When Marvel released Endgame in 2019, it brought an end to some of Earth’s mightiest heroes and served as a finale to the first few phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, aka the Infinity Saga.
But the MCU didn’t end with Endgame.
As hard as it was to imagine an MCU without heroes like Iron Man and Captain America that we’ve come to love over the past decade of 20-plus blockbusters, Marvel has gone on to release 18 films, shows, and special projects since Endgame hit theatres. Which leads to a question that has dominated the MCU’s entire fourth phase: What’s next?
Fans have been waiting for the next big bad guy, who will force the Avengers to re-assemble. And in the fifth phase of the MCU, it’s shaping up to be Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror. He first appeared in Loki. Marvel also confirmed the next Avengers film is called The Kang Dynasty, and it’s revealed a roadmap for the next two phases of MCU films. They include six animated Disney+ series, six Disney+ live-action series, and 11 films – all releasing over the next few years. For reference, there have been 29 movies since the MCU began in 2008.
Read: What order should you watch every Marvel movie and TV show
Here, then, is everything you need to know about what’s next for the MCU. We’ve split up this guide into live-action movies, live-action shows, animated shows, and specials. If you want the spoiler-free version of this guide, scroll to the bottom, where we’ve appended at-a-glance list versions that you can skim.
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New live-action Marvel movies in the works
Below are all the confirmed live-action movies coming to the MCU. Marvel has plans for 11 new movies over three years.
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (Live-action movie)
- Release date: 17 February 2023
The third Ant-Man and the Wasp film will see the next confirmed sighting of Jonathan Majors’ Kang The Conqueror following his appearance in the season finale of Loki.
Kang is a time traveler from far in the future who discovers the multiverse and time travel. The film will return Paul Rudd as Scott Lang and Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne, aka Ant-Man and The Wasp. Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfieffer will also return to their previous roles.
Corey Stoll will even be back as the villain from the first Ant-Man film, Darren Cross. Finally, Peyton Reed will return as director after helming the first two Ant-Man films.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. III (Live-action movie)
This third Guardians film was initially slated to hit theaters much earlier, but Marvel delayed it when they announced James Gunn, the writer, and director of the first two films, would be returning for a third installment (he was busy working on Suicide Squad – hence the delay). We have no exact details about what the plot could be for the new film, but it could see the Guardians looking for Gamora, who was missing at the end of Endgame. We do know the film will reveal the teased-character Adam Warlock, previewed at the end of Guardians 2, with Will Poulter’s casting of the character being announced.
The Marvels (Live-action movie)
- Release date: 28 July 2023
We now know the title of Captain Marvel’s sequel, The Marvels, which teases a team-up female-centric team-up led by Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel. The first Captain Marvel film is set in 1995, and we don’t know what Brie Larson’s character has been up to between then and her appearance in Endgame, but we can safely say from the addition of Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan, who made her debut in the Disney+ TV series Ms Marvel, and Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau, who was recently powered up in WandaVision, that the film should be set in what passes as the modern-day for the MCU.
There’s also the credits scene from Far From Home. It featured Nick Fury aboard a spaceship with the Skrulls from the first Captain Marvel film. This could be linked to the next Captain Marvel feature.
Captain America: New World Order (Live-action movie)
Marvel officially unveiled Captain America: New World Order at Comic-Con 2022.
Following the conclusion of the Disney+ TV series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, it was revealed that Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson will get his own big-screen adventure now that he’s the new Captain America. There’s no other word on who else could be returning for the film, but here’s hoping we get to see Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes team up with the new Cap again.
The Falcon and The Winter Soldier’s showrunner, Malcolm Spellman, is penning the script and Julius Onah will serve as the Director.
Super-early rumours are pointing to the return of two villains, one of which is Daniel Bruhl’s Baron Zemo, who we last saw working with Sam and Bucky. The other is Red Skull, the villain that Chris Evan faced off with during WWII in Captain America: The First Avenger and was last played by Ross Marquand in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Hugo Weaving originally played the role.
Thunderbolts (Live-action movie)
- Release date: 26 July 2024
Thunderbolts was announced at Comic-Con 2022 where it was revealed the film will be the final entry on phase 5 of the MCU. This isn’t an Avengers film, but it will see a few of the recent anti-heroes Marvel has introduced joining forces including Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, Wyatt Russell’s John Walker, and Daniel Bruhl’s Baron Zemo.
Blade (Live-action movie)
- Release date: 6 September 2024
After winning an Oscar for Best Actor, Mahershala Ali set up a meeting with Marvel and let them know he wanted to play the vampire hunter Blade. Marvel Studios announced his casting at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, and he “appeared” in one of the post-credit scenes from The Eternals where we could hear Ali’s voice speak to Kit Harrington’s Dane Whitman. Bassam Tariq has been tapped to direct.
Deadpool 3 (Live-action movie)
- Release date: 8 November 2024
While most of the excitement with Disney’s purchase of Fox Films centered around potential future films for the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, it was easy to forget that Disney now owns the rated-R superhero Deadpool. Disney and Ryan Reynolds are reportedly working on the project. Bob’s Burgers writers Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Loeglin are penning a script that Ryan Reynolds is overseeing while Shawn Levy, who recently directed Reynolds in the film Free Guy has signed onto direct.
Of course, all of that is burying the lead, with Reynolds revealing himself that Hugh Jackman will be reprising his role as Wolverine for the third Deadpool film.
Fantastic Four (Live-action movie)
- Release date: 14 February 2025
The Fantastic Four have been some of the premiere comic characters for Marvel since their inception. All that success, however, hasn’t translated to the big screen yet, with three films produced since 2005, and none of them being particularly successful. That will likely all change with the next Fantastic Four film, as Marvel reacquired the rights to produce it and add the foursome to the MCU.
We’ve recently seen John Krasinski portray an alternate-universe’s version of the group’s leader, Reed Richards. However, it doesn’t seem like Marvel is set on having Krasinski play the character full-time.
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (Live-action movie)
Jonathan Majors was introduced as Kang in the first season of Loki and it was instantly made clear that he was going to be a major villain in the future of the MCU.
As Kang explains in the season finale of Loki, he had discovered a way to travel between universes, effectively opening up the multiverse. Now one version of Kang managed to win out and set up the TVA so that no more Kangs would be created to threaten the multiverse. But that version of Kang is dead now which means we will see the much more nefarious versions of him show up throughout phase 5, beginning with Ant-Man: Quantumania, and presumably finishing here with the Avengers teaming up to take him down.
Avengers: Secret Wars (Live-action movie)
A second Avengers film will release one year after The Kang Dynasty. While we’re still very far out from the film being in theatres, the Secret Wars comic run sees heroes and villains of the MCU, including the X-Men, abducted by an entity known as the Beyonder and made to fight on a pieced together planet known as Battleworld.
Armor Wars (Live-action movie)
- Release date: Unannounced, but on Disney+
This live-action project is not a series as originally reported, but rather a feature film. It will star Don Cheadle as his MCU character, James Rhodes, aka War Machine, who deals with the fallout of his old friend’s technology falling into the wrong hands. The movie will be based on a popular run of the Iron Man comics, albeit with major differences, as Tony Stark is dead.
Armor Wars was conspicuously left out of a huge set of reveals Marvel made at Comic-Con 2022, but Yassir Lester, who’s writing the movie, assured fans it would still be coming out.
New live-action Marvel shows in the works
Marvel has confirmed plans for nine new live-action shows over three years.
Secret Invasion (Live-action Disney+ TV series)
- Release date: Spring 2023 on Disney+
This Disney+ TV series stars Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury and Ben Mendelsohn as Talos alongside MCU newcomer Emilia Clarke. It’s a live-action version of one of the most famous comic storylines of all time, which will see shape-shifting Skrulls infiltrate Earth by impersonating heroes. Kevin Feige indicated the series will be a crossover event, meaning we could be seeing lots of other characters from the MCU. Check out the trailer for the series here.
Loki season 2 (Live-action Disney+ TV series)
- Release date: Summer 2023 on Disney+
It’s been confirmed Loki will return for a second season (thanks to the credits of the season finale for the first season). Expect it to pick up where the events of the first season left off — with Loki and Sylvie split up and the timeline destroyed. In addition to Tom Hiddleston and Sophia Di Martino returning as Loki and Sylvie, Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Wunmi Mosaku are also expected to reprise their roles.
Ironheart (Live-action Disney+ TV series)
- Release date: Autumn 2023 on Disney+
Dominique Thorne made her debut as Riri Williams in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever before taking over the reins of her own Disney+ TV series. In the Wakanda Forever, Riri is an MIT student who creates a technology capable of locating Vibranium before she sides with Wakanda with her own version of Tony Stark’s Ironman armour.
Echo (Live-action Disney+ TV series)
- Release date: Summer 2023 on Disney+
Alaqua Cox will star as Maya Lopez, aka Echo, in a new Disney+ TV series after the character debuted in the Hawkeye series. In the comics, Maya or Echo is a gifted athlete and can copy any movements she sees. Charlie Cox is expected to appear as Daredevil and Vincent D’Onofrio will return as Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin, for this series.
Agatha: Coven of Chaos (Live-action Disney+ TV series)
- Release date: Winter 2023/2024 on Disney+
Kathryn Hahn will reprise her role as Agatha Harkness in her own series after she debuted as the villain in WandaVision. The series will hopefully shed more light on some of the dark magic she used in WandaVision as well as the history of witches in the MCU.
Daredevil: Born Again (Live-action Disney+ TV series)
- Release date: Spring 2024 on Disney+
Charlie Cox will reprise his role as Matt Murdock/Daredevil after playing the role on Netflix. This will be Cox’s fourth appearance in the MCU after popping up in Spider-Man: No Way Home, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and Echo. It doesn’t appear the series will be a continuation of the Netflix series, as only Vincent D’Onofrio is slated to return for the new series reprising his role as Kingpin. Recently, Charlie Cox stated the series will not be season four of the Netflix series, implying that this is indeed a soft reboot of the character.
New animated Marvel shows in the works
Marvel has five confirmed animated shows in the works for Disney+.
What If…? Season 2 (Animated Disney+ TV series)
- Release date: Early 2023 on Disney+
A second season of What If… is already in the works and Marvel has also already committed to the third season of the animated series. Jeffrey Wright will return to voice The Watcher and we’d expect other voices from the MCU to appear as well. It’s been confirmed that Hayley Atwell’s Captain Carter will again be featured this season, as well as episodes featuring Hela, Gamora, and Tony Stark.
X Men ’97 (Animated Disney+ TV series)
- Release date: Autumn 2023 on Disney+
Beau Demayo will serve as executive producer and head writer for this new animated series that will pay homage to the famous 90’s series X-Men: The Animated Series. The series will be Marvel’s first adaptation of the X-Men since reacquiring the rights. It was announced at Comic-Con that the series has already been renewed for a second season.
Marvel Zombies (Animated Disney+ TV series)
- Release date: 2024 on Disney+
What if MCU, but Walking Dead. This animated series will see Earth’s mightiest heroes confronted with a zombie apocalypse. Marvel revealed that the series will release in 2024, and most importantly be rated TV-MA. Brian Andrews will serve as executive producer.
Spider-Man: Freshman Year (Animated Disney+ TV series)
- Release date: 2024 on Disney+
This animated series will see a young Peter Parker on his way to becoming Spider-Man. Jeff Trammel will serve as executive producer and head writer. Marvel revealed that Charlie Cox will voice his character Daredevil in the series at Comic-Con 2022. In addition, they revealed that the series has already been renewed for a second season.
Spoiler-free: Upcoming Marvel movies and shows at a glance
Here’s everything we described above, broken down into three at-a-glance lists that are spoiler-free.
New live-action Marvel movies in the works
- Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania – 17 February 2023 (Live-action movie)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. III – 5 May 2023 (Live-action movie)
- The Marvels – 28 July 2023 (Live-action movie)
- Captain America: New World Order – 3 May 2024 (Live-action movie)
- Thunderbolts – 26 July 2024 (Live-action movie)
- Blade – 6 September 2024 (Live-action movie)
- Deadpool 3 – 8 November 2024(Live-action movie)
- Fantastic Four – 14 February 2025(Live-action movie)
- Avengers: The Kang Dynasty – 2 May 2025 (Live-action movie)
- Avengers: Secret Wars – 7 November 2025 (Live-action movie)
- Armor Wars – Unannounced (Live-action Disney+ TV series)
New live-action Marvel shows in the works
- Secret Invasion – Early 2023 (Live-action Disney+ TV series)
- Loki season 2 – Summer 2023 (Live-action Disney+ TV series)
- Ironheart – Autumn 2023 (Live-action Disney+ TV series)
- Echo – Late 2023 (Live-action Disney+ TV series)
- Agatha: Coven of Chaos – Winter 2023/2024 (Live-action Disney+ TV series)
- Daredevil: Born Again – Spring 2024 (Live-action Disney+ TV series)
New animated Marvel shows in the works
- What If…? Season 2 – Early 2023
- X Men ’97 – Autumn 2023
- Marvel Zombies – 2024
- Spider-Man: Freshman Year – 2024
Did you like this?
Then maybe you’ll like our movie order viewing guides:
We also have this rumour round-up on upcoming Star Wars movies:
