Marvel Studios panel at D23 Expo Day 2 offered updates on the long-awaited MCU’s villain ensemble flick Thunderbolts, the debut trailer for the Nick Fury-led Secret Invasion series, exclusive footage preview for The Marvels, Ant-Man 3, Loki season 2, Ironheart and so many more. Although Saturday’s event was jam-packed with exciting announcements from Lucasfilm and 20th Century Studios – MCU head Kevin Feige stole the spotlight with his final studio presentation, here’s a highlight of all Marvel-related announcements from that day.
Marvel Studios chief Feige began his presentation at D23 Expo day 2 with a live musical number from the Rogers Musical, livening up attendees for the hour-long panel addressing MCU Phase 4, 5 and 6. First up was Black Panther: Wakanda Forever with helmer Ryan Coogler on stage to unveil new footage. The sequel’s stars Angela Bassett, Winston Duke, Letitia Wright and Namor actor Tenoch Huerta joined the director on the podium. A trailer description from SlashFilm reveals the outside world’s conflicts reaching the doorsteps of Wakanda in search of vibranium and Queen Ramonda’s speech at the United Nations assembly. There were scenes of M’Baku clashing with Namor who remains unflinching.
Next was the cast of Ironheart up on stage where Anthony Ramos was revealed to be playing the series’ big bad as The Hood. In the clip shown at D23, the villain uses Riri’s (Dominique Thorne) influence and has her steal tech from the MIT lab but he uses magic, unlike Riri. There’s even a line in the first look where the 15-year-old genius says, “I want to build something like him but, you know, better” (as transcribed by Bleeding Cool’s Kaitlyn Booth). Seems like a nod to Tony Stark from Riri.
The panel moved on to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and the footage shown to the crowd revealed more details regarding Kang the Conqueror’s (Jonathan Majors) business with Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), apparently, the big bad tasks Ant-man with a heist mission in return for his daughter, Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton). The footage also offered new looks like Evangeline Lilly’s Hope Van Dyne, Jimmy Woo (Randall Park), Janet Van Dyne (Hayley Lovitt) and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas).
D23 Expo Day 2 screened an exclusive preview from Black Panther 2, Ironheart Echo & more
With Ant-Man 3 out of the way, next in line was Marvel’s unique attempt at a film noir-styled series in the comedy genre, Werewolf by Night. The Halloween Special was presented on the D23 stage by Feige, Gael Garcia Bernal, Michael Giacchino and Laura Donnelly. A teaser was released for worldwide viewing. This will be Giacchino’s directorial debut scheduled to release on Disney Plus on October 7.
After the Marvel Studios special, Don Cheadle arrived on the podium for Secret Invasion, praising Samuel Jackson which followed up with a teaser trailer, the same promo showcased at SDCC. Cheadle’s Armor Wars was revealed to be on track to start filming in 2023, greenlit for six episodes. Secret Invasions will lead up to the events of the Armor Wars.
The cast of Loki season 2 – Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson and Sophia Di Martino was called out on stage by the MCU chief. The surprising addition was Ke Huy Quan, the star known for his multiverse-hoping adventure in Everything Everywhere All At Once. The exhibited footage referenced the council of the Kangs and scenes of different iterations of Loki but the message is clear, the universe is “facing utter destruction” and to make matters worse, the world does not know who Loki is – though, on the bright side, the god of mischief soon teams up with Mobius to face the bigger threat at hand.
The only disappointment of D23 Expo Day 2 goes to the fans that expected a Fantastic Four casting announcement. Although Feige confirmed that Matt Shakman would direct Marvel’s first family feature, news regarding the actors on board to play Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm/The Thing will arrive next D23. Though no need to fret since Echo and Daredevil: Born Again is sure to keep the fandom occupied until then.
D23 attendees caught their first glimpse at the Alaqua Cox starrer Echo series. Vincent D’Onofrio and Charlie Cox were present along with the rest of the cast. Since the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen series is yet to begin shooting – the team treated the crowd with a clip of Daredevil in She-Hulk, as earlier revealed in the midseason trailer. But the extended sequence screened at the event seems to indicate a possible hint at the two Marvel characters’ romantic entanglement, though it’s too soon to speculate any further.
Finally, it was time for Captain America 4 and the better part of the panel was confirmation that Tim Blake Nelson returns as Samuel Sterns a.k.a The Leader. Moreover, connecting the movie to Falcon and the Winter Soldier series – Carl Lumbly returns as Isaiah Bradley, and Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres hinted to take on the Falcon wings for New World Order.
#D23Expo got to hear from the cast of Marvel Studios’ Captain America: New World Order: https://t.co/EKLqh0GAb9 pic.twitter.com/6j26T8F1gW
— Captain America (@CaptainAmerica) September 11, 2022
It’s not a Marvel Studios panel without a tease for the next team-up flick but this time, Feige wasn’t discussing the Avengers but rather a motley crew of villains, anti-heroes and characters stuck in the grey area – Marvel’s Thunderbolts led by Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova a.k.a Black Widow. The ragtag team will comprise Bucky the White Wolf (Sebastian Stan), David Harbour’s Red Guardian, Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), Ant-Man 2’s Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr/Ghost, U.S Agent (Wyatt Russell) and Taskmaster, as seen revealed in the concept art below.
THE THUNDERBOLTS! #D23Expo pic.twitter.com/PmHZaKU26W
— Matt Ramos (@therealsupes) September 10, 2022
Last but certainly not least, The Marvels which cast director Nia DaCosta and cast Brie Larson, Iman Vellani, and Teyonah Parris address the crowd. The D23 trailer for The Marvels confirms the movie picks up where Ms. Marvel ends, in Kamala Khan’s bedroom. But Ms. Marvel exchanged places with Monica Rambeau instead of Carol Danvers. Speaking of whom, Rambeau is being trained by Nick Fury. According to DiscussingFilm, the three characters’ powers are entangled together and cause them to switch places when they use their “lightbased powers”. The Marvels will arrive in theatres on July 28, 2023.
‘THE MARVELS’ focuses on the 3 heroes as they keep trading places with each other every time they use their powers and must team up to fix their problem. #D23Expo pic.twitter.com/ytGepfQucN
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 10, 2022
The dynamic between the Marvels looks amazing. Carol and Monica definitely have some tension. Kamala is just being the biggest fan as she’s meeting her heroes. #D23Expo
— Matt Ramos (@therealsupes) September 10, 2022
D23 Expo Day 2 assures that the expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Multiverse saga has quite a few titles in development for 2023 and beyond. So what did you think of all the movies and TV shows from the live-action presentation? Let us know in the comments or hit up @RAKarthikPrasad to discuss all things, Marvel.
