Even after drawing the decade-long Infinity Saga to an epic conclusion, taking the franchise’s box office earnings soaring past the $20 billion mark and delivering the highest-grossing movie in history in the process, the Marvel Cinematic Universe shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. In fact, the superhero series is only getting bigger, with the announcement of a huge number of shows exclusive to Disney Plus only set to widen the scope and Kevin Feige even admitting that fans will need to subscribe to the streaming service in order to keep up-to-date with the latest developments in the MCU.
The events of Avengers: Endgame definitively drew a line under the first decade of the franchise, and Marvel Studios’ upcoming slate promises an exciting mix of both returning favorites and new faces for Phase Four and beyond to carry the series for the foreseeable future. In fact, the expansion of Marvel Studios’ output is happening at such an accelerated rate that the studio will be shooting six movies and five TV shows in 2020 alone, with the vast majority of Phase Four projects set to be almost completed by the end of the year.
Out of all the MCU’s upcoming titles, only Black Widow has finished filming, with Scarlett Johansson’s standalone prequel in the midst of post-production and set for release this May. The Eternals make their big-screen debut in November, but Chloe Zao’s sci-fi epic is still in front of cameras, as the recent deluge of set photos can attest. On the small screen, both The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and WandaVision are currently deep in production, with the latter recently being moved up so that Disney Plus has two MCU shows debuting this year.
If that wasn’t enough, Australia plays host to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings from March onwards, with Thor: Love and Thunder also set to start shooting Down Under in August. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is still aiming to kick off in May as well despite recently losing director Scott Derrickson, while Tom Hiddleston’s return as Loki is slated to commence principal photography in the springtime.
Then, when you factor in a summer shoot for Jon Watts’ Spider-Man 3, along with the reports that Ms. Marvel and Hawkeye will get rolling in the fall in order to reach Disney Plus by the end of 2021, you realize what a massive undertaking Phase Four has become for Marvel Studios. Kevin Feige and his team have come a long way from releasing one or two movies a year, and having eleven different projects in front of cameras in the space of twelve months indicates just how big of a monster the MCU has become.
