After several rumors and reports regarding Marvel Studios‘ plans at San Diego Comic-Con later this month, things have finally been made official. On Saturday, Comic-Con International added the panel schedule to its website, which confirmed that Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios will take the stage in Hall H on Saturday at 5:15 PM. Marvel Studios skipped the convention last year in the wake of the Avengers: Infinity War cliffhanger, opting to keep everything about Endgame as secretive as possible.
Well, the secrets of Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home have all been revealed, and in the process, new questions about the future of the MCU have been raised. All eyes are now focuses on the road ahead, and what Marvel Studios will choose to reveal in the coming months. Between the Hall H panel in two weeks and D23 in August, there are a couple of big opportunities for Marvel to drop a ton of information.
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So what will Kevin Feige and the studio actually reveal at Comic-Con? Well, the description of the Hall H panel on the Comic-Con website was very vague, simply saying that Feige would be joined by some surprise guests.
There’s no way to know exactly what will go down during Marvel’s presentation, but we’ve got a few solid ideas.
Avengers Reunion
This one seems like a given, if not for San Diego Comic-Con then certainly in August at D23. With Endgame being the final movie that the core Avengers will ever share, Marvel Studios is certainly going to get them together on a stage at some point.
It would make a lot of sense to stage an Avengers reunion during the Hall H presentation when you think about how much time Marvel is planning to fill. 90 minutes is longer than you think, and there’s almost no chance Kevin Feige spends that entire time introducing new movies.
Then again, there’s a chance Marvel could hold this for D23, as it will be an incredibly special event for fans and the studio will want to host it on its own turf.
Another Endgame Re-Release
It’s no secret that Disney and Marvel are trying to push past James Cameron’s Avatar and make Avengers: Endgame the highest grossing film in box office history. The movie was “re-released” a few days ahead of Spider-Man: Far From Home‘s debut with a deleted scene and a sneak peek at Spider-Man.
The re-release made some money, but Endgame is still far enough away from Avatar that it likely won’t pass it with this initial theatrical window. If Disney and Marvel truly want the record to belong to Endgame, they’ll have to do something else.
That something else would most likely be another release either at the end of this year or early next year. Remember, Marvel Studios doesn’t have a film hitting theaters until May 1, 2020. Fans will want something between now and then, and another round of Endgame, accompanied by footage of something else still to come, could be the perfect remedy. After all, Avatar had multiple theatrical releases to help it set the all-time record, it’s only fair that Endgame gets a couple more chances to top it.
Black Widow
Marvel Studios has yet to officially announce any upcoming movies at this point. Even films that Feige has talked about openly, like Black Panther 2 and The Eternals, haven’t been confirmed by the studio. That will surely change in Hall H this month.
Feige and his team are definitely going to announce some movies, but the only one that’s far enough along to truly show off at SDCC is Black Widow, which is already in production despite the lack of official comment from Marvel.
There could be a little bit of footage from Black Widow at SDCC, or at least some legitimate photos and a plot description. There could even be some character reveals since the casting announcements haven’t confirmed anything yet. Either way, Black Widow is the only future Marvel film that could offer fans anything but details or concept art at this point.
Loki and Disney+
For the first time ever, Marvel Studios is actively producing television. This isn’t like an Agents of SHIELD situation where a show is slightly connected to the MCU. The new shows for Disney+ will be fully connected to the MCU, produced by Feige and the folks at Marvel Studios. That’s big for this franchise considering how little is known about the big screen future.
With Disney+ launching in November, and the first Disney+ Marvel shows arriving in 2020, there are definitely some announcements on the way. Since the streaming service is one of the cornerstones of Disney for the foreseeable future, it would make sense to hold any and all announcements regarding the Marvel shows for D23. However, there is one exception worth mentioning.
Tom Hiddleston is playing Loki once again in his own standalone series on Disney+. If Marvel wanted to officially announce the first details of that show, wouldn’t it make sense to play the ultimate nostalgia card and bring Hiddleston on the stage in his full costume one more time?
The Eternals
Outside of Black Widow, the other only upcoming Marvel Studios film actively in some stage of production is The Eternals, from director Chloe Zhao.
Nothing has been confirmed as of yet, but several key actors have been reportedly added to the cast of what appears to be one of Marvel’s most ambitious origin stories to date. Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, and Salma Hayek are all supposed to be a part of this all-star ensemble, and bringing that cast together on stage could be another iconic moment in Marvel SDCC history.
With The Eternals likely arriving in 2020 after Black Widow, filming will need to begin sooner rather than later. Marvel can only keep secrets for so long, so it’s about time to announce something official.
Here’s the thing: Black Widow and The Eternals are the only two Marvel movies hitting theaters in the next year and a half. Feige could unveil just those two films during the Hall H panel and keep everything else about the upcoming slate under wraps until D23 in August, which would offer fans more than enough to get excited about while still saving something for the Disney solo convention.
Full Slate
As unlikely as it seems, given the timing of D23 in just another month, there is a chance that Marvel Studios could drop another massive slate tease at Comic-Con this year.
The future of the MCU is a complete and total mystery right now, and the studio will make an effort to change that at some point. It’s a question of if, not when. With other big studios sitting out of SDCC this year, why not just totally take it over with a slate drop? Tease the movies at Comic-Con, save the Disney+ shows for D23. That seems like a solid split, right?
Another possibility would be Marvel unveiling just a partial slate in Hall H. This is a studio known for teasing fans about what’s to come, in the movies it’s not unreasonable to think Marvel could do the same thing at a panel. Show the entire slate on the screen with only a couple of the logos/titles revealed, then end the panel by saying that the rest of the slate will be unveiled in Anaheim in August.
Sequels on Sequels
In the unlikely event that Marvel does choose to announce movies that aren’t Black Widow, The Eternals, or possibly Shang-Chi, the focus will probably be on the plethora of sequels in development.
Announcing sequels would be a great way for Marvel to keep big storylines a secret going forward while also giving fans something to cheer about.
The scripts for Black Panther 2 and Doctor Strange 2 are currently being written, and there’s almost no chance Captain Marvel doesn’t get another movie in the near future. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is still moving forward now that James Gunn has been rehired. Any news about any of these projects would be welcomed by all attending SDCC.
