The MCU Phases 5 and 6: Timeline, release dates, and 'Fantastic Four' revealed at SDCC

The next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been announced. On Saturday, Marvel Studios returned to San Diego Comic-Con for the first time in three years and delivered a slate full of news, superstar appearances, and some major surprises before 6,500 fans in the convention center’s famed Hall H.

Perhaps the most consequential reveal? We now know where the MCU is headed, as Phase 4, which has had some ups and downs, will be concluded with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. After that, Phase 5 will be in full force in theaters and on Disney+. Some of the highlights of Phase 5 include previously announced films like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, a Sam Wilson-led Captain America movie with an official title, and the highly anticipated return of Charlie Cox’s Daredevil in a whole new series after a cameo appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home. 

Speaking before the crowd and noting that it had been more than 1,000 days since he last appeared on the stage at Hall H, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige said that just about everything he’d announced for Phase 4 back then had already been released in theaters or on Disney+. Phase 4, he said, was “about resetting the MCU, and meeting all these new characters” — characters like Shang-Chi, the Eternals, Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and more. Phase 5 does not feature too many of the MCU’s newcomers, at least not in headlining roles and at least not yet.

Here, in order of release, are the announced movies and shows in the MCU’s Phase 5.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania - Feb. 17, 2023
Secret Invasion (Disney+) - Spring 2023
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - May 5, 2023
Echo (Disney+) - Summer 2023
Loki Season 2 (Disney+) - Summer 2023
The Marvels - July 28, 2023
Blade - Nov. 3, 2023
Ironheart (Disney+) - Fall 2023
Agatha: Coven of Chaos (Disney+) - Winter 2023/24
Daredevil: Born Again (Disney+) - Spring 2024
Captain America: New World Order - May 3, 2024
Thunderbolts - July 18, 2024

Additionally, Feige announced the first three films in Phase 6, declaring that Phases 4, 5, and 6 would collectively be known as "The Multiverse Saga." The announced movies in Phase 6 are as follows.

Fantastic Four - Nov. 8, 2024
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty - May 2, 2025
Avengers: Secret Wars - May 7, 2025.

For more information on the Avengers movies, check out our story here.

The Agatha Harkness series, which continues the story of Kathryn Hahn’s evil witch from WandaVision, has been retitled Agatha: Coven of Chaos. The fourth Captain America film, featuring Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson as the titular hero, gained the official title of Captain America: New World Order.

Daredevil: Born Again will reunite Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio’s Kingpin. (Kingpin presumably survived his encounter with Echo at the end of the Hawkeye series.)

Thunderbolts — which in the comics are the name of a shady counterpart to the Avengers, will wrap up Phase 5, and presumably connect all the threads that Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine has been spinning in the post-credits scene of Black Widow and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

If past Phases are anything to go by, the timeline we’re seeing now will probably change. There may be surprise announcements, or a new series might pop up on Disney+ in the future. The exact premiere dates of movies may shift, though hopefully, we won’t have anything like the delays the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic inflicted upon Phase 4’s release calendar.

Click here for SYFY WIRE’s full coverage of San Diego Comic-Con 2022. Mike Avila contributed reporting for this story.

Looking for more superhero action in the meantime? Peacock is streaming Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin right now.

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