Marvel and Disney have greenlit a second season of ‘Wonder Man’.
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley will return to star.
Show overseers Andrew Guest and Destin Daniel Cretton are also back.
Given that it was seemingly unceremoniously released in one batch on Disney+ back in January and didn’t seem to spur that much pop cultural awareness despite strong reviews, Marvel’s ‘Wonder Man’ series has scored a welcome second season renewal.
The show, which stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley and took a very different approach to superhero storytelling (more on that below), becomes one of the few Marvel Cinematic Universe series to land a second season, following the likes of ‘Loki’ and ‘Daredevil: Born Again.’
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Showrunner Andrew Guest and director/fellow executive producer Destin Daniel Cretton will both also return to guide the new run of episodes.
The show follows aspiring Hollywood actor Simon Williams (Abdul-Mateen), who is struggling to get his career off the ground. During a chance meeting with Trevor Slattery (Kingsley), an actor whose biggest roles may be well behind him, Simon learns legendary director Von Kovak (Zlatko Burić) is remaking the superhero film ‘Wonder Man.’
These two actors at opposite ends of their careers doggedly pursue life-changing roles in this film as audiences get a peek behind the curtain of the entertainment industry.
‘Daredevil: Born Again’ has just returned to Disney+ for its second season, and fellow small-screen entry ‘Vision Quest’ (or whatever it ends up being titled) is due at some point this year.
Arriving on Disney+ on January 27 is the first season of Marvel’s ‘Wonder Man‘. All eight episodes, which dive into the life of struggling super-powered actor Simon (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), will be released that evening.
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The series also stars Sir Ben Kingsley, who reprises his role as Trevor Slattery, and Arian Moayed, who returns as Department of Damage Control Agent P. Cleary.
Simon Williams is one of the lesser known Marvel characters. He is not Iron Man, Captain America, or even Hawkeye. So to focus a series on him comes with a little bit of risk from the studio. That said, this is the perfect series to allow Marvel to embrace their comedic side. Simon Williams is an actor, which means that ‘Wonder Man’ gets to dive into a metaness that industry folks, and Marvel fans, will enjoy.
Directors Destin Daniel Cretton and James Ponsoldt know exactly what they are doing with a show like this. Those who work in the industry will love all of the references to the audition process, crafty, and what goes on behind the camera.
The story itself is intriguing from the start, and only gets better the longer it goes on. While there are some things that could be fine tuned, the overall pacing and timing of reveals is brilliant.
What is best described as this season’s standalone episode, episode four, tells a much needed backstory that helps bring clarity to the second half of the season. With exciting guest stars and a dark, twisted, premise, it stands out as the best of the season.
The reason this series works as well as it does is because of the unmatched chemistry between the leads, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Sir Ben Kingsley. They bring both humor and heart to the roles, and the relationship of their character, making it easy for viewers to root for them.
Arian Moayed’s Agent P. Cleary is the perfect villain for a series like this. Fans have seen him time and again in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but he is truly allowed time to shine in ‘Wonder Man’.
‘Wonder Man’ will surely be enjoyed more by those who know the ins and outs of the industry, but it is not written in a way that will alienate viewers who are not a part of it. Thanks to the great chemistry between the leads and smart writing, this fast-paced sitcom is absolutely worth checking out.
Aspiring Hollywood actor Simon Williams is struggling to get his career off the ground. During a chance meeting with Trevor Slattery, an actor whose biggest roles may be well behind him, Simon learns legendary director Von Kovak is remaking the superhero film ‘Wonder Man’. These two actors at opposite ends of their careers doggedly pursue life-changing roles in this film as audiences get a peek behind the curtain of the entertainment industry.
Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones in ‘Marvel’s Jessica Jones’. Photo: Netflix.
Preview:
Krysten Ritter will appear in ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 2.
She’s bringing Jessica Jones back to screens.
Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio star in the show.
Looks like the Defenders are getting back together. Well, some of them at least.
As part of its presentation at the big Disney Upfront this week (where the company touted its upcoming and returning shows in the hopes of luring advertising dollars), Marvel brought Krysten Ritter on stage to announce that she will appear as Jessica Jones in the second season of Disney+ series ‘Daredevil: Born Again.’
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This is what Ritter said about returning to the role:
“It’s so great to be back, returning to Jessica after three seasons and ‘The Defenders’ and now joining the MCU. I’m so excited to bring back this iconic character, and without giving too much away, there is much more in store for Jessica Jones. This is going to be an incredible season!”
Ritter’s gritty, funny portrayal of the character was widely acclaimed, and she was a definite standout among the Netflix/Marvel heroes.
There had been talk that other Netflix characters might be making the leap, following Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock/Daredevil and his arch nemesis The Kingpin, AKA Wilson Fisk, as played by Vincent D’Onofrio.
Hopes remain high that Mike Colter, who played Luke Cage, a hulking hero with great strength and impenetrable skin, might also show up. And that’s it for the Defenders line up. There definitely was not anybody else we’d want to see.
Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones in ‘Marvel’s Jessica Jones’. Photo: Netflix.
One of the key characters during the Netflix/Marvel TV run, with her standalone series launching in 2015 and lasting for three seasons. She also appeared in the ‘Defenders’ team-up miniseries in 2017.
Jessica was created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos and first appeared in ‘Alias #1’ (November 2001) as part of Marvel’s Max, an imprint for more mature content.
She gains super strength and the ability to fly (to some degree, it’s more like giant leaps) and relative invulnerability but the accident also kills her family (or so she thinks).
In the show, much as in the comic, she’s an extremely troubled young woman, an alcoholic who funds her life through working as a private investigator.
In Season 1, she must deal with Kilgrave (David Tennant), a cunning and sadistic mind manipulator who forced her to kill someone while under his power and effectively ended her brief heroic career.
A continuation of the ‘Daredevil’ series that aired on Netflix from 2015 to 2018, ‘Born Again’ picks up with our hero Matt Murdock (Cox), a blind lawyer with heightened abilities, amid a continued fight for justice through his bustling law firm.
At the same time, former mob boss Wilson Fisk (D’Onofrio) pursues his own political endeavors in New York. When their past identities begin to emerge, both men find themselves on an inevitable collision course.
Season 2 will pick up after the cliffhanger of the first, in which crime lord Fisk violently consolidated power, leading Matt to go underground and begin reaching out to allies to resist Fisk and his anti-vigilante task force. Jones will be part of that group of allies.
“People were watching it as a season four, not at as a first season. It’s given us the confidence of making the show annually into the future.”
Just don’t got expecting this to open any floodgate for other characters, according to the executive:
“It’s about not rushing and telling the best story. Yes, it’s exciting to think about characters interacting, but it’s about the reasons why. At times we’ve done that very well, at times we’ve rushed. The story has to lead the path.”
The show follows Riri’s further adventures as she works on her technological creations (including her version of the Iron Man suit) and encounters some dangerous villains.
‘Ironheart’ launches on Disney+ on June 24th, and you can see the trailer below.
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Then there is ‘Wonder Man,’ about a superpowered actor and stunt man (played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) who auditions to be in a superhero movie.
(L to R) Joseph Quinn, Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach star in ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’. Photo: Marvel Studios.
Preview:
Kevin Feige confirmed the Fantastic Four as appearing in the next ‘Avengers’ movies.
Their stand-alone new movie is about to wrap shooting.
The studio head also offered an update on the use of X-Men characters going forward.
With the huge theatrical success of ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ and the buzzy Disney+ hit ‘Agatha All Along,’ Marvel Studios finds itself in a better place heading in 2025 than at almost any point in its turbulent time since ‘Avengers: Endgame.’
And, looking to assure fans (not to mention his Disney paymasters), Marvel boss Kevin Feige offered an upbeat tone at the recent Disney APAC Content Showcase in Singapore, talking up things to come.
While he didn’t announce anything new, he did confirm a few details and offered some updates about when we can expect to see the likes of the X-Men characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
That movie is due next summer (July 25th, to be exact) and Feige, sporting a cap bearing the characters’ iconic logo, talked it up as the movie he’s most excited about for 2025.
Here’s what he said about their movie and beyond, via Deadline:
“They wrap next week, the movie comes out next summer, and then all those characters go right into the next Avengers movies, so I’m very excited for the future of the Fantastic Four.”
Yes, the new reboot will indeed usher the characters into the wider MCU, and they’ll be facing one of their biggest antagonists, Dr. Doom (played by Robert Downey Jr., no less) in ‘Avengers: Doomsday.’ They’ll also be seen in ‘Avengers: Secret Wars,’ with both movies directed by Joe and Anthony Russo and landing in 2026 and 2027.
Feige talks the X-Men
Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige at Disney’s 2024 CinemaCon Presentation. Photo: Disney.
With Disney’s purchase of 20th Century Fox in 2019, the opportunity arose not only to use the Fantastic Four, but also the sprawling universe of X-Men characters. We’ve seen alternate universe versions in a couple of movies (and ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ served as a wry, loving tribute to Fox’s X-Movies and more), but according to Feige, we can expect to see more mutants in the future.
This was his comment:
“I think you will see that continues in our next few movies with some X-Men players that you might recognize. Right after that, the whole story of ‘Secret Wars’ really leads us into a new age of mutants and of the X-Men. Again, it’s one of those dreams come true. We finally have the X-Men back.”
But let’s not forget ‘Thunderbolts*’ which lands on May 2nd, 2025. Feige also took a moment to acknowledge their appeal:
“That’s what Marvel is all about: it’s taking characters from all different types of places and franchises and putting them together. That’s what the ‘Avengers’ is, that’s what ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ is.”
Marvel and Disney offered a look at some of their upcoming shows in a new teaser.
‘Daredevil: Born Again,’ ‘Wonder Man’ and ‘Ironheart’ were among them.
We also learned when ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ will land on Disney+ next month.
While Disney and Marvel have usually tended to use events such as Comic-Cons or the Mouse House’s own D23 spectacle to offer new looks and fresh release details for upcoming entries in the MCU, the companies have taken the step of launching a teaser online that reveals footage and info itself.
Marvel Studios’ ‘Daredevil: Born Again.’
The new trailer, which you can find above, spotlights the likes of ‘Daredevil: Born Again,’ ‘Ironheart,’ ‘Wonder Man’ and some of the returning/new projects from the animated side of Marvel’s TV arm.
‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ will be available to stream on Disney+ beginning November 12th.
Having done record-breaking business in theaters this summer (current total $1.33 billion worldwide), the third film featuring Ryan Reynolds’ Merc with a Mouth has also been successful on video on demand, with its Blu-ray release imminent.
And now we know that it’ll be available to stream on Disney+ on November 12th. So if you’re ready to watch (or, more likely re-visit) Reynolds’s Wade Wilson and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine on their multiverse adventure, now you know when you can.
The third season of the popular animated series, which is its own spin on multiverses, side trips and fun diversions within the Marvel universe, arrives on the streaming service on December 22, as a special Christmas gift.
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And how about Spider-Man?
Tom Holland in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’. Photo: Marvel Studios.
An animated adventure aimed at younger viewers (but accessible to all ages), ‘Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ joins Marvel Animation’s lineup on January 29th, 2025.
It explores Peter Parker’s origin story and younger days as the web-slinging hero.
Talking of Charlie Cox, when can we see Daredevil on our screens again?
The cast of ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ at D23 2024. Photo: Disney.
Funny you should ask. Next up on the schedule is the long-awaited return for Hell’s Kitchen’s conflicted hero, who gets his own series again (with more links to the Netflix series than previously imagined) starting March 4th, 2025, on Disney+.
Picking up the threads planted at the end of ‘Echo,’ ‘Born Again’ will see Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock once again facing problems from Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin, who here is campaigning to be mayor of New York.
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Is there news on ‘Ironheart’?
The cast of ‘Ironheart’ at D23 2024. Photo: Disney.
There is! The new show, which continues the story of the Riri Williams character introduced in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ (and played by Dominique Thorne) will see her dealing with dangerous new threats and reckoning with her place in life.
The show arrives on Disney+ on June 24th, 2025.
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Anything else from the ‘Black Panther’ side of things?
(L to R) Ryan Coogler and Kevin Feige presenting ‘Ironheart’ at D23 2024. Photo: Disney.
Yep! Another show produced by ‘Panther’ director Ryan Coogler is the animated ‘Eyes of Wakanda,’ which follows Wakandan warriors who have traveled the world to retrieve dangerous vibranium artifacts throughout history and T’Challa’s ancestors passing down the mantle of Black Panther.
‘Eyes of Wakanda’ will be with us via Disney+ on August 6th, 2025.
In time for Halloween next year is ‘Marvel Zombies,’ a spin-off of ‘What If…?’ and set in the corrupted universe where many heroes have become flesh-craving monsters.
That series is poised to land in October 2025.
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When will ‘Wonder Man’ arrive?
Marvel Comics’ Wonder Man. Photo Courtesy of Marvel.com.
While we’ve been waiting ages for anything new about this show –– which features ‘Aquaman’s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as the character of Simon Williams, now we finally have a proper first look.
And from the teaser footage, it appears to focus on Williams as an actor trying to get the role of Wonder Man, with a little help from ‘Iron Man 3’ and ‘Shang-Chi’s Trevor Slattery, AKA Ben Kingsley.
At San Diego Comic-Con in 2022, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige announced a swath of new Marvel movies and shows, outlining much of Phases 5 and 6 for his company.
With ‘Loki’s first season dropping the first breadcrumbs about the multiverse-spanning villain Kang (played by Jonathan Majors in the show and ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’), the plan was to build him up as the next big bad to follow Thanos.
That whole connected storyline was to have concluded in ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’ in 2025 and ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ in 2026.
It wasn’t long after that that Cretton was announced as director for ‘The Kang Dynasty’ as part of his big overall Disney/Marvel deal in the wake of ‘Shang-Chi’ doing well.
Now, though, after some release date shifts for both ‘The Kang Dynasty’ (to 2026) and’ Secret Wars’ (moving to 2027), the word has arrived via Deadline that Cretton has stepped away from the director’s chair for the former movie.
Between this news and rumblings about the future of Kang as a whole, it’s looking increasingly likely that Marvel might be moving away from the character altogether.
Talking on the House of R podcast, writer Joanna Robinson (who has plenty of Marvel sources having written a huge book on Marvel’s movies to date), mentioned that ‘Quantumania’ screenwriter Jeff Loveness, who had been on board to write ‘The Kang Dynasty’ was no longer working for the studio? The reason –– he’d been deep in planning the Kang storyline, but the studio appeared to be moving away from the whole idea.
It’s far from a giant shock, though, since Marvel has been wrangling over how to deal with the Jonathan Majors situation. With the actor involved in a thorny legal issue, he’s not exactly someone the company’s parent Disney is looking to be in business with.
Thanks to the multiverse idea, there is scope for the studio to pivot away from him.
Simu Liu in Marvel Studios’ ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.’
Yet unlike Loveness, Cretton is staying on Team Marvel.
He’s been busy working on the ‘Wonder Man’ series he co-created with Andrew Guest, which has been delayed because of the actors’ strike. Now that is back in action, and he can dedicate more of his time to it.
Plus, Cretton remains attached to make the ‘Shang-Chi’ sequel, though that has no official release date yet.
From the sounds of it all, this is another wrinkle for Marvel, but the studio is naturally staying tight-lipped on its plans, so nothing is official until actual announcements.
Marvel Studio’s ‘The Multiverse Saga.’
Other Movies Similar to ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty:’
The consequences of the studios and other big companies that make up the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) not negotiating in good faith with writers and actors are continuing to be felt.
We already learned that Disney and Marvel have been juggling their schedules for big screen output to accommodate films that are delayed due to the strikes (or completed projects for which they want talent to be available to promote).
Yet that is also having a knock-on effect on the various Disney+ series that the superhero-focused studio produces. Which is hardly surprising given the deep intersections between Marvel’s movie and TV output (and the fact that the shows are also seeing delays due to writer and actor availability).
Animated series ‘What If…?’, which explores variations on characters and stories, has a second season ready to go, but will now launch in December this year (an exact date has yet to be announced).
‘Hawkeye’ spin-off ‘Echo’, based around Alaqua Cox‘s deaf Native American character, is shifting from November to January, while ‘X-Men ‘97’, a revival of the 1990s animated show, will fly from this fall to early next year.
Perhaps the biggest move underway is for the series currently known as ‘Agatha: Darkhold Diaries’ (formerly ‘Agatha: House of Harkness’ and then ‘Agatha: Coven of Chaos’), now shifting to next fall, likely (probably a smart move) to arrive around Halloween 2024.
As for shows that were still in production (or post-production)? The likes of ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ and ‘Wonder Man‘ will have to wait to gear up shooting again, while ‘Ironheart’ (featuring Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams, first introduced in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’), is stuck in post-production limbo, and does not currently have a launch slot.
‘Loki’s second season is still on track to launch on Disney+ on October 6th.
Marvel is no doubt figuring that the show –– which is still the most successful of the small screen MCU offerings –– will effectively sell itself. And it also doesn’t want to have the fall completely empty.
‘Loki’ picks up the story of the title character’s (Tom Hiddleston) journey around the multiverse, figuring out what is wrong with time and encountering variant versions of himself. Owen Wilson and Sophia Di Martino star in the series, with Ke Huy Quan a big guest star in this second season.
AMC scores waiver
Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon in AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead.’
It’s not all bad news for those who produce TV series (and movies). Many independent productions have secured waivers to keep shooting or to promote their projects.
Perhaps the highest profile of recent examples is AMC, which is behind shows such as the mammoth ‘Walking Dead’ franchise and ‘Mayfair Witches’.
It might surprise you to learn that AMC Networks, whose AMC Studios produces most of its shows, is not an AMPTP member but is an “authorized” by the alliance, meaning AMC agrees to abide by any contracts between the AMPTP and industry unions such as the WGA or SAG-AFTRA.
The recent waiver from SAG-AFTRA (the union representing actors, which is currently on strike) means that three shows can continue work.
(L t R) Danai Gurira as Michonne, and Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes in AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead.’
‘Walking Dead’ spin-off ‘The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon’ (surely self-explanatory for fans) can resume production while ‘The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live’ (which sees the return of Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes and Danai Gurira’s Michonne to the franchise) finished shooting before the strike but can have the cast head to the studio for post-production work such as additional dialogue recording.
Anne Rice adaptation ‘Interview With the Vampire’ will return to shooting in Prague after shutting down when the actors’ strike started. No other AMC shows are currently included under the waiver.
Though he’s been best known for playing two DC Comics characters – Dr. Manhattan in the HBO series ‘Watchmen’ (to Emmy-winning effect) and Black Manta in ‘Aquaman’, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is headed across the comic book border to Marvel, signing on to star in ‘Wonder Man’, a new series in development at Disney+.
In August, we learned that Ben Kingsley will also show up in the series as Trevor Slattery. The character, a bumbling actor originally hired to play a version of villain the Mandarin for ‘Iron Man 3’, further showed up in a Marvel One-Shot and then returned for Cretton’s ‘Shang-Chi’.
A Wonder Man primer for those who may not know the slightly obscure character: he was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and first arrived on Marvel’s pages in ‘Avengers #9’, which was published in 1964. The character’s real name is Simon Williams, son of a rich industrialist whose company runs into trouble after competition from Tony Stark.
Angered by how Stark has affected his family, Williams accepts an offer from Baron Zemo that grants him super strength and durability. He battles the Avengers several times, before joining them.
Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery in ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.’ Photo courtesy of Marvel.com.
His comics runs have also included stunts as a stunt man and actor, so Slattery’s addition to the show points towards something that could spoof Hollywood.
James Gunn had Nathan Fillion lined up to cameo as the character in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ (in a series of film festival posters featuring Williams’ work) but that scene ultimately didn’t make the final cut of the movie.
Deadline’s story on Abdul-Mateen’s casting offers no details on how the MCU version of the character will adapt the comic book backstory, but we’d imagine there will be some changes along the way. Most notably, with Tony Stark dead, there will be little crossover on that front.
Though Stark tech successor Riri Williams, AKA Ironheart, will have been introduced by this point in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ and her own Disney+ series, so perhaps there will be some overlap).
Abdul-Mateen is a busy, in demand actor who last showed up in Michael Bay’s ‘Ambulance’. He’ll be back as Black Manta for James Wan’s superhero sequel ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’, currently scheduled to swim into theaters on December 25th next year.
There are also a few other projects in the works, including TV drama ‘The Scent of Burnt Flowers’ and potential movie ‘I Helped Destroy People’, which he’ll also produce.
Marvel Comics’ Wonder Man. Photo Courtesy of Marvel.com.
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Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery in ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.’ Photo courtesy of Marvel.com.
Ben Kingsley became a somewhat divisive part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2013 when he first appeared as Trevor Slattery in ‘Iron Man 3’. While plenty of fans embraced the drunken, slapstick actor who had been hired by true villain Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) to pose as the Mandarin and lead a terrorist group, some were upset at the twist.
Yet Slattery has since been more favorably embraced, especially after he popped up in a Marvel One-Shot called ‘All Hail the King’, written and directed by ‘Iron Man 3’ co-writer Drew Pearce.
And then came last year’s ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ where it was revealed that the true Mandarin, Wenwu (played in that movie by Tony Leung) had sprung Slattery from prison and was keeping him around as a sort of court jester. With the help of Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), Trevor escaped and helped in the fight against Wenwu.
It’ll see him working again with Destin Daniel Cretton, who is acting as a producer on the show. The bulk of the creative heavy lifting, though, will be carried by Andrew Guest, who has Marvel experience himself thanks to a consulting producer (essentially a writer) on ‘Hawkeye’.
Wonder Man, for those who haven’t heard of him, was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and first arrived on Marvel’s pages in ‘Avengers #9’, which was published in 1964. The character’s real name is Simon Williams, son of a rich industrialist whose company runs into trouble after competition from Tony Stark.
Marvel Comics’ Wonder Man. Photo Courtesy of Marvel.com.
Angered by how Stark has affected his family, Williams accepts an offer from Baron Zemo that grants him super strength and durability. He battles the Avengers several times, before joining them.
His comics runs have also included stunts as a stunt man and actor, so Slattery’s addition to the show points towards something that could spoof Hollywood.
James Gunn had Nathan Fillion lined up to cameo as the character in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ (in a series of film festival posters featuring Williams’ work) but that scene ultimately didn’t make the final cut of the movie.
Marvel, naturally, is not commenting on the Slattery news, but we’re happy to see Kingsley will have the chance to bring the character back once more. Will ‘Shang-Chi’s Morris have a cameo? Only time will tell.
Marvel appears to be wasting no time putting the creative pieces in place now that it has announced plans for the next two “Phases” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Little is known about ‘The Kang Dynasty’ yet beyond that title, release date and now, director. But the title clearly points to a clash with Multiverse-spanning villain Kang (Jonathan Majors), a variant of whom was introduced in last year’s MCU series ‘Loki’.
Kang – or versions of him, at least – is scheduled to pop back up again in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’, due in theaters on February 17th next year. He’ll be a threat throughout much of the future movies, since Phases 4 (which is already underway, and ends with November 11’th’s ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), 5 and 6 together represent ‘The Multiverse Saga’.
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Together with ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ (planned for theaters on November 7th, 2025), the movie will wrap Phase 6 and cap off the next saga. There is no indication yet as to who will direct ‘Secret Wars’.
Marvel Studios’ ‘Avengers: Secret Wars.’
As for who might be representing the heroic side of the story once ‘The Kang Dynasty’ rolls around is still up in the air at this point and depends on which of the remaining classic characters (such as Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange and Anthony Mackie‘s Captain America) are utilized alongside the younger likes of Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) and, likely America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) introduced in ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’.
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We’d be shocked if Shang-Chi himself, Simu Liu wasn’t back, and given their long working relationship, we firmly expect to see Brie Larson as Captain Marvel (she popped up in a post-credits scene for ‘Shang-Chi’).
While some had speculated that Marvel might look to bring ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame’ directors Joe and Anthony Russo back for the next ‘Avengers’ movies, Marvel boss Kevin Feige has gone on record as saying they’re not involved – and the sibling filmmakers are busy with their own projects anyway, such as expanding upon Netflix movie ‘The Gray Man’.
Cretton though, sounds like a solid pair of hands for an ‘Avengers’ outing – he proved he could handle quieter character beats, drama and comedy, plus worked well with the effects teams to deliver some spectacle.
Before he made a splash with ‘Shang-Chi’, Cretton was better known for his indie fare, including ‘Short Term 12’, ‘The Glass Castle’ and ‘Just Mercy’. He’s currently developing or working on a few other projects, including series ‘American Born Chinese’ for Disney+ and a ‘Wonder Man’ show under his Marvel deal.
