One day, I hope I will be lucky enough to
attend a Comic-Con, hopefully a big one like NY or San Diego. Someday, it is
one of my dreams and goals to be at a Geek environment like no other and enjoy
a big announcement or trailer reveal like those at Comic-Con this past weekend.
So, from a distance, these are my thoughts about the Marvel phase 4 line up of
movies and series.
May 1st 2020: This movie is SO long
overdue, but that does not mean it is bad timing. We do not know how greatly
written TaskMaster and the Black Widow confrontation is. I believe this has the
potential of being an amazing prequel to Infinity War and Endgame; further
exploration of Natasha’s past will make us empathize even further with her
character and decisions later on, which we already know from the movies. I can
only say that this will definitely add an emotional punch to the Soul Stone
scene from Endgame between Romanoff and Hawkeye.
Fall 2020: The Falcon and Winter Soldier TV
Series will force the fan base to pay for DisneyPlus and a lot rides on the
quality of this series, will the money be worthwhile…? In terms of the plot
itself, the series is truly interesting as it follows endgame and Steve Rogers’
decision to become old and leave his shield to Sam. I do not understand how
people were asking for Bucky to get the shield… To the eyes of the world, he
still has a terrorist background, which is questionable at the very least… Moreover,
I am confident that before that scene where Cap leaves to give back the stones
he spoke with Bucky and told him his plan, that’s why his goodbye is much more
emotional than that of Sam who is expecting Cap to be back in a bit.
November 6th 2020: Eternals movie. I
want to be surprised by this in a similar or greater way than Dr. Strange. Salma
Hayek, Angelina Jolie, Kumail Nanjiani, Richard Madden, etc. This cast promises
to be an out of left field success or snoozer… We will have to wait and see.
Empathizing with these immortal characters is as complicated as with Superman…
They are over powered and god-like, both qualities that do not attract my
interest very much. That being said never doubt the studio that made the world
love a talking raccoon with guns and a tree that repeats the same phrase over
and over.
February 12th 2021: Shang Chi and
the Legend of the Ten Rings. We need more combat movies! One of the best movies
that Marvel has ever put out has been Captain America the Winter Soldier; the
combat scenes and the hand-to-hand choreography that meant something and were
not just for the sake of showing, but rather to push the narrative and plot
forward. I want this movie to blow the lid off people’s idea of an Asian
superhero. Make him as universal as a character named Captain America that
appeals to the world.
Spring 2021: WandaVision Disney Plus series is
the one I am least interested in because I don’t have a real perspective or
enough information to make me believe this will push the envelope in terms of
being a MUST to enjoy Marvel’s Phase 4 or further. Will I watch it? Well, that
depends on 2 variables: i) the quality of the previous series (The Falcon and
The Winter Soldier) and ii) the build up to this series based on the movies;
maybe a post credit scene or plot point that could be carried forward through
this series. Plus, a big question to answer: HOW IN THE HECK is this series
taking place AFTER Endgame??
May 7th 2021: Doctor Strange in the
Multiverse of Madness. Now listen, if you know me you know that I LOOOOOVE a
good horror movie. SO, this is one of my most anticipated movies of this new
Marvel phase. Simply put: I love Dr. Strange, I love horror, I love Wanda
a.k.a. the Scarlet Witch and I cannot wait to see what multidimensional
craziness ensues in this movie, SPECIALLY taking into account what was
explained to us in Endgame.
Spring 2021: Loki Disney Plus series. I don’t
know how I feel about this one. It could be an interesting adventure or a
boring “filler”. As a series, this depends EVEN MORE from the quality of the
previous series that Marvel places on the streaming service. Hopefully they
will be Daredevil-Luke Cage caliber or better. Kevin Feige said that this was
directly related to Loki after he takes the tesseract in Endgame so that
timeline does interest me more than a prequel for Loki.
Summer 2021: What If…? There is a pro and a con
here. The con is that this will be an animated series on the DisneyPlus and in
the same way that Marvel is WAY better than DC in movies; Marvel is WAY behind
DC in animated series. Does that mean this will be a horrible series? No. However,
it still is an existing context to break on their part and the nostalgia of
hearing the voices of characters that are dead or have not been active for a
while can only go so far... The pro is the subject to develop in the series:
the watcher is one is the most interesting characters and plot narrators there
is, he can break down the existing state of the Marvel Universe or contrast it
with plausible parallel universes and/or results of the previous movies.
Fall 2021: Hawkeye. If the Black Widow movie
was overdue, this DisneyPlus series was double as much. I cannot explain how
unexpectedly EXCITED I am for this one! Renner said “I get to teach someone
else how to be a superhero without superpowers” and that made me think KATE
BISHOP and young avengers and SO much more that I cannot help but have hundreds
of possible scenarios for this great preparing of a future Avenger generation.
FINALLY, November 5th 2021: Thor 4,
Love and Thunder. Thor was my LEAST favorite avenger in the beginning and has
had a huge comeback in my eyes because Taika Waititi figured out the strength
in comedic acting that Chris Hemsworth has. Tessa Thompson is a hugely
significant addition to the cast and she can only elevate the movie like never
before. HOWEVER, Natalie Portman, even with her Oscar, was a part of the time
when I disliked Thor. She even was one of the reasons why those first 2 Thor
movies did not work for me. I am scared but excited. Female Thor is a very
powerful way to redeem her character, but it is also a gamble. I hope for the
best because Taika Waititi is a truly great director and lets bet on that
instead of against…
Oh and one last thing... after this phase 4 we will get back the comic book character that opened this comic book era even before Xmen: Blade! I remember these movies and actually I think all of them are a guilty pleasure of mine because to me they are all enjoyable. Mahershala Ali is not just a great actor but as a person the fact that HE sought out Marvel to participate is AMAZING AND PROMISING!
Fall 2020: The Falcon and Winter Soldier TV
Series will force the fan base to pay for DisneyPlus and a lot rides on the
quality of this series, will the money be worthwhile…? In terms of the plot
itself, the series is truly interesting as it follows endgame and Steve Rogers’
decision to become old and leave his shield to Sam. I do not understand how
people were asking for Bucky to get the shield… To the eyes of the world, he
still has a terrorist background, which is questionable at the very least… Moreover,
I am confident that before that scene where Cap leaves to give back the stones
he spoke with Bucky and told him his plan, that’s why his goodbye is much more
emotional than that of Sam who is expecting Cap to be back in a bit.
Summer 2021: What If…? There is a pro and a con
here. The con is that this will be an animated series on the DisneyPlus and in
the same way that Marvel is WAY better than DC in movies; Marvel is WAY behind
DC in animated series. Does that mean this will be a horrible series? No. However,
it still is an existing context to break on their part and the nostalgia of
hearing the voices of characters that are dead or have not been active for a
while can only go so far... The pro is the subject to develop in the series:
the watcher is one is the most interesting characters and plot narrators there
is, he can break down the existing state of the Marvel Universe or contrast it
with plausible parallel universes and/or results of the previous movies. 
