Now that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is finally out, Marvel Studios’ Phase Four is officially over. Although this particular chapter in the franchise has proven to be the MCU’s most divisive, its last film contains some of the biggest clues about where Phase Five will take moviegoers.

Well, that’s moviegoers and Disney Plus subscribers, actually. The underlying theme in Marvel’s Phase Four might not be anything that happened on screen, but rather the studio’s efforts to integrate the new miniseries format as part of the MCU. With that comes several new players that will surely have their parts to play in a Phase Five that at all times may have more parallel stories moving forward than any other single point in the Infinity Saga. So what should fans expect going forward?

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So Much Losing

Marvel Studios Phase Five lineup pipeline

The Multiverse Saga will end with the very popular Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars storylines, though Phase Four did very little to pan out how is it that these superheroes, both old and new, will get there. However, thanks primarily to Loki and the Black Panther sequel, it did establish two main issues. No matter what happens, Kang (or He Who Remains) will come out on top, because multiversal hindsight is 20/20. Additionally, opposing political forces on Earth are busy waging a different kind of not-so-secret warfare.

Productions like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange 2 and Ms. Marvel did their part in familiarizing audiences with concepts like the world’s political instability, magical space bangles and the multiverse. But for the most part, these are side dishes, not the main course. For those larger conflicts to escalate onto Phase Six, it seems probable that Marvel’s heroes will be taking a significant number of Ls in Phase Five, especially considering it all ends with a bunch of antiheroes teaming up under CIA tutelage.

Besides, the official buzz generated for Thunderbolts, alleged plot leaks for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels, plus the trailer for the former, all depict grim scenarios for the good guys. Scott Lang has to save his daughter Cassie, and it’s likely that'll lead Kang to get exactly what he wants from him. Plus, since Ant-Man is one of the MCU’s biggest comic reliefs and no one but Loki even knows who Kang is at the moment, it’s not hard to imagine Scott either dying at the end of the movie or realizing he’s done a terrible thing.

The Falcon And The Winter Soldier Contessa Valentina Allegra De La Fontaine

Speaking of which, Captain America 4 has the words “New World Order” in its title. This might please both conspiracy theorists and a certain Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, especially judging from her Wakanda Forever agenda. Val wants to get America’s hands on Wakanda’s vibranium, and having a friend of the nation like Bucky Barnes in her Thunderbolts could be the perfect Trojan horse she needs.

Overall, except for Marvel’s new “street-level” characters such as Echo, Blade and Daredevil, it doesn’t really sound like superheroes will be doing particularly well for a while. It might be time for the Avengers to assemble once more.

New Avengers Wanted

kang the conqueror comic accurate for ant-man 3

In the wake of so much trouble arising in the MCU, it bears reminding that the Avengers are currently disbanded. The last few remnants of the supergroup showed up in Shang-Chi’s credits, likely making him a top contender for a spot. Since Thor is already booked for the future and Doctor Strange is still out there, it remains to be seen if Captain Marvel will stick around.

Currently, most Marvel heroes appear to be out and about handling their own messes. That was Phase Four, and possibly Phase Five too until the New World Order and the seriousness of Kang’s threat forms. It’s these two events that are more likely to call for a new Avengers team-up, first against the earthly problems posed by the Leader, Thunderbolt Ross and Val, but then with even bigger stakes in the actual Avengers movies.

As if that wasn’t enough, the MCU still has to say goodbye to the Guardians of the Galaxy and deal with the more cosmic side of things. This is turning out to be a more complicated task due to the difficult reception Eternals endured. With up to seven spots still open in Marvel’s Phase Six pipeline, this next stage at least has to finish developing the turmoil on planet Earth, hence why it makes sense for Daredevil and company to enter the fray.

Brie Larson makes a cameo in the Ms Marvel credits scene

To sum things up, Phase Five will mainly focus on planet Earth and how the problems in outer space start to affect life here on the third rock from the sun. This also explains why the massive Secret Invasion storyline will be condensed into something smaller. There’s a ton going on in the MCU at the moment, and Phase Five will be bookended by films whose perils are incomparable to anything fans have seen in the past two years.

Phase Four's biggest problem was its writing. Although many disliked the absence of a common path leading up to its end, the next few years will be very different in that regard. This is when Kang truly becomes a lurking threat similar to early Thanos. Considering Loki was the only Disney Plus series greenlit for a second season from the get-go, there's a ton of setup work to do, regardless that the big events at this stage might be the political fallout related New World Order and Thunderbolts. Simply put, expect those ambitious cinematic crossovers to return in style and plenty of cameos for sure.

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