Marvel’s Phase 3 wrapped up last year with Spider-Man: Far From Home, bringing a close to the 23-film arc started way back in 2008’s original Iron Man. As the company began expanding the scope of its ambitious new shared cinematic universe (dubbed the MCU) over the years by adding more and more characters to its roster, it became clear that they were working towards something big. Each film contained puzzle pieces begging for fans to pore over them and speculate until it finally became clear that the overarching villain we’d been waiting for was actually the Mad Titan, Thanos.
The final few films saw the ultimate villain get closer to wiping out half of the universe using the Infinity Stones until patient fans were finally able to see the culmination of his plans in Avengers: Endgame, bringing a bittersweet ending to the saga with the heroic, universe-saving death of Tony Stark’s Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.).
With the ending of Endgame wrapping up so many threads from previous films, it left a lot of curiosity about where things might go in Phase 4. But if a recent guess from CBR is correct, Marvel may be looking to shake things up with the MCU’s primary Phase 4 villain.
Some photos from the set of Disney’s upcoming show Loki have showcased the return of Roxxon Energy Corporation, a shadowy company run by various evil villains in the Marvel universe. Roxxon has been seen in all three Iron Man films, but nothing much has come of the company’s existence in the MCU yet. However, it’s seeming likely to finally pay off with this kind of resurgence in Phase 4.
With no major villains confirmed for this next phase of films, it seems increasingly possible that Roxxon could serve as a type of oppressive villain itself, acting as a catalyst for various bad guys to wreak havoc on the world. In fact, it might be up to our heroes to take down the entire corporation and bring peace back to the universe yet again.
We won’t know for sure who or what the main villain of the MCU‘s Phase 4 will be for some time, and so far, all we really know for certain is that it kicks off with prequel film Black Widow on May 1st, 2020 and will be supplemented with a bevy of Disney+ television shows like Loki, WandaVision, and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier over the next few years. Suffice it to say, though, fans are in for a treat.
