A recent interview with Don Cheadle seemed to confirm what most fans had already come to understand: Marvel Studios’ original plans for Phase 6 have been significantly refigured. During SDCC ’22, the studio’s head honcho, Kevin Feige, showed off an impressive plan for the final phase of the Multiverse Saga that included 11 total projects. At the time, the plan was for Fantastic Four to kick off Phase 6 on November 8, 2024 and for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars to hit theaters only 6 months apart on May 2nd, 2025 and November 7, 2025, respectively. For a multitude of reasons, nothing on that slate made its scheduled release and many of the projects will never come to fruition at all.
Though the nature of the other eight projects may never be disclosed, at least two more of them were likely destined to be films which would mean the other six were planned as streaming series. Given what the studio’s plans looked like at the time, that’s probably how it was meant to shape up.
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty
Following the dismal reception of Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, a confluence of events led to the plans for the fifth installment in the Avengers franchise to be scrapped. The plans put in place, presumably, in the Quantumania stinger and in Season 2 of Loki were ditched following star Jonathan Majors‘ legal troubles. But what were those plans?
The earliest rumors indicated that Sam Wilson, Shang-Chi and Shuri were set to take on Kang though they were destined to fail. Interestingly enough, that information matched a recent report that indicated the scrapped sequel would have had a heavy focus on Simu Liu‘s hero.
In the original plan for Avengers 5, then called Kang Dynasty, Shang-Chi would’ve been one of the film’s main leads. A lot’s changed since then; Avengers 5 was meant to focus on Kang the Conqueror, but Marvel has since completely retooled the film to introduce Victor Von Doom.
-Inverse
It was also reported that while The Kang Dynasty was going to have a huge roster of heroes, it would not include the Fantastic Four. Instead, director Destin Daniel Cretton, who has since left the project, was keen on including Hulk, She-Hulk and Moon Knight in the project as part of the rumored team of new Avengers.
Shang-Chi and the Wreckage of Time
Whether or not “Wreckage or Time” was indeed meant to be the subtitle of the sequel to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, a sequel was most certainly in development. Even as the first film was being made, the wheels inside Destin Daniel Cretton’s mind were hard at work on the sequel. It’s unclear if some of those ideas would ultimately have been included in The Kang Dynasty, which was reportedly a sort of surprise Shang-Chi sequel, but it is clear that Shang-Chi was originally intended to play a major role in Phase 6 and now, with Cretton taking on Spider-Man 4, it would seem his role has been greatly reduced.
Armor Wars
First announced during Disney’s 2020 Investor Day presentation, Armor Wars will go down as one of the most curious projects in the history of the MCU. Originally developed as a Disney Plus streaming series, the studio made the decision to switch gears on Rhodey’s solo project, choosing to overhaul it for theaters. According to EP Nate Moore, the ideas the studio has were deemed to be “too big” for a D+ series.
Yeah, I mean in that case, there were some great ideas that were coming out for that show but that, to be quite honest, felt too big for that show.
Despite little to no progress having been reported over the years, Armor Wars was reportedly searching for a director in January 2024 with an eye on a 2026 release. However, recent comments by the project’s star, Don Cheadle, did nothing to generate positive vibes. “I don’t know, I’m not sure where anything is right now,” said Cheadle when asked about the film. “I think things are going through a lot of changes, and we’ll see what happens, we’ll see what it is.”
Silver Surfer
The only project in this list that was never officially announced by Marvel Studios or revealed by a Hollywood trade, the Silver Surfer Special Presentation may or may not have ever been in development; however, if it ever was, it certainly does not seem to be at this point.
Originally rumored to be set to hit Disney Plus ahead of the theatrical release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the Silver Surfer project was said to be required reading for the film. Problematically, the rumored plot was said to follow Norrin Radd out and about in the cosmos while serving as the Herald of Galactus despite the fact that Marvel Studios cast Julia Garner as an all+new, all-different Shalla Bal version of the character.
Nova
Despite Marvel Studios giving a Disney Plus Nova series the green light in March 2022, the project–written by Moon Knight scribe Sabir Pirzada—was rumored to be headed to the big screen before being unceremoniously shoved to the back burner as other projects took precedence. However, in May 2024, a report indicated that the studio was gearing up to begin production on the series in 2025.
While the studio has not officially indicated when the series might begin filming, Marvel TV head Brad Winderbaum did reveal that that Nova is being developed as “an amazing ensemble piece” before explaining that fans of the comics will know “how heated that Richard Rider kind of world can get.” Should the project get underway in 2025, there’s no reason to believe it will be included in Phase 6 which is expected to wrap up in May 2027 with Avengers: Secret Wars. At this point in time, it would seem that the studio’s Wonder Man and Vision Quest series will debut in 2026 and it’s unclear what role, if any, the Nova Corps would even have in the Multiverse Saga making the project a likely entry in the studio’s post-Multiverse Saga plans.
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