While Marvel continues its indefinite absence from the big screen, fans have instead turned their gaze towards the television screen.
Marvel’s original Phase Four blueprint was shot to pieces by the coronavirus pandemic, with the opening entry in the MCU’s post-Infinity Saga narrative still yet to release.
Black Widow, the long-awaited solo film for Scarlett Johansson’s Avenger, had initially been set to release in cinemas in May 2020; only to be delayed until this summer.
The delay pushed back the remainder of Marvel’s Phase Four slate, with each title – including Eternals, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – now set to release months beyond their original date.
At least in the meantime, the studio has got the ball rolling with its Disney+ content, beginning with the enthralling, superhero-sitcom blend that is WandaVision.
The series, which continues the stories of Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany), is already six episodes deep and leaving fans hungry for more.
Fortunately, that appetite won’t go unsatisfied. There are five more series on the cards to arrive before the end of the calendar year.
Let’s take a closer look at what’s in store:
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Next up on the MCU radar is The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which is due for release on March 19.
The series, as the title suggests, will focus on Sam Wilson/Falcon and Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier in a post-Avengers: Endgame climate. While WandaVision promised a sitcom theme, a dark tone and undercover thrills, Marvel’s next project promises quite the opposite. It’ll be a fully-fledge action flick.
The last time we saw Wilson, he had been passed the mantle of Captain America by Steve Rogers, and the series will explore Wilson’s reluctance to accept the shield. He and Barnes team up to fight the anti-patriotism group The Flag-Smashers.
There will also be a return for Captain America: Civil War villain Helmut Zemo (played by Daniel Bruhl). The intriguing thing about that is that Zemo was a villain unlike many others in the MCU. He actually won.
A Sokovian terrorist, Zemo was responsible for the breakup of the Avengers in Civil War, and though they later reformed to defeat Thanos, Zemo achieved his task. Aside from Thanos himself, the franchise hasn’t yet been able to draw upon or explore a villainous character revelling in his own success.
He is a threat that should not be underestimated.