Marvel has revealed its new Phase 5 line-up after fresh details were shared at Comic-Con.
It was the first time Marvel Studios had been at the convention since 2019, so for fans it was a huge moment. And, almost as if to celebrate, there were two Marvel panels: The first, which was held on the Friday, was animation-focused, while a bigger panel was held on the Saturday.
What happened at Comic-Con?
Franchise boss Kevin Feige took to the bigger San Diego stage to share news about all the upcoming projects coming out of the Marvel Universe.
Finally, all 11 confirmed forthcoming Phase 5 projects have been given either a release date or a release window, beginning with Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania in February 2023 and running up to the July 2024 release of Thunderbolts.
The Phase 5 release dates are as follows:
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania - February 17, 2023
Secret Invasion - Spring 2023
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 - May 5, 2023
Echo - Summer 2023
Loki season 2 - Summer 2023
The Marvels - July 28, 2023
Blade - November 3, 2023
Ironheart - Autumn 2023
Agatha: Coven of Chaos - Winter 2023
Daredevil: Born Again - Spring 2024
Captain America: New World Order - May 3, 2024
Thunderbolts - July 26, 2024
What is the Unitited Marvel Movie?
Details are still yet to be revealed about one more project, which is currently called Untitled Marvel Movie. It is set to be released on February 16, 2024, meaning that it will slip into Phase 5.
And, although nothing’s been confirmed, rumours are swirling that it could be the next Deadpool film.
What else was announced?
Captain America 4 also finally got a title. It will be called Captain America: New World Order.
Feige also confirmed that there will be two new Avengers films – titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars – which are set to be released in 2025. The two Avengers films will also officially end Phase 6 of the franchise.
As if this wasn’t enough, the Marvel boss also established that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will conclude Phase 4 while Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania will begin Phase 5.
Is Marvel spreading itself too thinly?
Absolutely not - Marvel is the high-grossing film franchise in the world, with its revenue coming in at close to triple that of the revenue of the second highest-grossing franchise, Star Wars.
The last few MCU film releases made an absolute tonne of money at the worldwide box office: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness made $956 million, Spider-Man: No Way Home made $1.9 billion and Thor: Love and Thunder, which was released on July 8, has already garnered over $600 million. This surely means that Marvel has real grounds for embarking on all its future projects.
What are the different MCU Phases?
There are currently six Phases of the MCU, and they are grouped by date: Phase 1 runs from 2008 to 2012, Phase 2 runs from 2013 to 2015, Phase 3 runs from 2016 to 2019, Phase 4 runs from 2021 to 2022, Phase 5 runs from 2023 to 2024 and Phase 6 runs from 2024 to 2025.
The Phases can then be further grouped into sagas: Phases 1 to 3 are called The Infinity Saga and Phases 4 to 6 are called The Multiverse Saga.
