Kang clearly has a mastermind as Jeff Loveness is penning his next (?) two appearances. Having already penned the screenplay for Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, Loveness will remain in the Marvel Multiverse to script Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Jonathan Majors will return as the time-traveling conqueror, and Destin Daniel Creton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Wonder Man) will direct.
But besides Majors, who will star? At D23, Marvel CEO Kevin Feige confirmed that the Avengers no longer exist as a team. While discussing Captain America: New World Order, a film that will arrive before The Kang Dynasty, and teasing Thunderbolts, Feige divulged:
“You know, one thing in the Captain America film is that there currently is a world without the Avengers. Sam Wilson finds himself as Cap at a time where there’s not an organization of Avengers.
“But just because there’s not an organization of the Avengers doesn’t mean there’s not a group of superheroes in the MCU. Not a group, perhaps, as The Avengers but there’s a group and they’re called the Thunderbolts.”
Thunderbolts will feature Captain America and The Winter Soldier‘s Sebastian Stan a.k.a Bucky Barnes, and the new Black Widow, Yelena Belova, played by Florence Pugh, so presumably, they won’t be part of the new Avengers. But interestingly, the film Thunderbolts are being introduced in a similar fashion as they were in the comics, during a time when the Avengers (and the Fantastic Four) were missing from the 616 Universe.
In the movies, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) has denied being part of the Avengers. Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) seemed to be retired. Based on the Secret Invasion trailer shown at D23, it looks as though James “Rhodey” Rhodes has also retired as War-Machine and has become some sort of a politician. So I guess that leaves The Hulk, Captain Marvel, and maybe Spider-Man, and Sam Wilson’s Cap will most likely be part of the new Avengers. Of course, there are several new additions to the MCU with even more on the way, so it’s entirely likely that the likes of Shang-Chi, Kate Bishop, Ms. Marvel, Monica Rambeau/Photon, Moon Knight, She-Hulk, Black Knight, and even the white Vision could jump into the big leagues.
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania will be the first film in Phase Five of the MCU and will hit theaters on February 17, 2023. Captain America: New World Order (out on May 3, 2024) and Thunderbolts (July 26, 2024) will be the last two installments.
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty arrives in theaters on May 2, 2025.
