EVERYTHING You Need to Know About Marvel’s Massive Comic-Con Reveal

No one knew exactly what Marvel was set to reveal at their big Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend.

We expected a Black Widow reveal and maybe a couple of other announcements, leaving us totally unprepared for what they actually had in store. When we managed to be among the 6500 people present to learn what was next before the news was made public, we couldn't believe our eyes. Here's everything we learned there—but be warned that there are some spoilers ahead if you're not caught up on the MCU!

The Infinity Saga Has Come to a Close

Now that Marvel's Phase Three is over, the group of 23 films that have released so far officially has a name.

"The Infinity Saga is complete," Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige announced.

The Infinity Saga spans from Iron Man in 2008 all the way up to this year's Spider-Man: Far From Home, paving the way for everything that's coming next in phase four. Kevin Feige next showed off a Phase Four timeline with 10 blank splots, and the entire rest of the evening was spent filling in those slots and letting us know what we might be able to expect next.

 

The Eternals

If you've never heard of The Eternals, you're certainly not alone. They're more of a Marvel deep cut than most of the superheroes we've been introduced to in the MCU so far, but we'll get to really know them when their new film comes out on Nov. 6, 2020.

Kevin described them as, "A group of immortals who've been on earth for 35,000 years" and told the audience that "this film is full Jack Kirby," referencing the iconic Marvel comic book artist.

The Eternals will be directed by Chloé Zhao.

"For this film, for The Eternals, it's about this group of incredible immortals," she explained, "but through their journey, we really get to explore what it means to be human, and humanity, and our time on this planet."

Next, they introduced the film's huge cast to the stage. The Eternals will star Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Brian Tyree Henry, Salma Hayek, Lia McHugh, Don Lee and Angelina Jolie.

Kumail Nanjiani, who will play Kingo in the film, likened The Eternals to Hollywood classics.

"It used to be that movies like Casablanca would have absolutely everything," he said. "Action, drama, thriller, romance, comedy. But then movies sort of had to become genres. Is this a comedy, is it a drama, is it a thriller? And I feel like Marvel movies are a throwback to those old-school Hollywood movies because they have everything."

12-year-old actress Lia McHugh was casted as Sprite, an immortal Eternal who never grows up. It was clear to the audience that she was delighted to be onstage.

"It doesn't feel real," she said. "It's so weird because I grew up watching Marvel movies with my whole family. I have four siblings. It's just crazy."

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Most of the audience was probably already aware that a Falcon and the Winter Soldier was being produced for Disney's upcoming streaming service, Disney+. Still, we were no less excited when its fall 2020 release date was announced, and especially when actors Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan stepped onstage wielding Captain America's shield.

Asked what he'd like to see on the show, Sebastian quipped, "We'd like to explore the Falcon as a character. What man is this man?"

In turn, Anthony had a few words to say about his costar's character.

"With the Winter Soldier, I want to really see what makes him tick," he said. "What ticks him off? How much ticking can that clock do before that tick go tock, and that tock go boom?"

Further, he wanted to talk about the amazing opportunity he's received while working with Marvel.

"We're living our dream," Anthony said. "Every one of us has dreamed and prayed of being in a Marvel movie. We have a job that anyone else would kill to have, so why would you mess that up by not respecting and appreciating the opportunity that you're given? So when we go to work, we have a really good time."

We also discovered that Daniel Bruhl will be returning as the evil Baron Zemo, and in the spooky video reveal, he donned a purple hood just like the one the character wears in the comics.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

If you don't already know Shang-Chi, you're about to get familiar in a big way. Coming out on Feb. 12, 2021, it's set to be the first Marvel film with an Asian lead. And even though you probably aren't familiar with the Ten Rings, Marvel has subtly been planting their symbol in its movies since the very first Iron Man movie.

While Ben Kingsley played a fake version of the villainous Mandarin in Iron Man 3, Shang-Chi will introduce us to the real Mandarin, who will be played by Tony Leung. Awkwafina will also star.

The film's director, Dustin Cretton, also came out to discuss why this movie is so important to him.

"I grew up on an island in the middle of the Pacific called Maui in a small town called Haiku with that had the population of this room," he explained. "Standing on this stage is really terrifying for me. But what's really cool is I grew up with friends who were Japanese, Chinese, Caucasian, Filipino, Portuguese, Korean. It's so exciting to see Kevin and this amazing team begin to create an MCU that reflects all the beautiful colors that I see in this room. To be a small part in that is really special."

When Shang-Chi himself, Kim's Convenience actor Simu Liu, came out to introduce himself, he started by speaking to the audience in Mandarin. It wasn't long after that the audience learned the news was nearly as new to Simu as it was to us.

"Here's where I have a bone to pick with Kevin," he said. "I feel like I was a social experiment. Let's just take this ordinary guy living in Toronto, let's tell him that he's going to be in the next Marvel movie and give him like four days to prep for it. Literally, I was cast on Tuesday. I screen-tested on Sunday in New York, and this is just the craziest, craziest dream."

He also had a few words to say about what it meant to him to be one of Marvel's next big heroes.

"My parents emigrated from China to Canada 25 years ago with nothing but the hopes and dreams to build a family and to build a life for their kids," he explained. "All I ever wanted to do growing up was to make them proud. So basically what I'm trying to say is I'm really happy I'm not a doctor."

WandaVision

If you bawled your eyes out during Infinity War during the scenes between Wanda and the Vision, you're definitely not alone. While details about them were scarce, we did learn that the Disney+ series will release in spring of 2021 and that it takes place after the events of Endgame.

"If you thought that logo was strange, wait until the show," Kevin Feige said. "It's unlike anything we've done before."

Stars Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany were also there to say what they could about the upcoming series.

"We're gonna have a lot of fun," Elizabeth said. "It's gonna go weird, we're gonna go deep. We're gonna have lots of surprises and we're finally going to understand Wanda Maximoff as the Scarlet Witch."

The biggest (and our favorite) surprise was that another character we know and love from the MCU would also be joining them. We met Monica Rambeau as a little girl in the Captain Marvel movie, and in WandaVision, Teyonah Parris will be playing her as an adult. In the comics, Monica also became Captain Marvel, so we are very curious to see where this might lead.

Loki

Remember when Loki told Thor the sun would shine on them again? He wasn't wrong. His Disney+ series also releases in spring of 2021, and we can't wait to see the fan-favorite character's return.

"I understand. Didn't I see Loki die at the end of Infinity War?" Kevin Feige asked. "You did, but what else did you see in Endgame?"

Next, they rolled a clip from Avengers: Endgame in which Loki escapes the Avengers' grasp by stealing the Tesseract.

"Where'd Loki go? What happened to Loki?" Kevin continued. "This series will tell you what happened to Loki right after that. He goes to a lot of places. I don't want to spoil them, but I will spoil the first place he went. He came to Hall H."

The crowd burst into applause when Tom Hiddleston walked on stage, greeting him with a chant of "Loki! Loki!" He was quick to remind the audience that the show doesn't star the Loki we saw at the beginning of Infinity War, but at the end of the first Avengers movie.

"You guys saw Avengers, right?" he asked the audience. "He's still that guy. Just about the last thing that happened to him was he got Hulk Smashed. It's a lot of psychological evolution that's still yet to happen. Kevin has generously shown me what his plans are. I can't tell you any of them, but it is one of the most exciting creative opportunities I think I've ever come across. This is new territory. A new world. New challenges. And I cannot wait to get started."

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Doctor Strange fans have even more of the Sorcerer Supreme to look forward to when his sequel comes out on May 7, 2021, and this time he'll be dealing with the multiverse.

"Just because Quentin Beck makes up lies about the multiverse doesn't mean it's not real," Kevin Feige teased.

The film's director Scott Derrickson was also there to discuss what he loves about the character and his potential.

"What excites me about Doctor Strange is what made great the comics," he explained. "He doesn't fight villains for this earth or even from this universe, but from the multiverse and from other dimensions. So you get all kinds of psychedelic weirdness, which this movie is going to. But when I came and talked to Kevin about doing a sequel, I said I don't just want to do another sequel to do a sequel. If I'm going to do it, it has to go into the territory that drew me into the Doctor Strange comics in the first place, which is how they dipped into the gothic and the horror and the horrific. We're going to make the first scary MCU film."

It wasn't long before Doctor Strange actor Benedict Cumberbatch also graced the stage—and since his birthday was the day before, all 6500 of us sang "Happy Birthday" to him.

"I'm really excited to be at the dawn of this project," Benedict said. "I think it's vital to maintain the integrity of humor and stuff that we had in the first film but with this twist of horror, which I think will really have people gripped. He'll be facing unexpected things. I think he'll be in a position rather like the audience coming out. There's a lot of authority to this character I thought in the Avengers iterations and even in Thor as well, so we'll be going back to kind of trying to destroy him a little bit I think."

And who's the perfect buddy to a powerful sorcerer? A powerful witch. It was also revealed that Scarlet Witch would be in the film.

"The events that you will see Wanda go through in the WandaVision epic series also will be reflected and tie directly into Doctor Strange," Kevin explained.

 

What If…?

Now that we know there's a Marvel multiverse, who's to say that the events we've seen in the MCU are the only ones that have transpired? The new Marvel What If…? animated series, coming to Disney+ in summer of 2021, will explore those ideas.

As the Watcher explains in a first teaser for the show, "Every single choice can branch out creating alternate worlds from the ones you know. Dare to face the unknown and ponder the question, what if?"

The series will also include a lot of Marvel actors reprising their roles in cartoon form, including Michael B. Jordan, Josh Brolin, Mark Ruffalo, Samuel L. Jackson, Hayley Atwell, Chadwick Boseman and so many more.

Actor Jeffrey Wright was also revealed as the Watcher, and he came out to explain precisely would that role will entail.

"The Watcher is a non-earthy being observes all things," he explained. "He's watching over the multiverse. Occasionally, he may or may not intervene with the dealings of earthlings. Other than that, he's off doing his own thing."

Hawkeye

Missing the original Avengers? A Hawkeye series will be coming to Disney+ in fall of 2021—and it'll feature Kate Bishop, who takes on the mantle of Hawkeye after Clint Barton gives it up. Jeremy Renner took the stage to call her "the best version of Hawkeye."

"What I get to do in the show ultimately is shepherd an amazing character to be hopefully a better version of me," he explained. "And the center of what that is is, what I think the fiber of what Hawkeye is, is a superhero without superpowers, and I can teach someone else to be a superhero without superpowers. I think that's an amazing sentiment to share."

In addition to the introduction of Kate Bishop, the series will also emphasize Clint Barton's time as Ronin. Basically, Hawkeye fans have a lot to look forward to.

Thor: Love & Thunder

After Thor: Ragnarok, all we wanted were more Thor movies, and we'll be getting one Nov, 5, 2021 with Thor: Love & Thunder. Director (and Korg actor) Taika Waititi was there to share the news, as well as stars Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson.

While Chris Hemsworth was coy about whether Thor would be back in top physical shape for the film, Tessa Thompson was more than happy to discuss Valkyrie's new role as the ruler of Asgard.

"I think first of all as new king, she needs to find her queen," she remarked. "That'll be her first order of business. But what's cool about Asgard, as it's already been mentioned, is that Asgard is not a place, but a people. I think she'll reinvest in her people and create refuge for anyone who might need it. That to me is the idea of a perfect Asgard."

Taika also discussed the comics he read that will serve as inspiration for the next film.

"When we were shooting Ragnarok, I was reading one storyline by Jason Aaron called Mighty Thor," he said. "For those of you who know that storyline, it's incredible and filled with emotion and love–and thunder–and it introduces, for the first time, female Thor. For us, there's only one person who could play that role."

When Natalie Portman walked onstage, it was revealed that her character, Jane Foster, would soon be taking on the name of Thor. She even wielded Mjölnir to demonstrate her worthiness.

"It feels pretty good," Natalie Portman said. I've always had a little hammer envy."

 

Black Widow

Things have been pretty hush-hush about Black Widow up to now, but we finally know it will come out on May 1, 2020, and that its stars include David Harbour, Florence Pugh, O-T Fagbenle and Rachel Weisz, as well as the inimitable Scarlett Johansson. The movie is currently filming in London, but the stars (as well as director Cate Shortland) flew in for the mega announcement.

"I think that's what drew me to the story, that she has so many secrets and she's got so much vulnerability," the director explained. "I think that's what makes her such a great heroine. I think in this film we get to understand her past, and she gets to put all the pieces of herself back together and come out a whole person. I think we're all excited about helping her on that journey."

Black Widow herself also had a few things to say about the character's journey.

"I don't think I could have played this iteration of Natasha 10 years ago," Scarlett said. "It would have been a very different film. I get to play Natasha as a fully realized woman in all of her many facets. I'm excited for fans to see what she perceives to be the flawed side of her and I'm looking to wipe out some of that red in her ledger."

While the movie has only been filming for about a month, the Marvel team did have a trailer to share with us. It included a lot of tense, visceral fight scenes, and revealed that the movie's big bad would be the Taskmaster. We're already speculating that O-T's character, Mason, is secretly the Taskmaster, but we'll have to wait until May to find out.

 

Everything Else

You'd think 10 massive movie and TV show announcements would be enough for one Comic-Con panel, but the folks at Marvel apparently didn't think so.

"There's a lot of other stuff we didn't get the chance to talk about today," Kevin said. "We didn't even mention that we're making Black Panther 2. We didn't mention the fact that Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is coming. We didn't talk about Captain Marvel 2. And we didn't even have time to talk about The Fantastic Four. And there's no time left to talk about mutants."

That's three sequels and a teaser for new content from the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, which Marvel recently re-acquired from Fox. Of course, they also announced that two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali would also be playing the half-human, half-vampire Blade. Marvel is absolutely destroying the competition, and we were thrilled to see it all unfold.

 

Why are we so excited for WandaVision? Click HERE to find out exactly why we can't wait to see more of Monica Rambeau in the MCU.