Welcome to the multiverse: guide not to get lost in the Marvel television universe

Three years ago, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes defeated Thanos. With that victory, the Avengers ended their stage as we knew them in the movies. And veterans like Iron Man, Captain America or Black Widow said goodbye to the group. But, in addition to having registered the highest grossing film in historyMarvel ended the Infinity Saga and began the transition to the newly baptized Multiverse Saga, officially presented last Saturday at San Diego Comic Con. The master of ceremonies was the president of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, one of those in charge of deciding what happens now with the cinematographic universe: what stories they want to tell, who their next protagonists will be and where they are going. Much of this mystery was resolved after an hour of announcements in which Feige made public the future projects of Marvel Studios for the next three years. In order not to get lost among these 40 premieres, we explain what the roadmap is in this new television stage of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (UCM).

In order to try to make life less difficult for viewers, Marvel has been grouping its productions into phases for a few years, ordered numerically. These, in turn, make up the great sagas, of which only two are known at the moment: the first, with Thanos as the great villain, was the Infinity Saga (2008-2019), which grouped the first three phases; while the Saga of the Multiverse (2021-2025), where they will have to defeat Kang the Conqueror, will go from phase four to phase six. The difference between the two lies mainly in the television products. Why? When the studio began this adventure, they still did not have Disney +, which did not arrive until 2019. The company depended exclusively on its movies on the big screen. The result was fewer projects spread over more years, more spaced out in time, and with fewer supporting characters. This new era offers the opposite: phases that include more content in a shorter period of time.

The arrival of the platform streaming has dynamited Marvel’s roadmap. Disney + has opened the opportunity to create many more projects that complement the films shown in theaters: series that introduce new characters and develop others that we have already seen in the movies, so that their plots advance in parallel.

Feige himself has made it clear: “The truth is that when we were doing phase one, phase two and phase three, there were fewer projects for more years. They were smaller and more individual character stories (…) As phases four, five and six are approaching, there are more projects in fewer years because of all the incredible material that we are now allowed to do on Disney +, already obtaining fox characters [Los cuatro fantásticos, Deadpool o los X-Men]. And the feeling is that, after Avengers: infinity war Y Avengers: Endgamewe think that the Avengers movies are no longer the icing on the cake, ”he assured at Comic Con a MTVNews. However, this formation will return, although different from the original: “We are currently in the middle of the Saga of the Multiversewhich will culminate in two Avengers movies,” Feige said.

Before, series were already made with Marvel characters —such as Agents of SHIELD (2014-2020), which delves into the day-to-day life of the anti-terrorist intelligence agency headed by Nick Furia, the character in Samuel L Jackson—, but in the background that did not interfere with the plot of the movies. Now the strategy is to produce their own series to develop the stories that are left out of the big screen, but that have a greater importance in the saga.

The series as a link point

Marvel Studios’ first series is Scarlet Witch and Vision (2021), in which everything that happens to this couple after Avengers: Endgame (2019). But, in addition to introducing new characters, it also serves as a prequel to pave the way for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). Something similar happens with Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021), That after end game, delves into the replacement of Falcon as the new Captain America and the relationship between the duo of characters that gives the series its name. And while they’re not essential to enjoying the movies, they help Marvel pivot between them and draw a more complete perspective of his universe. The first season of Loki (2021) acts as a buttress to Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) to justify the arrival of the multiverse, while narrating the story of the God of Deceptionalso after the events of Endgame.

Thus, phase four fulfills the function of a cover letter for the new characters who are going to take over from the veterans, and who are and will be the protagonists of the 40 series and movies that Marvel has scheduled for the Saga of the Multiverse. An example is the series of origins: Hawk Eye (2021), in which goalkeeper Kate Bishop comes into play; moon knight (2022), with a darker tone that is combined with black comedy, where the character of Oscar Isaac is revealed; mrs marvel (2022), closer to the teenage audience, with the house’s first Muslim superheroine; either She-Hulk, Lawyer She-Hulk (2022), the last series of the phase, which will bring us Hulk’s cousin, a lawyer who will intersperse the offices with her new life.

In phase five, which will arrive next year and run until spring 2024, things promise to get more serious. In addition to the five scheduled movies, there will be six Marvel series that will have to defend the Disney + grill. The first, Secret Invasionwill be an adaptation of the homonymous story from the comics centered on Nick Fury, who will have to deal with the invasion of Earth by the Skrull —an alien and metamorphic race introduced in Captain Marvel (2019)—. will follow Threw out, that will put the spotlight on Maya Lopez, the first Native American superheroine of the UCM presented in Hawk Eye. And, since Echo is the adoptive daughter of the Kingpin, the main villain of Daredevilcould be the starting point of Daredevil: Born Again, another story taken directly from the comics that will arrive a year later. In the middle is the second season of Lokithe development of Riri Williams —which will be in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), a film that closes phase four—as the new Iron Man in iron heartand the series of the witch Agatha, secondary character of Scarlet Witch and Vision who earned the right to his own series.

For the 11 premieres scheduled in phase six – the last of the Multiverse Saga – only three films have been announced at the moment: The Fantastic Four, Avengers: Kang Dynasty Y Avengers: Secret Wars. If Marvel maintains its new formula, it is expected that, of the remaining eight dates, many will correspond to series for Disney +. The answer could come between September 9 and 11, when Disney hosts D23: its largest fan convention in the world. It will be when projects like the galactic adventures of Eros and Pip, starring Harry Stylesstill no date.

And given the aversion that the fact of considering seeing 40 productions in four years can generate in some viewers, Marvel proposes alternatives. Although it is not essential to see everything to enjoy many of the proposals separately, the company also offers series that can be consumed without being aware of the continuity, a more relaxed way of approaching the UCM. The best options are What would happen if…?a series of self-contained animation chapters that explore what the Marvel universe would be like if events had unfolded differently, and I am Groot, five self-contained stories with the talking tree of the Guardians of the Galaxy as the protagonist. The options are served.

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