The Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 4 will officially come to a close with the release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on November 11, 2022. Phase 5 will begin in 2023.
The fourth phase was introduced in January 2021 with the release of the first Disney+ television series, WandaVision, and will conclude in November with the Black Panther sequel. Phase 4 will have contained eight tv series and seven feature films for a total of 15 projects in what will become the largest phase so far in the MCU.
Kevin Feige, President at Marvel Studios and Chief Creative Officer at Marvel, announced this at the San Diego Comic-Con Marvel Studios panel on Saturday night. The panel was the most anticipated event of the weekend and they did not disappoint.
Ending Phase 4 with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a surprise to most, as Marvel fans were under the impression most of the announced projects would be under the fourth phase umbrella. Additionally, the phase ending without a team film similar to The Avengers is something new for the studio.
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania will kick-off Phase 5 on February 23, 2023 followed by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (May 5, 2023), and The Marvels (July 28, 2023). Blade will be part of the fifth phase and received a released date of November 3, 2023. The fourth Captain America film received a release date (May 3, 2024) and will be titled Captain America: New World Order. The phase will conclude with a newly announced film, Thunderbolts (July 26, 2024).
Phase 5 currently consists of seven seasons on Disney+, including five first seasons and two second seasons. In early-2023 we will get the second season of What If…? and the first season of Secret Invasion. Come mid-2023 Disney+ will release the first season of Echo and season two of Loki. New series Ironheart and Agatha: Coven of Chaos will stream in late-2023 with the newly announced 18-episode season of Daredevil: Born Again hitting in early 2024.
Such a large Phase 5 announcement wasn’t expected by most at SDCC, but was a welcome surprise. It’s possible more on the fifth phase of the MCU will be announced at Disney’s D23 Expo in September.
