The Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 5 Entrance Polls
This weekend, Ant-Man shrinks into theaters to fight Kang and kickoff Phase 5! What are the most exciting properties coming up? And where the heck is the MCU going? Find out here!
Circuit Artwork
Let’s kick off the Phase 5 entrance polls by ranking the shows and films (separately). Here’s how I’m looking forward to the MCU Phase 5 slate!
1- Loki season 2
2- Secret Invasion
3- Iron Heart
4- Daredevil: Born Again
5- Agatha: Coven of Chaos
6- Echo
*What If… season 2 is not listed because it isn’t part of the larger narrative… I think? I’m not really sure. This hasn’t been cleared up yet.
To this point, the MCU shows have been incredibly underwhelming, and have greatly damaged the overall success of the MCU. WandaVision, Loki, Hawkeye & Ms. Marvel were all good to great. Falcon & the Winter Soldier, Moon Knight & She-Hulk were all bad to horrific. So needless to say, I am not very excited for this slate.
But at the top is clearly Loki season 2. Hiddleston and Wilson have fantastic chemistry, we should get more Kang, and it feels like this show actually matters to the MCU, which I happen to appreciate. Sue me.
Secret Invasion looks to be a bit more serious than a lot of what Marvel has done lately, which is something I am definitely here for.
Iron Heart was fun in Wakanda Forever, so the show should be good, right? At least fun, right? Hey, it’s Iron Man tech. It can’t be that bad!
Daredevil will be the controversial ranking here; I know everyoooooone is excited to see Charlie Cox in the MCU, and I am too! But not that excited. I’m hoping I like it better than the original Netflix series, but time will tell.
Agatha Harkness was really fun in WandaVision (except for that finale which we give the Bruno treatment: we don’t talk about it), so I’m expecting her show to have some fun moments (and hopefully a song or two). Plus, Aubrey Plaza has joined the cast so I am automatically in.
Then there was Echo. I do not care at all about this show and it may be the first MCU project I don’t watch. Who wants this? I didn’t like her in Hawkeye, and they did nothing to convince me she needs to be a featured character in any capacity. Yawn.
Now let’s rank the films (in terms of excitement) of Phase 5!
1- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
2- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
3- The Marvels
4- Blade
5- Captain America: New World Order
6- Thunderbolts
This first ranking may age quite poorly in a couple days, but I’m still holding out hope that this movie rocks. I loved the original Ant-Man, and I truly believe Kang will be a better villain than even Thanos. So, I am quite ready for this movie! Hopefully all the critics are wrong, but I’ll know for sure in about 44 hours as of writing this!
Dear James Gunn: If you harm one hair on Rocket’s head, I swear to God I will never watch another DC movie (except for Pattinson Batman movies, of course I’ll watch you!). Guardians 3 looks like a royal kick in the nuts, and I cannot wait for it.
The Marvels will hopefully be a big step up from Captain Marvel, one of my least favorite MCU films. With the two big additions, I think this could be a lot of fun and make us (finally) embrace Brie Larson as Captain Marvel!
Blade has been in movie hell for years it feels like, and I’m not entirely sure I’ll believe it’s going to come out until I’m sitting in the theater watching it. But if it does, I think Ali is going to knock it out of the park.
Cap 4 could be a trainwreck. Can we all agree it’s essentially going to be the same thing as his show just 18 months ago? 2024 could be a very rough year for MCU movies, and this could really be a bomb. And that title? Terrible.
And finally there’s Thunderbolts, which is something I couldn’t care less about. It feels like this should be a show, doesn’t it? Is this movie really going to propel the multiversal Kang plot forward? Seems unlikely. And you’re taking two of the worst villains the MCU has had in Ghost and TaskMaster and putting them in this group… that isn’t moving my needle. At all.
Now let’s hand out some more specific preseason awards for the Phase 5 properties:
Most Exciting New Character (TV):
Emilia Clarke’s character in Secret Invasion
I have no clue who she’s playing, I’m just hoping it’s something similar to Dany. If it is, then we are in for a delight.
Most Exciting Villain (TV):
Kingpin
To be honest, I’m not really sure of any other show villains except for Kingpin, so this wasn’t exactly a competitive category. But I am genuinely excited to see his dynamic with Daredevil, and how it compares to the original show.
Most Confusing Show:
Agatha: Coven of Chaos
What is this show? Why do we need this show? I think it could be good, but what is the point? And who is Aubrey Plaza playing? I have a lot of questions about this show, and I’m not confident I’ll get any answers either.
Highest Ceiling Show:
Daredevil: Born Again
While it’s low in my anticipation rankings, I do think this has the potential to be the best show the MCU has ever done. If they nail Daredevil and Kingpin, this show could be great.
Lowest Floor Show:
Echo
This category almost implies that there is a ceiling for this show, which there is not. This will not be a good show. Or a fun show. Or a successful show. Just put her in the Daredevil series and scrap this.
Most Exciting New Character (Film):
Blade (Blade)
They have a great actor in the role, and this is a very different character than anything we have currently in the MCU. Phase 5 is mainly focusing on legacy characters, but Blade should be a welcomed fresh face.
Most Exciting Villain (Film):
Kang the Conqueror (everything)
Duh.
Most Confusing Film:
Captain America: New World Order
Are we going to see Old Man Cap? What role will Bucky play? Are we going to have to see Sam earn the shield for a 3rd time? And most importantly, will Harrison Ford Hulk out??? Lots of questions, and I’m expecting lots of disappointing answers.
Highest Ceiling Film:
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
This movie is likely the best bet to be the highest rated Phase 5 film both from critics and fans, and is a safe bet to be the highest grossing film of the Phase. DON’T YOU DARE KILL ROCKET JAMES GUNN. DON’T YOU DARE!
Lowest Floor Film:
Thunderbolts
This is the MCU version of the Island of Misfit Toys; a bunch of villains and anti-heroes that with a few exceptions… we really don’t care about all that much. This I think is a very safe bet to be the lowest grossing film of the Phase, and maybe the lowest grossing MCU film in a very long time. But if we get more Zemo dances, I might be won over.
And finally, let’s wrap up the Phase 5 entrance polls by making some story predictions for the next 2 years of the MCU!
Rhodey Becomes President of the United States…
This prediction isn’t one that I think will be particularly crucial to the Kang story, but it’s just one I would love to see. He has military & political experience, he’s a hero, and he’s awesome. Vote for Rhodey!
The Fantastic Four Save Ant-Man…
Again, this could age horribly in a matter of hours. But I’m betting that Kang busts out of the Quantum Realm at the end of Quantumania and he leaves Scott Lang behind. My guess is that the Fantastic Four will be the ones to save Scott and bring him back into the fight against Kang(s) in the next Avengers film!
Kang Goes On His Own Time Heist…
Once Kang gets out of the Quantum Realm, I think he’s going to be upset. I think Avengers: Kang Dynasty will be very similar to Endgame in that Kang will be traveling through time like the Avengers did to get the stones, eviscerating Avengers left and right in every universe and every timeline. I think we’ll see him go back to some of our favorite moments in MCU history and kill our beloved heroes. And it will be terrifying, but also kinda thrilling.
Dr. Strange Unites the Avengers Against Kang…
And now that Kang is killing off Avengers faster than Netflix can kill off beloved shows mid-cliffhanger, someone should probably stop him, right? Now that Dr. Strange has learned that dreams are other universes, I think we’ll get a scene of him seeing hundreds of Avengers dying over and over again in his dreams, realize what’s happening, and he will be the one to assemble the Avengers to try and stop Kang.
Sam Wilson Recruits Old Cap To Fight Kang…
We’re getting Tony and Steve again, right? I’m not saying we should, but we definitely are. And given that we are, what better way than to see Old Man Cap waddle over to a quantum tunnel and go back in time to fight Kang because he in fact can do this for all days. Always. (see what I did there, combining his catchphrase with the Loki slogan? Yeah it wasn’t as good as I thought. Oh well).
There you have it! The MCU Phase 5 Entrance Polls are in! Now it’s time to see how things play out over the next two years! Check back in periodically to see what’s next for Marvel content here at The Circuit!