On March 23rd, Marvel announced its plans pertaining to Phase 4 of the cinematic universe. Since COVID-19, many of Marvel’s plans have been changed due to the pandemic and CDC guidelines. 

The highly anticipated Black Widow is finally set to release on July 9th of 2021. It was first set to be released in May 2020. This movie has been expected by many fans of the character ever since she was first introduced in Iron Man 2 (2010). Many wanted her to get her own movie as it would showcase her character more. In addition, many fans really wanted a female superhero movie.

The movie will be released on Disney+ with Premier Access and in theaters as well. For those who cannot safely attend a theater, Premier Access costs $29.99 (as seen with other releases) and will only become available when released in theaters. Because other movies have also been released on the app, it is assumed that the movie will be available at a later date for free. Once the movie is bought with Premier Access, it can be watched as many times as possible as long as you are subscribed to Disney+. 

Another Marvel movie set out to be released is Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on September 3, 2021. The release date was also pushed back due to COVID-19. It has not been announced if the movie will be following the same format as Black Widow, but it most likely will. The movie will follow Shang-Chi, master of many martial arts and weapon-based combat. 

Two movies that are expected to keep their release date and have not yet been pushed back are Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Eternals has a star-studded cast with Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden, among many others. It is about aliens who have been living on Earth for thousands of years, but following the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019), they are forced to face the Deviants. Deviants are humanoids that are hideous compared to the Eternals. The release date will be November 5th but it has not been confirmed if it will follow the way Black Widow will be released

Spider-Man: No Way Home follows the events of the second installment Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) in which Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) identity is revealed by Mysterio/Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal). Many rumors have surrounded the movie as many speculate that all 3 Spider-Men (Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland) will share the big screen together. This movie is set to be released on December 17th, but no plan has been shared on how it will be released. 

Movies with tentative release dates in 2022 are either the second or fourth installment of Dr. Strange, Thor, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel. Their release dates have not been made public due to COVID-19, but Marvel is trying hard to keep the dates as stated on their website. 

Many fans have come up with many theories regarding the movies and what will happen because Marvel has been releasing shows on Disney+. Marvel fans are excited to see how the Marvel Cinematic Universe will expand and include new characters.