The Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to expand with new films on the horizon, promising to take fans on wild adventures across the cosmos and introduce us to even more captivating characters. As the franchise enters its next phase, fans are eagerly anticipating the next chapter of their favorite superhero stories. But what do we know about these upcoming films, and what can we expect from the Marvel Universe in the years to come? Here is a look at the upcoming projects in Phase Five of the MCU.

   “For phase Five, I’m really looking forward to the new storylines and connections of new and past characters. Ant-Man Quantumania, the first title of Phase 5, brought in Kang, so I’m really looking forward to that in the future movies,” freshman Rahanna Banks said. “Phase Five will be sad without the past characters, such as Steve Rogers and others, but I think it will be interesting to see the new characters and their storyline.” 

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. III”

In theaters now

   “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is the highly-anticipated third installment in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise, following the success of the first two films. Directed by James Gunn, the film is expected to continue the story of Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot, as they embark on another cosmic adventure to save the galaxy.

   One of the major storylines in the upcoming film is expected to revolve around the search for Gamora, who was last seen in “Avengers: Endgame.” The film will likely explore the aftermath of her disappearance and how the rest of the Guardians are coping with her absence. Another storyline that fans are eagerly anticipating is the potential introduction of Adam Warlock, a powerful character from the comics who was teased in a post-credits scene in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.” It is not yet clear how he will fit into the plot, but his appearance is expected to have a significant impact on the Guardians’ mission. 

“The Marvels” 

Release date: November 10, 2023 

   “The Marvels” is an upcoming superhero film in the MCU. It is the sequel to the 2019 film “Captain Marvel.” The movie will feature Brie Larson as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, and Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel. The plot of the movie is being kept under wraps, but Marvel revealed that it will explore the team-up between these three powerful superheroes.

   In addition to the main cast, the film will also feature returning characters from the previous MCU movies such as Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Talos (Ben Mendelsohn).

“Captain America: New World Order”

Release Date: May 3, 2024

   “Captain America: New World Order” is a live-action movie officially released at Comic-Con 2022. Following the timeline after the Disney+ TV series “Falcon and The Winter Soldier,” Marvel revealed that Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) would be the new Captain America. The plot and cast hasn’t been released yet, but there’s hope that we get to see Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Sam Wilson team up once again. 

“Thunderbolts” 

Release Date: July 26, 2024

   The movie “Thunderbolts” will be the final film in MCU’s Phase 5. At Comic-Con 2022, Marvel revealed the release of this title. Although this is not an Avengers movie, it will feature a number of the most current anti-heroes that Marvel has created, including Baron Zemo, John Walker, and Yelena Belova, played by Daniel Bruhl, Wyatt Russell, and Florence Pugh, respectively.

“Blade”

Release date: September 6, 2024

   Mahershala Ali met with Marvel after receiving an Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in  “Green Book,” and informed the company of his interest to portray the vampire hunter Blade. His voice was featured in one of the post-credit scenes from “The Eternals,” when we heard Ali’s voice speaking to Kit Harrington’s Dane Whitman, after Marvel Studios revealed his casting at San Diego Comic-Con 2019. 

   The plot of “Blade” is about a half-human half-vampire trying to avenge his mother’s death in a society where the humans are trying to rid the world of vampires. He then searches for a special blood type needed to summon an evil god to eliminate the human race.

“Fantastic Four”

Release date: February, 14 2025   

Since the beginning, The Fantastic Four have been among Marvel’s top comic book personalities. However, despite all that success, there have only been three films made since 2005 that haven’t been especially successful. With the release of the following Fantastic Four movie, which will bring the team into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)

“Avengers: The Kang Dynasty”

Release date: May, 2 2025

   Kang was portrayed by Jonathan Majors in Loki’s first season, and it was immediately clear that he would play an essential part in the MCU’s future villains.

   Kang had developed a technique to travel across universes, thus opening up the multiverse, as he explains in Loki’s season finale. One Kang now managed to prevail and establish the TVA so that no other Kangs would be produced to

endanger the multiverse. But since         Photo courtesy:  Disney

that Kang is no longer alive, we will see far darker variations of him throughout Phase 5, starting with Ant-Man: Quantumania and maybe concluding with the Avengers uniting to defeat him.

“Avengers: Secret Wars”

Release date: May, 1 2026

   A year after The Kang Dynasty, a second Avengers movie will be released. Even though the movie has a long way to go until it hits theaters, the Secret Wars comic series features MCU heroes and villains, including the X-Men, being kidnapped by the Beyonder and forced to battle on the patched-together planet Battleworld.

Armor Wars

Release date: Unannounced but on Disney+

   Unlike what was initially claimed, this live-action project is a feature film. The film will star Don Cheadle as James Rhodes, aka War Machine, from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, who must deal with the consequences of his old friend’s technology getting into the wrong hands. Although there will be significant modifications as Tony Stark is dead, the film will be based on a successful run of the Iron Man comics.

   The writer of the film, Yassir Lester, assured fans that Armor Wars will still be released despite being noticeably absent from a massive set of revelations Marvel made at Comic-Con 2022.

Secret Invasion

Release date: Spring 2023 on Disney+

   Alongside Emilia Clarke, a newbie to the MCU, Samuel L. Jackson plays Nick Fury and Ben Mendelsohn plays Talos in this Disney+ television series. It’s a live-action adaptation of one of the most well-known comic book plots, in which shape-shifting Skrulls sneak onto Earth by posing as heroes. We may fall in love with additional MCU characters because Kevin Feige said the series will be a crossover event.