Like Doctor Strange himself, Marvel Studios has its eyes fixed on the future, with a carefully plotted release calendar extending well beyond the highly anticipated events of Avengers: Secret Wars, which is currently set to hit theaters in December 2027. At San Diego Comic-Con and D23 during the summer of 2026, the shape of the MCU’s next era began to emerge as Marvel Studios unveiled a tantalizing look at what’s in store for 2028 and beyond.
Marvel has already locked in several major projects. Its new X-Men movie arrives May 5, 2028, followed by Ghost Rider starring Ryan Gosling on July 28, 2028, and Black Panther 3 on Dec. 15, 2028. Two claimed slots on Marvel’s theatrical calendar remain mysteries:
- May 4, 2029
- July 13, 2029
Marvel’s release calendar is always subject to change, but the studio’s plans after Secret Wars are becoming easier to read. The MCU’s next era seemingly won’t be built around the same heroes who carried the Infinity Saga, as the X-Men and Marvel’s supernatural characters appear poised to steal the limelight.
Based on Marvel’s announced projects, Kevin Feige’s comments, and the studio’s current direction, here’s what Phase 7 might look like. Keep in mind that although Marvel has booked these release dates, its two 2029 movies remain entirely speculative.
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Avengers: Secret Wars (Dec. 17, 2027)
In the wake of Doomsday, Marvel’s Secret Wars will drop its heroes into one of their most harrowing situations yet. Although little has been confirmed about the movie’s plot, its title evokes two landmark comic-book crossovers. The original 1984 story brought Marvel’s heroes and villains together on a patchwork planet created by the Beyonder, while Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribić’s 2015 series followed Doctor Doom as he ruled a new Battleworld assembled from the remains of destroyed realities.
That makes Secret Wars ripe territory for a timeline reset. The MCU has already established the idea of discarded realities through the Void in Loki, and Battleworld could bring surviving pieces of its multiverse together one last time. Exactly how the timeline might be reforged is anyone’s guess, but Secret Wars could give Marvel a clean starting point for new versions of the X-Men, Avengers, and other familiar characters.
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X-Men (May 5, 2028)
Marvel’s new X-Men movie is officially set to become the first major Phase 7 release. The studio has spent years preparing audiences for the arrival of mutants, from Ms. Marvel revealing Kamala Khan’s heritage to Deadpool & Wolverine bringing characters from Fox’s X-Men universe into the fold.
Following Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars, both of which are expected to feature Fox-era X-Men, Marvel will have a rare opportunity to establish an entirely new mutant status quo. Director Jake Schreier’s movie will feature a younger team led by Sadie Sink’s Jean Grey, Kit Connor’s Cyclops, and Christopher Abbott’s Professor X, with Adam Driver playing Mister Sinister.
Introducing this new X-Men team immediately after Secret Wars is perhaps the clearest way Marvel could signal the beginning of another era. Feige has repeatedly highlighted the importance of mutants to the MCU’s future, and the prominent May release date positions the movie as more than another solo adventure. Marvel has historically reserved that window for major franchise launches and event movies, and the X-Men may be the closest thing the studio has to a new Avengers-level centerpiece.
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Ghost Rider (July 28, 2028)
The next major Phase 7 pillar will be Shawn Levy’s Ghost Rider, which Marvel has positioned as one of its biggest supernatural swings. Gosling’s casting has only increased interest in Johnny Blaze’s return to the big screen, especially after Marvel spent years gradually developing its darker corner through projects like Moon Knight and Werewolf by Night.
Marvel has now set Ghost Rider for July 28, 2028. There aren’t any major story details available yet, but Gosling previously approached Marvel with a specific interest in playing the character. That personal investment could make this another case of a star helping to shape a comic-book role, much as Ryan Reynolds did with Deadpool.
4
Black Panther 3 (Dec. 15, 2028)
Black Panther 3 is set for Dec. 15, 2028, continuing Marvel’s tradition of placing major Wakanda stories in the holiday season. Ryan Coogler is returning to helm the next installment, giving Marvel one of its most reliable creative partnerships as it moves into the post-Secret Wars era. With the Avengers landscape changing, Wakanda could become one of the MCU’s most important political and technological powers.
The movie will follow an older Prince T’Challa II, played by David Jonsson, in a coming-of-age story centered on the son of Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa. Denzel Washington is also joining the cast in a role Coogler reportedly wrote for him, although Marvel hasn’t revealed whom he will play or how his character fits into the story.
3
Shang-Chi 2 (May 4, 2029)
Moving into 2029, it becomes tougher to chart where Marvel might land next, but the strongest candidate for this slot may be Shang-Chi 2. By then, it will have been nearly eight years since Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, making its long-awaited sequel overdue. Shang-Chi remains one of Marvel’s most successful yet underutilized new heroes, and bringing him back would help Phase 7 develop a roster beyond its returning legacy characters.
Director Destin Daniel Cretton and star Simu Liu have both said the sequel remains in development. Meanwhile, the Doomsday trailer suggests Shang-Chi will have a significant role in that movie, potentially giving Marvel an opportunity to set up his next solo story.
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Fantastic Four 2 (July 13, 2029)
Marvel’s First Family is likely to become one of the MCU’s most important franchises following 2025’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which earned roughly $520 million worldwide. Depending on how the characters fare in Secret Wars, a direct sequel could strike a nice balance between an earthbound family story and the cosmic threats associated with the Fantastic Four.
It would also give Marvel a natural follow-up to two relatively grounded heroes in Black Panther and Shang-Chi. Still, July 2029 remains far enough away that the slot could realistically go to almost anything that fits Marvel’s Phase 7 strategy.
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Other Possibilities
There are still plenty of other possibilities for the unclaimed dates: a new Deadpool spinoff, an X-Force project, or another major solo movie like Thor 5 could claim one of them.
Stephen Strange is another option. The sorcerer has become one of Marvel’s most important connective characters, and after years of dealing with incursions, alternate realities, and the consequences of the Multiverse Saga, a third movie could finally tell a more focused story with the character — and perhaps push his supernatural horror elements further. Reports and rumors have circulated since early 2025 that Doctor Strange 3 is in development with Benedict Cumberbatch expected to return, but its prospects may depend on the fallout of Secret Wars.
With Ghost Rider arriving in 2028, Marvel could also try a Midnight Sons team-up featuring Strange alongside Ghost Rider, Blade, Moon Knight, and other supernatural heroes. That would give Marvel a new ensemble franchise without immediately escalating to another Avengers-level threat. Admittedly, this kind of film might be better suited to a September or October release than either of the summer dates currently on Marvel’s calendar.
With the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy complete and The Marvels struggling at the box office, the studio also needs a hero capable of carrying the cosmic side of its universe. Thor and Doctor Strange could partially fill that role, but neither offers the same opportunity to rebuild Marvel’s cosmic mythology from the ground up.
Kevin Feige has confirmed that Nova is being developed as a movie, with Michael Waldron writing. Waldron has said Richard Rider’s story will need to address Thanos’ off-screen destruction of Xandar and the Nova Corps before Avengers: Infinity War. That history gives Marvel a natural starting point for Richard Rider’s origin and could eventually lay the groundwork for larger cosmic stories like Annihilation or War of Kings. Where the movie fits on Marvel’s timeline, however, remains unclear.
Together, these films would give Marvel’s Phase 7 slate a strong mix of earthbound adventures, supernatural stories, mutant drama, and cosmic spectacle. There’s still plenty of room for the calendar to change, but Marvel’s confirmed 2028 lineup already provides a much clearer picture of what will follow Secret Wars.
After the chaos of the Multiverse Saga, Phase 7 appears to be moving toward a simpler structure built around the strongest corners of Marvel’s universe: the X-Men, supernatural heroes, Wakanda, and its cosmic mythology. The MCU’s next era might not be about expanding endlessly outward, but about finally giving its biggest characters room to breathe.