Marvel Studios has had quite the year so far. The pandemic gave them issues at the box office, but the company has been going strong nonetheless. This is due to the help of their place on the Disney+ streaming service. In the wake of the Infinity Saga, the MCU had a lot to do to prepare for Phase 4. With a vacuum of heroes after Avengers: Endgame, it was time for new ones to take center stage. Thanks to a cavalcade of MCU TV shows, they survived just fine until box office hits started up again this past July. In honor of the jumpstart of MCU Phase 4, and likely the promised project announcements at tomorrow’s Disney+ Day, a change has come to the Marvel streaming section. The Disney+ Marvel banner now reflects the current, and potentially upcoming, main Avengers line-up.
2021, the Year of New Marvel Heroes
To put it simply, 2021 has been jam-packed with Marvel content. There have been no more than two months between content. Award-winning Wandavision started the year off strong in January on Disney+. It proved that Marvel can create an extremely compelling narrative in a TV format. From there, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier as well as Loki gave us powerful redemption arcs for classic characters. Loki is acclaimed as the most important of the bunch since it sets things up for MCU Phase 4 in earnest. What If…? gave us a whole slew of possibilities, and Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings rang in our first new Avenger. The most recent, Eternals, has started to pry into the cosmic aspect of the MCU. If this tracks, Phase 4 of the MCU is expected to be enthralling.
What to Expect on the Phase 4 Horizon
The Disney+ Marvel banner change seems to do more than show some love to our heroes. Some of the heroes on the banner have little to no presence in Phase 4 so far. Many fans believe this is intentional. Captain Marvel makes an appearance as a potential reference to her 2023 sequel The Marvels. Likewise, Princess Shuri of Wakanda is there. Some fans speculate that since Boseman passed, they will retire T’Challa in-universe. If this is the case, Shuri is the most likely replacement in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. And of course, there’s our lovable party dude Thor. The fourth movie of his tetralogy, Thor: Love and Thunder, is expected next July. With so many prospects lined up, and more in the pipeline, it’s hard not to be excited.
Are you looking forward to what Marvel’s Phase 4 has in store? What are your theories on potential announcements tomorrow? Leave a comment below with your thoughts!
