The MARVEL SDCC 2019 took place yesterday (Overnight for us non US fans) and not only were the first films of MCU Phase 4 announced but time was also given to the new Disney Plus streaming service shows which will all tie into the big screen MCU Universe. It was also confirmed that all the shows will be post ‘Avengers: End Game’ in terms of the characters we will see on screen.
The show that interests me the most which was also the biggest surprise when it was announced before End Game hit cinemas is “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” which finally has a logo that will make all the sense post End Game events. Hitting screens hits Fall 2020 and will see Sebastian Stan & Anthony Mackie reprising their roles. Daniel Bruhl was also confirmed to be returning as Baron Zemo and he will be much more in line with the comic book version of Zemo.
We know from End Game that Falcon will become the new Captain America after Steve Rogers passed his Shield to him and Mackie has confirmed that he has already had his first new suit fitting at his home. This show will be an interesting first look at how the Avengers might begin to take shape without Cap and Iron Man and the pressure that will no doubt be on Falcon to live up to the legacy of Steve Rogers.
“WandaVision” arrives in Spring 2021 starring Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda and Paul Bettany as Bettany but we do not know exactly how Vision is coming back into play. We also know from the MCU Film reveal at the panel, that this series will also leading into the Doctor Strange sequel which Scarlet Witch will also star in. Teyonah Parris was also confirmed to play the adult Monica Rambeau, the grown up version of the character introduced in ‘Captain Marvel’.
Not much was revealed about the LOKI series other than the Loki we see will be the version that stole the Tesseract during End Game and not the Loki we lost at the very start of Infinity War. This Loki will be a more angry version similar to the one we saw in ‘Avengers: Assemble’ way back when which might make some fans rather unhappy to have a Loki who has not gone on his long redemption story arc we saw him take throughout the MCU so far.
Similarly to Loki, not much information was given about ‘Hawkeye’ other than we know the show will explain and show what Hawkeye was doing following the impact of the Thanos Snap where he lost his whole family. It should hopefully fill in the gaps during the five years where he went rogue and taking on the mantle of Ronin which is where Black Widow finds him during End Game. Jeremy Renner returns as Clint Barton and thought not yet cast, will feature Kate Bishop who Barton will pass the mantle of ‘Hawkeye’ on.
What If? will be the MCU’s first animated series and has cast Jeffrey Wright as the voice of The Watcher. The animated series will feature many actors from across the MCU, reprising their roles as voice talent including Chris Hemsworth, Michael B. Jordan, Josh Brolin, Sebastian Stan, Mark Ruffalo, Hayley Atwell, Jeremy Renner, Karen Gillan, Michael Douglas, Jeff Goldblum and many more. “What if?” will showcase alternative events if different choices had been made throughout the MCU…
My Thoughts….
It is very interesting to see MARVEL continuing the small screen and big screen experiment that began with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the MCU years back but now look as though they are doubling down and really using the Disney Pus service (yes I know its all about using MARVEL to sell subscriptions to the streaming service) to tie both worlds together as we rush headfirst into Phase 4 of the MCU. I am very much intrigued to see how these shows not only carry on following the events of End Game but also still expanding events that happened during End Game such as Hawkeye and seeing what happened to him before we find him standing in the rain after cutting down multiple Yakuza.
I am hoping that with Falcon and the Winter Soldier kicking things off later in 2020 that we will discover how non US fans will get to watch these shows or if Disney Plus itself will launch for the UK and elsewhere, but I am even more excited for these shows than I was before knowing how much of a role they will all play in Phase 4, not to mention it is always awesome to have more Loki!
