MCU 2024 Wishlist: 10 Things Marvel Fans Want

While the Marvel Cinematic Universe is taking an uncharacteristically slow approach in 2024 regarding content, there are still several wishes that could come true for Marvel fans in the coming year. Given the delays caused by Marvel Studios and the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes of 2023, the only Marvel movie with a 2024 release date is Deadpool 3. The likes of Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts were pushed back to 2025, meaning Deadpool 3‘s story will find itself strangely alone concerning 2024’s Marvel release schedule.

Alongside Deadpool 3, however, will be two upcoming Marvel TV shows. Echo will drop on Disney+ in January 2024 while the Agatha Harkness spin-off will be released in the fall of the same year. As such, 2024 is proving to be an unconventional year for Marvel Studios as the franchise attempts to lift itself out of its recent slump. Despite the lack of content, 2024 can still bring a lot of announcements that would tick off the wish lists of millions of Marvel fans across the globe.

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10 Confirmation Of The Avengers Line-Up For Avengers 5 & 6

The Avengers have been frozen out of the MCU for far too long.

Since Avengers: Endgame, the Avengers have been largely absent from the MCU. 2024 will mark five years since the team last appeared in any capacity, the longest gap without the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in the franchise’s history. While the MCU film and TV releases will not fix this, an official announcement of the team for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars would. The two Avengers movies were announced at SDCC 2022 yet little has been revealed about either since then besides their respective titles. In 2024, Marvel Studios could ease this continued wait for the Avengers by confirming the line-up of the team’s next iteration.

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9 The Answer To Whether Kang The Conqueror Will Be Recast Or Not

What will happen concerning the Multiverse Saga’s primary antagonist?

Kang the Conqueror was confirmed as the Multiverse Saga’s overarching villain at SDCC 2022. This was met with much excitement, though this soon dissipated when actor Jonathan Majors was arrested in March 2023 on domestic violence charges. Majors was found guilty and fired from the role in December 2023, meaning it has been increasingly unclear what direction the MCU would take with Kang. While the well-being of the victims involved in the case is of paramount importance, an announcement from Marvel about whether Kang will be recast or another character will take his place as the Multiverse Saga’s antagonist would not be unwelcome in 2024.

8 Marvel Studios To Stick To The Planned TV Overhaul

The MCU’s future depends on Marvel’s ability to stick to its new plan.

In October 2023, a damning report from Variety was released concerning the upcoming slate of MCU TV shows. According to the report, the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes of 2023 allowed Marvel Studios to look at the status of upcoming TV productions. The executives in question were reportedly unhappy with multiple ongoing productions, leading Marvel to initiate an entire overhaul of the studio’s TV productions. From returning to a more classic, longer-form TV format to hiring showrunners and committed writers, Marvel’s announcement brought hope that future TV projects would be held to a higher standard.

While this announcement was welcome, it only matters if Marvel Studios sticks to the plan. 2024 will be the year in which Marvel can prove whether the studio will commit to their new model, or whether TV productions will continue to slump downwards regarding quality. While Echo and Agatha are complete and will not reflect this change, 2024’s various reports and insights into the shows that are affected will hopefully show signs of progression.

7 More Grounded MCU Stories To Expand The Universe

The MCU’s tone needs to explore darker stories.

Primarily through Echo, 2024 will allow the MCU to explore more grounded stories. While the franchise has always employed a lighter tone even in the Infinity Saga, the balance of comedic and serious elements has been lost of late. However, 2024 can provide shows that follow a more serious tone like Echo, or updates on future projects that will do the same. Through these darker stories, the MCU can expand the universe in a way that resonates more with fans and general audiences.

6 2024’s Delayed MCU Movies To Be Produced To A High Quality

The delayed 2024 movies need to prove they were pushed back for good reason.

As alluded to previously, Captain America: New World Order and Thunderbolts were initially scheduled for 2024 release dates. However, both projects were delayed to 2025 in the latter months of 2023. The reason for this stemmed from the 2023 strikes delaying production, but also the poor test screenings scored by Captain America: New World Order. Similar to the announced TV overhaul, these delays allow Marvel the opportunity to spend more time crafting each feature film to a higher quality.

The arguably rushed stream of content that has come from the MCU since Avengers: Endgame is often labeled as one of the contributing factors to the series’ decline in quality. In delaying two 2024 movies to 2025, each one can benefit. In the case of Captain America: New World Order, reshoots can be completed to fix the aspects of the film that were negatively received in test screenings. Concerning Thunderbolts, another major chunk of time can be dedicated to perfecting the film’s script before production begins in mid-2024.

5 Better Overall MCU TV Productions

Can the woes of 2023’s Secret Invasion be prevented going forward?

While both Echo and Agatha were produced before Marvel’s TV overhaul, a Marvel fan wish for 2024 is that both are better in terms of overall quality. Both productions show promise, with Echo leaning into a darker tone which has appealed to MCU fans, and Agatha being made by the team behind WandaVision, one of the best MCU Disney+ shows. If both can prove to be better than the likes of Secret Invasion from 2023, a long-standing wish for 2024 will be granted by Marvel.

4 The Official Announcement Of The MCU’s Fantastic Four Cast

The long-awaited actors for Marvel’s First Family can finally be confirmed in 2024.

Since the announcement of an MCU Fantastic Four movie in 2019, audiences have been eagerly awaiting confirmation of the film’s cast. Since then, Marvel has been criticized for announcing a project that was not even close to being cast, let alone being placed into production. Regardless, Fantastic Four‘s development has been slowly progressing until a release date of May 2025 was confirmed. With production expected to begin in 2024, the cast will also likely be announced. The Fantastic Four are some of the most beloved Marvel characters, meaning the anticipation for their actors combined with the long wait since 2019 means 2024 can finally deliver on this MCU fan wish.

3 Deadpool 3 To Cap Off The Trilogy In Style

Will Marvel’s X-Men and MCU hybrid trilogy have a satisfying conclusion?

Concerning the sole feature film release of 2024, the only MCU wish for Deadpool 3 is for it to end the trilogy in a satisfying way. Deadpool 3 is highly anticipated, from the confirmed return of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine alongside Ryan Reynolds’ titular mercenary to the promise of MCU and X-Men crossovers. As such, one of the only things being wished for regarding the film in 2024 is that it follows the tone, style, and, most importantly, quality of its two predecessors.

2 An Official Announcement Of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man 4

The MCU’s Spider-Man content could receive a significant boost in 2024.

Since 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home completed the MCU’s first Spidey trilogy, an announcement of another trilogy featuring Tom Holland has been widely anticipated. That said, the continued exploits of the MCU and Sony’s Spider-Man Universe have meant that production on Spider-Man 4 is yet to be confirmed. That said, 2024 could easily provide this confirmation. Marvel will likely use 2024 as a year to somewhat course correct, from quality-checking 2025’s movies to overhauling the studio’s TV productions. As such, one of the easiest course corrections that fans also wish for is confirmation of more stories featuring Marvel’s most popular superhero, starting with Spider-Man 4.

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1 More Clarity On Phase 6’s Stories

More movies and shows need to join Avengers 5 and 6.

One of the more glaring errors with Marvel announcing Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars as early as the studio did was the inevitable changes to schedule, production, and what stories will be told in the Multiverse Saga. As a result of these natural setbacks, Avengers 5 and 6 are still the only two projects confirmed for Phase 6 of the MCU, set for release in 2026 and 2027 respectively. With Marvel seemingly being committed to streamlining the studio’s content, more clarity on the other stories that will make up Phase 6 would be welcome.

The likes of Deadpool 3, Captain America 4, Fantastic Four, Thunderbolts, and Blade have been listed as upcoming releases by Marvel Studios for years now, meaning that these films will likely be part of Phase 5 and are all in various stages of production. As such, eyes will soon be turning to Phase 6 for both MCU fans and the creators at Marvel Studios. In 2024, a wish that could be granted is the official Phase 6 slate. While this may be subject to changes, more updates on how the Multiverse Saga will culminate in the MCU will not be unwelcome.