Marvel has been having a bit of a hard time post Avengers: Endgame. Phase 4 had a mixed reception and Phase 5 is no different. Phase 5 launched earlier this year with Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania. The film properly introduced Jonathon Majors as Kang the Conqueror. The film was not well received by fans. It did well financially but was substantially lower than other Marvel films. It was able to make over 200 million which is better than recent DC movies. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 came out in the summer and is currently the biggest Marvel movie of the year. It was well received by fans. The only thing is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 did not do much to push the current saga further. It is still a great movie and is a solid closer for the Guardians trilogy. Secret Invasion recently wrapped up its six episode run on Disney Plus. Secret Invasion had a mixed reception. Currently a lot of the audience feels that Secret Invasion is isolated and there will not be ramifications for the bigger MCU. That is the constant issue fans are having with the Multiverse Saga. Project after project whether movie or show seem to be their own things and are not pushing the saga forward. There are a lot of things that have been set up and have not been paid off yet. It’s too early to tell where Secret Invasion will fall in the bigger picture. It does set up The Marvels since Samuel L Jackson’s Nick Fury is in the movie. It also sets up the movie Armor Wars which currently does not have a release date and could be a few years off.  

Currently there are two releases left of the year for Phase 5. The rest of the projects will come out in 2024 or later depending on how long the strikes continue to go on for. Loki Season 2 and The Marvels come out in the fall. It feels like a lot is riding on these two projects to start pushing the narrative and bigger picture forward.

Loki Season 1 is really the game changer that set forth the Multiverse Saga. Season 1 ended with Loki (Tom Hiddelston) and Slyvie (Sophia Di Martino) killing He Who Remains (Jonathon Majors) and opening up the multiverse which now is vulnerable to all the Kang shenanigans. Since the game changing finale not much has moved forward since other than Quantumania which had Kang in the movie. Based on the trailer for season 2 of Loki, it seems this will be another game changer and that it will continue to push the Multiverse Saga forward. Right now, it seems Loki is doing all the heavy lifting for the Multiverse Saga. Loki and Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) are the only ones who know about Kang currently. Presumably the other characters in Loki will learn about Kang. The main group in Ant-Man knows about Kang. Ant-Man and the Wasp (Evangeline Lily) are the only ones in the world to know about Kang since Loki is out of time and not currently in the main timeline. There is also the fact that this is a different Loki to begin with since the other Loki audiences grew to know, and love died in Avengers: Infinity War at the hands of Thanos (Josh Brolin). A lot is riding on Loki season 2. In season 2 we will meet Victor Timely who is a variant of Kang. It will be interesting to see where that goes and how it pushes the story forward. There is also the fact that season 1 ended with Loki being transported to an altered timeline where Kang runs the TVA. Presumably that will be dealt with even if Kang himself does not appear. Jonathon Majors will be on the show since he currently plays Kang and all of Kang’s variants.

A lot is riding on The Marvels as well for several reasons. Captain Marvel was a polarizing film for audiences as well as the character herself is polarizing. It seems to be for everyone that likes Captain Marvel, there are a lot of people who don’t like her at all. Some of that stems from the fact people don’t like Brie Larson who plays Captain Marvel. Despite some people disliking Captain Marvel, the first film did well financially and hit a billion worldwide. The Marvels is the sequel to Captain Marvel. It is the first film to feature Carol Danvers in a substantial role since the first film. She had a smaller role in Avengers: Endgame and has appeared in credit scenes in both Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and the season finale of Ms. Marvel. This time around The Marvels will also have Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) who were introduced in Ms. Marvel and Wandavision respectively. The Marvels is also supposed to serve as a sequel to Secret Invasion which featured Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). It has been said The Marvels will push the Multiverse Saga forward and set up Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars. Time will tell if that will end up being the case. It is expected that Captain Marvel will play a role in the next Avengers films. The Marvels would have to set up how Captain Marvel will have a role on the Avengers team especially if she is going to have a substantial role in the upcoming Avengers films. It has been speculated by fans that Ms. Marvel’s bangle will play a key role in the Avengers movies. It has been stated that there will be answers about Ms. Marvel’s bangle in The Marvels.

If Loki Season 2 and The Marvels do not help push the Multiverse Saga forward, it may reach a point where a lot of the fans are not invested anymore. A common complaint is that both Phase 4 and 5 feel disconnected from each other. The shows and movies feel isolated and do not feel like they are part of the bigger world the way Phase 1-3 were. Loki Season 2 and The Marvels have to push the narrative forward so fans don’t lose all faith or interest in the current saga. Until the writers and actors strike end, Loki and The Marvels may be the last Marvel projects for a while. It would be better if 2023 ends on a high note and can regain interest for 2024’s roster of projects.