Marvel Phase 5 is Coming!
Marvel Phase 5 is Coming!
Many things were revealed at the latest San Diego Comic Con. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has several new movies and shows in the works. If you’re a Marvel fan, or just a fan of the MCU films, there are a lot of reasons to be excited. Let’s take a look at what’s coming: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Phase 4 is Wrapping Up
Phase 4 had it’s good, and it’s bad. There were some highlights, but overall there seemed to be a mass agreeance that much of it felt lackluster in comparison to previous phases.
While Spider-Man: No Way Home was a huge win for all parties involved and fans alike, Ms. Marvel had the lowest viewership of all MCU shows thus far. Fans loved what they saw of the character Moon Knight on his own show, but what they saw of him was far too little to make it a fan favorite. All of the streaming shows in Phase 4 brought on a wave of complaints. While some came off as hater-like nitpicks, some were very valid.
It’s not quite over yet. She-Hulk drops soon and people seem mixed on it. While I’m glad to see the return of the villain-turned-antihero Abomination, the CGI does look a little Shrek-like in the trailers. I think everyone is beyond excited to see the return of Charlie Cox’s Daredevil in this as well.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to be the final film of Phase 4. Again, fans seem mixed on this movie. While some agreed with Marvel’s decision to not recast the main character, T’Challa, after Chadwick Boseman’s tragic and unexpected passing, others found it critical to do so. I guess we’ll find out soon if moving forward without the title character was a wise decision or not. Namor finally making his big screen debut in this film is something that deserves an applause.
Phase 5 Schedule
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Ant Man & The Wasp: Quantumania
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Secret Invasion
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Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3
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Echo
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the Marvels
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Loki: season 2
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Blade
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Ironheart
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Agatha: Coven of Chaos
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Daredevil: Born Again
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Captain America: New World Order
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Thunderbolts
THE GOOD
ANT-MAN / KANG
Let’s start with Ant-Man 3. I think everyone is happy to see more of Paul Rudd and company. The film’s villain though, Kang, is what those following this Phase of the MCU are most curious to see finally. Sure, we got a small taste of him, or his variant anyway, in Loki’s final episode, but we need more.
There’s been plenty of multiverse things happening, and audiences are a little confused at why we haven’t seen the guy supposedly behind it all beyond that Loki scene. It feels as though this major plotline has been disregarded completely after we learned of his presence. Here’s to hoping they do some explaining and retconning of certain things to make it all cohesive going forward. Kang is the new Thanos; I think we’re all looking forward to seeing why he is an even greater threat.
Secret Invasion
If Secret Invasion is anything like the source material, then the Skrulls, who were previously revealed to be good in Captain Marvel, are actually villains. They have some explaining and possible retconning to do, and I think we’re all here for it. An invasion from an army of shape-shifting aliens sounds refreshing right about now.
G.O.T.G. 3
Speaking of aliens, I think audiences ready for another Guardians of the Galaxy installment. It’s been a few years now, and after some internal drama, the beloved director James Gunn is back with the entire cast, in what’s rumored to be the end of the trilogy. Hopefully Groot is full-grown and not playing the part of the gimmicky cute Disney sidekick this time around.
Loki
It’s funny how much of a key player in the MCU this Thor villain has become. He could have easily been a one-movie throwaway antagonist, but Tom Hiddleston was so great in the role that the part ended up spanning several films. After getting his own show, Loki has gone on to be almost just as relevant to the MCU as his brother Thor. There were some valid complaints about Loki season 1, but I think most of us are willing to give the God of Mischief another shot with season 2.
Blade
Who isn’t excited about finally getting Blade in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Sure, we’ll all miss Wesley Snipes‘ iconic take on the character, but I’m equally excited to see Mahershala Ali’s version come to life. This film will eventually lead to Midnight Suns, a team comprised of darker heroes such as Ghost Rider and Dr. Strange. Another thing to look forward to, though probably years from now.
Daredevil
She-Hulk’s trailer showed us a glimpse of Daredevil’s epic entrance in to the MCU. It’s true that we got his alter ego Matt Murdock already in Spider-Man: No Way Home, but seeing him back in costume created quite the buzz. This time though, he’ll be in his alternate yellow and red suit, maybe due to the events of Netflix’s season 3? Fans and general audiences have been patiently awaiting the return of Daredevil. Knowing that he’s getting his own show, whether a continuation or soft reboot, is the icing on the cake.
Thunderbolts
With the sudden passing of William Hurt, Marvel missed it’s chance to do a proper Red Hulk. Who knows what they have planned, since General “Thunderbolt” Ross and his hulked out form are such a big part of the Thunderbolts team.
Still, the MCU has been slowly building up this team of antiheroes, beginning with U.S. Agent and possibly the new Black Widow, Yelena Belova. Will “Val”, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, simply replace Ross as team leader, or unlike Black Panther, will they recast him? The third option is to go the Ghostbusters: Afterlike route and just keep him in Red Hulk form and bare resemblance to the late actor. Whatever they choose to do, I think we’re all anxiously awaiting seeing this team together at last.
THE BAD
It’d be unfair to call anything that hasn’t been released yet “bad”, so I’ll avoid doing that. I can say though that there seems to be more buzz around some projects than others. For example, it wasn’t hard to guess that Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan), a character who first appeared in late 2013, and gets her powers by finding a magic bracelet, wasn’t going to be a smash hit.
ECHO
Let’s look at Echo. She’s a cool looking character in the comics. She was a major character on the MCU’s Hawkeye show, but they stripped away so much of what makes her look unique that it made her feel bland. No iconic handprint facepaint or bandage-wrapped arms, just a generic black suit that calls back to the 2000 X-Men film. I’d love to see more of Echo in her own show, but let’s hope that the costume design department steps it up a few notches.
the Marvels
Again, it’s not that Captain Marvel or Ms. Marvel were necessarily bad. Opinions differ quite drastically on both. Critically, they weren’t panned, but for various reasons, neither had the hype surrounding them that something like Black Panther or even WandaVision did. Because of this, you don’t see them mentioned at the top of any lists, and their viewership was at the bottom for MCU films & shows.
It could be that they’re just not as popular of characters overall, or that people just find them sort of generic. Whatever the case, Marvel is insistent to keep giving us more of the Marvels. Audiences are eager to see the debut of classic characters such as the Silver Surfer, several of the X-Men, and a long list of iconic villains. Yet here we are with another helping of two entries that both staggered a bit.
Agatha
Agatha Harkness was fine on WandaVision. She made for a good “kind of” villain. Kathryn Hahn did an excellent job bringing a character (the vast majority never heard of prior to this show) to life. Before her television debut Agatha may have been considered one of those “deep cut” characters you might see in one movie or show. Giving this C-list witch a show of her own before we’ve even seen heavy-hitters fans are passionate about though seems an odd choice. Kathryn Hahn at least has the charm give this show a chance.
Captain America
Did viewers love the Falcon and the Winter Soldier or was the general consensus that the show kind of dragged on, had a lot of filler, and felt like it was pieced together sloppily thanks to the pandemic? I recall the overall sentiment being much more the latter.
So here we are again, with Sam Wilson, now Captain America instead of Falcon. Something about this just feels off balance. Steven Rogers has been Captain America for close to 80 years of comic book history. He had three solo MCU films before they retired him. Sam was Captain America for three years of that 80, and he’s going to be the MCU Cap going forward? Why not keep him around as a badass original character rather than simply a replacement for another hero? Sort of a demotion for Sam…
THE UGLY
Time to talk about those big ugly mistakes made in Phase 4 that could use a retcon in Marvel Phase 5. First up, let’s talk about how they nerfed specific characters for the sake of either being funny or to make another character seem more dangerous.
THANOS
The first character to come to mind for most is Thanos. He was unstoppable throughout his conquest for the Infinity Stones. Ruthless, supreme, beating gods and equally powerful heroes down with little effort. Now fast forward to Phase 4. When we next see him again in an episode of What If… he’s killed in a half second by Ultron and his stones are taken from him. We see him in another episode of What If… fighting and losing to two members of the Black Order, his henchmen in the Infinity War films. The insanely powerful Infinity Stones are used as paper weights by the TVA on the Loki series, played for laughs.
I obviously wasn’t a fan of these things. It is rumored that Thanos will return in the Eternals sequel, in a prequel type manner. His brother, Eros, a.k.a. Starfox, was introduced in the post credit scene of the first film. It’ll be difficult to undo the damage that’s been done. However, if they demonstrate just how unimaginably tough Thanos is once again, maybe we’ll be able to block out those easily-beaten Thanos scenes from our memories.
WINTER SOLDIER
The Winter Soldier, a.k.a. Bucky, is another character like Thanos, who felt debilitated when he returned in Phase 4. When Bucky first appeared on the screen as the brainwashed powerhouse the Winter Soldier he was as imposing as the evil T-1000. When he finally broke free of the mind control Hydra had over him, he was still a force to be reckoned with having combat skills that were on par with Cap himself. He had that same zeal all the way through Endgame.
When he reemerges in Falcon & the Winter Soldier, he comes off as a water-down version of his former self. The fight scenes felt cheap, maybe do to filming during the height of the pandemic. Bucky was getting kicked around by goons using the super soldier serum who did not have the training or experience he had. He didn’t fair to well against John Walker (U.S. Agent) either, even with the aid of Falcon.
Here’s to hoping that when we see Bucky again in Marvel Phase 5, he’ll be back on his A-game. It’s okay that he’s no longer the dark and mysterious man with the metal arm, but a little less CW-vibes would do him well. Remind us why this character was a big enough threat to be the main antagonist of the highly regarded Captain America sequel. Just like in the movie, Bucky can still be saved.
Deadpool
There’s really no issues with Deadpool so far other than that we haven’t seen him since 2018. He’s new to the MCU and I think everyone is at least a little curious about how Disney/Marvel will handle the raunchiness that comes with him. Deadpool 3 must be one of the most anticipated Marvel projects thus far. Will they neuter the “Merc with a mouth” or will they give Reynolds and company a pass to do as they please since it has worked so well?
Because the multiverse is the focus of Marvel Phase 5, will they address Deadpool’s fourth-wall-breaking ability that shows that he’s aware of other universes? Not only is he aware of other Marvel realities, but he mentions DC and it’s heroes. Furthermore, in Deadpool 2 he had his hands on a device that allowed him to travel to different times and worlds. Please let it all be connected to Kang. Fans love cohesiveness.
Thor
And last but not least, there’s Thor. Unlike Thanos and Bucky, Thor’s powers and abilities weren’t necessarily dwarfed, but his demeanor and intellect took a big hit in Phase 4. I go into detail on that in this article HERE. Thor’s persona needs a reboot. Take his character back to the days of Endgame, minus the “dad bod”. Back when he was still funny, but not a complete buffoon. Make him at least somewhat serious again. Taika had his fun with him, and we enjoyed it for awhile, but it’s time to dial it back.
Thor has an adopted daughter in the films now too. Will she be his sidekick now going forward or will Thor dismiss her absence with a one-liner like he did Jane previously? I think fans would rather have the latter. Either way, work on Thor in Marvel Phase 5. He needs some love, and a little thunder.
IN CONCLUSION
Marvel Phase 4 was chalk full of missteps amongst it’s few shining highlights. It’s not too late for the Marvel Cinematic Universe though. Marvel Phase 5 can do some revising and tweaking if they want to reel the fans and general audience members they lost back in. It would appear that there is some great things on the horizon, if they handle them with the same care they did previously.
Ryan Arey over at ScreenCrush always does a great job of breaking things down. Check out his video below where he takes you even deeper into what’s to come in Marvel Phase 5:
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