Avengers: Endgame was a massive success for Marvel. The company teamed with Disney to stream its movies on the platform, Disney+. This took a lot of subscribers to Disney, and now, the plan is to build on that success and make an even bigger collection of Marvel shows and movies, bringing more characters from the comic books. This is another phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe featuring standalone production for a wider range of superheroes coming to the screen. In the wake of the current pandemic, many of these upcoming shows were moved to next year. This was to ensure that the maximum amount of audience can experience it in the theaters. So, here are the Top 10 Movies and TV Shows from Marvel and Disney+ that you should be looking forward to.
10. Legends
This is a new series coming in early January 2021 from Marvel, celebrating its success in the past decade or so of MCU movies. This is an exclusive show on Disney + that will feature Wanda and Vision in the first two episodes. This is an initiative that will start the rest of the line-up planned for the next year. This series will look into the compelling stories of popular MCU characters, giving a unique perspective never seen before from Marvel. The plot will be a prequel to what eventually happens in the series; for example, the first two episodes will preview the upcoming Wandavision television show. This could continue the trend and feature the same type of storylines for Falcon and Winter Solider before that TV Series airs.
9. Eternals
This is an upcoming movie in Phase 4 of the MCU, bringing an entirely new set of characters to the film. The main plot is described as follows, A race of ancient warriors called Eternals rise on Earth after the Endgame incident. Humans are not aware that very ancient enemies to their existence called Deviants have broken loose, and the Eternals must fight them for the sake of humanity. The Eternals and Deviants have existed on Earth for thousands of years, and countless battles between them have taken place. In the current era, this rivalry continues once again after an unfortunate event takes place. The Eternals is among the line-up coming in 2021, and it will release in the theaters on November 5, 2021. As of now, the filming for this movie is complete. Some of the key cast is revealed. Angelina Jolie is starring in her first superhero film, and Game of Thrones stars Kit Harington and Richard Madden among the lead cast. Comedian Kumail Nanjiani is also among the highly celebrated cast of the film. Chloe Zhao will be serving as the director of the movie. As of now, The Eternals has entered the post-production phase. This film is set to bring a brand new cast of a superhero group, comparable to the Avengers. Jolie returns to the screen as the fierce warrior Thena and star member of the Eternals. Richard Madden plays Ikaris. We have seen Nanjiani getting in shape for his role as Kingo. Lauren Ridloff plays the hero Makkai bringing the first deaf superhero to the MCU. All in all, a total of ten Eternals are part of this new squad that will go up against the Deviants. Kit Harington makes a star appearance as well, playing as Dane Whitman, rocking a sword as a human among the Eternals.
8. Ms. Marvel
This is one of the most anticipated TV shows in its category as Marvel is bringing a young superhero from the comics to the MCU. They are planning to release this show by the end of 2021 as the shooting process for the film has already wrapped up. Ms. Marvel is a regular high school girl living her life while having an alternate superhero life. Her powers range from shapeshifting and superhuman durability due to the effects of the “Inhumanity” incident. Kamala Khan is a Pakistani-American teenager who inherits the title of Ms. Marvel. She is the first Muslim character to features in her own comic book, which was a big hit back in 2015. Marvel recently released the first look into the series; check it out:
Iman Vellani was selected for the role of Ms. Marvel, and she has been working on her role since then. We haven’t gotten any insight into the costumed superhero, but we see some visual with Iman in her role. We know that Marvel is planning to make it as popular as the comic-book integrating her to the main MCU storyline in the future. Her character will be featured in the Captain Marvel 2 movie in the future. Kamala Khan as Ms. Marvel is an independent crime fighter taking some elements from the teenage spiderman. She learns about her abilities and goes on to explore the challenges of living a double life, fighting crime while having daily life problems. We interact with her family and friends, while a villain creates problems for our hero. The character is designed to appeal to the teenage girl readership as an inspirational story. But the introduction of Kamala into the MCU is to diversify the hero line-up as the franchise grows further.
7. Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings
Shang-Chi is a new superhero getting introduced to the story with this upcoming movie releasing on July 4, 2021. This film has taken inspiration from the comic of the same name, and it was adapted into the MCU’s Phase four of films. The main character, Shang-Chi, is a skilled martial artist having a past in the Ten Rings organization and his past affiliation comes back to him, leading to a confrontation with the influential organizations. Simu Liu was revealed to be playing the main lead for the film, and since then, he has shown his preparation for the role. The filming for the movie is complete, and it was ready for release in February 2021. However, the delay took it to the current release date. This project has been proposed since 2001, and it has faced multiple backlashes over the years, never reaching the pre-production phase. In 2018, David Callaham was given the task to write the screenplay for the film, and the movie was fast-tracked into production. As of now, the movie is on its way, offering the true culture to the Chinese audience, carrying the story from the comic book.
6. Hawkeye
Among all, Hawkeye is also getting his own TV Series. Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, aka Clint Barton, was introduced into the first Thor movie as a sharpshooter working as a top shield agent. He was pulled into the Avengers franchise after the tesseract incident. After the incidents of Infinity War, Clint also strayed to a dark path turning violent towards criminals after losing his family in the snap. He was discovered by the Black widow as the assassin, Ronin. Hawkeye came back and helped the team bring the people back. It was announced in July 2019 that Hawkeye would get his own TV series as part of MCU’s new line-up of projects for Disney+. Marvel revealed that the series would premiere in late 2021, and it will feature Jeremy as Hawkeye again. It will continue after the events of the Endgame and dive into the character dynamics of one of the superheroes without superpowers. There will be more focus on his time as Ronin as well. Hawkeye will also lead the next generation, Kate Bishop, teach her to be the next Hawkeye. For now, we have no visuals or teasers for the movie or any statements from the creators, but the show is in the filming phase, as Jeremy Renner teased it.
5. What If…?
What If… is a unique alternative story in the Marvel universe that explores the concept that reality can be anything that you can imagine. We get a spin-off animated version of the main MCU storylines in this new animated series coming out next year. All the original cast of those films will reprise the role as the voice actors of this series. The series will have a total of 10 episodes followed by another season of the same length sometime in the next few years. This is another exclusive Disney + production planned for the fourth phase of the MCU. In this storyline, Agent Carter is chosen instead of steve rogers for the role of Captain America. She gains the immense strength of a super soldier and becomes the weapon of the nation at that time. T’Challa is abducted from Earth instead of Peter Quill by the ravagers, and he becomes the Star-Lord. Ofcourse, Nick Fury is himself in this story, and he interacts with The Watcher, who narrates this amazing story. There is a lot more depth to this story that will only be revealed with the release, but the trailer has some key information that excites every Marvel Fan for this new story.
4. Loki
This is an upcoming TV series on Disney+ reprising Tom Hiddleston as the cunning villain Loki. Marvel recently released a teaser for the show, and it revealed the premise for the plot that will unfold in the six episodes of this series. During Avengers: Endgame, we saw how Stark and Rogers failed to retrieve the Tesseract after the New York battle due to Hulk’s rage. Instead, the 2012 Loki escaped with the cube taking advantage of the situation. Little did Loki knew that he would be sent to the Time Variance Authority to answers his actions and meddling with the time. Hence, now, Loki is trapped in his own story at this incredible place.
So far, no other cast member from the Thor trilogy is confirmed for this series apart from Loki, and it is set to be a spin-off involving Loki after the New York battle. He is brought out against a jury to answer his crimes in New York. It is a setup that will bend reality itself. As of now, Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sophia Di Martino, Sasha Lana, and Wunmi Mosaku have been confirmed for their roles in this series. Loki could release in May 2021 or later directly on Disney+ as an exclusive show. Loki died during the start of the Infinity War, and many fans were heartbroken to learn Tom may leave the franchise. However, the miniseries was already planned based on the events that unfolded in the Endgame. The events of this story will tie into the events of the upcoming Doctor Strange film. Additionally, the second season of Loki is also confirmed.
3. The Falcon and The Winter Solider
Among the main storylines that will continue after Endgame, this TV show is the most anticipated one. The Falcon and The Winter Solider were directly teased in that movie, and we knew that Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson would jointly continue the legacy of Steve Rogers as Captain America. At the end of Endgame, Steve entrusts his shield to Sam to try it on while Bucky watched on. Steve gave the helm to Sam because Bucky is the Winter Solider having his own identity. Falcon is someone who stayed as the side-kick to Steve throughout the Captain America Trilogy, and he deserved the vibranium shield as Steve retires his role. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is a miniseries with Six Episodes and scheduled to release on March 19, 2021, on Disney+. Anthony Mackey and Sabastian Stan reprise their roles as The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in the movie. Helmut Zemo, played by Daniel Brühl, will be back in the series as the main villain for the story, continuing his grudge against the heroes. It will be a challenge for these two to work together, continuing after both Iron Man and Captain America are gone. The events of this series will not be as dramatic as the original Civil war storyline, but the trailer does look thrilling. Whatever happens here will tie with the events of the later films that these two will be featured in.
When Falcon was first introduced in the first Captain America movie, he was introduced as a government fighter pilot who retired after an encounter that killed his co-pilot. We later find out that he was a fighter pilot for a special suit made by SHEILD, enabling him to fly. Since then, Sam never got many stories to himself, and now this series is set to give him full exposure, fighting with full throttle, and the visuals look stunning. Anthony Mackey brings his own style to this character as well, and it’s great to see a transition for this character. At the same time, we have the Winter Soldier. Bucky is on his path of redemption, having the same superhuman powers as Captain America but a very different mindset. He is a man with less patience and more urge to take decisive action when he can. Simply stated, this is a great series to look forward to.
2. Black Widow
This is one of the most anticipated movies of the next year. The movie was delayed due to the pandemic to 2021, and it got moved to the release date of April 29, 2021. It has been a while since the MCU fans wanted to have a movie for Black Widow, aka Agent Romanoff. Scarlet Johanson gave this character a new style, and she has become one of the most popular characters in the Avengers Movies. MCU introduced Romanoff in the first movie, Iron Man as a Sheild agent, and since then, she became the main driving force in many of the later Captain America and Avengers movies. In the Endgame, she was sacrificed along with Iron Man in a struggle to defeat the mad titan, Thanos. But her story did not stop there. Black Widow is getting a film of her own, a prequel to the story, a look back into her past before any of the MCU movies. Black Widow has completed its filming, and multiple trailers for the movie are already out.
We will get a unique look into the past of Agent Romanoff, a story after the Civil War, that takes us back to her story before her recruitment into Avengers. We will get to the old stories, where her family is, a group of heroes that fought together as a team, reunite against a new enemy. Not much is disclosed, and we still have much to find out about the Black Widow, but the hype for it is real. MCU is going in a new direction with this movie, and it leaves a lot of room for Black Widow to return in further movies. There are many surprises waiting for avid fans in this film, a high budget film with lots of crazy action visuals.
1. Wandavision
While everything earlier in the list is interesting, this series is the biggest transition show for the MCU. It is a complete couple of stories between the telepath Wanda Maximoff and the artificial human Vision. Some would argue their attraction is because both take their powers from the same space stone. But there is a lot more to this relationship. Wandavision series comprising of six episodes is ready for release on January 15, 2021, on Disney Plus. While we witness the relationship between Wanda and Vision during the period after Endgame, a threat comes their way complicating their story.
Starting off with a classic-comedy theme, the trailer tells us that there is a lot more behind the setup of the series. There are some sweet moments between the two. Wanda is a superhuman, way too powerful at times, taking powers from an infinity stone. Vision is made out of the power of the same infinity stone, Mind Stone, and he is an artificial being with consciousness. Vision did not survive after the events of the infinity war and was absent in the entire story of Endgame. Yet, in this series, he is alive and well, continuing full with the love of his life. Elizabeth Oleson continues her role in the movie, along with Paul Bettany in the main roles. Being a different type of story, Marvel has done a great job with the theme and the thrill that is apparent from the triallers. This series is set to start off the whole phase 4 of the MCU, and it has great significance among the other movies and series releasing in the coming year. While most people have great hopes for these series, we never know how Marvel will surprise us. Wanda and Vision also star in the Legends series mentioned earlier, and Marvel has released many teasers for that featuring the two actors, hand to hand, having fun in their little world. All of these are some of the highest budget shows, and movies in Hollywood and Marvel will enjoy the success that comes from the releases in the coming year. We are hopeful that things will come back to normal over the next year, and there are more movies in the theaters. The shows are for the general audience, and they have more or less a great impact on the upcoming line-up of marvel stories. While I ranked these in the order of relevance to the typical fans, Marvel makes its content for a wide variety of audiences. You may have a difference in preference, but I am sure you have a movie or show that you are eagerly waiting for. With these shows being Disney+ exclusive, some of these fans may have to wait for them to become widely available or later television release. To start, Wandavision will be premiering on January 15, and its unique style makes every fan eager; what happens to Vision after the Endgame? Tell us, which of these are you waiting for the most?
