Marvel Studios’ timeline is among the most hotly debated topics in fandom. Kevin Feige has held tight to the secrets of the timeline…until SDCC ’22. Finally, fans know where Phase 4 ends and where Phase 5 begins.
As it stands, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will serve as the conclusion of Marvel Studios Phase 4, making Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania the first project of Phase 5.
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Plenty of big news has already made its way out of San Diego as the annual Comic-Con rolls on, but the biggest news of the weekend is almost certainly yet to come. Saturdays have traditionally held a couple of showstopping panels and this year is no different with Warner Bros. set to bring their upcoming theatrical slate to SDCC.
Among the most-anticipated projects expected to be on display today is Shazam! Fury of the Gods. It was recently confirmed that the sequel would be part of the Hall H presentation and it now appears that fans can expect a new trailer online at some point after those in attendance see it premiere.
As those who have followed it for years know, not everything shown to the Hall H crowd makes it out of Hall H, so this ad is an encouraging sign that fans who couldn’t make the trip will get a look at some action from the film, which is currently scheduled to hit theaters December 21st.
In less than a year, Marvel Studios Animation has gone from having just one series to having its own panel at San Diego Comic-Con. The 90-minute panel was entirely focused on updating projects that had previously been announced, but that did not mean there was a shortage of exciting news!
A series of five animated shorts, I Am Groot will stream in its entirety on August 10th. Creator Kristen Lepore was on hand to debut a trailer for the series!
There’s no guarding the galaxy from this mischievous toddler! So get ready as Baby Groot takes center stage in his very own collection of shorts, exploring his glory days growing up—and getting into trouble—among the stars. “I Am Groot,” five original shorts featuring several new and unusual characters, stars everyone’s favorite little tree, Baby Groot, voiced by Vin Diesel, who voices Groot in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise.
Official Disney Press Release
Before heading out, Lepore surprised SDCC by screening one of the episodes, “Groot Takes a Bath” and announcing a second season of the series was in development.
No presentation caught audiences by surprise more than Spider-Man: Freshman Year. Originally announced as a canonical prequel to Spider-Man’s MCU adventures, the series seems to have taken a major multiversal detour.
“Spider-Man: Freshman Year” is an animated series that follows Peter Parker on his way to becoming Spider-Man in the MCU, with a journey unlike we’ve ever seen and a style that celebrates the character’s early comic book roots.
Official Disney Press Release
Head writer Jeff Trammell and artist Ryan Meinerding were on hand and revealed a crazy and unexpected cast of supporting characters for the series. Norman Osborn, Doc Ock, Rhino, Unicorn, Chameleon, Scorpion and Tarantula are all set to appear, as well as allies Daredevil, Doctor Strange and friends Nico Minoru and Amadeus Cho! Obviously doesn’t sound like the MCU Spidey we know!
Before heading out, the creators revealed that the show is set to debut in 2024 and that work has already begun on Spider-Man: Sophomore Year.
Co-creators Bryan Andrews and AC Bradley were on hand to discuss the second season of the Emmy-nominated series which explored new corners of the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse.
“What If…?” Season 2 continues the journey with The Watcher as our guide through the vast multiverse, introducing brand new and familiar faces throughout the MCU. The animated series questions, revisits, and twists classic Marvel Cinematic moments with an incredible voice cast that includes a host of stars who reprise their iconic roles. Directed by executive producer Bryan Andrews with executive producer AC Bradley as head writer.
Bryan Andrews and AC Bradley talked about the Emmy-nominated series and showed the trailer for Season Two. The audience went wild when, at the end of the presentation, a surprise screening of one episode of the highly anticipated next season was shown, and a third season was announced.
Season 2 will debut in early 2023 and Andrews and Bradley brought not only the trailer but also an episode from the sophomore season with them to San Diego. The duo also revealed that Season 3 is already in the works!
A surprise of a different sort was the revelation that Marvel Zombies will be TV-MA programming when it hits Disney Plus! The series was confirmed to be a continuation of the zombie episode from Season 1 of What If…? and Bryan Andrews, who co-created What If…?, is directing the series.
The animated series “Marvel Zombies” from Marvel Studios reimagines the Marvel Universe as a new generation of heroes battle against an ever-spreading zombie scourge. Directed by executive producer Bryan Andrews and written by executive producer Zeb Wells.
Disney Official Press Release
While no strict timeline was given, it looks like Marvel Zombies will stream in 2024.
The animation panel concluded with an update on X-Men ’97, the Marvel Studios-led revival of X-Men: The Animated Series. Brad Winderbaum and head writer Beau DeMayo were on hand to reveal the supporting cast of the show, which features some heavy hitting hereos and villains, including a returning Mister Sinister!
“X-MEN ’97” is an animated series from Marvel Studios that explores new stories in the iconic ’90s timeline of the original series. Beau DeMayo is executive producer and head writer.
Disney Official Press Release
Season 1 was revealed to be headed to Disney Plus in the Fall of 2023 and Season 2 was revealed to be in development!
Marvel Studios went all in on nostalgia when they chose to develop a revival of X-Men: The Animated Series as a streaming project for Disney Plus. A first look at the project was revealed at SDCC ’22 and it came with one major surprise: the X-Men will have a new leader in the series.
Magneto will be leading the team when X-Men ’97 streams on D+! And, as they were in the giving mood, the creative team also provided a first look at the Master of Magnetism as he’ll appear in the series when it hits Disney Plus in the Fall of 2023.
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What If…? was Marvel Studios first animated series and it looks like they plan to get mileage out of the concept. Before an episode of Season 2 of What If…? streamed, the studio confirmed the development of a third season during the Marvel Studios Animation panel at SDCC ’22.
Realistically, the show could continue for any number of seasons as the concept lends itself to pretty much any minor change to 616 continuity that a creative team could imagine. The first season stuck almost exclusively with retelling the stories of Marvel Studios films with just one minor change. Future seasons could trend closer to the concept’s use in the comics where some fairly wild stories were told.
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Marvel Studios first animated series, What If…?, premiered last year and was well-received by critics. Spinning out of the events of Loki, which opened up the multiverse, the first season of What If…? spanned nine episodes and explored alternate realities where things didn’t play out exactly the same as they did in the since-officially-named 616-universe. It was always part of the plan to tell more of these alternate reality stories and now fans know when to expect Season 2.
As part of the first-ever Marvel Studios Animation panel at San Diego Comic-Con, the release date for Season 2 of What If…? was revealed. Season 2 of the streaming series is headed to Disney Plus in early 2023!
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Spider-Man: Freshman Year became a hotly anticipated series over a matter of minutes at SDCC ’22 as a string of major revelations about the animated series made big news. Among them is that Daredevil, voiced by Charlie Cox, will be appearing in the Disney Plus series.
The panel also revealed that Daredevil will appear in a black suit, but one very different from his Netflix get up.
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One of the most exciting projects coming down the road for Marvel Studios is Spider-Man: Freshman Year. An in-canon animated series, Freshman Year will serve as a prequel to the events of Spider-Man: Homecoming. During SDCC’s Marvel Studios Animation panel, the series was revealed to be headed for Disney Plus in 2024.
The panel also gave fans a first look at Peter’s suit:
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With Marvel Studios’ San Diego Comic-Con Hall H presentation just over 2 days away, Disney has made a move that might hint at one potential announcement from Kevin Feige on Saturday. Disney has revealed that 3 R-rated Marvel films from Fox will become available on Disney Plus beginning July 22nd. Deadpool, Deadpool 2 and Logan all hit the platform just one day ahead of Marvel Studios big panel.
While Marvel Studios’ plans for Hall H are being held pretty tightly, as usual, this move could indicate the studio’s plan to update its plans for a third Deadpool film, potentially giving it a release date on its 2024 slate. Ryan Reynolds has stayed passionate about seeing a third Deadpool film through following Disney’s acquisition of Fox which saw the X-Men and related properties move under the Marvel Studios umbrella.
Access to the films will be restricted via parental controls, meaning they’ll join Netflix’s Marvel properties such as Daredevil, Jessica Jones, The Punisher, Luke Cage and Iron Fist as R-rated/TV-MA properties available in the Marvel section of the streaming service.
Tentatively set to go into production next Spring, Deadpool 3 could kick off Marvel Studios’ theatrical slate in 2024.
Originally the WandaVision spinoff looked like it might be ready in time for a late-2023 release, maybe even as early as Halloween. But production delays on other projects seem to have shoved the start of production on Agatha: House of Harkness to the first quarter of 2023, making it likely we won’t see the Kathryn Hahn-led streamer until 2024.
With director Jake Schreier on board and a script by Black Widow scribe Eric Pearson ready to go, Thunderbolts is expected to go into production next summer, making it a very likely candidate for the May release. While details on the project are currently non-existent, Julia Louis-Dreyfus‘ Val will have her team complete by then so expect to see Florence Pugh and Wyatt Russell back.
Even though Marvel Studios is still pretending that Charlie Cox isn’t going to be in She-Hulk, trade reports did confirm that he will show up in Echo and that a solo Daredevil project will follow. It was only a matter of time before the Man Without Fear got his own Marvel Studios streaming series and it looks like he’ll be joined by another one of Netflix’s Defenders, with Krysten Ritter rumored to be on board as well. Expect the events of Echo to dovetail right into this series, allowing Marvel Studios to start building out that corner of the MCU.
Unfortunately, there are very few surprises left about Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. One of them, however, is how the events of the film will lead to this spinoff series…and we’re happy to keep it that way. Ryan Coogler has created an expansive world within the MCU and Midnight Angels is just one example of that. Reports indicate it’ll go into production next summer, so a Summer 2024 debut on D+ sounds right.
After a bit of wheel-spinning, a director was found for this project in Julius Onah. Onah is working with the writing crew of Malcolm Spellman and Dalan Musson, who will continue their work on Sam Wilson’s story as Cap that began in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, so the continuity should be fantastic. Maybe fans will get a subtitle for this film soon and get some idea of what direction Captain America will be headed in.
The most pleasant surprise on this list, the Wonder Man streaming series, co-created by Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest, who will also serve as the series’ head writer, should go into production next year, giving it as good of an opportunity as any other series to make the 2024 slate. All eyes will be on who Marvel Studios casts as Simon Williams, with a potential announcement coming at SDCC or D23.
With Jon Watts now off the project, Marvel Studios is working hard to find a director for their Fantastic Four. Word is that they have been chasing some big names, though several reports have surfaced that indicate Steven Spielberg, arguably the biggest name on their list, won’t be the man behind the camera. Spielberg or no Spielberg, Marvel Studios hopes to have a director on board before long so they can get this one into production in the Fall of 2023, allowing it to make the November 8th date.
Marvel Studios has several animated projects at different points of production and any one of them could fill this end-of-the-year spot. Of them all, it seems like Spider-Man: Freshman Year should be the furthest along and would fit nicely in 2024 since fans would otherwise be looking at a potential 4-year gap between MCU Spidey projects. A canonical animated series that’ll give fans a little more of Peter’s MCU origin seems like a great way to wrap up a PACKED 2024.
