While Marvel's Phase Four technically gets underway in just a little over a year with the release of the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel, but there's still a great deal we don't know. However, Tessa Thompson may have some of the answers. Thompson, who played Valkyrie in the recent Thor: Ragnarok, thinks that recent trends within Marvel point to the likelihood that women will be a significant force in the next stage of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. According to Thompson...
I think what we're seeing, regardless of a lady liberator or an A-force movie or a female ensemble Marvel movie, is that in Phase Four, women rule supreme. We're seeing a Black Widow movie in the works, which I hear about and is so exciting, Captain Marvel with Brie Larson and DeWanda Wise. We're seeing that women are at the forefront of these stories [and], of course, with Black Panther those incredible warrior women in that film.
It certainly can't be argued that there's been a larger focus on strong women within the MCU in recent years. While the franchise has yet to spotlight a woman as a title hero, something that won't happen until next year's Captain Marvel starring Brie Larson, we have seen supporting female characters take on much larger roles. The relationship between Gamora and Nebula was an important part of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Valkyrie was a popular new edition to the Thor films, and while Black Panther may have technically been about a male hero, the cast was filled out by four significant women who, considering the film's popularity, we know we'll be seeing a lot more of going forward.
It seems to be a foregone conclusion that women will be playing a significant part in Marvel's Phase Four. While Captain Marvel will debut near the end of Phase Three, it's highly unlikely that we won't be seeing a lot more of her as the franchise moves forward. As Tessa Thompson points out to ET, we can expect to see the women of Black Panther as well and the word is that Marvel is actively working on a movie about Black Widow, something fans have wanted for years. Even if this is all we get, we'll still see more women take the lead in Phase Four than we've seen before in the MCU, and that's before we talk about any potential Marvel team-up movie that focuses on the female characters, something pretty much every woman in the MCU has said they're on board for.
The one thing we do know about Phase Four of the MCU is that outer space is going to play a big role, but with many of Marvel's big female characters coming from that particular region, there's no reason we can't get more female character-focused stories and stories that take place in space. The details of Phase Four will start to become clear as enter the end of Phase Three and the events of Avengers: Infinity War.
