If you’re a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe—and you’ve made it this far—safe it’s to say one thing: you want more. Following the culmination of The Infinity Saga—the first 22 films in the franchise—in Avengers: Endgame, the next age of Marvel storytelling kicked off with Spider-Man: Far From Home. Not long after that, things were supposed to pick up again, but that pesky Covid-19 got in the way.
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However, the year 2021 has put the train back on track, and then some. WandaVision, the first Marvel Studios original series on Disney+, and by far the series with the most direct links to the big screen plot, got things off to a flying start. And it’ll be a nonstop stream for a while, as The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is coming up, followed by Loki, and, barring any more Covid-19 delays, Black Widow will be joining them in theatres. That’s long before the summer is over.
The MCU’s future is vibrant, new, and, perhaps most importantly, expansive. WandaVision was exciting, and it marks the beginning of the Disney+ dam cracking. Four more canonical MCUDisney+ series are currently planned for 2021 (including the aforementioned The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki), and it appears that this pattern will continue (albeit maybe not as prolifically) for years to come.
So, that’s enough chit-chat. Let’s discuss what’s coming up—and when we can anticipate it.
Upcoming Marvel Movies In 2021:
Black Widow ( 9th July 2021)
There’s no denying it: the Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on Black Widow. It was initially slated for release in May 2020, but that date was moved back a few times, and it’s now tentatively planned for July 9, 2021. With more people being vaccinated and more theatres opening, there’s a possibility the release date would be kept.
Natasha Romanoff, one of the MCU’s oldest and most-featured heroes, will be explored in Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). The most of the film will concentrate on her character between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, but it will also introduce audiences to her “family” (which includes Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz, and David Harbour) and presumably dig deeper into her history than ever before.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (17th December 2021)
Spider-Man: No Way Home picks up where Spider-Man: Far From Home left off, with Peter Parker in a tumultuous situation. Last we saw, Quentin Beck/Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) and a now-Infowars-ish J. Jonah Jameson (a returning JK Simmons!) had exposed Spider-identity Man’s to the media. Perhaps more intriguing is the fact that the film is widely expected to have elements of a live-action Spider-Verse in its storyline.
We know that Benedict Cumberbatch (as Doctor Strange) will appear in the film as Peter’s mentor, and that characters from previous Spider-Man films such as Electro (Jamie Foxx) and Doc Ock (Alfred Molina) will make cameo appearances. That’s on top of reports that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, two previous Spider-Mans, might appear. We don’t know, but we’re in for a wild ride either way.
Zendaya (MJ), Jacob Batalon (Ned), Marissa Tomei (Aunt May), and Tony Revolori will all reprise their roles in the film alongside Tom Holland (Flash).
Eternals (5th November 2021)
We don’t know much about Eternals’ plot, but we do know that in a post-Endgame world, an event forces the Eternals—an immortal alien race living secretly on Earth—to emerge from hiding in order to protect the planet from their evil alien counterparts, the Deviants.
Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Brian Tyree Henry, and others star in the film, which also led to Kumail Nanjiani getting completely jacked. Kit Harington will also make his MCU debut as Dane Whitman, a supernatural warrior who receives the moniker Black Knight in the comics.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of 10 Rings (9th July 2021)
We don’t know anything about Shang-Chi because there hasn’t been much information published about the film so far (particularly, no trailers or still photos of any kind). However, we do know that the film will introduce a new hero to the MCU in the form of Kung-Fu master Shang-Chi, who first appeared in Marvel Comics lore in 1973. Simu Liu, who is best known for his appearance in the Canadian cult comedy Kim’s Convenience, will play Shang-Chi.
The plot is unclear, but it will feature the real-life version of The Mandarin, whose criminal group “The 10 Rings” is mentioned in the title. You can recall some of the sentence from earlier in the MCU; The 10 Rings were the secondary villains in the original Iron Man who originally imprisoned Tony Stark, and The Mandarin was a classic Marvel villain who was impersonated by an actor named Trevor Slattery in Iron Man 3. Shang-Chi will eventually introduce the MCU to the true Mandarin.
Upcoming Marvel TV Shows in 2021:
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will premiere on Disney+ on March 19 after a long wait—and a few delays. The six-episode series will follow the events of Avengers: Endgame, which will focus on the immediate aftermath of Steve Rogers handing the Captain America shield to Sam Wilson. Bucky Barnes, aka The Winter Soldier, will undoubtedly accompany Sam on his journey, and we’ll see how things turn out.
The show will primarily be following the events of the Captain America movies, including The Winter Soldier and Civil War. In turn, that means several characters from those movies will play key roles, including Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp), who’s now on the run after supporting Cap and friends in Civil War, and Civil War’s villain, Helmut Zemo (Daniel Brühl), who we last saw being captured by Black Panther.
Wyatt Russell (Black Mirror, Everyone Wants Some) will play John Walker/U.S. Agent, a mysterious character who, in the comics, is a government-created substitute for Captain America—but we’re getting strong Homelander vibes.
Ms. Marvel (End 2021)
Iman Vellani will play Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel, a 16-year-old Captain Marvel superfan who writes fan fiction before finally acquiring her own superpowers, in Disney+’s Ms. Marvel series. She’s also from Jersey City, so there’s some New Jersey pride there.
Ms. Marvel will feature in Captain Marvel 2 (alongside Brie Larson as Carol Danvers and Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau) when it is released in2022, so the show will most likely tie into that film.
Loki (11th June 2021)
Our old buddy has returned. If you watched Avengers: Endgame closely enough, you’ll find that during the ‘time heist’ sequence, when our heroes returned to the aftermath of the first Avengers film (also known as The Battle of New York), the Tesseract—Space Stone inside—landed in the hands of Loki in 2012. Loki zapped right away in 2012.
Loki, which will premiere onDisney+ in June, will follow the Loki’s adventures. Kevin Feige has characterised the show as a “crime thriller” in which Loki can use the Tesseract to travel through time to major events and alter human history.
Owen Wilson(!) will also appear in the show as an officer of the Time Variance Authority, a law enforcement agency that deals with time travel and the multiverse. Richard E. Grant, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sasha Lane, Wunmi Mosaku of Lovecraft Nation, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw are among the show’s outstanding cast members who have yet to be announced.
Hawkeye (Late 2021)
Marvel took more than a decade after Black Widow’s first appearance in Iron Man 2 to give her her own film, and it’s doing the same with Hawkeye (who made a cameo in Thor before starring in The Avengers the following year).
Of course, Jeremy Renner reprises his role as the titular character, but this may be the end of his tenure as the character; the show’s plot revolves around his training Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld).
Kate Bishop, as a member of the Young Avengers, assumes the role of Hawkeye in Marvel Comics. Hawkeye’s urge to retire makes sense as well; we’ve seen him with his family before, and he was already retired during Captain America: Civil War. Allow this man to peacefully tend to his farm!
What If… (Mid 2021)
What If… is the first animated series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to be considered “canon.” It does not play a major role in the overall plot of the franchise, but it may be one of the most entertaining instalments yet. The show is similar to the What If… comics, which show how some main MCU events might have played out differently.
Peggy Carter taking the super soldier serum and Captain America turning into a zombie are two examples. Every character will be voiced by a real MCU actor, and all will be bound together by Jeffrey Wright’s powerful voice as The Watcher.
So, that’s all for today. Stay tuned with Stanford Arts Review for latest updates.
