With cinemas reopening around the world (just a couple of weeks left to wait in England, for example), studios are looking to welcome us back to its dark embrace, while also – and why not? – taking the chance to flaunt their upcoming movies. Few do that better than Marvel, and an impressive new teaser is now online, which culminates in a raft of small announcements about new movie titles for Phase 4 and a look at Eternals.
Kicking off with a warm retrospective of moments from the MCU's history overlaid with a speech from Stan Lee about how we're all family, the teaser then kicks into high gear, spotlighting footage (one or two shots are new here) from Black Widow, which we've been waiting for seemingly for decades at this point, and finally lands in July.
That's followed by mostly trailer footage (with, again, a few new moments) from the much-anticipated September release of Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings.
Possibly the highlight of this reel, at least in terms of footage, is a proper (and properly brief) glimpse of Eternals, directed by newly minted Oscar winner Chloé Zhao. It's very tough to tell what it'll be at this point, but just these early shots are enough to get the excitement levels rising for when the movie debuts in November.
Then we have Jon Watts' Spider-Man: No Way (no footage, despite work on it long since underway) scheduled for December, Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, with Sam Raimi directing and a March 2022 date, Thor: Love And Thunder, from Taika Waititi, laying claim to May next next year.
But wait! There's more. We also now know that the Black Panther sequel, which Ryan Coogler is busy preparing to shoot, will be called Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, with a July 2022 slot. And in related naming news, Captain Marvel's follow-up, with Nia DaCosta in the director's chair, is known as The Marvels, pointing to the fact that Iman Vellani's Kamala Khan (AKA Ms. Marvel) will show up after making her debut in her eponymous Disney+ show and that the grown Monica Rambeau (as played by Teyonah Parris in WandaVision) is on board. That film has a November 2022 release on the books.
Peyton Reed's And-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania is set for February 2023, and last (but surely not least), James Gunn's Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 wraps up Phase Four (on the cinematic front, at least) in May 2023.
Oh, and lurking right at the end? A tiny logo tease for Marvel's First Family, the Fantastic Four. There's no official film for them yet, but this is the clearest sign yet that they're on their way – and could be sneakily introduced in one or more of the films teased today.
Among the lingering questions remaining: does this point to an Eternals trailer with Black Widow? How will Ryan Coogler and co. deal with the tragic loss of Chadwick Boseman? And prime among them all: just how long with the segment discussing all this run on this week's Empire Podcast? The mind boggles. See you at the movies, indeed.