Last weekend was the famed return of San Diego Comic Con, which pre-pandemic was the annual source of Nerddy news. Not much of this is completely new information, but instead more of adding depth to what we already know, with new trailers and logos.
On Friday I’m going to release the second half of this article, with all of the other SDCC news, but as the MCU is still the biggest game in town, we are going to spend some time diving into all the Marvel news.
Also, even though a lot of these movies and shows have dates listed, it’s fairly common for either the entire slate to be shifted back due to conflicting blockbusters, or even completely reshuffled, like what happened with most of Phase 4.
Phase 4
So first, we should talk about where we are now. Everything after Avengers: Endgame is part of Phase 4 (except technically Spider-Man: Far From Home, that’s still Phase 3), which we now know is the first of a three phase arc called the “Multiverse Saga” in the same way that Phases 1-3 is the “Infinity Saga.”
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law – August 17, 2022
Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black), is the cousin of Bruce Banner, and is a lawyer who specializes in Superhuman Law. We also have Jameela Jamil (The Good Place) as her rival, Tim Roth’s Abomination will return, as will Benedict Wong’s Wong, and Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock.
One bit of gossip we’ve gotten, is that originally She-Hulk was supposed to look much more buff, but the cowards at Disney made them slim her down multiple times. Don’t be scared of big buff women y’all!
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – November 11
Everyone was uncertain how they were going to continue the Black Panther films without Chadwick Boseman, but it seems like they made the right choice to not just recast him, but instead follow Wakanda in a post T’Challa world.
It seems like the movie is going to follow a war between Wakanda and the people of Atlantis, led by their king Namor, the Marvel version of Aquaman. Namor was actually one of the first Marvel superheroes, back in the ’40s when it was just Namor, Captain America, and Human Torch, who at that time was an android.
Untitled Halloween Special – October
This 60 minute special will follow a new MCU character, Jake Gomez, who turns into a werewolf. I get the feeling that this is going to be the MCU version of the Universal Studio Monster Movies of the ’30s-’50s. A little campy, but fun. The only part of this that has me interested, is the director, Michael Giacchino, who has an extensive career in film scores, including The Incredibles, Mission: Impossible, and a ton of other great projects.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special – December
This special has been on their docket for almost two years now, meaning they have been looking forward to it for a long time, unlike the Halloween Special above. It’s going to have the whole Guardians team, and is supposed to bridge the gap between Thor: Love and Thunder and Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3. Based on the name alone, I feel like it’s going for a goofy parody of the Star Wars Holiday Special, famous for following Chewie and Han Solo celebrate “Life Day,” a seasonal Kashyyykian holiday with family. It also had the whole main cast, but none of the story is canon, as it was a cheap cash-grab at the time.
Phase 5
This is where we are building up, in the same way that Phase 2 had Thor 2 with the Aether (Reality Stone), Guardians with the Orb (Power Stone), and Age of Ultron with the Scepter (Mind Stone). Things are going to start getting really big with mixing everything up.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – February 17, 2023
The opening of Phase 5 is going to really start leaning into the Multiverse storyline. We know that Kang the Conquerer, from Loki, is going to be in this movie, and based on the name of the next Avengers film in Phase Six, we also know that Kang is this saga’s major threat, in the same way that Thanos was in the last saga. Of course, the Kang from Loki, wasn’t Kang “The Conquerer” as Kang has Variants from different timelines/multiverses, just like Loki had Sylvie/Kid Loki/Lokigator and more.
We also know that Bill Murray has been cast as another villain, and that MODOK will be in the film, but the casting hasn’t been announced. Chances are, they are one and the same.
What If…? Season 2 – Early 2023
Now with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, we know that What If…? is just another multiverse. So this is their way to show all of the other interesting multiverses that could influence any of this saga, even though the Doctor Strange movies craziest multiverse was pizza balls.
The only episode we know about so far is the premiere episode, which will be a sequel to the Captain Carter episode, where Steve Rogers will become the Winter Soldier to Peggy’s Captain.
Secret Invasion – Early 2023
This show seems to be a sequel to the Captain Marvel movie, where we will return to a young Nick Fury and Ben Mendelsohn, but also Cobie Smulders, Martin Freeman, and Don Cheadle. If you remember Ben Mendelsohn in Captain Marvel, he was a shapeshifting alien called a Skrull, who took the place of a human on Earth. Secret Invasion has the same plot in the comics. It’s basically Invasion of the Body Snatchers with superheroes.
We also know that Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) and Christopher McDonald are going to be in the show, which gives it a pretty stacked cast.
Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 – May 5
Rounding out the Guardians trilogy, we will finally see what was the deal with that post-credits scene from Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2, with that giant golden cocoon thing. It’s Adam Warlock, a manufactured perfect version of the Sovereign, who were those gold people in vol. 2.
The Marvels – July 28
Originally meant to be Captain Marvel 2, but after the extreme backlash from audiences over that movie, she has been paired up with the new Ms. Marvel from her new Disney+ show. This is probably going to be a direct sequel to Secret Invasion in the same way we had the WandaVision/Doctor Strange lineup, since we have Nick Fury back.
Echo – Mid 2023
Do you remember that deaf villain in Hawkeye? The one who was after Ronin, then turned her attention to Wilson Fisk (Daredevil) and shot him point blank in an alley? Well now she’s getting her own show, along with Fisk and Matt Murdock as well.
Loki Season 2 – Mid 2023
Just like all of the Disney+ MCU shows, they were only ever intended to be a single season. However, Loki received fairly high praise from audiences, so they are going to continue. None of the plot has been released, but we know that the “whole cast” from the first season will return. I usually try to avoid making predictions or hopes for MCU, but if we don’t get Owen Wilson on a jet ski, I’m going to be disappointed.
Blade – November 3
Mahershala Ali is going to be a Dhampir (half-vampire) who hunts vampires! If you want to learn more about the character, feel free to go watch the Wesley Snipes Blade trilogy from 1998-2004. It’s interesting that they cast Mahershala seeing as how he played Cottonmouth in Luke Cage, which judging by the inclusion of Daredevil in the MCU implies that he is already an MCU character. However, that didn’t stop them from bringing on Alfre Woodard (Civil War and Luke Cage), Martin Starr (Incredible Hulk and Homecoming), and Laura Haddock (First Avenger and Guardians), including some others.
Iron Heart – Late 2023
Riri Williams is a 15 year old girl, who is a super-genius and goes to MIT, and creates a functioning copy of Tony Stark’s Iron Man suit. We don’t know much about the series yet, but we do know that we will first meet Riri in Wakanda Forever, so we will have an idea of what the show will be about after that movie.
Agatha: Coven of Chaos – 2023-24
If you liked Kathryn Hahn as the evil witch in WandaVision, then you get some good news. Good ol’ Agatha All Along gets her own show, which is said to be a “dark comedy.”
Daredevil: Born Again – Early 2024
After Matt Murdock makes his appearance in She-Hulk, Echo, and the non-canon Spider-Man: Freshman Year animated series, he will finally get his own show again. Interestingly, the title is the same as a comic run that was used as the main inspiration for the third season of the Netflix show. What is going to be different, I wonder?
Captain America: New World Order – May 3, 2024
While we don’t have any information on the first Sam Wilson Captain America movie, the title matches that of the first episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Otherwise, in the comics the New World Order is a team of supervillains that want to take over the world.
Thunderbolts – July 26
In the comics, the Thunderbolts is another team of supervillains, or anti-heroes, that work together to do usually illegal activities. In a Thunderbolts comic I have, it’s General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (where the name comes from), Elektra (Daredevil), Deadpool, and The Punisher. However, it seems that this version is instead going to be more like John Walker/US Agent, Yelena/Black Widow, Baron Zemo, and probably led by Contessa Valentine Allegra de Fontaine. Of course, if they don’t still have Thunderbolt Ross then they’ll have to have a new reason for the name.
Phase 6
Now Phase 6 is more than two years away, so I’m not surprised we don’t have much information, but we know about three movies.
Fantastic Four – November 8, 2024
We don’t know much about the FF movie, aside from the director, Jon Watts, who also did all three Spider-Man movies in the MCU.
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty – May 2, 2025 + Avengers: Secret Wars – November 7, 2025
What do we know this far out? Well, this obviously confirms that Kang the Conquerer is the main villain. We know he is a descendant of Reed Richards from the 31st century, who hates when people mess with time travel and multiverses.
Also, we know that the Secret Wars was a comic story where all the great heroes are pulled into a planet called “Battleworld” where they all have to fight each other. Is Kang going to force all the alternate versions of characters to fight each other to the death, to see who are the best versions?
Something interesting to note, is that between Infinity War and Endgame we had a full year, whereas this time it’s only going to be six months.
The Nerdd 
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