San Diego Comic-Con doesn’t get to have all the MCU fun. Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige took a break from all the Sony Spider-Man drama to drop some new MCU news at Disney’s D23 Expo. We knew Black Panther 2 was coming, and it was confirmed with a release date of May 6, 2022.
That’s a long way off! Ryan Coogler, director of the first Black Panther, was on hand for the mini update. So the sequel has been announced, but Black Panther 2 won’t be the final title. What is the title? That wasn’t shared. We also didn’t get the opening or the villain. We just got confirmation that the film exists, and a release date in the books.
Does this mean Black Panther 2 — or whatever it will be called — is confirmed for Phase 5, or a late addition to the Phase 4 slate introduced at Comic-Con? I’d say Phase 5, but if Kevin Feige wants to update later, he can do so.
As far as we know, MCU Phase Four includes Black Widow and Eternals in 2020; then Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Thor: Love and Thunder for 2021.
Back at Comic-Con, Kevin Feige had this to say about what else was to come after Phase 4:
That left everyone with the impression that all of that — including folding the X-Men and Fantastic Four into the MCU — would be happening in Phase 5 (or maybe Phase 6). Ryan Reynolds played into the Phase Five discussion with a later Deadpool post.