After camping out all day on Friday to get a wristband, and sitting in the 6,500 seat Hall H all day on Saturday, July 20, 2019, at 5:15pm the moment we had been waiting for had finally arrived: the Marvel Studios panel.
The Marvel panel is consistently the most popular panel at San Diego Comic-Con year after year, and with Marvel having skipped SDCC 2018 and recently wrapping up Phase Three, attendees were clamoring to see what surprises the studio had in store during their 90 minute panel (which has traditionally been only one hour in the past).
The panel began with footage of clips showcasing “The Infinity Saga” – all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (“MCU”) movies dating back to 2008 with Iron Man.
When the lights came back up, Jessica Chobot, who would be moderating the Marvel panel, came out on stage and introduced Kevin Feige, President of Marvel Studios. He thanked the fans for their support, then brought out all of the Marvel Studios staff members that have made these movies possible throughout the years, including Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brian Chapek, and many more. Feige went on to announce that within days, Avengers: End Game would be the biggest movie of all time. Although, he did admit that if you adjusted for inflation, James Cameron’s Avatar would still hold the record.
We then discovered just what we would be learning that evening: Phase Four! A timeline popped up with several dates, ranging from May 2020 to November 2021, and all indicated as “Untitled.” However, each of those “Untitled” placeholders would be revealed by the end of the panel.
Eternals
Kevin Feige did not go in chronological order, and instead decided to kick things off with Eternals, which will be released on November 6, 2020. He described the film as being about a group of immortals who have lived on Earth for 35,000 years, and said that it is “full Jack Kirby.” Director Chloe Zhao joined him on stage and gushed about having wanted to make a Marvel movie for long time.
Several cast members also came out on stage, including Richard Madden (Ikrarus), Kumail Nanjiani (Kingo), Lauren Ridloff (Makkari), Brian Tyree Henry (Phastos), Salma Hayek (Ajak, the leader of the Eternals), Lia McHugh (Sprite), Don Lee (“Big Bad” Gilgamesh), and Angelina Jolie (Thena).
They each told us a little bit about their respective character. Lauren Ridloff signed that she was honored to be the first deaf hero in the MCU, and Kumail Nanjiani joked about how he has been to San Diego Comic-Con many times, but this is the first time he’s been able to get into Hall H, so he was very emotional. Richard Madden claimed that his character, Ikarus, was the “sexiest” Eternal, and Brian Tyree Henry said he was going to bring “a new flavor” to Phastos, while Salma Hayek said that she took her inspiration to play such a strong woman from their director, Chloe Zhao, and also talked about how proud she was to have such a diverse cast.
Angelina Jolie said that she was going to work “ten times harder,” saying that they knew what Marvel fans deserve, so they were all going to be working very hard. As for what it felt like to be one of the youngest people in the MCU playing one of the oldest, Lia McHugh answered, “It doesn’t feel real!” Don Lee said that he couldn’t wait to show us the “power of Gilgamesh.” When Jessica Chobot asked who would win in a fight, Hulk or Gilgamesh, Don first checked to make sure Mark Ruffalo wasn’t there, then answered Gilgamesh.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Next up, coming out in Fall 2020 on Disney+, was The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Kevin Feige brought Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan out on stage. As appropriate after the events of Avengers: End Game, Anthony Mackie entered with Captain America’s shield. Both said that they were looking forward to learning more about the other’s character. Jessica noticed that both seemed to be having a lot of fun on stage, and Anthony confirmed, “when we go to work, we have a really good time!”
Kevin Feige started to tell us more about the show, when he was “interrupted” by a clip of Zemo “seizing control of the panel” and telling Falcon and Winter Soldier that he would be seeing them “very soon.” Kevin then confirmed that Daniel Bruhl would be returning to play Baron Zemo.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Jumping to February 12, 2021, we learned that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings would be the first MCU film released that year. Kevin pointed out the Ten Rings has been in the MCU from the beginning, and highlighted some Easter eggs from the various MCU movies that viewers might have missed. He also told us that there was a “real” Mandarin that wasn’t very happy about the fake one in Iron Man 3. We learned that Tony Leung will be playing the Mandarin, and that Awkwafina will also star in the film.
Director Destin Daniel Cretton came out on stage to talk about the film, and praised how diverse the MCU has become. He then introduced the star of the film, Simu Liu, who told us that he had just screen tested for the role of Shang-Chi the Sunday before, and had only been cast as of Tuesday! He talked about his parents, who immigrated from China to Canada 25 years ago and how has always wanted to make them proud – then joked that he’s really happy he’s not a doctor!
WandaVision
WandaVision, which will be a series on Disney+ in Spring 2021, stars Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch) and Paul Bettany (Vision), who were, of course, both there. Elizabeth said the show would be “weird” and have “lots of surprises.” As for Paul Bettany, he said he had no idea what was going on with Vision, considering the character died in Avengers: Infinity War.
We also learned that WandaVision takes place after the events of Avengers: End Game, and we will see other characters we know from the MCU. One such character is Monica Rambeau, the little girl from Captain Marvel, except she is now all grown up, and will be played by Teyonah Parris. Teyonah came out on stage and was very excited.
Loki
Tom Hiddleston stopped by briefly to talk about Loki, which will also be a series released on Disney+ in Spring 2021. Although Loki died in Avengers: Infinity War, Kevin played a clip to remind everyone what happened in Avengers: End Game when Loki took the Tesseract and escaped. We will get to see where he went! When Tom Hiddleston came out on stage, Hall H began chanting “Loki! Loki! Loki!” Tom recalled, “The last time I was on stage with this gentleman, I was asking him to kneel,” of course referring to when he appeared in Hall H in costume as Loki back at SDCC 2013 (was that really six years ago??).
Jessica Chobot pointed out that the Loki we see disappear is not the same Loki that we saw grow and change in Thor: Ragnarok and asked Tom how this would affect the character. Tom replied, “You guys saw Avengers, right? He’s still that guy.” Although Tom told us that Kevin had revealed his plans for the show to him, Tom was unable to share those plans with us. However, Tom did tell us that the show would cover new territory, a new world, and new challenges, and that he couldn’t wait to get started.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
To talk about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, a film which will be released on May 7, 2021, Kevin Feige brought out Director Scott Derrickson, who also directed (and wrote for) the first Doctor Strange film. Scott said that the movie would get into a lot of “psychedelic weirdness,” as well as be gothic and horror, and that they were going to make “the first scary MCU.” Then Doctor Strange himself, Benedict Cumberbatch, joined them on stage. We learned that it was his birthday the day before, so all of Hall H joined in singing Happy Birthday to him, which he seemed to thoroughly enjoy.
Benedict talked about how he thought it was important to maintain the humor from the first film in this new film to go along with the new horror twist. As for whether the horror twist would change how he approached his character, Benedict said that he thought the character would be much like the audience in not knowing what was coming, and pointed out that the character had a lot of “authority” in the MCU films, going on to say, “We’re going back to kind of try and destroy him a bit.”
One last surprise was that Scarlet Witch would also be appearing in the film, so Elizabeth Olsen came back out on stage. Kevin revealed that the events of WandaVision will be directly related to this film. Elizabeth confessed that she doesn’t know anything about how it ties in yet, but is excited about the two linking together.
What If…?
In Summer 2021, an animated series called What If…? which Marvel has been working on for ten years, will premiere on Disney+. The series will explore alternate universes, seeing different versions of things in the MCU that we have already seen. Many actors will return to reprise their MCU roles.
We saw a brief teaser for the series, which was narrated by The Watcher, voiced by Jeffrey Wright (who we had also seen just a few hours before on the Westworld panel), who then came out on stage. Jeffrey talked about how exciting it was for him to be a part of the MCU, and described the show as “modern myth-making.” He explained that The Watcher is a non-Earthly being who observes all things, watches over the multi-verse, and occasionally intervenes with Earthlings.
Hawkeye
Hawkeye is another Disney+ series that will debut in Fall 2021. Hawkeye himself, Jeremy Renner, made a surprise appearance from the back of the room, running down the aisle, high-fiving Hall H attendees along the way. We watched a short teaser, where we saw the animated image of a woman. After the teaser, Jeremy Renner confirmed that it was indeed Kate Bishop, “the best version of Hawkeye.” In the series, his character shepherds this new character, teaching her how to be “a superhero without super powers,” which is how he views his character. Jeremy likes this sentiment because it means everyone can be a superhero. Kevin Feige also revealed that we would see more of Clint Barton’s time as Ronin in this series.
Thor: Love and Thunder
The next reveal was Thor 4, titled Thor: Love and Thunder, which will be released on November 5, 2021. Director Taika Waititi came out on stage with Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth, along with Tessa Thompson (who we had seen earlier that day on the Westworld panel), who plays Valkyrie.
As for the state of Thor in this film as compared to when we last saw him, Chris wasn’t able to provide a valid answer, because as Taika pointed out, only he himself has read the script. Chris responded, “That’s because he’s refused to show it to us!”
As for the first thing Valkyrie would change in New Asgard, since she is the new king, Tessa answered, “As king, she needs to find her queen!” Apparently, she already has a couple ideas and will keep us posted! She also mentioned that considering that Asgard is not a place, but a people, she would provide refuge to any person that might need it.
While shooting Thor:Ragnarok, Taika had been reading the Mighty Thor comics by Jason Aaron, which is what he was inspired by for Thor: Love and Thunder – and which introduced female Thor for the first time. According to Taika, there was only one person who could play that role: Natalie Portman! Natalie, who played Jane Foster in the earlier Thor movies, then came out on stage to much fanfare, and Taika kneeled before her to present Thor’s hammer to her.
Natalie said that it felt “pretty good” to be back in the MCU, but this time holding the hammer, as she admitted that she’d always had “a little hammer envy.” Chris Hemsworth joked that he had hammer envy as well, first with Captain America, and now her!
Black Widow
The final piece of the Phase Four timeline was the one at the beginning, which will be released on May 21, 2020: Black Widow. The film is currently shooting in London, but they flew overnight just to come to the Marvel panel! Director Cate Shortland came on stage along with cast members David Harbour (Alexei), Florence Pugh (Yelena), O-T Fagbenle (Mason), Rachel Weisz (Melina), and of course, Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff herself, Scarlett Johansson.
Cate Shortland explained that in this film we will get to understand Natasha’s past and that she will get to “put the pieces of herself back together” and come out whole. Scarlett confessed that she didn’t think she could have played this version of Natasha ten years ago, going on to say “I get to play Natasha as a fully realized woman.” She also expressed excitement for fans to get to see the “flawed” side of Natasha – or at least what she perceives to be as such. One thing we’ll be seeing a lot of is her trying to “wipe out the red” in her ledger.
David Harbour, who plays Sherriff Hopper in Stranger Things, confirmed that he was excited to expand his fan base, saying “Hell yeah!” Florence revealed that her character, Yelena, is a “sister figure” to Natasha. As for O-T, his character, Mason, is a contact from Black Widow’s past, before she was working with SHIELD. He is supposed to have a professional relationship with her as a “fixer,” but he also has romantic feelings for her. Rachel Weisz said that she became interested in the MCU because they put strong, powerful female characters at the forefront. She described her own character, Melina, as a “pretty tough chick.”
Although the film had only been shooting for 30 days, they did bring some footage for us to watch. In the footage, there are clips featuring Black Widow throughout her appearances in the MCU, while Natasha does some voiceover, talking about how she has met her family and is better because of it. She also says that she has made mistakes, and can’t go back.
Then the word “BUDAPEST” comes up on the screen, and the crowd goes wild! We’ll finally get to find out just what happened in Budapest! Natasha enters a house, stealthily, though a voice tells her, “I know you’re out there,” to which Natasha responds, “I know you know I’m out here.” Natasha finds Yelena and asks, “So, are we going to talk like grown-ups?” and Yelena retorts, “Is that what we are?” The two engage in a very physical fight, at the end of which Natasha tells her, “It’s good to see you too, sis.” Yelena asks her, “You just had to come to Budapest, didn’t you?”
Next we see a montage, with more voiceover from Natasha, talking about how she has very specific skill set, and has red on her ledger that she would like to wipe out. Ultimately, the villain is revealed: Taskmaster. Natasha and Taskmaster fight, and we see that Taskmaster begins to copy her movements.
When the lights came back up, those on stage were wearing Black Widow hats – which it turned out that everyone in the audience was going to get as well! The hats were quickly passed out to each row, and attendees were instructed to immediately put them on for a massive selfie that would include everyone on stage, with us in the background. While the hats were being passed out, everyone who had been on stage throughout the Marvel panel came back out on stage.
One More Thing…
After the selfie, Kevin Feige had the Phase Four timeline brought back up on screen. Then he casually dropped some info, saying that there was a lot of other stuff they didn’t get a chance to talk about… including Black Panther 2, Guardians of the Galaxy 3, Captain Marvel 2, Fantastic Four, and Mutants. But that wasn’t all. He wanted to leave us with “one more thing.” Kevin brought out Mahershala Ali on stage, who brought his own hat. He put on the hat, and we saw its logo: “BLADE” which was also then displayed on the screen. The crowd erupted in applause upon discovering that Mahershala Ali is Blade! Kevin thanked Hall H and said he’d see us next time, and that was it!
Although we had already heard about many of these titles, it was still fun seeing all of the major players being brought out on stage! It was non-stop, with Kevin Feige discussing a new show or film every few minutes, along with bringing out directors and cast members!
Here’s a recap of the what we’ll be getting from Phase Four:
May 1, 2020 Black Widow
Fall 2020 The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Disney+ series)
November 6, 2020 Eternals
February 12, 2021 Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Spring 2021 WandaVision (Disney+ series)
May 7, 2021 Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Spring 2021 Loki (Disney+ series)
Summer 2021 What If…? (Disney+ series)
Fall 2021 Hawkeye (Disney+ series)
November 5, 2021 Thor: Love and Thunder
Which one are you most excited about?
You can view more of our photos from the Marvel Studios panel at SDCC 2019 below. Stay tuned for more of our coverage of this year’s San Diego Comic-Con!
