The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a media franchise and shared universe that is the setting of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios, based on characters that appear in Marvel Comics publications. Phases One, Two, and Three, were known as "The Infinity Saga", featuring many franchises and their sequels, and the first four Avengers crossover films. [1] [2] Phase Four features four sequels to earlier films and three new film properties, [3] with Phase Five set to include four sequels and two new properties, [4] and Phase Six intended to feature two sequels and two new properties, including the crossover films Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027). [5] [6] Phases Four, Five, and Six comprise "The Multiverse Saga". [6]
Contents
- The Infinity Saga
- The Multiverse Saga
- Phase Four
- Phase Five
- Phase Six
- Future
- Introduced in The Infinity Saga 4
- Introduced in The Multiverse Saga
- Introduced in Blade
- See also
- Notes
- References
- External links
- Phase Four films
- Phase Five films
- Phase Six films
As the franchise is composed of films adapted from a variety of Marvel Comics properties, there are multiple lead actors. Chris Hemsworth headlined as Thor in the Thor films in the Infinity Saga and again in Thor: Love and Thunder (2022); Chris Pratt portrays the lead character, Peter Quill / Star-Lord, in the Guardians of the Galaxy films and returns for its sequel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) and joined Hemsworth in Thor: Love and Thunder; Paul Rudd stars as Scott Lang / Ant-Man and Evangeline Lilly co-stars as Hope van Dyne / Wasp in the Ant-Man films, with both actors returning for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023); Benedict Cumberbatch portrays Stephen Strange and appears again in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022); Tom Holland portrays Peter Parker / Spider-Man in the Spider-Man films and returns in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) where he is joined by Cumberbatch; and Brie Larson portrays Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel and appears again in The Marvels (2023), along with Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel and Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau.
After appearing in supporting roles in the Infinity Saga, Scarlett Johansson stars as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow in Black Widow (2021), Letitia Wright stars as Shuri / Black Panther in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), Anthony Mackie stars as Sam Wilson / Captain America in Captain America: Brave New World (2025), and Don Cheadle will star as James Rhodes / War Machine in Armor Wars . Simu Liu stars as Shang-Chi in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), while Gemma Chan headlines as Sersi in the ensemble film Eternals (2021). Ryan Reynolds stars as Wade Wilson / Deadpool and Hugh Jackman co-stars as James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine in Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), both reprising their roles from the X-Men film series produced by 20th Century Fox. Florence Pugh will lead the ensemble film Thunderbolts* (2025) as Yelena Belova, Pedro Pascal is set to lead the ensemble film The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) as Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic and is also set to appear in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. Mahershala Ali is set to headline Blade as Blade.
Multiple other cast members recur across multiple films and series within the franchise, while the Multiverse Saga prominently features several actors reprising their roles from prior non-MCU Marvel films produced by Fox, New Line Cinema, and Sony Pictures. In addition to Reynolds and Jackman, these include Thomas Haden Church, Willem Dafoe, Jamie Foxx, Andrew Garfield, Tom Hardy, Rhys Ifans, Tobey Maguire, Alfred Molina and J. K. Simmons in No Way Home, Patrick Stewart in Multiverse of Madness, Kelsey Grammer in The Marvels, and Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, Chris Evans, Jennifer Garner, Brianna Hildebrand, Stefan Kapičić, Dafne Keen, Shioli Kutsuna, Tyler Mane, Wesley Snipes, Karan Soni, Aaron Stanford, Lewis Tan, and Leslie Uggams in Deadpool & Wolverine. The list below is sorted by film and the character's surname, as some characters have been portrayed by multiple actors. All characters that have made appearances in other MCU media, such as the short films, television series, or digital series, are noted.
