Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

Wong, Bruce Banner, and Carol Danvers' post-credits appearance in Shang-Chi and the Legend of The Ten Rings underlines that almost every MCU phase 4 movie has an Avengers-level superhero team. The MCU's latest cycle began proper this week with Shang Chi's MCU release and will run until at least 2023 encompassing all manner of new and returning Marvel storylines. Phase 4 will include hotly-anticipated imminent releases The Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home, as well as 2022's slated Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, and The Marvels.

2012's The Avengers would prove a watershed moment for Marvel, striking gold with its previously unseen ensemble cast. The Avengers unveiled a winning formula for future MCU projects and set the franchise on a course of escalation, with every Avengers installment swelling in its scope and array of superheroes. While the franchise reached its box office zenith in the record-breaking Avengers: Endgame, the MCU's success format now demands Avengers-level superteams even within origin stories to sustain itself.

Related: Why Shang-Chi's Avengers Cameo Looks Different From Endgame

This power-creep compared to 2008's Iron Man (which began the MCU) means almost every phase 4 movie boasts an Avengers-level superhero ensemble. Some of the star-studded team-ups for Phase 4 look ominous for MCU's villains, some of which will have to be vastly overpowered to match up to these touted superhero groupings. Here's every Avengers-level superhero team announced for phase 4 of the MCU so far.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of The Ten Rings

shang chi ten rings simu liu

In addition to the eponymous main character, Shang-Chi already has ample backup before the movie's post-credits scene to help defeat the Dweller-in-Darkness. Shang-Chi himself is no slouch, touted as the greatest martial artist on Earth, whose powers reach superhuman levels through control of his Chi and the powerful Ten Rings. He has been shown to punch through brick, concrete, and iron with little physical damage, and the Ten Rings bequeathed to him by his dying father further amplify these fearsome traits. Even before the appearance of Wong, Banner, and Danvers in the post-credits scenes, Shang-Chi wins the favor of The Great Protector, a huge, mystical dragon who guards Ta Lo. The Great Protector has the ability to revive the dead and is shown battling the Dweller-in-Darkness alongside Shang-Chi. The appearance of Wong, The Hulk, and Captain Marvel in a potential sequel would cement a formidable super-team. Wong's psychic abilities and Captain Marvel's tesseract-derived potency need little introduction, but what takes this team to the next level is Banner, who appears to have found a way to reverse his Bruce Banner/Smart Hulk stasis following the events of Avengers: Endgame. A fully restored Hulk makes any team overpowered, and Shang-Chi's ensemble would be no different here.

The Eternals

eternals trailer ikaris richard madden angelina jolie marvel

A more glaring example of new MCU super-teams is The Eternals, an evolutionary by-product of humanity gifted with incredible powers and abilities. The original guardians of Earth preceding The Avengers, The MCU's current Eternals are ten immortals with powers ranging from teleportation to shooting beams of cosmic energy through their eyes. While some of The Eternals are individually more powerful than others, their collective strength allows them to protect Earth from the Deviants for millennia. Between the 10 members, there is little they cannot achieve, so expect the big-bad of Eternals to be equally formidable, whether that is Kro, Arishem, or something else.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

spider man no way home doctor strange

The multiverse is wide open for Marvel to exploit, and the hopefully lengthy Spider-Man: No Way Home will do just that. In true service to Spider-Man fans over the years, No Way Home will feature not one but three Spider-Men, with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield all but confirmed to reprise their web-slinging roles alongside Tom Holland. One Spidey is a handful, but three has all the hallmarks of a super-team, especially considering the different enemies each have faced in their own timelines. Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange is one character confirmed to return, with the Sorcerer Supreme adding further potency to this gathering of Spider-Men. Strange's power level in the MCU is still very far away from what he achieves in Marvel Comics, but he nonetheless acts as a considerable magical foil to the physical assaults that all Spider-Men are known for.

Related: Which MCU Movies You Need To See To Understand Shang-Chi

Thor: Love And Thunder

Thor arrives in Wakanda in Avengers: Infinity War

Of all the Avengers-level teams in phase 4 of the MCU, Thor's may take the crown in Taika Waititi's upcoming 2022 blockbuster Thor: Love and Thunder. Avengers: Endgame concluded with Thor aboard the Guardians of the Galaxy's spaceship headed for new adventures designed to rediscover himself. It is, therefore, not a huge leap of faith to expect the Guardians themselves to feature in some capacity for Thor's personal quest to salvation, with Star-Lord and company upping the power-level of any team they associate with. While the Guardians may not stick around for the whole movie, Thor: Love and Thunder is confirmed to be replacing them with an even more powerful array of characters to supplement Thor. Natalie Portman will make her long-awaited return to the franchise as Jane Foster turned Mighty Thor after being chosen by Mjolnir in Thor: Love and Thunder. One God of Thunder is powerful enough, but two working in tandem is a formidable force without even considering Tessa Thompson's Asgardian Valkyrie (also set to return) in the equation. While ordinarily overpowered to the extreme, this team will be well balanced in the context of Thor: Love and Thunder, as they come up against Christian Bale's aptly named Gorr The God Butcher.

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness

Benedict Cumberbatch in Doctor Strange

While plot details are still very scarce, the second Doctor Strange installment will see the sorcerer return to the MCU in 2022 to continue his research on the Time Stone before accidentally unleashing "unspeakable evil." Whatever this undetermined evil will be revealed as, the soon-to-be Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange will have most eventualities covered. Alongside Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange continuing his ascent as the Sorcerer Supreme, his sidekick Wong (Benedict Wong) will return to aid him following his super-team cameo in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Yet the truly tantalizing member of this new super-team is Wanda Maximoff, now turned Scarlet Witch following the events of Wandavision's finale. Scarlet Witch will likely show her full range of psionic abilities throughout Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Of Madness, which were already considerable as Maximoff during Avengers: Endgame. Yet there may be even more coming from the Doctor Strange sequel, with Loki and Sylvie rumored to appear alongside America Chavez, although whether they join forces with Strange or oppose him is another question entirely.

The Marvels

Carol Danvers in her Captain Marvel suit in the desert

Perhaps more expected with a title like The Marvels, Captain Marvel's return will be alongside two other superheroes to form a formidable team. Community's lost Brie Larson will, of course, reprise her role as Carol Danvers, a character Marvel's Kevin Feige once described as the strongest of the Avengers. Fighting alongside her will be Ms. Marvel, a longtime fan of Danvers who was reborn in her image. Ms. Marvel possesses powers similar to The Fantastic Four's Reed Richards while also being able to shapeshift, making her an invaluable asset. Alongside Ms. Marvel will be Danver's friend's daughter, Monica Rambeau, whose DNA alteration allows her to manipulate and absorb energy. Captain Marvel alone goes toe to toe with Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, so whoever opposes The Marvels in the MCU needs to represent a significant threat, whether the heavily speculated Michael Korvac features or not.

Next: Who'd Be On Captain Marvel’s Replacement Avengers (& How Powerful They'd Be)

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