So, now that Loki has followed in the footsteps of the DC’s Arroverse and blown the Multiverse wide-open in its wake, it seems we have an idea how it will knock on to the now blossoming Phase 4 of the MCU.
With Black Widow finally getting a release last week, Phase 4 is well and truly here (and yes, we know it kicked off with Disney+’s WandaVision, Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki but many still count the movies as the true story… although they may not now that Loki has shown how big the small screen stories can be too), we’re looking toward what comes next.
Loki fractured the timestream and left all possible realities out in the open to be explored at the end of the finale and it’s likely this will set up both Spider-man: No Way Home on December 17th which is likely to feature characters and stars from across the Spider-man movies and Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness which opens in March 2022.
So here’s some cool details we have learned about how big this story is going to be across the MCU and beyond.
LOKI SEASON 2
The finale’s mid-credit scene featured some TVA paperwork with Loki’s details on it being stamped with the words “Loki will return for season 2”, so it’s likely that the overall story will be wrapped in the second season. This was teased by Loki himself Tom Hiddleston before the episode aired as he took to social media, saying: “Many answers to your questions [and] Likely many more questions.”
He wasn’t kidding. The episode did end on a cliffhanger while managing to answer many of the questions as well as introducing star Jonathan Majors as one of the Kang the Conqueror variants, hinting at how big a threat this guy will be in Phase 4… we will of course get to meet the real Kang in the upcoming third Ant-man movie (here).
So what’s next now that the series has wrapped?
WHAT IF..? TO CONTINUE LOKI STORY
Well, it seems we will dive right back into the Multiverse in next month’s What If..? series on Disney+. The animated series – trailer below – sees many of the MCU’s stars returning for versions of their characters that existed in other realities (it also, sadly, features the late Chadwick Boseman in his final turn as T’Challa/Black Panther) and, it seems, it will follow on from Loki according to Hiddleston, who said of the series on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: “I am intrigued because I haven’t seen the whole thing. And I know they’ve got, like, everybody from the Marvel universe to voice their characters … And then it sets up a bunch of stuff in the MCU, which I [of course] know nothing about.”
We also know that What If..? will be getting additional seasons and will not be the only official MCU animated series.
After this, we get Spider-man: No Way Home which has still very few official details revealed, however, if we’re right, we’re going to see Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield joining Tom Holland as their respective Spider-mans (men?) and they will fight villains from across all three versions of the character’s movies. We reported a while back that we heard we’d not be getting the No Way Home trailer until after the Lokie finale… so let’s hope it’s not far off now.
LOKI SET FOR MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS
After that, we will be getting Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness which we’re hearing will also see Hiddleston return as Loki alongside Benedict Cumberbatch as Strange and Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda, picking up immediately after the events of WandaVision which, it seems, is also integral to this new Phase 4 direction: “Without WandaVision, Doctor Strange wouldn’t make sense,” Olsen says. “I do feel like it fully leads into where we find her [Wanda]. It feels totally connected to the series.”
AGATHA RETURNS
Which leads us to our final bit of groovy news… in a new interview about Phase 4, Marvel bossman Kevin Feige was asked if we’ll see the awesome Kathryn Hahn’s return as Agatha Harkness, looking for her revenge on Wanda and, it seems, we may not have long to wait: “Someday. Someday soon,” he says.” You will see Kathryn Hahn in Knives Out 2 next, then maybe an assortment of other things. But within the MCU, it can’t come soon enough. Let’s put it that way.”
I thought Agatha was the best thing about WandaVision and Loki finally hit the mark I felt the Marvel TV shows should reach, so all this is good news… was it Agatha all along? We’ll know soon enough.
Enter the multiverse of unlimited possibilities. Marvel Studios’ first animated series, What If…?, starts streaming August 11 with new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.
“What If… ?” features fan-favorite characters, including Peggy Carter, T’Challa, Doctor Strange, Killmonger, Thor and more. The new series, directed by Bryan Andrews with AC Bradley as head writer, features signature MCU action with a curious twist.
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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