Although Avengers: Endgame felt like a massively satisfying series finale, the subsequent Phase Four streaming shows have assured fans that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is still just getting started. The gargantuan ensemble keeps getting bigger with fan-favorite additions like WandaVision’s Agatha Harkness and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s John Walker. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
There are plenty more beloved Marvel characters coming to the MCU in the franchise’s upcoming movies and TV series. Lucky the Pizza Dog, the plucky canine who will accompany Clint Barton and Kate Bishop on their adventures in Hawkeye, is a prime example.
Lucky The Pizza Dog
In the upcoming Hawkeye series on Disney+, Hailee Steinfeld will play Kate Bishop — one of the key members of the Young Avengers — as Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton trains her to take on his mantle as the notoriously useless Avenger with the bow and arrow.
Clint and Kate will be joined by Lucky the Pizza Dog, played by a golden retriever named Jolt. Lucky belonged to the mob before Clint showed him some kindness, which he rewarded by saving Clint from the mobsters and joining forces with him.
Black Knight
There aren’t many major Avengers who haven’t yet made an appearance in the MCU, but one of the few that fans have been clamoring to see is the Black Knight. He’ll finally make his on-screen debut in the Eternals movie and will be played by Game of Thrones’ Kit Harington.
The Black Knight is the medieval superhero mantle taken on by Dane Whitman when he arms himself with a mystical sword that’s been passed down from generation to generation.
America Chavez
America Chavez is an alien from the Utopian Parallel who drew her powers from the magical being the Demiurge. After America’s mothers sacrificed themselves to save her, she crossed over various realities before becoming a superhero on Earth.
She became the first Latinx LGBTQ+ character to lead their own series. Starting with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, America will appear in the MCU, played by Xochitl Gomez.
Kang The Conqueror
In the comics, Kang the Conqueror is one of the most iconic and powerful villains. With his genius intellect, dozens of feuds across the Marvel universe, and ability to travel through time, Kang has the potential to be the MCU’s next Thanos-sized villain.
Surprisingly, this mega-powerful baddie isn’t being introduced in an Avengers movie or even one of the bigger solo movies. Instead, he’ll make his debut in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, played by Jonathan Majors.
Moon Knight
Moon Knight is one of the most unique superheroes out there. He’s a masked crimefighter like Batman, but he has actual superpowers thanks to an Egyptian god and he also has multiple personalities.
He has a stockbroker persona to keep the money flowing and a taxi driver persona to keep tabs on the criminal underworld, among others. It’ll be fascinating to see what Oscar Isaac does with the role when the Moon Knight series hits Disney+.
Gorr The God Butcher
Primarily, Thor: Love and Thunder is focused on serving existing characters like Jane Foster, who will take on Odinson’s mantle as the God of Thunder, and the Guardians of the Galaxy, who will appear in supporting roles.
But it will also introduce a couple of new characters, like Gorr the God Butcher, who will be played by Christian Bale. Gorr was cast out from his society after condemning the gods who ignored them. In the comics, it took two Thors from different timelines to kill Gorr with the combined power of two Mjolnirs.
Doctor Octopus
There have been rumors of a live-action Spider-Verse coming to the MCU ever since Alfred Molina was announced to be reprising his role as Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Molina’s Doc Ock remains one of the most acclaimed supervillains in comic book movie history, so this is pretty exciting.
Molina has confirmed that this isn’t a new version of a character, but rather the same one who appeared in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, with No Way Home picking up where his arc left off (seemingly with his death).
Ironheart
When Tony Stark died in Avengers: Endgame, Robert Downey, Jr. endorsed Riri Williams as his successor in the MCU. In the comics, Riri is a teenage genius who creates her own Iron Man-esque suit of armor and receives a grant from Stark himself to develop it.
A six-episode Ironheart series is in development for Disney+. Riri will be played by Dominique Thorne from If Beale Street Could Talk and Judas and the Black Messiah.
The Real Mandarin
In Iron Man 3, Ben Kingsley was poised to play the Mandarin, the feared terrorist leader in charge of the Ten Rings and Tony Stark’s arch-nemesis from the comics. However, the movie disappointed fans with the revelation that Kingsley was merely playing a hard-drinking soccer hooligan who was hired to portray the face of a terrorist organization.
In response to this disappointment, Marvel is introducing the real Mandarin in Phase Four. He’ll be played by the great Tony Leung in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Fantastic Four
Following Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox, Marvel Studios now has the rights to introduce the X-Men and the Fantastic Four into the MCU. While the plans for the X-Men have yet to be announced, a Fantastic Four movie is on the way with Spider-Man’s Jon Watts in the director’s chair.
Despite three previous attempts, no movie adaptation has managed to do Marvel’s first family justice. With Kevin Feige at the helm, fans have hope that we’ll finally get a great — or even good — Fantastic Four movie.