Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is only days away from opening and launching Phase 5 of the Multiverse Saga. Before Quantumania comes out, I want to look back at Phase 4 which was the first phase after the conclusion of the Infinity Saga.

Phase 4 has mixed reactions from the fans for various reasons. Some say the phase did not have a point to it. Others felt it was discombobulated. The list goes on. Phase 4 was different than the first three phases. Phase 1 introduced the Avengers and concluded with Avengers. Avengers also revealed the bigger picture in the mid credit scene where it was revealed Thanos was behind the Attack on New York.  Phase 2 furthered the stories for the characters and made some bold choices including dismantling S.H.I.E.L.D. in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Phase 3 really hit its stride leading into Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame concluding The Infinity Saga with Spider-Man: Far From Home. Phase 4 took some bold steps. Phase 4 was the first phase to add Television to the mix. Through Phases 1, 2, and 3, TV shows were not necessarily cannon to the MCU. The Netflix series did not connect to the films. Cloak & Dagger from Freeform and Runaways from Hulu were on their own although Cloak & Dagger did guest star on Runaways in its final season. Even Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. wound up veering from the MCU in the later years. To this day there is still question if Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is cannon or if it does not count. Agent Carter had it slightly easier since it was a period piece. However, there is question to how that fits in given how Endgame ended for Captain American and Peggy Carter. Phase 4 not only introduced TV shows to the mix, but it also introduced Special Presentations as well. All TV shows and Special Presentations are on Disney Plus.

Phase 4 consisted of Wandavision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, Black Widow, What If? Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals, Hawkeye, Spider-Man: Now Way Home, Moon Knight, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Ms. Marvel, Thor: Love and Thunder, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Werewolf by Night, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. All projects are in release order. That is 17 projects in Phase 4 making it the biggest phase yet and the quickest launching in 2021 and concluding in 2022. Phase 3 was the biggest prior with 11 films. Phase 4 has 7 films, 8 TV shows, and 2 special presentations.

One big complaint is that fans feel Phase 4 does not connect to the bigger picture. I think it is way too early to know for sure. Phase 5 has not started yet. We won’t have a full answer until Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars come out. Only then we will know how everything connects. I do believe that Phase 4 matters and that it is all connected. We are in the Multiverse Saga. Right off the bat, Wandavision, Loki, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness have kicked off events that have opened up the Multiverse. Even the animated series What If? deals with the Multiverse. That premise of the series is all about the multiverse. The only glimpses of Phase 5 we have gotten up to this point are the trailers and commercials for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the trailers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and a trailer for Secret Invasion which is a limited series for Disney Plus. Quantumania is the big one because it is kicking off Phase 5 as well as it properly introduces Jonathon Majors as the main villain of the Multiverse Saga, Kang the Conqueror. As with any footage for any Marvel project, Marvel fans study and analyze the footage and look for clues. There is a part in the trailers that suggest a connection to the Rings from Shang-Chi and the bangle that Ms. Marvel wears. We won’t know if they are connected until Quantumania comes out unless the movie makes us wait for an answer. My hope is that Quantumania will provide the answers to how Phase 4 fits in specifically the relationship between the events of Quantumania and the events of the season finale of Loki. More on that a little later.

Here are my thoughts on all the projects in Phase 4.

Wandavision

I loved Wandavision. I thought it was bold and brilliant. I was invested from the first minute as were many Marvel fans. I liked that each episode covered a different decade, and it was a sitcom. I should say it started out as a sitcom and then by the finale moved into what Marvel does best. The show played homage to many different sitcoms of the eras. The first two episodes were in black and white. The show had Kathryn Hahn as the nosy neighbor Agnes similar to Gladys the nosy neighbor in the 60s sitcom Betwitched. Fans went nuts with theories and analyzed everything.  They analyzed the dialogue. Agnes says, “The Devil is in the details,” prompting everyone to think Mephisto was coming. He did not. They analyzed visuals such as Agnes wearing a witch’s hat in the Halloween episode prompting fans to believe she was really Agatha Harkness. She was. Wandavision was about grief and was a love story for fan favorite characters Wanda Maximoff and Vision. Wandavision gave us many twists and turns and it was a wild ride. It concluded with an explosive finale that set up a lot for the future. Monica Rambeau, who was introduced in the show and is the daughter of Maria Rambeau will be in the Marvels with Captain Marvel. Agent Jimmy Woo will be in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Agent Woo was first introduced in Ant-Man and the Wasp. Agatha is getting her own show Agatha: Coven of Chaos which will also see a lot of the residents of the town Westview that Wanda and Vision lived in return. We got the return of Darcy, the intern from the Thor movies. I loved Wandavision. I thought it was a great start to Phase 4. The show heavily led into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Several characters from the show went on to appear in the movie including Wanda.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

This show was divisive amongst the fans. I enjoyed it. I don’t really understand why people did not like it. I generically know the reasons. I just don’t get it. The show was a fun show that connects to the bigger picture. A lot of the characters from the show will be appearing in the movie Captain America: New World Order and the Thunderbolts. The show set up a lot of future projects as well. I like the dynamic between Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes, the Falcon, and the Winter Soldier respectively. It had cool action scenes, and it was nice and grounded compared to the heighted Wandavision mostly since Wanda has powers whereas Sam and Bucky do not.

Loki

I loved Loki. This is the show that really kicked off the Multiverse mostly because of the events of the season finale. Also, Jonathon Majors first appeared in the season finale as He Who Remains. I personally want to know when Quantumania takes place and once the film ends, where that will line up in relation with how season 1 of Loki ended. I hope there will be an answer to how these events line up. I enjoyed every aspect of Loki. I loved the characters. Loki is the first show to get a second season which will be premiering later this year. I cannot wait and I hoping to see Jonathon Majors again.

Black Widow

Black Widow was the first Phase 4 movie. I thought the movie was good. To be honest, I don’t remember it that much. I have only seen it once when it first came out. I watched it on Disney Plus because I was not ready to go back to the movie theater yet.

What If?

What If? is an animated show, the first for Marvel. It was a fun show and had great episodes. The title of the series says it all. It has great animation. It is yet to be seen how cannon this is to the MCU. A huge chunk of the voice cast are the same actors who portray the characters in the movies. There are some exceptions. Scarlett Johnson, Chris Evans, and Robert Downey Jr. do not voice their characters for the show. What If? is also getting a second season which is due to premiere sometime this year. I cannot wait.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

I loved this movie when I saw it. This was the first origin movie of Phase 4. Black Widow was a long awaited solo movie for the character. I loved Shang-Chi a lot. It was visually stunning and had great actions sequences. It had a great cast of new characters, and it had a good story. I am looking forward to seeing more Shang-Chi in the future.

Eternals

Eternals is not the most liked by Marvel fans. When I saw it, I enjoyed it. I liked that it was different than other Marvel movies. Eternals is an intimate movie. It plays a little like an indie movie on a big budget. The movie is also one of the longest Marvel movies clocking in a little over two and a half hours. It also has a big cast with 10 main characters. It made sense to me why this movie was long so it can give the audience a chance to get to know everybody. The future for the Eternals is not known but I am looking forward to and am hopeful in seeing the Eternals again.

Hawkeye

I enjoyed Hawkeye a lot. It was a great holiday show since it was set during the holidays. It was funny and exhilarating, especially the season finale. It was nice for Hawkeye to finally get a solo project. I am hopeful we will get to see Hawkeye again.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Best Spider-Man film yet. This heavily focuses on the Multiverse and features Doctor Strange. There were a lot of rumors and speculation prior to the movie coming out. Some of the rumors were proven true while others were not. Regardless, I thought the film was very rewarding. No Way Home changed the game for the character, and I am very excited to see what will happen to Spider-Man next.

Moon Knight

Moon Knight made some bold choices. The show is still part of the MCU even though it is pretty much a self-contained series. I liked the show. I liked that Marvel took a risk with it. There have been rumors of Moon Knight getting a second season but none of that has been confirmed at this point. I hope we get to see Moon Knight again and I look forward to seeing where he’ll turn up next.  

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

I liked the movie but I was a little disappointed. I had high expectations for this since there was so much hype for this movie. It was said that Wandavision, Loki, and Spider-Man: No Way Home would lead into Multiverse of Madness. While watching the movie, I did not see where some of the connections were. Wandavision was obvious since Wanda Maximoff is in the movie. There were no references to the events of Loki and there was only a brief reference to No Way Home. The thing that disappointed me a little bit was that I was expecting more. With a title like Multiverse of Madness, I was expecting Multiverse shenanigans. I was expecting a lot of Multiverse of Madness. I was expecting to see a lot more Multiverse. Instead, they only really went to two other worlds. There is a sequence where they go through a bunch of other worlds before they land in one. That was a quick sequence. I also was expecting to see more variants of the characters.

Ms. Marvel

I thought Ms. Marvel was a good show. I binged the whole series in one night because I was behind when the episodes were dropping. I like the character and I am excited to see her in the Marvels with Captain Marvel and Monica Rambeau. Since I binged the whole series, it’s kind of is a blur so I don’t remember everything specifically.

Thor: Love and Thunder

This movie is one where I also felt a little disappointed. I felt the movie should have been a little longer. Some parts seemed a bit rushed through the movie. It is still a good movie. I do think Thor: Ragnarok was better.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law

This show was polarizing for a lot fans. I enjoyed it. She-Hulk was the first true sitcom for Marvel. Wandavision started out as a sitcom but eventually went the same direction the films go in. I thought She-Hulk was enjoyable and funny. It made me think of the Deadpool movies especially since both characters break the fourth wall. I am hopeful to see the She-Hulk cast again.

Werewolf by Night

I loved it. It is one of the best Marvel things yet. I liked how Werewolf by Night played homage to classic monster movies. It is also the first true horror Marvel project. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness had horror aspects. I liked that Werewolf by Night was black and white. It had a great story. I hope to see the characters again sooner than later.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Wakanda Forever is considered the Phase 4 finale. It is the last movie for Phase 4. The Guardians Holiday Special is technically the finale to Phase 4. Wakanda Forever is a brilliant movie. It has everything. It has action, emotion, story, and it is game changing for the future. It has a great story and beautifully played tribute to Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa. The movie is

visually stunning and has beautiful costumes and Wakanda is a great world.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special

This is considered the true finale of Phase 4 and it is a good one. It is pure joy. Given it was already stated and proven by the trailers, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is going to be a heavy and darker movie. Given what is to come, it was very enjoyable to see the Guardians in a fun Christmas special. The special does set up things for the upcoming movie and the special introduced Cosmo the Dog who will be in the movie. Also, the special had some great music.

Overall, I think Phase 4 is a good phase. Some of the projects are better than others. I love Marvel and I am looking forward to how it all will connect to the bigger picture. I am planning on revisiting Phase 4 where I will go more in depth for each project individually.