This weekend is a great day for Disney and Marvel fan attendees at the annual Disney 23 expo. Other than surprising reveals from the galaxy far, far away, MCU top brass Kevin Feige also offered another glimpse on what’s in store in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and what it hopefully means to future LEGO Marvel sets. A lot has been revealed about the future of MCU during last month’s SDCC 2019, with more announcements made during the weekend’s 2019 Disney 23 Expo.
First off, we have the entire main cast of the Eternals announced on stage and the roles that each of them will play. The film is slated to be released in theaters in November next year, and we expect to see a couple of LEGO sets centered on this film.
MCU is also set to offer another prequel based on the character of Natasha Romanoff’s Black Widow. Played by Scarlett Johansson, the Black Widow spin-off is set to be released earlier on May 2020. New footage was shown to D23 attendees regarding this first MCU Phase 4 film and I can’t wait to see it officially released online.
Black Panther 2 was also mentioned during the 2019 Disney 23 Expo, but details about the story behind this sequel from Wakanda are still under wraps. It is understandable considering the film is still set to be released 3 years from now in May 2022.
The highlight of the Marvel D23 presentation focused mainly on the list of shows that will be included in the new Disney+ streaming service. As a counterpart to some of the most popular streaming services out there, Disney+ will also include a bunch of MCU-inspired series that has a direct tie-up with all 23 previously released MCU films. Some of these were born out of the events of Endgame, while some are an entirely new series to watch out for. We can expect a series entirely dedicated to Jessica Walker’s She-Hulk, millionaire turned mercenary Moon Knight, and Kamala Khan’s shape-shifting persona, Ms. Marvel. There are also familiar MCU characters that will have their screen time in the MCU streaming service as well: we have WandaVision where we see Vision surviving somehow the catastrophic events of Infinity War and Endgame; The Falcon and the Winter Soldier where actors Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan reprise their roles in a world without Steve Roger’s Captain America; and Loki which features the events that follow after the alter version of the Norse god of mischief managed to steal the Space Stone during a failed time heist in Endgame. Lastly, MCU is also excited to offer its first animated series entitled What If…? based on the Marvel comic book series of the same title. It explores the myriad of possibilities that may happen if a particular story element in the MCU is changed or altered.
Moving forward, MCU’s Phase 4 is set to carve its own path and headed towards an exciting new territory that fans are eagerly looking forward to. With LEGO and Disney’s partnership still going strong, we can also expect a lot of interesting LEGO Marvel sets in the works. It is not far-fetch to consider a new subtheme of sorts for LEGO Marvel Superheroes focusing on the Disney+ series. I see the What If…? animated series as having a great source of potential for new and out-of-the-box ideas for future LEGO sets. We just have to wait and see a couple of years from now once the new streaming service from the House of Mouse finally kicks off.