Marvel Multiverse

multiverse

Superheroes are an inspiration to many and give adolescents someone to look up to. Many teens have spent their days reading comic books focusing on these heroes. Over 15 years years ago, Marvel Studios released Iron Man. The film would go on to become a box office hit and launch the most successful cinematic franchise ever.

Fast forward 10 years to the Avengers: Endgame, the cumulation of 21 films and the end to the Infinity Saga. Marvel had to figure out how to top the over the top ambition of the previous 21 entries for their next phase. With the end of WandaVision and their scheduled slate for the next two years, it seems they’re going to expand on the multiverse theory.

Spoilers ahead for WandaVision.

In WandaVision, many noted Quicksilver wasn’t played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, the original actor from Avengers: Age of Ultron. Instead, he was played by Evan Peters, who played him in the Fox X-Men movies. This discrepancy left fans theorizing:

Where exactly did he come from?

Did Wanda pull him out of his own universe?

Did a third party pull him out of his universe to mess with Wanda?

Or, was this a Flash situation, and Quicksilver came to this universe himself and somehow wound up in Wanda’s bubble?

As it turns out, none of these fan speculations were true: he was just a regular guy who happened to look like Quicksilver from the X-Men universe.

Many were disappointed and frustrated that Marvel used Peters as stunt casting and quickly gave up on the idea of a multiverse.

However, during one of the end-credit scenes of WandaVision, viewers see Wanda utilizing her full power and becoming the Scarlet Witch. In doing so, she’ll inherit and master new powers.

With these abilities, she could tear through the multiverse and attempt to bring back Vision and her children. She may inadvertently destroy the multiverse and open it up to the likes of Tobey Maguire’s Spiderman, The X-Men universe, Fantastic Four or even Wesley Snipes’ Blade. The possibilities are endless.

With its release in January, WandaVision welcomed in Phase Four of Marvel content. Phase Four is Marvel’s large lineup of content for the next few years. It is set to cover 10 movies and eight TV shows, with four movies and six TV shows set to release in 2021.

The 2021 lineup includes TV shows such as The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, What If…, Hawkeye and Ms. Marvel. The long-awaited Black Widow movie will join the lineup in May along with three other movies: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals and Spider-Man 3.

The lineup for 2022 and 2023 will be more movie-heavy, bringing six movies and two TV shows. The TV shows Moon Night and She-Hulk are set to release in 2022, joining the four other movies set to release the same year. March 2022 to November 2022 will bring Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther 2 and Captain Marvel 2. Phase Four closes out in 2023 with the releases of Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and Guardians of the Galaxy 3.

Many of these shows and movies will play off pre-established characters, but some will welcome new heroes and villains into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Marvel Cinematic Universe certainly has an exciting three years ahead of it, full of content to give eager fans.

CULTURE

Phase Four sets to expand

pages by Kaitlyn Fisher story by Alexandria Brown & Nathaniel Ankenbauer illustration by Gus Cordova