- The Marvel movies and TV series of the MCU Phase 4 are delayed because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, but Marvel hasn’t stopped working on the future of the popular movie universe.
- A series of new reports from an insider familiar with Marvel’s plans tease a bunch of villains who will supposedly begin to appear in the MCU, culminating in the next Thanos-level threat that could warrant a new climax like Avengers: Endgame.
- The leaker says some of the most popular Marvel bad guys will arrive in the coming years, building up to that cosmic God you may have been waiting for all these years.
Whether you’re into the Marvel Cinematic Universe or not, there’s no question that the world lost a great actor this week. Many were unaware, but Chadwick Boseman had been battling cancer for the last four years. Boseman’s T’Challa, the king of Marvel’s Wakanda and the latest Black Panther to defend his country, will be missed in future MCU adventures. There’s no telling who the Black Panther mantle will go to next, but T’Challa will sadly not be part of the next Avengers lineup that will take on a new generation of villains. And while now is not the time for Marvel to even explain how the Black Panther transition will occur or even speculate about how that will happen, we do know that Black Panther 2 already has a confirmed release date. The movie is part of Marvel’s next wave of superhero stories for the big screens that will hopefully culminate with another blockbuster like Avengers: Endgame.
But we’ll need years of story-building to get us there, and we’ll need new heroes and villains to even dream of a film of Endgame proportions. Some of our favorite characters have died or retired, and that list includes the best villain of the MCU so far. While Thanos is gone, Marvel is supposedly setting in motion plans to introduce some exciting new villains, culminating with the next significant representation of evil that the Avengers will have to face.
Some of these bad guys are expected, like Doctor Doom. Marvel practically confirmed that Doom is happening when it said that Fantastic Four projects were in development back in July 2019. There’s no Fantastic Four without Doom, and several reports claimed the villain will appear in other MCU films.
The newest scoops on Marvel villains come our way via Mickey Sutton, who has leaked details about Marvel’s plans in the past. In a series of posts over on Geekosity, Sutton addressed a variety of unconfirmed plans for the near MCU future, revealing some of the new heroes and villains that Marvel will introduce.
In a post about the addition of Nova to the Avengers team, Sutton said that it’s Nick Fury who will train Rider in space as part of the SWORD initiative, and the oft-rumored superhero will then join the revamped Avengers.
Sutton said that Kang the Conqueror is supposed to be the main villain in the next Avengers epic, with Nova set to confront him. “This would position newcomer Nova against one of Marvel’s greatest villains immediately, which is similar to how his future buddy Spider-Man faced Thanos right after the Vulture,” he said. While the post focuses on Nova’s debut, it’s still interesting to note the Kang reference.
In a separate entry, Sutton also described the arrival of a new Marvel hero, and it will happen in a familiar way. The Silver Surfer will enter the MCU as a villain initially. And if you’re thinking of Loki right now, you’re not the only one. The report goes on to say that Marvel wants to probe deeper into the character’s psyche. “Early discussions have been to explore his origins as Norrin Radd, give the audience a reason to care about him, explore the tragedy of his life and how he ends up betraying Galactus by choosing humanity over him,” the leaker says. However, the Surfer will first fight our favorite heroes before joining them, and he might fight both the Fantastic Four and Thor. Again, Loki, anyone?
But forget about Doom, Kang, and the Silver Surfer. Marvel reportedly plans to gradually build Galactus to the MCU’s next massive threat, according to the same Sutton. “He is not a villain; he is merely hungry, a cosmic God with an appetite for planets,” the post reads.
The arrival of Galactus is planned for a more distant version of the MCU, and when he arrives, he may be even hungrier for destruction than Thanos. Sutton says that the plan is to unleash the villain only after Fantastic Four 3. Given that the first movie of the new franchise hasn’t even been announced, and that Marvel will space out these movies by a few years, we’ll be in for quite a long wait for Galactus. “Until then, he will be teased, built up,” Sutton says. “When Galactus appears, he is going to have the Silver Surfer temporarily with him.” Surfer will betray him, however, “only to have Johnny Storm’s girlfriend Frankie Raye take his place.” Galactus will then take an even larger role in the Secret Wars storyline, the report claims.
As with any other rumor, there’s no guarantee any of this will happen. Marvel has plenty of time to change its mind, especially considering the coronavirus pandemic delays it has to deal with.
