From Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness explored in depth. The release schedule underwent a number of changes during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the phase remained focused on overarching narratives like the creation of the multiverse and the introduction of the next big bad, Kang the Conqueror.
Phase Four expanded on Infinity Saga mainstays like Loki and Wanda Maximoff and introduced promising new heroes like Shang-Chi, Ms. Marvel, America Chavez, and Moon Knight. It also saw key Avengers on the torch to their successors with Bruce Banner ing on the Hulk mantle to Jen Walters and Clint Barton giving the Hawkeye name to Kate Bishop. The launch of Disney+ saw Marvel Studios extend its reach from movies to streaming series and “Special Presentations” throughout Phase Four, allowing the MCU to tell a wider range of stories and give a spotlight to ing characters, though it made things tricky to follow at times.
WandaVision (2021)
Set a few weeks after The Marvels and introduced the evil Agatha Harkness, who’s set to star in her own spin-off series in Phase Five. After the series’ redemption arc was over, the post-credits scene saw Wanda studying the Darkhold, setting up her villainous turn in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
The Falcon And The Winter Soldier (2021)
Sharon Carter was revealed to be a villain operating under the alias “Power Broker” and a disgraced John Walker was recruited by Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine for the MCU’s Thunderbolts line-up. The Contessa is being set up as a dark Nick Fury recruiting antiheroes for Phase Five adventures.
Loki Season 1 (2021)
After he stole the Tesseract during the Time Heist in Avengers: Endgame, the titular trickster spent the first season of next Thanos-sized big bad, Kang the Conqueror, with his variant “He Who Remains.” The season ended with the creation of the MCU’s multiverse (its new central plot point) as the death of He Who Remains destroyed the Sacred Timeline.
Black Widow (2021)
Set between the main plot of Hawkeye series.
What If...? Season 1 (2021)
After Sylvie created the MCU’s multiverse in the Loki finale, the first season of What If...? blew it wide open. Every episode of the animated anthology series took place in an alternate world of the MCU: one was infested with zombies, one was invaded by an Infinity-powered Ultron, one was destroyed by a heartbroken Doctor Strange. The interdimensional adventures of What If...? introduced key multiversal players like Captain Carter (a Super Soldier version of Peggy Carter who later made her live-action debut in Multiverse of Madness) and Star-Lord T’Challa. Unlike the hypothetical stories of the comics, the MCU’s What If...? episodes are multiversally canonical.
Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings (2021)
After the real Mandarin, Shang-Chi’s estranged father Wenwu, and the real Ten Rings, an ancient mystical weapon. The mid-credits scene introduced Shang-Chi into the larger Avengers ensemble, with Wong, Carol Danvers, and Bruce Banner examining the Ten Rings he inherited from his dad. The post-credits scene revealed that Shang-Chi’s sister Xialing had taken over the Ten Rings as their new leader despite her promise to shut it down, so she’s poised to become a villain in the future.
Eternals (2021)
The Thanos’ Eternal brother, Eros, who could be key to the fight against Kang, and the post-credits scene saw Dane Whitman being given the Ebony Blade by an off-screen character (identified as Blade), teasing his transformation into the Black Knight.
Hawkeye (2021)
The Hawkeye series introduced Clint Barton’s successor, college-aged archer Kate Bishop, as well as the antihero Echo, who’s set to get her own series on Disney+. Kate is primed to the MCU’s Young Avengers line-up alongside characters like Ms. Marvel and America Chavez. Yelena returned in the hope of killing Clint to avenge Nat and forged a fun dynamic with Kate along the way, teasing further team-ups between the new Hawkeye and new Black Widow. The last couple of episodes of Hawkeye brought Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin into the mainstream MCU as the series’ big bad, setting him up to potentially fight Spider-Man or Daredevil in a future project.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Marvel Studios got meta with its multiverse in Spider-Man: No Way Home, which brought back Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men alongside Tom Holland (as well as a handful of their villains) after a Doctor Strange spell gone wrong. No Way Home established the universes of their previous Spider-Man franchises as alternate dimensions in the MCU’s multiverse – along with Sony’s Marvel universe, thanks to a mid-credits cameo by Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock, who left behind some Venom symbiote for a future storyline. Charlie Cox made a cameo appearance as Matt Murdock to give Peter Parker much-needed legal advice, finally confirming his placement in the mainline MCU.
Moon Knight (2022)
Marvel’s first full-blown psychological thriller, Moon Knight, added another ancient mythology to the growing roster of gods in the MCU with Egyptian deities like Khonshu and Taweret. The series split its time between menacing mercenary Marc Spector, the human avatar of the Egyptian moon god, and his mild-mannered alternate personality, Steven Grant. The mid-credits scene introduced a third personality, Jake Lockley, a limo driver who is even more cold-blooded than Marc. Moon Knight didn’t have many connections to the wider MCU, but Oscar Isaac has confirmed (via ComicBook.com) that he’s in the midst of discussions with Marvel Studios about Moon Knight’s return.
