Marvel Phase 5 is in full swing. The MCU has kicked off its new chapter with Echo, Loki season 2 and The Marvels, while Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and Secret Invasion all hit our screens last year.
Now, let's look ahead to the future: there's everything from a Daredevil reboot to a new Captain America movie. Yes, recent delays after the end of the SAG-AFTRA actors' strike has shaken up the schedules considerably, but there's still plenty to look forward to.
We've got the complete lowdown on Marvel Phase 5 below, with a rundown of release dates and a recap of the story so far – which means you'll find spoilers for both Loki season 2, Echo and The Marvels below, so tread carefully if you're not up to date!
Marvel Phase 5 release dates
Marvel Phase 5 is packed with movies and shows – and takes us all the way up to early 2025. There's some confusion at the moment, though, as a recent round of delays means Fantastic Four, a Marvel Phase 6 movie, is now coming out before some Phase 5 films. We're sure that'll be cleared up eventually, but for now, here's what's on the way and what's part of Marvel Phase 5:
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) - out now!
- Guardians of the Galaxy 3 (2023) - out now!
- Secret Invasion (2023) [Disney Plus] - out now!
- Loki season 2 (2023) [Disney Plus] - out now!
- The Marvels (2023) - out now!
- What If...? season 2 (2023) [Disney Plus] - out now!
- Echo (2024) [Disney Plus] - out now!
- Deadpool 3 (July 26, 2024, movie)
- Captain America: Brave New World (February 14, 2025, movie)
- Thunderbolts (July 25, 2025, movie)
- Blade (November 7, 2025, movie)
- Agatha: Darkhold Diaries (TBA, Disney Plus)
- Daredevil: Born Again (TBA, Disney Plus)
- Ironheart (TBA, Disney Plus)
Marvel Phase 5 movies and TV shows
Ironheart
Ironheart release date: TBA
Dominique Thorne stars as Riri Williams, AKA Ironheart, a young genius who in the comics made her own version of the Iron Man suit. The hero was first introduced in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but she's returning for her own Disney Plus series. She'll be joined by Anthony Ramos as new villain the Hood. Not a whole lot is known about the show, but we can expect the series to tackle the legacy of Iron Man. For more from Thorne, be sure to check out her excellent performances in If Beale Street Could Talk and Judas and the Black Messiah.
Agatha: Darkhold Diaries
Agatha: Coven of Chaos release date: TBC
Agatha: Darkhold Diaries sees Kathryn Hahn reprise her witchy role from WandaVision, but this time she's the central star. Hahn previously teased that the project is "exactly what I would have hoped and dreamt," while Scarlett Witcher actor Elizabeth Olsen has said she would "love" to be part of the show. There's nothing really substantial available on the plot, though it should tie up some loose ends from WandaVision and potentially reveal how Wanda survived the events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Heartstopper's Joe Locke has joined the cast, along with Aubrey Plaza, Ali Ahn, Maria Dizzia, Patti LuPone, and Debra Jo Rupp.
Daredevil: Born Again
Daredevil: Born Again release date: TBC
After appearing in Spider-Man: No Way Home, She-Hulk, and Echo, Charlie Cox will finally appear in a solo project as Daredevil. Born Again will consist of a whopping 18 episodes, though don't expect it to follow the similarly titled comic-book storyline – that's already been adapted into live-action in The Defenders Saga. Instead, it makes for a fitting title seeing as Daredevil's been rescued from the pits of Netflix's cancelation and brought fully into the MCU.
Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin is also back, having first appeared in Hawkeye and Echo, and we can probably expect Echo to return, too, though that's unconfirmed. The Many Saints of Newark star Michael Gandolfini has also joined the cast, along with Margarita Levieva and Sandrine Holt, with the latter playing a recast Vanessa Fisk.
A recent report has indicated that the show has had a major overhaul, however, with the original head writers and directors let go (though former head writers Chris Ord and Matt Corman are onboard the project as executive producers). Moon Knight's Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead have since joined as directors, with new showrunner Dario Scardapane also joining the project.
Deadpool 3
Deadpool 3 release date: July 26, 2024
Emma Corrin, Matthew Macfadyen, and a certain Hugh Jackman join Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool comes screeching into the MCU.
Shawn Levy, who previously worked with Reynolds on Free Guy and The Adam Project, will direct Deadpool 3. A host of familiar faces from the previous two movies are also back, including Brianna Hildebrand's Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Yukio (Shioli Kutsuna), Colossus (Stefan Kapicic), Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), and Dopinder (Karan Soni).
Captain America: Brave New World
Captain America: Brave New World release date: February 14, 2025
Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson finally has his own solo movie, having taken over the Captain America mantle in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The Cloverfield Paradox director Julius Onah will helm the new Cap movie, while Falcon head writer Malcolm Spellman and staff writer Dalan Musson are penning the script. Tim Blake Nelson, who played the Leader in The Incredible Hulk, is returning to the MCU, while Danny Ramirez is also reprising his role from Falcon. Plus, Harrison Ford is set to replace the late William Hurt as Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross. Plot details are tightly under wraps – but the title suggests Red Skull might be returning to the MCU. Liv Tyler has also joined the film, reprising her role as Betty Ross in 2008's The Incredible Hulk. Could a certain Bruce Banner also have a presence in the film?
Thunderbolts
Thunderbolts release date: July 25, 2025
Breadcrumbs teasing this shadowy group were first dropped in 2021 when The Falcon and the Winter Soldier introduced Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the Contessa – but at San Diego Comic-Con, it was finally confirmed that the villainous team will debut during Marvel Phase 5. Then, at D23, the full cast was revealed: joining Louis-Dreyfus' Contessa will be Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Wyatt Russell as John Walker, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster, and Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr/Ghost from Ant-Man and the Wasp. Steven Yeun was originally set to play Sentry, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. Paper Towns helmer Jake Schreier is in the director's chair.
Blade
Blade release date: November 7, 2025
Mahershala Ali may have played Cotton Mouth in Luke Cage, but the actor now has dual roles in the MCU, with the Oscar-winner portraying Blade in the upcoming movie. In fact, Ali has already played Blade in the Eternals post-credits sting, though that was a voice cameo – the movie will likely feature the Ebony Blade, as seen in that movie, too. Delroy Lindo and The Underground Railroad's Aaron Pierre are both in the Blade cast, with a script from Stacy Osei-Kuffour.
But, director Bassim Tariq stepped down from helming the movie shortly before filming was set to kick off. Production has been paused and the movie has been delayed from its original November 3, 2023 release date. Tariq hasn't left entirely, however, as he's still onboard as an executive producer.
An insider has also claimed Ali is unhappy with pre-production. "I'm told that the current Blade script is roughly 90 pages and features exactly TWO (lackluster) action sequences. Mahershala said to be very frustrated with the process. Feige said to be spread too thin," reported Jeff Sneider.
Yann Demange has now stepped up to replace Tariq in the director's chair – he's previously helmed episodes of Lovecraft Country and Top Boy.
The film will be the MCU's second R-rated movie (following Deadpool 3).
Marvel Phase 5 recap: the story so far
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania kicked off Marvel Phase 5 with a multiversal bang. The film saw the ant-family pulled into the Quantum Realm after Cassie Lang created a device that could send a signal the tiny universe. There, they came up against the terrifying Kang the Conqueror, who planned to traverse the multiverse, erasing entire timelines in his quest to stop the many, many Kang Variants from wrecking things any further.
Luckily, Scott Lang and Janet van Dyne were able to put a stop to his plans, though only just. Everyone made it back from the Quantum Realm in one piece, but Scott couldn't quite shake the feeling that the threat posed by Kang wasn't resolved after all...
Then, in the post-credits scenes, all of Kang's Variants gathered in one place, with the leaders intending on stopping Marvel's heroes from getting any closer to the multiverse. Loki and Mobius, meanwhile, were seen tracking one Kang Variant in particular, Victor Timely.
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 marked the last chapter in the Guardians of the Galaxy story. And it's certainly an emotional send-off to everyone's favorite A-holes. The movie sees the team all back together again to try and save Rocket after he's mortally injured by Adam Warlock.
The team head across the galaxy and team up with Gamora and the Ravagers to try and find the code that will save Rocket. When he was created by the High Evolutionary, he was given a kill switch that stops anyone from being able to operate on him. Not only are they in a race against time to find this, but Chukwudi Iwuji's villain is also on their toes to try and take Rocket for himself.
We find out about his dodgy motives to create a perfect society and see them in action on Counter-Earth, as well as taking a heartbreaking trip through memory lane to find out how exactly Rocket was made. Thankfully, our beloved Guardians get the upper hand, taking down the High Evolutionary, saving Rocket, and also saving all the beings the big bad was experimenting on.
It was touch and go for a bit there with some of the characters, but almost everyone makes it out unscathed (here's what you need to know about who actually dies in Guardians 3). At the end of the movie, everyone heads off on their own paths: Peter Quill heads to Earth to find his grandfather; Mantis sets out to find herself; Drax and Nebula become parents to the rescued children; Gamora returns to the Ravagers, and Rocket, Groot, Cosmo the Spacedog, and Kraglin form the new Guardians of the Galaxy.
We get to see the Guardians hard at work in the mid-credits scene where they're joined by Adam Warlock, Phyla-Vel, and Blurp. The final Guardians of the Galaxy post-credits scene sees Quill eating cereal with Granddad Jason before we learn that "Star-Lord will return".
For more on the movie, check out the Guardians of the Galaxy 3 ending explained, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 Easter eggs, and Guardians of the Galaxy 3 cameos.
The follow-up to Guardians of the Galaxy 3 was Secret Invasion, which saw Samuel L. Jackson return as Nick Fury. Working together with Skrull ally Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), Fury and co. were trying to prevent a renegade band of shapeshifting Skrulls from taking over Earth by impersonating important political figures. One of these rebels is G'iah (Emilia Clarke), who just so happens to be Talos' daughter, while the group are led by Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir).
After Talos persuades G'iah to join their cause as a double agent, she uses Gravik's new technology to turn herself into a Super Skrull, which means she can quickly regenerate from injuries. It turns out that Gravik is seeking out even more power, though – he's hunting down the Harvest, which is a collection of DNA from those who fought during the Battle of Earth in Avengers: Endgame (including the Hulk, Captain Marvel, and Thanos), put together and hidden by Fury.
G'iah uses the Harvest to power up (making her seemingly the strongest character in the MCU) before taking it to Gravik, disguised as Fury. She asks him to spare Earth and find a home for the Skrulls on another planet but, when he refuses, the two battle it out. G'iah kills Gravik, and the humans who have been held captive while the Skrulls use their likeness are freed – including Rhodey (Don Cheadle).
However, the struggle isn't quite over, with President Ritson issuing a new bill that declares all alien species on Earth as hostile, but MI6 agent Sonya (Olivia Colman) proposes a partnership to G'iah that would protect the peaceful Skrulls left on Earth. Meanwhile, Fury departs for SABER (with his Skrull wife Varra in tow) to help negotiate a peace summit with the Kree.
Loki season 2 begins with the God of Mischief Time-Slipping in the TVA, which raises plenty of questions – luckily, Mobius is able to save him from becoming lost in time. We're also reintroduced to Sylvie, who shows up at an '80s McDonald's.
After a series packed with timey-wimey, Groundhog Day-style weirdness, everything comes to a head in the Loki season 2 finale when the God of Mischief finally finds a solution to their issues with the Temporal Loom. Unfortunately, it means Loki must become something like a new version of He Who Remains, managing all the various timelines of the multiverse with his magic – all on his lonesome.
The Marvels, meanwhile, picks up in the aftermath of both Ms. Marvel and Secret Invasion. The film sees Kamala Khan, Carol Danvers, and Monica Rambeau join forces after their powers are unexpectedly "entangled" – meaning they switch places every time they use their abilities at the same time. Not very convenient.
The villain Dar-Benn is seeking Kamala's bangle, to make matters more complicated, to assist her in harvesting resources from other planets to restore life to her own world. The Marvels unite to stop her, but Monica stays behind in another reality in order to avert a catastrophe for Earth-616. There, she meets none other than Binary, another version of her mother Maria Rambeau (who has tragically passed away in the main universe). Excitingly, she also meets none other than Kelsey Grammer's Beast, which opens the door for the X-Men to return.
The end of the film also sees Kamala start to put together a team of her own, recruiting Kate Bishop for what we can only assume is the Young Avengers.
Echo is the most recent Phase 5 entry, charting the fallout from Maya Lopez's shooting of Kingpin in Hawkeye, her return home, and discovering more about her Choctaw heritage.
We soon discover that Kingpin is still alive, which causes a war to come to Tamaha, Oklahoma. Maya later 'defeats' Kingpin after being granted mystical powers which allows her to 'heal' trauma, as well as granting her super strength. The series ends with an Echo post-credits scene suggesting that Kingpin is going to enter the running to be mayor of New York...
For more from the series, jump into our explainers on the Echo ending and a larger look at Echo's new powers.
.png)
0 Comments