ut that’s old news, now: What about 2022? What films can we expect to see make their way to multiplexes this year, hopefully in a post-pandemic era? What new series, miniseries and TV specials, meanwhile, will we be able to enjoy on the small screen from the comfort of our own homes?
The Disney/Marvel machine is of course very busy, with dozens and dozens of projects at some stage of development, but here we’re focusing specifically on every project that is expected to release before the end of this calendar year, 2022. Here’s a brief synopsis of each project headed our way in the next 12 months or so.
Feature Films
The MCU feature film slate for 2022 is actually slightly sparse, thanks to the backlog of production issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic that are still being ironed out. It includes three keystone films, following the continuing Phase 4 plotlines of Doctor Strange, Wanda Maximoff, Thor, and Black Panther in particular.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Director: Sam Raimi
Release date: May 6, 2022
Deeply connected to the multiverse-plumbing explorations of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Loki, and WandaVision, Multiverse of Madness will see Doctor Strange embracing his role as the Sorcerer Supreme as he contends with the consequences of the rapidly expanding world of alternate dimensions that surrounds the MCU. Various performers/characters from previous Doctor Strange entries will appear, such as Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Notably, the film appears to be a co-starring role for Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, following the events of WandaVision and her embrace of “chaos magic.”
Production of Multiverse of Madness has been a long and fraught affair, slowed down by both COVID-19 production issues and personnel challenges. It was originally meant to be directed by original Doctor Strange director and co-writer Scott Derrickson, who was announced as Multiverse of Madness’ director in 2018, but he subsequently left the project in Jan. of 2020, citing “creative differences,” just before the pandemic began to upend film production. He was eventually replaced with veteran presence Sam Raimi (Spider-Man, Evil Dead), making this Raimi’s first directorial credit in 9 years, since 2013’s Oz the Great and Powerful.
Thor: Love and Thunder
Director: Taika Waititi
Release date: July 8, 2022
Following his well-loved first trip to the MCU in 2017 via Thor: Ragnarok, director Taika Waititi returns to the hot seat for follow-up Thor: Love and Thunder. The film picks up where the post-Endgame Thor leaves off, giving up his ceremonial role as the leader of Asgard to Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie, while apparently going off to adventure with the Guardians of the Galaxy. However, events related to his own source of power presumably draw him back into the fold in Love and Thunder, as this entry notably brings back the character of Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who hasn’t been integral to a Thor story’s plot since 2013’s much-derided Thor: The Dark World. Now battling cancer, Jane somehow inherits the powers of “Mighty Thor” in this installment, mirroring an arc in the comics series.
Various MCU characters from both the Thor series and the wider world are expected to appear, such as Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Drax (Dave Bautista), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Groot (Vin Diesel), and The Collector (Jeff Goldblum), along with Christian Bale as new antagonist Gorr the God Butcher.
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