Everything coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2021

WandaVision, the first Marvel Cinematic Universe TV series as well as the first installment of Marvel’s Phase 4 landed last month with a bang. It was the first Marvel project we had seen since Spiderman: Far From Home in 2019 and for many fans, it didn’t disappoint. Here’s everything we can expect this year from Marvel’s Phase 4.

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The Falcon and the Winter Soldier – March

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier a miniseries is arriving to Disney Plus on March 19, 2021. Filming has been going on throughout 2020 and there was even a chance to see the new Captain America suit in the recent trailer. The series itself, meanwhile, will see the newly-anointed Captain America, Sam Wilson, teaming up with Bucky Barnes. The synopsis describes the pair teaming up “in a global adventure that tests their abilities—and their patience.” The series will be directed by Kari Skogland with Malcolm Spellman serving as head writer. Anthony Mackie, who plays the Falcon, said at San Diego Comic Con he wants to find out “what makes The Winter Soldier tick… and what ticks him off.” With that in mind, we can perhaps expect a buddy comedy-style set-up for the dynamic duo.

Black Widow – May

Directed by Cate Shortland, Black Widow’s confirmed cast includes Scarlett Johansson returning as Natasha Romanoff; Stranger Things’ David Harbour as Alexi; Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova (a “sister figure to Natasha” who takes up the Black Widow mantle in the comics, hint, hint); O-T Fagbenle as Mason, and Rachel Weisz as Melina Vostokoff AKA Iron Maiden in the comics. The Taskmaster will also be in the Black Widow movie, but we don’t know who’s behind the mask just yet. The story, according to director Cate Shortland, will have the audience understanding Black Widow’s past and “she gets to put all the pieces of herself back together”. Black Widow will premiere on May 7th.

Loki – May

Loki is one of the best loved villians in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and he’s back in this Disney Plus series due to drop in May. Top Hiddleston will reprise his role, and has described Loki as going up against “more formidable opponents” while those wondering about the God of Mischief’s death and what plans he gets up to with the Tesseract can rest easy. Hiddleston also promised “this series will answer both of those questions”. There’s now actually a full Loki trailer too.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings – July

Releasing on July 9, 2021, the first Asian-led superhero movie will feature Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, the Master of Kung-Fu. Tony Leung will play Wenwu, Awkwafina is Shang-Chi’s friend Katy and Michelle Yeoh joins the MCU as Jiang Nan. This will be the first movie this year introducing a never before seen title character. While no one else apart from those three cast members have been announced, Simu Liu is already making waves on social media thanks to some fantastic old Twitter posts. In them, he’s openly calling for Marvel to cast an Asian lead in the MCU. Destin Daniel Cretton is directing the movie, which has now wrapped filming.

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What If…? – Summer

What If…? is considered one of the most curious of the Marvel Phase 4 offerings. Disney Plus will be the home for What If…?”, an animated anthology series dedicated to exploring “different versions” of iconic MCU scenes and moments. The cast reads like a who’s who of Marvel icons: Michael B. Jordan, Sebastian Stan, Josh Brolin, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Hemsworth, Hayley Atwell, Chadwick Boseman, Karen Gillan, Jeremy Renner, Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Neal McDonough, Dominic Cooper, Sean Gunn, Nicole Portman, Stanley Tucci, Taika Waititi, Toby Jones, Djimon Honsou, Michael Rooker, and Jeff Goldblum will be lending their voices and reprising their Marvel roles in the cartoon.

Eternals – November

Eternals will now be the third Phase 4 movie and is releasing on November 5, 2021. The Eternals cast includes Richard Madden as Ikaris, Angelina Jolie as Thena, Kumail Nanjiani will be playing Kingo, Salma Hayek (Ajak, the “leader of the Eternals,” according to Feige), Brian Tyree Henry (Phastos, a “genius,” says the actor), Don Lee as the hulking Gilgamesh, while Lia McHugh and The Walking Dead’s Lauren Ridloff rounds out the current confirmed cast, playing Sprite and Makkari respectively. Game of Thrones actor Kit Harington will also appear as the Black Knight. Not much is known about the premise of this movie, but the Eternals are a group of immortals.

Spiderman 3 – December

The as-yet-untitled Spider-Man has been confirmed for December 17, 2021. There’s no confirmed news yet as to what the plot will be, but there’s theories it will involve the multiverse and the previously unrelated Spiderman movies. Jamie Foxx’s Electro is back after his turn in the Amazing Spider-Man series. New reports also suggest that Alfred Molina is back as Doc Ock and Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield could also return as Spider-Man.

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Hawkeye – Late 2021

After being the butt of many a joke over the last decade or so, Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye is finally getting his time to shine in a major new Disney Plus series with a killer cast. Filming has just gotten underway on the Marvel Cinematic Universe production, which will finally see Clint Barton cross paths with his comic book protege Kate Bishop – to be played by Bumblebee and Dickinson star Hailee Steinfeld. But Steinfeld isn’t the only exciting addition to the cast as it has also been confirmed that Florence Pugh will have a key role as Yelena Belova, a character set to debut in the aforementioned Black Widow solo movie.

Ms Marvel – Late 2021

Ms Marvel is a series set to land on Disney Plus in late 2021, about young Pakistani Muslim superhero Kamala Khan. She will be the first Muslim superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ms. Marvel will be played by Iman Vellani. The character will also appear in Captain Marvel 2, which is set for release in late 2022.