Marvel Studios Announcements From Disney Investor Day 2020

Marvel Studios updated its slate during Disney Investor Day 2020 on Thursday, where the studio [...]

By Cameron Bonomolo

Marvel Studios updated its slate during Disney Investor Day 2020 on Thursday, where the studio revealed new feature films for theaters and series to release on Disney+. Armor Wars, Ironheart, and Secret Invasion are the latest digital exclusives to stream on Disney+ as part of Phases Four and Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which grows further with a rebooted Fantastic Four from Spider-Man director Jon Watts. All part of the franchise's ongoing expansion, where the television series will interlink with the feature films for the first time, the newly set Disney+ titles join a roster of limited series that includes the already announced WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Thursday's announcements are the next entries from the Disney+ TV slate that has grown to include Hawkeye, Loki, Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, She-Hulk, and What If...?, the first animated series from Marvel Studios.

The Walt Disney Company plans to release more than 30 originals from its Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Disney animation arms over the next several years, according to Kareem Daniel, chairman of Disney's Media and Entertainment Distribution.

"These episodes will intersect with the movies in a very big way. It's a totally new form of storytelling that we get to play with and explore," Marvel chief creative officer Kevin Feige previously told Variety of Marvel Studios' first crop of cinematic-quality television series. "It's the first long-form narrative that Marvel Studios has done — they'll be six episodes, eight episodes, 10 episodes with the actors from the films playing their characters. They'll be changing, evolving, growing in those event series and then those changes will be reflected in their next film appearances."

Marvel movie stars reprising their roles across multiple series include Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda Maximoff) and Paul Bettany (Vision), Anthony Mackie (Falcon) and Sebastian Stan (Winter Soldier), Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton), and Tom Hiddleston (Loki). Franchise newcomers include Tatiana Maslany (Jennifer Walters, She-Hulk), Hailee Steinfeld (Kate Bishop, Hawkeye), and Iman Vellani (Kamala Khan, Ms. Marvel).

"I think it's a testament to the quality of streaming and to the way things are changing that many of our actors are totally into it and are totally excited by it," Feige said. "I was concerned about it. I had a whole song and dance ready to sell them about why we were so excited about it and why this was a best case scenario. But, within one second they were like, 'You guys are doing it, we're in.'"

WandaVision Trailer

Feige presented a new look at WandaVision, the first Marvel Studios series following "unusual couple" Wanda (Olsen) and Vision (Bettany). Joining them are returning MCU stars Kat Dennings (Thor, Thor: The Dark World) as Darcy Lewis and Randall Park (Ant-Man and the Wasp) alongside franchise newcomers Teyonah Parris as a grown-up Monica Rambeau and Kathryn Hahn as Agnes.

The Disney+ original series starts streaming on January 15.

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What If...? Trailer

Feige also revealed another look at What If...?, featuring the voices of some of the studio's biggest stars. The first animated series from Marvel Studios starts streaming next summer on Disney+.

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Loki Trailer

Disney+ subscribers also got their first full look at Loki, where Hiddleston returns as the god of mischief after the events of Avengers: Endgame. The series pairs the Thor and Avengers star with Owen Wilson as a member of the Time Variance Authority, who step in over the Asgardian's multiverse mischief in Endgame.

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Hawkeye

Avengers star Jeremy Renner reprises his role as Clint Barton in Hawkeye, introducing MCU newcomer Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop. Feige also confirmed cast members Vera Farmiga, Fra Fee, Tony Dalton, and Alaqua Cox.

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The Marvelous Ms. Marvel

In addition to confirming newcomer Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan, a.k.a. teen superhero and super-fan Ms. Marvel, Feige introduced a sizzle reel previewing the Disney+ series releasing late 2021. Vellani and WandaVision's Parris will join Carol Danvers actress Brie Larson in Captain Marvel II, now dated November 11, 2022.

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She-Hulk

Also confirmed to be joining the MCU is Tatiana Maslany in She-Hulk. Feige solidified the Orphan Black star in the titular role as well as the returns of Mark Ruffalo (The Avengers) as Bruce Banner, the super-strong cousin of Maslany's Jennifer Walters, and Tim Roth (The Incredible Hulk) as the Abomination.

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Secret Invasion

Captain Marvel allies Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and shapeshifting Skrull Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) reunite in Secret Invasion, another new series announced for Disney+ by Feige.

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Thor: Love and Thunder Casting

Feige confirmed the long-rumored Christian Bale (The Dark Knight trilogy) would join Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and Tessa Thompson in the Taika Waititi-directed Thor: Love and Thunder, where he'll play Gorr the God Butcher.

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Fantastic Four Reboot

Marvel's first family will return to the big screen in a rebooted Fantastic Four from director Jon Watts (Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home). Other details, including a cast and a release date, were not revealed.

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Armor Wars

Longtime MCU star Don Cheadle (Iron Man 2, Captain America: Civil War) reprises his role as James Rhodes, a.k.a. War Machine, in Armor Wars. Taking place after the death of Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) in Endgame, the Cheadle-led series asks: What happens when Tony Stark's armors fall into the wrong hands?

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Ironheart

Another Iron Man-related series comes with Feige's reveal of Ironheart, where Dominique Thorne plays gifted young engineer Riri Williams. Like her Marvel Comics counterpart, Riri becomes a high-tech hero when she forges her own Iron Man-style armor.

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Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy franchise writer-director James Gunn returns for The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, an original special releasing on Disney+ in 2022. Also from the cosmic corner of the MCU: I Am Groot, a series of original shorts featuring "several new and unusual characters" alongside the shrub-sized version of Groot, Baby Groot, who is voiced in the films by Vin Diesel.

Gunn's long-awaited Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will release only in theaters in 2023.

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Only One King

Feige confirmed Marvel Studios will not recast Chadwick Boseman, who plays King T'Challa of Wakanda, in Ryan Coogler's Black Panther II. Boseman starred in four Marvel films — Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame — before he died in August at the age of 43. Instead of recasting Boseman, the sequel "will explore the world of Wakanda and the rich characters introduced in the first film," according to Disney.

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Ant-Man 3

Ant-Man 3 is in production as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Returning director Peyton Reed directs a cast that includes Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, and MCU newcomers Kathryn Newton as Cassie Lang and Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror.

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New Release Dates

Thor: Love and Thunder now opens on May 5, 2022, followed by Black Panther II on July 8, 2022, and Captain Marvel II on November 11, 2022.

Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe launches with the release of WandaVision, streaming only on Disney+ on January 15, 2021.

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