It's May the 4th, Star Wars Day, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) steals a bit of the limelight from the galaxy far, far away by releasing a short video that serves as a confirmation of its planned films and shows under its co-called Phase 4.
Dubbed as "Marvel Studios Celebrates The Movies," what makes this video a little more heartwarming and nostalgic than the usual MCU teasers is the voice over, which features Marvel creator Stan Lee. "We're all part of one big family," Lee says, as scenes from films from Phase 1 to 3 of the MCU flash on the screen—from the first "Avengers" film to that iconic "Endgame" scene where all the heroes come out and face Thanos one last time. Half of this special video is all about reliving these iconic moments in superhero cinema history, with Lee saying, "We're all part of one universe."
As if this wasn't enough, the video then proceeds to a quick montage of scenes from upcoming Phase 4 films, with the Marvel Studios fanfare playing on the background, including "Black Widow" (July 9, 2021), "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" (Sept. 3, 2021), as well as a first glimpse of "Eternals" (Nov. 5, 2021) with Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, and Kumali Nanjiani, with Kit Harrington and Millie Bobby Brown also reportedly part of the cast (although I couldn't quite make them out in the teaser).
Then title cards for more Phase 4 shows follow: "Spider-Man: No Way Home" (Dec. 17, 2021), "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" (March 25, 2022), "Thor Love and Thunder" (May 6, 2022), "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" (July 8, 2022), "The Marvels" (Nov. 11, 2022), "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" (Feb. 17, 2023), and "Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3" (May 5, 2023). Usually, these announcements are made during Comic-Cons or some special Marvel event. But with the pandemic still ongoing, Marvel seems to have decided on a surprise video to hype up all these upcoming titles—as if "WandaVision" and "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" on Disney+ weren't enough to get our attention.
Watch the video below.