Marvel Studios has been building gradually since its official launch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Iron Man in 2008, and wrapped its third phase with Spider Man: Far From Home in 2019. Now, Phase Four is set to begin, and Marvel has released a formidable new trailer that revisits the excitement of the first three slates and prepares for Phase Four and beyond.
The trailer, titled “Marvel Studios Celebrates the Movies,” is clearly popular, garnering more than 500,000 views as of this writing after being released earlier today.
In addition to footage from past films, it heightens the nostalgia around going to the movies by showing filmed scenes of audience reaction to a key scene from Avengers: Endgame on opening night in a theater full of people. It also declares that “What the future brings…will be worth the wait” before showing titles and release dates for a few films that are further off and don’t yet have scenes or shots to be teased.
Next up for release is the long-awaited Black Widow, which sees Scarlett Johansson returning as Natasha Romanoff, a role that she originated in Iron Man 2 and has portrayed in most of the MCU films since then. She will be joined in the cast by Florence Pugh. Originally scheduled to come out in May 2020, this one has been pushed back several times.
As we covered back in March, this film will be simultaneously released in theaters and on Disney Plus for Premier Access on July 9th, 2021.
After that will be Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which stars Simu Liu as the title character and is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, whose next project we reported on last week. This film is notable because it is the first MCU film with an Asian lead actor, and the cast also includes Tony Leung, Awkwafina, and Michelle Yeoh.
Its release date is September 3rd, 2021.
The third film in Phase Four that is ready to go is Eternals, from Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao, which she pitched after previously being in the running to helm Black Widow. It was also recently confirmed that the lead of the film will be Gemma Chan, playing Sersi, and the ensemble also has Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden, Kit Harington, Brian Tyree Henry, and Kumail Nanjiani.
While there is less information available about the far-off titles, the quick sequence of titles and release dates serves as a reminder that they’re on their way, with more to come as they approach:
Spider-Man: No Way Home: December 17th, 2021
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: March 25th, 2022
Thor: Love and Thunder: May 6th, 2022
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: July 8th, 2022
The Marvels: November 11th, 2022
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania: February 17th, 2023
Guardians and the Galaxy, Vol 3: May 5th, 2023
We’ll have more coverage of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as new clips and details emerge throughout the next two years of planned releases!