With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Marvel fans across the world were forced to take a long break from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), where the last Marvel movie, Spiderman: Far From Home, was released nearly two years ago in July 2019.
While many are looking forward to more Marvel movies, there have been plenty of guesses as to where the MCU will be headed to following Avengers: Endgame. However, it seems that the two upcoming Marvel movies, Black Widow and Shang Chi, will not be delving too much into developing the Universe. Instead, it will serve solely as a “flashback” and introduction of the character’s personal story and development.
But fret not! Here are the five things we can expect about the MCU in the future!
MORE Marvel TV series!
Marvel’s TV series has created quite a stir this year with the release of WandaVision and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier on DisneyPlus. And if you are still wondering whether it is tied to the MCU, the answer is a resounding YES as it would definitely impact the future of Marvel movies.
Here are some of the TV series we can expect:
1. Loki – Expected release date: 11 June 2021
2. What If…? – Expected release date: Summer 2021 (June – September)
3. Ms Marvel – Expected release date: Late 2021
4. Hawkeye – Expected release date: 2022
Others: Moon-Knight, She-Hulk, Secret Invasion (TBC)
However, these TV series are more likely to serve as an in-depth development for characters that did not enjoy ample screen time in the movies (e.g. Wanda, Vision, Falcon, Bucky and Hawkeye), just like other standalone Marvel movie.
WandaVision and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier has so far been well received by both critics and viewers alike, with many praising the directors for their bravery in venturing into unfamiliar territory. An example of this can be seen in WandaVision, where it starts off with a few sitcom episodes that only have little connection with the main plot.
With the freedom to play around with different genres, the audience is able to watch these characters’ stories unfold in a unique and different manner.
So far, only Ms Marvel (not to be confused with Captain Marvel) will be a character introduced through a TV series. We don’t know exactly how Marvel plans to tell her story, so all we can do is to wait and see.
What’s next for X-Men?
In 2019, Disney spent $71.3bil to complete its acquisition of 20th Century Fox, thus gaining the rights to the X-Men and Fantastic Four franchise. However, the X-Men characters have yet to be featured in the MCU to this day.
While it is likely that Disney will not let such an expensive franchise go to waste, how exactly will they introduce them into the MCU? Marvel has two possible options on hand:
1. Reintroduce all X-Men characters
Doing this would mean that characters from previous X-Men-related films will no longer exist and instead be given a new front in the MCU storyline.
Although this sounds drastic, it would make sense in terms of profit as recent X-Men films did not perform too well at the box office. To add to its woes, Hugh Jackman has officially retired from his role as Wolverine in the movie Logan, who was the heart of the entire X-Men franchise.
Nonetheless, reintroducing X-Men would not be easy as its storyline is quite sophisticated and deeply rooted in American culture and history, tackling controversial topics such as racial conflict.
In the world of X-Men, mutants have long been members of human society but were often ostracized and even regarded as monsters for their powers, thus pitting the two sides against each other.
Previous X-Men films did a good job delving into the conflict between the two species and the different ideologies used in solving it. The most significant example would be the clashing of Professor X and Magneto’s approach to making peace with humanity. Thus, abandoning the previous well-established world would be quite wasteful.
2. Merge X-Men into the MCU
Compared to the first option, merging the X-Men universe with Marvel’s might prove to be more difficult as there have been no hints about this possibility. But this hasn’t stopped fans from hoping for it to become a reality.
This seemingly impossible integration could be made possible through the upcoming Marvel movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, where it might be the perfect window for such a move. We will discuss more of it later.
Many have assumed that X-Men might officially join the scene in the upcoming movie Eternal, which is set to be released in November 2021. The concept of mutants has also been teased in the WandaVision series, so be sure to watch this space!
S.W.O.R.D. and Skrull
In the official Marvel comics, the Sentient World Observation and Response Department (S.W.O.R.D.) played an important role in several huge events, and the same goes for Skrull. Both of them are especially important in the Secret Invasion incident where the shapeshifting Skrull infiltrated Earth through a long-period invasion and replaced many superheroes.
“Secret Invasion” is a story that revolves around the theme of “who to believe” and has a significant impact on the Marvel comic book.
Captain Marvel and Spiderman: Far from Home introduced Skrull and revealed that Nick Fury had been working with him the entire time. S.W.O.R.D. was also mentioned in WandaVision with a minor tweak to its name.
Disney has announced that Secret Invasion would be made into a TV series, meaning that it will not be shown on the big screen. However, many still believe that Skrull and S.W.O.R.D. will continue to play a vital role in the MCU.
With the existence of S.W.O.R.D., an organization that has close connections to the extraterrestrial world, it is possible for the MCU to explore further into more galaxies, with Thor: Love and Thunder acting as its platform.
Wider use of magic in the MCU
Despite magic has been introduced to the MCU since the Thor movies, establishing Loki and his mother as magic users, magic has never been used heavily in the MCU. It was until character like Doctor Strange and Wanda which were introduced later, magic has become more and more prominent
Despite being a magic user, in the previous MCU movie, Wanda only uses her psychic power to move physical objects as her way to attack (and occasionally read people’s mind). So, only Doctor Strange could be considered a “hardcore” magic-user, having to fight magic-being with spell and magic.
However, the fans can expect more magic element in the upcoming MCU scene. With the introduction of witches and ancient magic in WandaVision, it is safe to assume that Wanda will eventually become Scarlett Witch and acquire strong magical powers.
On top of that, Antman with its magic-like “quantum physic” would also contribute to more abnormal methods of fighting and strategy. Especially when it comes to discovering the concept of a parallel universe, which seems to be a huge part of the next phase of MCU.
It was also confirmed that Doctor Octopus from Sam Ramy’s Spider-Man 2 will be featured in the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home movie
To put it simply, Wanda and Doctor Strange would lead the next phase with heavy magic element and might be facing magic being like Dormammu, and Marvel has a handful of them, for instance, Mephisto and Doctor Doom.
Besides, Loki is also a magic user that might join the scene with more of his magic power. Although Thanos has announced Loki’s death and declared that there would be no more resurrection for the character, who knows if the fans favourite God of Mischief would find his way to make his come back to MCU or not.
Multiverse / Parallel universe
As the upcoming Spider-Man confirmed its crossover with the previous movie, it basically confirmed that a parallel universe concept would be in play.
This concept opens up endless possibility for the MCU, especially when so many different Marvel characters was introduced outside of the MCU in other established universe. Characters from X-Men, Deadpool, Spiderman and Venom were all well established beyond the MCU and each of them obtains their own fanbase.
Since Doctor Octopus is making his come back in the next spiderman movie, it might lead to a larger crossover event in the MCU. And the coming movie Doctor Strange in the Madness of Multiverse would be the best opportunity ever for MCU to start some crazy event.
Maybe the fourth-wall-breaking anti-hero Deadpool will be introduced into the MCU and teaming up with Spidey like in the comic, maybe
Tom Hardy’s Venom that we know might become the villain for Tom Holland Spider-Man. Moreover, despite previous rumours about three spidermen uniting in the next Spider-Man movie has been denied, who could be certain that it would not happen in another future MCU movie?
Bringing in crossovers between multiverses really opens up a lot of possibilities that could be game-changing to MCU. Do Kevin Fiege, the president of Marvel Studio has the gut to take the challenge? Or he was planning something even bigger out of all the Marvel fans’ sight? Suprise us, Marvel, Excelsior!
Sources: Marvel, Cover Image via Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Editor: Raymond Chen
Proofreader: Sarah Yeoh
