After laying dormant for over a year due to the pandemic, Marvel Studios came roaring back in 2021 with nine titles premiering in theaters and on Disney Plus. Among them were the first billion-dollar grossing movie of the pandemic, “Spider-Man: No Way Home”; Marvel Studios’ first ever animated series, “What If…?”; and Marvel Studios’ first ever Emmy nominees (and winners), “WandaVision” and “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” The theatrical features “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” and “Eternals” introduced a cavalcade of new superheroes and new mythologies into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, while the Disney Plus series “Loki” cracked open the multiverse for the first time in the MCU, presaging all kinds of storytelling shenanigans. “Black Widow” and “Hawkeye,” meanwhile, debuted two new characters — Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) — who have taken on their respective heroic monikers from the OG Avengers who originated then.
After all of that, one might expect Marvel to take a breather, but the studio’s slate is only growing larger: There are at least 24 more titles in the works for 2022 and beyond. On the feature film side, Marvel will release sequels to “Doctor Strange” with director Sam Raimi, “Thor” with director Taika Waititi, “Black Panther” with director Ryan Coogler, “Captain Marvel” with director Nia DaCosta, “Guardians of the Galaxy” with director James Gunn and “Ant-Man” with director Peyton Reed; as well as long-anticipated reboots of “Blade” with actor Mahershala Ali and “Fantastic Four” with director Jon Watts.
On Disney Plus, we’ll see adaptations of “Ms. Marvel” with newcomer Iman Vellani, “She-Hulk” with Tatiana Maslany and Mark Ruffalo, “Moon Knight” with Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke, “Secret Invasion” with Olivia Colman and Samuel L. Jackson; a “WandaVision” spinoff starring Kathryn Hahn and a “Hawkeye” spinoff starring Alaqua Cox; and second seasons of “Loki” and “What If…?”
There are also several more titles in development, including a series set in the Kingdom of Wakanda and a feature film sequel to “Captain America” starring Anthony Mackie.
And after the debut of “What If…?”, multiple animated titles are on their way to Disney Plus, including Marvel Studios’ first swing at “X-Men” following Disney’s acquisition in 2019 of 20th Century Fox.
For Marvel chief creative officer Kevin Feige and his team of creative executives at Marvel Studios, the MCU’s post-“Avengers: Endgame” slate represents the most aggressive creative expansion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2012’s “The Avengers” re-defined what was possible with superhero storytelling.
Here is everything that’s in store — that we know about.