movie just came out this year, but its billion-dollar box office haul pretty much guarantees a sequel is in the works. Brie Larson is set to become the new face of Marvel, so she’ll definitely appear again, though it may be a while before the studio spills any further details.
- Thor 4 – Conflicting reports state that Chris Hemsworth is looking to take some time off from massive Hollywood blockbusters but also that he’s just renewed his contract with Marvel, so who knows when we’ll see him again. Thor: Ragnarok turned the Asgardian into one of the franchise’s most beloved heroes, and director Taika Waititi said he’d love to return for a fourth film – but his upcoming slate keeps expanding, so who knows if he’ll have the time. Right now it’s more likely that any future Thor appearances will happen in a Guardians movie than a fourth standalone.
- Ant-Man 3 – Nobody actually seems to know what’s going on with a potential third Ant-Man. Honestly, Avengers: Endgame kind of wrapped up Scott Lang’s story with a neat little bow, but star Paul Rudd has made it clear he wants to return to the MCU in the future. As it stands right now, a proper follow-up could happen just as easily as it couldn’t.
- Avengers 5 – Rumors insist that from here on out, the Avengers will be more or less known as the Ultimates, with Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange, and Black Panther taking on the role of the core trio. Not much else is know at the time, but it’s safe to say that some sort of massive team-up will close out Phase Four.
- Deadpool 3 – Now that Marvel owns the rights to Fox’s X-Men characters, it won’t be long until the mutants finally pop up in the MCU. That being said, details on their return are being kept tightly under wraps, and might not even happen until Phase Five, so I’m going to leave them off this list for now (same with the Fantastic Four, so don’t ask). However, Kevin Feige has mentioned that a future Deadpool appearance is in the cards, though at the moment, we don’t know if that’ll be in a Disney Plus series or his own solo movie. Luckily, Ryan Reynolds is still expected to play the Merc with a Mouth when he finally makes the jump over to this universe.
So, there you have it, and you can expect for all (or at the very least some) of these projects to be revealed after Spider-Man: Far From Home swings into theaters on July 2nd. The film is set to expand upon Marvel’s multiverse, so really, any movie is possible at this point.