Over the weekend, at the San Diego Comic-Con, Kevin Feige a.k.a. the HMMIC (that’s Head Marvel Man-In-Charge) revealed Marvel’s robust TV and film slate for the upcoming phases of the Marvel Cimenatic Universe, which included long-awaited titles like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, season 2 of Loki, The Marvels and more. But of course, since y’all know how we get down ‘round these parts, let’s dive right into some of the Blackity-black centric projects that are headed to a big and small screen near us soon. Starting with...
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Now y’all know I couldn’t start this off without talking about the trailer for the forthcoming Black Panther sequel. The highly emotional, beautifully melanated trailer dropped on Saturday night and my, oh my—were all the feelings felt.
According to an official synopsis from Marvel, the upcoming film will be centered around “Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba), fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda.”
I expected director Ryan Coogler and the rest of the cast to have their work cut out for them by pushing forward with the film after the tragic loss of Chadwick Boseman, but what I didn’t expect was to be so overcome with emotions at the two-minute-long trailer. From what we saw, this upcoming sequel looks to be a healing balm for the culture, a proper send-off and a love letter to our beloved Chadwick. And I, for one, cannot WAIT until it drops on Nov. 11.
Captain America: New World Order Starring Anthony Mackie
Once again, as per usual with the MCU, plot details about Anthony Mackie’s new film are slim to none. But what there is much of is anticipation to see Sam Wilson take on the new mantle of Captain America, as was given to him at the end of Avengers: End Game and further solidified at the end of last year’s Falcon and Winter Soldier series.
As previously reported by The Root, the new film will be directed by Julius Onah and will more than likely pick up where the series left off. In case you need a refresher, the Disney+ series follows Sam and Bucky (Sebastian Stan) as they chase a group of super soldiers around the world while dealing with the racist and complicated legacy of Cap’s shield. By the series’ end, Sam takes on the mantle, with a new suit courtesy of Wakanda.
Captain America: New World Order hits theaters May 3, 2024.
Blade Starring Mahershala Ali
While not much is known plot-wise when it comes to the Mahershala Ali-led film, Blade, what we do know now is the premiere date. Per Variety, the forthcoming film is expected to hit theaters on Nov. 3 next year. We also know that he’ll be joined by veteran actor and Da Five Bloods star Delroy Lindo in an un-disclosed role. In case you’re unfamiliar, the original Blade franchise starred Wesley Snipes and told the story of a “half-vampire, half-mortal man” who “becomes a protector of the mortal race while slaying evil vampires,” per IMDB.
Though pertinent details are being kept to a minimum, we do know that it was the voice of Ali’s Blade that we heard in the post-credit scenes in the Eternals, released earlier this year. Just how pivotal of a role his film will play in the overall MCU remains to be seen but you can bet your bottom dollar that I will be in attendance at the theater when this film arrives.
Secret Invasion starring Samuel L. Jackson
This upcoming Disney+ series centers around Nick Fury and co. as he returns to Earth to deal with a faction of shapeshifting Skrulls who have been infiltrating Earth for years, and it’s set to make its way to audiences next spring.
The trailer for the upcoming show was revealed Saturday night but has yet to be released to the masses. Other notable actors who’ll be joining along will be Don Cheadle, who plays War Machine, and One Night in Miami star Kingsley Ben-Adir in an undisclosed role. One actor who will not be present, however, is Bridgerton star Regé-Jean Page, despite his name appearing on the official press release for the series.
And though we’re unclear as to how this film will tie into the overall plot of this next phase, as noted by Variety, Feige says that it’s the most “ambitious crossover event since the Avengers movies,” so I’m pretty sure there will be something astronomically phenomenal in-store.
Ironheart featuring Dominique Thorne
We finally have a clue as to when we can see Dominique Thorne’s long-awaited Ironheart, a.k.a. Riri Williams, character.
She’ll be making her first appearance in the forthcoming Black Panther film, and as we previously reported at The Root, she’ll also be getting her own Disney+ series, executive produced by Ryan Coogler. Created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Mike Deodato, Riri Williams is a teenage Black genius who uses scraps to build her own Iron Man suit in her MIT dorm. Once Tony Stark discovers her suit, she’s brought into the superhero fold, fighting alongside Black Widow, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Spider-Man (Miles Morales) and Ms. Marvel.
The show is expected to hit the streamer in the fall of 2023.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty
Thanks to the first season of Loki, we knew a variant of Jonathan Majors’ character, He Who Remains, (a.k.a. Kang the Conqueror), would be showing back up again in the third Ant-Man installation, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaia. But in a surprising announcement over the weekend at Comic-con, Marvel revealed that the gargantuan villain would also be getting his own Avengers movie, aptly titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.
Though the trailer for Ant-Man was shown at the conference and has yet to be put online, Majors spoke to Entertainment Weekly about his role in the forthcoming films, saying:
“The role itself, for me, in the comics—it’s a dream role for an actor. You know, there’s all these variants. You’re in drama school, you’re reading your books and you’re like ‘oh I wanna act. I wanna play these characters, I wanna explore these things.’ So that’s what hooked me and then what reeled me in was that at the brink of the pandemic we had a Skype session with some of the producers and Peyton was there and I heard the energy and the committment. They talked about Paul, they talked about Evangeline [Lily], they talked about Tom Hiddleston. And what this family was going to be like and as you can see here—it’s just pretty wicked. So that gave me courage to really go after it and to really give it a go.”
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaia will be the first film under Marvel’s Phase 5, while Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is set to close out Phase 6. Both films are expected to hit theaters Feb. 17 and May 2, 2025, respectively.