Natalie Portman as Thor and a Blade reboot: Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe explained

As Avengers Endgame became the highest grossing film ever, Marvel shares details on the next phase of the MCU

Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow gets her own movie, while Angelina Jolie joins a star-studded cast for The Eternals

Reading Time:3 minutes

From left: Brian Tyree Henry, Tessa Thompson, Chris Hemsworth, Taika Waititi, Angelina Jolie, Lia McHugh and Natalie Portman at the Marvel Studios Panel at 2019 Comic-Con International. Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images/AFP

Published: 11:35am, 22 Jul 2019Updated: 5:52pm, 22 Jul 2019

The Marvel Cinematic Universe certainly had a super weekend. Avengers: Endgame finally surpassed Avatar at the box office, making it the top grossing film of all time. As of Sunday, the comic-book film grossed US$2.79 billion to Avatar’s US$2.789 billion.

“A huge congratulations to the Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Studios teams, and thank you to the fans around the world who lifted Avengers: Endgame to these historic heights,” Disney Studios co-chairman and chief creative officer Alan Horn said.

The timing couldn’t have been better. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige announced the news Saturday from a stage at Comic-Con in San Diego, before detailing the films comprising Phase 4 of the MCU, which includes a female Thor played by Natalie Portman and a Blade reboot helmed by two-time Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali. (Phase 3 ended with Spider-Man: Far from Home .)

Here’s everything we learned about Phase 4 of the Marvel franchise, broken down by movie.

From left: Florence Pugh, O.T. Fagbenle, Rachel Weisz and Scarlett Johansson talk about Black Widow at Comic-Con International. Photo: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

Black Widow (May 1, 2020)