An All-New MCU

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is predictably unpredictable, but it is also consistent, endless, and capable of much more than people think. We all assume as soon as Marvel gets the rights to The X-Men and The Fantastic Four back everything will change. And it might. But what Marvel has done-wisely-is set up a backbone to support themselves no matter how long it takes to get those character's back. After the fourth Avengers film we could see some familiar faces leave, and newer heroes take the spotlight. So, what can we expect from Phase 4?

Guardians of The Galaxy 3

If Adam Warlock-basically space Jesus-doesn't show up in Avengers 3 or 4, he will definitely appear in Guardians of The Galaxy 3, either as an ally or a villain. That is for certain. If Thanos were to disappear for a while and the Infinity Gauntlet needs a knew wielder it would be Adam. But hey, this is Guardians, where is the funny plot? Well, at the end of the last film we got to see Yondu's fellow Ravager captains unite one more time to attend his funeral. They apparently go out to "steal some shit". So, what if after The Guardians helped defeat Thanos it got them fame throughout the galaxy, instead of being a band of hired help they become celebrities. I bet Star-Lord would love that, in fact the main plot could explore how the character's respond to cosmic fame. But Starhawk and his group benefit too because they start calling themselves the original Guardians, the people who inspired this group. And when Starhawk and Star-Lord come to blows, Starhawk throws Yondu's death into the argument. It would be a Civil War, but in space. Also just seeing more Stallone would be perfection. So now The Guardians have to defeat the old Ravagers and reclaim their title.

Ant-Man 3

All we know about "Ant-Man & Wasp" is that both Janet Van Dyne/Wasp and Bill Foster/Goliath are in it. It's going to be a romantic comedy with elements of the multiverse. Hank is still alive, Scott doesn't seem to deal with anything from Civil War even though he'd technically be a criminal again. Point is there is a long gap between now and this film. My first thought was introducing Crossfire, the nephew of Darren Cross who became an assassin with sniping technology. That could make a fun opener, Ant-Man fighting a guy who can shoot even the tiniest ant. I could see Wasp going off and taking a more serious role on The Avengers while Scott either dicks around or retires early to be with his daughter. In the comics his daughter uses Pym Particles to become Stature, so following the title theme the film could be "Ant-Man & Stature" a cute father/daughter superhero film. The daughter should be old enough by now, right? And by this point we've run out of alternate Ant-Man identities like Yellowjacket and Goliath. So maybe we get Black Ant, this scumbag SHIELD agent who was Ant-Man in "Irredeemable Ant-Man". At the end of the first film we see some shady suited man get away with particles. So maybe this new guy is a former conman or a corrupt cop who worked with Scott's ex's husband. But then we're retreading the Yellowjacket fight. Maybe a guy with a gun was a better idea. Oh, and Hank Pym will probably be dead.

Doctor Strange 2

We've already established Dormammu and the Dark Dimension, as we have established Doctor Strange is now a proficient sorcerer, so let's expand on that Dark Dimension stuff. Within the Dark Dimension exist these mindless beings known as-well-The Mindless Ones. From what I've read they were used by Domammu to conquer the realm. Two other beings from this realm are the sorceress Umar and the chief disciple Orini. The two bred and gave birth to a girl named Clea. While Umar and her brother Dormammu would be enemies of Doctor Strange, Clea would become his lover. So here we have a forbidden love story, possibly a ruse by Umar to lure Strange to Dormammu-on his orders-by using Clea. But then the victim Clea would reveal true love for Strange and they'd fight to escape the Dark Dimension. And if you want to cut corners, say Dormammu and Umar are lovers instead and Clea was the first human child they produced after all those Mindless Ones, tying it all together. This would also give Clea demigod powers which would make her an equal to Strange. I also feel as though the villain Nightmare would make a better villain by himself, maybe a third film where Nightmare uses Strange's memories of failing his sister during surgery could be compelling, while Shuma-Gorath should just be the next Thanos for the MCU.

Spider-Man Homecoming 2

Obviously it won't be called that. "Spider-Man: Formal" probably, having the theme continue with the Winter Formal, which comes between Homecoming and Prom. And the third act may not be the Formal, maybe the film opens with it. Spider-Man in snow isn't something we've seen on screen. At the end of the first film we see the next villain will probably be Mac Gargan/The Scorpion. He'll probably be given a power-suit by The Tinkerer, maybe he'll be an opening villain? In the old comics Gargan was hired to find out who Spider-Man was and got his Scorpion suit to keep up with him an capture him. And who hired him? J. Jonah Jameson! So while Peter tries to get his iconic photographer job at the Daily Bugle and work for Jonah, his new boss is actually sending a costumed supervillain after him. Makes an interesting plot, huh? Oh, and Aunt May knows Spidey's secret which makes things easy/worse. But Raffi-sama, why is Kraven The Hunter up there? Well, if that whole Scorpion thing falls through in the beginning of the film and Jonah needs someone better at tracking then some thug in a suit he could hire expert hunter-Kraven. And Kraven works because A. snowy winter means you wouldn't expect him, B. Spider-Man would severely underestimate Kraven after he beat Scorpion, and C. Kraven just wants to hunt and kill Spider-Man. This could lead to Jonah upping the price just so Spidey doesn't get killed, but Kraven rejecting him and Jonah trying to shoot him or something. This would only further develop the relationship between Spider-Man and Jonah, Jonah doesn't want the guy killed, just outed and put in jail for all the trouble he caused in the first film. You establish two new villains which gets us closer to the Sinister Six, you set up Jonah and Peter's relationship, develop Aunt May and Ned and MJ some more. And most importantly you keep Sony away from the script.

Black Panther 2

We know Ulysses Klaw is in Black Panther, cybernetic hand and all. And since Killmonger is the main villain we have a chance to give Klaw the treatment in the sequel. Again, this film isn't out yet which means we don't know what happens to Klaw or what Wakanda's vibranium mines look like yet, but in the comics Klaw creates a vibranium sound emitter that turns his body into solid sound. So, let's assume by the end of the Black Panther film Klaw is arrested and held prisoner in a Wakandian jail, breaks out and uses his new emitter, but after Panther breaks it Klaw becomes living sound. Now Panther has to juggle his role as a king while also trying to find the superpowered Klaw in Wakanda. It would be a cat and mouse situation of Klaw appearing all around the city, stealing as much Vibranium as he can to restore his full body and Panther tracking him down, losing sleep over his escape, and vowing to protect his people from him. His sister-a scientist in her own right-could work on a device that helps Panther actually touch this sound-being, while more traditional practitioners search for a mystical method of catching him. Oh, and some throw-away villain helps Klaw like Man-Ape or Achebe or Windeagle. Oh and put Manifold in there. He's awesome. 

Captain Marvel 2

Now what we know about the Captain Marvel film is that the original Captain Marvel named Mar-Vell will be there, it will be set in the 1990's, Nick Fury will be it without his missing eye, and it be slightly based on The Kree-Skrull War, or at least feature The Skrulls. Now I present you with the only Captain Marvel villain I remember; Moonstone. Her deal is that she was a psychiatrist who hated her patients and talked them into self-injury, but she once got a patient who was a supervillain and convinced him to give her the Moonstone-a rock from the moon that was charged with energy by the Kree-and used it to become a villain. In film form she could be a therapist for former criminals like ex-HYDRA soldiers or men who have worked for Aldrich Killian or Justin Hammer. The Moonstone itself could be another Infinity Gem under a different identity or perhaps connected to such cosmic objects like The Quantum Bands or the Starbrand or a piece of the Kree Supreme Intelligence or something. Like, if the first film is something different and original I don't think anyone is going to be pissed if we get another dark mirror to Captain Marvel. And having it be a female villain who hates people enough to manipulate them and then you give her a rock with cosmic power, that's at least a B-tier villain. Or-if you still don't want The Sentry to have a film-have Captain Marvel deal with The Sentry and where he comes from and stuff. Really though I think we're all down for Captain Marvel vs Moonstone. And if you want to set it in the past again that's fine, just make sure you cover your bases.

So that's what I predict will happen come Phase 4!
Thanks for reading!