Marvel announced Phase 4 at SDCC

[sholio]

Here's the list!

My unpopular(?) Marvel opinion is that I'm kinda hitting superhero burnout. I'm not that enthused about anything upcoming, and I think it's mainly because I just kind of want it to stop for awhile. They built up for ten years to their ~big finale~ and then put out the next movie in the franchise two months later! Let it breathe, guys.

That being said, the handful of things I'm looking forward to ...


Shang-Chi (Feb. 2021) - I think this might be the thing I'm looking forward to most! From what vanishingly little I know about it so far, it looks super fun, and also refreshingly disconnected from most of the rest of the franchise and unlikely to be huge and bombastic, which I gotta tell you is mostly what I want at this point. Except then there's also ...

Doctor Strange 2 (May 2021) - I didn't actually realize I was looking forward to this but apparently I am?! It may be terrible, but it will probably be entertaining and pretty. MULTIVERSE!

Thor 4: Love and Thunder (Nov 2021) - Lady Thor! Moar Valkyrie! Taika Waititi is back to direct! I am THERE.

Unfortunately that's about it, as far as personal excitement is concerned. I may check out the Falcon & Winter Soldier and Scarlet Witch shows, I'm sort of tentatively curious about the Loki one but still too annoyed that it's pre-character-development 2012 Loki to really have feelings about it, and apparently there's also something called "What If?" that will involve a number of established characters and I really hope is what it sounds like, an Elseworlds kind of thing.

No dates yet for Black Panther 2 (which I'm looking forward to, and I think it's weird they're pushing it back for a bunch of new stuff given how well the first movie did) or GotG 3 (which I wish I was more excited about, but the Gamora thing killed most of my interest). And I still miss my Netflix shows.

What are you looking forward to? My normal spoilerphobe policy is on hold for this; feel free to talk about anything that's been revealed about the upcoming, unreleased shows/movies so far, since there isn't much yet.

Comments

[kore]

I just feel really removed from it at this point, in a way I didn't even with the Endgame stuff. I could see watching a lot of this on TV in a kind of "yeah let's see what's on Netflix" way, but it feels like they stomped on my little fannish fingers as I was clinging desperately to the Cliffside of Still Giving a Fannish Damn. Which is LOL dumb, because it's a giant megacorporation. Ever since I was a little kid I've been told I Just Take Things Too Hard and I don't enjoy Disney Owns The World Inc. basically hammering the message home.

(But then Cap Marvel and Black Panther were so great though. idk.)

[chelseagirl]

I think I am moving rapidly to the space my partner already inhabits which is "sure, I'll watch that when it comes on tv -- maybe even On Demand -- but no other emotional investment."

Maybe fandom is not my happy place anymore?

[kore]

Yeah, T is perfectly happy to watch the movies/shows with me, and he even gets wrapped up in some too (Jessica Jones!), but he pours his energy into photography and online courses about quantum computation (don't ask me) and the Mueller report and stuff. If he's 'fannish' about anybody it's Rachel Maddow, LOL.

IDK, I kind of feel tired of having my heart broken and also feeling like I'm a sucker for letting myself get overinvested. (sorry to be such a downer sholio! I will stop now.)

[sholio]

Yeah, removed is exactly how I feel right now, too. I'm still invested in the Netflix shows and Agent Carter (... even as they retreat ever more rapidly into the past) but I think the main MCU is back to the "yeah, maybe I'll catch this when it's streaming" level for me now. The only movies I think I even might see in the theater are Shang-Chi (because I'd like to support the franchise finally getting around to an Asian actor as a movie headliner) and the new Thor because I enjoyed Waititi's first movies in the franchise so much. But in general, yeah, I think it's time for me to hang out in the cancelled side franchises/other fandoms and not worry so much about new canon because it's likely to Do Me Wrong.

I think the nature of being a fan is overinvesting! It's just unfortunate that so much of fandom is tied up in the MCU right now.

[kore]

I think the main MCU is back to the "yeah, maybe I'll catch this when it's streaming" level for me now. The only movies I think I even might see in the theater are Shang-Chi (because I'd like to support the franchise finally getting around to an Asian actor as a movie headliner) and the new Thor

Yeah, ditto. Hell, I'll probably see BW in the theatre. But I just don't have that feeling of really eagerly keeping up with even small bits of news, and the MCU was what got me back into fandom after a long hiatus, so right now I guess I just feel a bit lost. I did love the Jane!Thor news, but that's a ways off.

I think the nature of being a fan is overinvesting!

TRUE