With the two-episode premiere of WandaVision on the horizon, Disney+ is set to begin its rollout of numerous Marvel television series over the next few years. Premiering on January 15, WandaVision marks the first MCU television series on the Disney streamer and will provide a foundation for future series such as The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, Hawkeye, and What If…?. Following the Disney Investors Call on Dec. 10, fans of Disney and Marvel were treated with further clips, new cast information, and premiere dates of the previously announced series in addition to the introduction of new ones. Let’s look over all the details that have been released on the upcoming Marvel television additions.
WandaVision
WandaVision will release two episodes on January 15 and continue its nine-episode first season’s release on weekly basis through March 5. The series, created by Jac Schaeffer (Black Widow), will join the ranks of the MCU’s Phase Four and will center on the events following Avengers: Endgame through Scarlet Witch, or Wanda Maximoff, and Vision attempting to exist within a suburban life together. However, as time progresses, the two superheroes begin to discover that their current situation may not be as it seems. The series will also blend different styles of previous sitcom series such as The Office and The Dick Van Dyke Show.
Elizabeth Olsen (Wind River) and Paul Bettany (A Knight’s Tale, Iron Man) will reprise their respective roles of Wanda and Vision for the series. Joining them, Kat Dennings (2 Broke Girls) will reprise her role as Darcy Lewis from Thor in addition to Randall Park (The Interview) reprising his role as the FBI Agent Jimmy Woo from Ant-Man and the Wasp. Additional cast members include Kathryn Hahn (Step Brothers) and Teyonah Parris (Mad Men).
Additionally, WandaVision will feature Matt Shakman (Fargo, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Game of Thrones) as the series director. Leading up to its release, the series has teased new clips of the series, particularly with full-length clip revealed on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
The Falcon and The Winter Soldier
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is also set to premiere in 2021 with a March 19 release date on Disney+. The season will premiere its first season, consisting of six episodes, on a weekly basis with the season finale airing on April 23. Following production halts in Prague from the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, the series was capable of wrapping up production in time to be the second Marvel series to hit the streaming service and to be a part of Phase Four.
Created by Malcolm Spellman (Empire), this Marvel series will center on the relationship between Sam Wilson, or Captain Falcon, and Bucky Barnes, or the Winter Soldier, after Steve Rogers passes along the role of Captain America at the conclusion of Avengers: Endgame. In the series, the duo of Wilson and Barnes team up to combat the antagonist group in the Flag-Smashers, a group which is based on the Marvel comic book supervillain.
For the upcoming series, Anthony Mackie (8 Mile, The Hurt Locker) and Sebastian Stan (I, Tonya) will reprise their roles from previous MCU films as Wilson/Captain Falcon and Barnes/Winter Soldier, respectively. The additional main cast for the series will include Emily VanCamp (The Resident) as Sharon Carter, Wyatt Russell (Overlord) as John Walker, Daniel Brühl (Inglourious Basterds, Rush) who will return as Baron Helmut Zemo.
Other cast includes MMA star Georges St-Pierre returning as Georges Batroc, Miki Ishikawa (The Terror), Desmond Chiam (The Shannara Chronicles), Carl Lumbly (Alias, Justice League), Noah Mills (The Brave), Erin Kellyman (Solo: A Star Wars Story), Adepero Oduye (The Big Short), and Danny Ramirez (Top Gun: Maverick). The series will also feature Kari Skogland (Vikings, The Handmaid’s Tale) as a director.
Loki
Another MCU film character is set to make his television debut in the form of Loki which will premiere on an unannounced date in May 2021. Already renewed for a second season, Loki’s first season will consist of six episodes and is created by Michael Waldron (Rick and Morty). The Disney+ and Marvel series will, once more, follow the events after Avengers: Endgame and play out an alternate timeline of historical events when Loki stole the Tesseract during the 2019 film.
Tom Hiddleston (The Night Manager) will return as the titular god of mischief for the comic book program. Hiddleston’s Loki in the upcoming series will be derived from his early incarnations in the MCU as the alternate timeline will begin in 2012.
Similar to The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, the 2020 Disney Investors Day unveiled the first-look trailer for Loki as well as release the information regarding its May premiere date.
The series has previously announced the casting of Gugu Mbatha-Raw (The Morning Show), Sasha Lane (American Honey), Wunmi Mosaku (Lovecraft Country, Luther), Sophia Di Martino (Casualty), and Owen Wilson (Wedding Crashers) as the Time Variance Authority officer, Mobius M. Mobius.
What If…?
Marvel will experiment with animation for the first time in the MCU with the upcoming anthology series What If…?. Aiming to be released around the mid-point of 2021, the series was capable of continuing production during the COVID-19 pandemic due to its lack of live-action filming and other in-person production needs. Created by A.C. Bradley (3Below: Tales of Arcadia), the Marvel series will feature the Watcher as he guides the audiences around to different what-if scenarios during events in the MCU films.
Currently, the regular cast only includes Jeffrey Wright (Westworld) as The Watcher. The series will include guest appearances from various MCU characters and their respective actors in a voice capacity when they are included in the storylines being presented. The list of confirmed MCU guest appearances is extensive with the likes of Hayley Atwell (Cinderella) as Peggy Carter, Sean Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2) as Kraglin, Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond) as Korath the Pursuer, Michael B. Jordan (The Wire) as Killmonger, Natalie Portman (Black Swan) as Jane Foster, Paul Rudd (Clueless) as Scott Lang/Ant-Man, Sebastian Stan (I, Tonya) as Barnes/Winter Soldier, Taika Waititi (What We Do In The Shadows) as Korg, Micahel Rooker (Tombstone) as Yondu, Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight) as Bruce Banner/Hulk, Toby Jones (The Hunger Games) as Arnim, Neal McDonough (Band of Brothers) as Dum Dum Dugan, Jeremy Renner (The Town) as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Chris Hemsworth (The Cabin in the Woods) as Thor, Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park) as the Grandmaster, Dominic Cooper (Preacher) as Howard Stark, Josh Brolin (Sicario) as Thanos, Michael Douglas (Wall Street) as Hank Pym, Karen Gillan (Doctor Who) as Nebula, and Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction) as Nick Fury.
Additionally, Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther) will appear for final time in the MCU as King T’Challa of Wakanda following his unexpected passing in 2020.
The first season of What If…? will be ten episodes and the series is already guaranteed for second season of another ten anthology episodes. Check out the first look trailer below released at the Disney Investors Call.
Hawkeye
In addition to other Marvel film characters such as Loki and Falcon receiving their own solo projects, Clint Barton, or Hawkeye, is also set to star in his own Marvel television series on Disney+. The series, titled Hawkeye, comes from creator Jonathan Igla (Masters of Sex) will premiere on an unannounced date late in 2021. Currently, there is no exact episode count available for its first run.
Hawkeye will be another addition to Phase Four of the MCU after Avengers: Endgame that will witness Barton in the process of training his replacement for Hawkeye in Kate Bishop. Jeremy Renner (Wind River) will reprise the role of Barton for the series. After months of rumors and leaked video on set, Hailee Steinfeld (Edge of Seventeen) was confirmed to portray Bishop for the series during the Disney Investors Call in December. Also, the comic book character Lucky the Pizza Dog will be featured within the series.
Additional cast for the series features Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air) as Kate’s mother Eleanor, Tony Dalton (Better Call Saul) as Jack Duquesne, Zahn McClarnon (Westworld, Fargo), Brian d’Arcy James (13 Reasons Why), Fra Fee (Les Misérables), newcomer Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez, or Echo, in addition to guest appearance by Florence Pugh (Midsommar) reprising her role as Yelena Belova, the spy and sister to Scarlett Johansson’s (The Prestige) Black Widow.
At the moment, there is no official trailer for the upcoming Marvel series.
Ms. Marvel
The MCU will be expanding to introducing new feature characters as well with the development of Ms. Marvel. Beginning the production processes in 2020, the series is expected to premiere in the latter stages of 2021 like Hawkeye. Created for television by Bisha K. Ali (Sex Education), the superhero series will introduce Kamala Khan, or Ms. Marvel, a sixteen-year-old teenager who develops shape-shifting superpowers during high school years.
The character of Kamala Khan is a Pakistani-American teenager from Jersey City and her inclusion in this series will mark the first appearance within the MCU. She has also been announced to be a part of the cast for Captain Marvel 2 which is expected for release in 2022. Kamala will be portrayed by Iman Vellani and the role will serve as her first official television and film credit.
Additional cast for the series includes Matt Lintz (The Walking Dead), Rish Shah (Years and Years), Aramis Knight (Into the Badlands) as Red Dagger or Kareem. Ms. Marvel will also feature the likes of Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Saving Face), Meera Menon (Farah Goes Bang), and Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Bad Boys for Life, Black) in the director’s chair for its first season.
Moon Knight
Expected to premiere in 2022, the Marvel series Moon Knight will join Phase Four with a six-episode first season. Created by Jeremy Slater (Fantastic Four), the series will center on the exploits of the comic book superhero Moon Knight, otherwise known as Marc Spector. Since the series announcement, it has been confirmed that Oscar Isaac (Ex-Machina) will board as the titular superhero character.
The series’ narrative will revolve around the ex-CIA agent Spector developing his mercenary capabilities under varying aliases due to the recent onset of powers received from a Moon God. Moon Knight will feature Mohamed Diab (Cairo 678), and Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (The Endless) in the director’s chair.
There is no available trailer or first-look images for Moon Knight at the moment.
She-Hulk
Set to accompany the premiere of Moon Knight sometime during 2022, She-Hulk has been added to the growing list of original Marvel series to be featured on Disney+. The series is under the supervision of the creator Jessica Gao (Silicon Valley, Rick and Morty) and has confirmed that its first season will consist of at least six episodes. She-Hulk will follow the comic book character Jennifer Walters, the cousin of Bruce Banner, as she begins to receive similar Hulk superpowers after a blood transfusion. The show will also feature an unconventional twist to Marvel as it will be legal comedy series for the MCU.
Walters will be portrayed by Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black). Additionally, during the Disney Investor Day, it was revealed that Mark Ruffalo will return as Bruce Banner, or the Hulk, from the MCU films, as well as Tim Roth (Reservoir Dogs) reprising his role as Emil Blonsky, or Abomination, for the first time since the 2008 film The Incredible Hulk with Edward Norton (Rounders) as the titular superhero.
Currently, She-Hulk is planning on beginning production sometime in 2021 in addition to featuring Anu Valia (Before and After) and Kat Coiro (The Mick, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) as directors for the first season.
Secret Invasion
Prior to the Disney Investors Day, there was a rumor that Samuel L. Jackson’s (Pulp Fiction) Nick Fury character would be receiving its own television series. For the Marvel presentation in December Disney announcements, it was confirmed that this rumor would be true and the series would be titled Secret Invasion. Jackson is set to reprise his role as Fury along with Ben Mendelsohn (The Dark Knight Rises, Bloodline) joining the cast as his MCU role Talos, a Skrull alien character in the Marvel comics.
The addition to Phase Four will center around uncovering and dealing with a large group of Skrulls, shapeshifting aliens in the Marvel comics, that have slowly worked themselves into all twists and turns of society. Currently, Secret Invasion is aimed to be a limited series from Kyle Bradstreet (Mr. Robot) and does not possess a current timeline for production nor premiere.
Ironheart
Announced at the Disney Investors Day presentation, Ironheart is an upcoming series for Marvel Studios and Disney+ centering on Riri Williams, otherwise known as Ironheart. Williams will be portrayed by Dominique Throne (If Beale Street Could Talk). However, there is little information known concerning the series besides for its lead character and casting.
Armor Wars
Along with Secret Invasion and Ironheart, the Disney Investors Day presentation introduced the upcoming Marvel series Armor Wars. The Disney+ superhero series will center on Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda) reprising his role as War Machine, or James Rhodes, as he fights back after Tony Stark’s technology comes into contact with dangerous individuals. Similar to Ironheart, not much is known besides the casting of Cheadle and the brief synopsis revealed during the Disney presentation.
Image Credit: Raymond Flotat