As Marvel Studios prepares for its massive new slate of movies and TV shows arriving in Phase 4, one of the biggest points of focus for the franchise is a renewed sense of continuity between individual stories. This is going to be especially true as the new set of series begin premiering on Disney+, and CCO Kevin Feige has been adamant that they will have deep, interwoven connections with the full length films that release on the big screen.
The first of these new Disney+ shows, WandaVision, will immediately test this concept upon its release in the next few months. During the Phase 4 reveals at last year's San Diego Comic Con and D23, teases were laid out that this new mini-series would have a direct tie-in with Sam Raimi's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, most notably that Elizabeth Olsen will star in both projects as Scarlet Witch.
Due to the MCU's release schedule shuffling so many times over the past few months, maintaining the continuity between these series could possibly be a challenge, although a new article on WandaVision is detailing how aware of this fact Marvel Studios is...
NEWS
In the new WandaVision cover edition of Entertaiment Weekly, new details were released on how Marvel Studios has had to ensure the continuity of Phase 4 through the midst of multiple delays in 2020.
Multiple Phase 4 properties have shuffled around each other in the release schedule, although the new article includes this quote laying out how Marvel is planning to work through this hurdle:
With the pandemic shuffling release dates, Marvel is also taking extra care to ensure the new schedule won't spoil story continuity.
WHAT THIS MEANS
The article doesn't give any specific details on how Marvel is ensuring the safety of Phase 4's continuity, but it's an exciting sign that this is such a major focus as Phase 4's debut draws closer. Even outside of the connections that WandaVision will have with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, other reports have discussed how intent Disney and Marvel are on integrating the upcoming movies and Disney+ shows with each other. One of the most prominent of these examples is Kamala Khan making an appearance in Captain Marvel 2 after starring in Ms. Marvel on Disney+, and there are sure to be more details releasing as more shows and movies debut.
Fans are already highly anticipating seeing the way Wanda Maximoff transitions from her starring role on Disney+ to her next major MCU movie, especially knowing that her powers are going to become exponentially more explosive as Phase 4 begins. Now that WandaVision is going to be the first Disney+ series to premiere, instead of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, it will be interesting to find out how exactly the show will fit into the MCU timeline, and especially how it will tie in with the Doctor Strange sequel.
As Phase 4 begins with WandaVision, fans are already eagerly looking forward to how the MCU continues with so many new movies and shows becoming so intertwined with each other. WandaVision is set to premiere on Disney+ in the near future, hopefully by the end of 2020, while Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will premiere in theaters on March 25, 2022.
