“Part of the journey is the end” — these words by Tony Stark in Avengers: Endgame (2019) made it seem that the franchise is at its last leg, but, we now learn that the end is the new beginning for Marvel. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has yet again brought good news for fans by announcing the fourth phase of the films, giving people a sigh of relief and bringing the excitement back from the dead.
Marvel President Kevin Feige has confirmed that everything that was announced at the prestigious San Diego Comic-Con is officially a part of the new phase: be it Black Widow or Thor: Love And Thunder. Now, for those who are new to the Universe, what exactly is this Phase Four? If we begin from Phase One, which set the ball rolling, it included Iron Man and Incredible Hulk back in 2008 and ended with The Avengers (2012).
Phase Two saw the introduction of fresh settings — Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), and Ant-Man (2015), for instance.
As the conclusion to Phase Three, Avengers: Endgame saw silence in theatres with the death of Iron Man, played by Robert Downey, Jr., which made all the fans feel that this may be the end of Marvel.
Vivek Kumar, a 21-year-old college student and a die-hard Marvel fan shares, “I was disheartened after Endgame because I wasn't ready to accept the fact that Iron Man is actually dead. And I thought it might be the end of all MCU movies after Spiderman: Far From Home. But, soon, the news hit me and now I cannot wait till next year to witness the new Marvel Phase Four.”
The first release of Phase Four is scheduled to be Black Widow on May 1, 2020, starring Scarlett Johansson and directed by Cate Shortland. Others from the big banner are Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2021), Thor: Love and Thunder (2021) and The Eternals (2020).
Following the big releases is MCU’s first series in Disney+, which is an upcoming video on-demand service — The Falcon And The Winter Soldier (2020), where the story continue from the end of the Avengers series as both Falcon and the Winter Soldier agree to deal with trouble in absence of Captain America. The studio also announced series such as Hawkeye, Loki, and WandaVision, which will premiere in 2021 on the new streaming service.
Phase Four may not, however, see the Blade (1998) reboot (with Mahershala Ali in the lead). Its postponement might actually mark the beginning of Phase Five of MCU. There has been no official confirmation regarding the same yet.
Fans all over the world are celebrating already and are eagerly waiting for the cinematic experiences. Resonating with the sentiment, another MCU fan Pranav, concludes, “I am actually waiting for Phase Four to see what Marvel comes up with next and how they can surprise the audience once again; I hope it will be better and more fun than the previous phases.”
