MCU: Top 5 Predictions for Marvel at San Diego Comic-Con 2022

by Miller C. Lashbrook

San Diego Comic-Con is this week, July 20-24. The convention begins this evening in San Diego and concludes on Sunday. Throughout the week at various booths and panels, entertainment companies will use this flagship fandom event to make announcements and drop trailers. One company known for its Comic-Con presentations is Marvel Studios. Three years ago Marvel Studios shared the ultimate presentation with tons of reveals, including the chart of Phase Four below, plus the announcements of plans for mutants, Fantastic Four, and Blade.

While fans have since gotten all 10 of those projects, we all know that things did not exactly go as planned. This year is the first year since to have a full San Diego Comic-Con, so many fans are expecting some big things, especially since most of the announced Phase Four slate has been released. I would also caution fans from getting super excited, however, because Marvel Studios will be having another huge presentation in September at Disney’s D23 convention. Another thing to note before going into this list is that for the first time Marvel Studios will have a separate Comic-Con panel for animation.

So, this list below (in no particular order) will act as my 5 predictions for Marvel Studios’ announcements at San Diego Comic-Con 2022.

1. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will get a trailer – Above all else, the easiest prediction to make for Marvel and Comic-Con is the release of a teaser/trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. I think this is inevitable because it is the only movie for this year that has yet to release and it has yet to have a trailer. The movie is coming out in November of this year, so it is only a matter of time for a trailer. Marvel has also hinted on social media that they will be dropping things related to the movie.
2. Either a trailer for X-Men ’97 or What If…? Season 2 – Friday at 11:45 AM PST Marvel Studios is having a panel focused on their animation. The official description explicitly mentions X-Men ’97, What If…? Season 2, and Marvel Zombies. I would venture to guess that with the recent uses of the X-Men ’97 theme, there will be some sort of trailer or reveal for this revival of X-Men: the Animated Series. If that series does not get a trailer, I could see them giving us something from What If…? Season 2.
3. A Release date for Secret Invasion – Fans have known about the Secret Invasion series for quite some time now, and the show filmed quite some time ago, so for many fans it has seemed odd that we have yet to get a release date announcement for Secret Invasion. Some have said that the show will release in late 2022, others have said that it is coming next year, so it is unclear when we are getting the show. The other strange thing is that after She-Hulk: Attorney at Law in August, there is no Marvel content slated for Disney+ for the rest of 2022. I think it would be the perfect time to get an update and maybe teaser for the series.
4. Direction for the MCU – One of the biggest complaints of the MCU’s Phase Four has been a lack of direction. Many fans have felt like the recent movies are pushing the story forward some, but to what end? During the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness press tour, Kevin Feige revealed that there was going to be a Marvel Studios retreat where the creators and executives would create a new 10-year plan for the MCU. I think a major focus of the panel will be recentering fan expectation on where the overall MCU story is going, with things leading to some sort of Avengers film type event.
5. At least one casting surprise – Some close to Marvel are reporting that the Comic-Con panel will focus on things already announced and that the D23 panel will focus on announcing new things. However, Marvel Studios has learned that one of the easiest ways to get fans fired up is to make a casting announcement. I think that there will be at least one new casting announcement. I don’t think this will be Wolverine, even though many are trying to speculate about that, but it could be a mutant. It could also be Fantastic Four related, perhaps Doctor Doom.

Above all else, I hope that this week’s Marvel Studios news gets fans excited for the future of the MCU since the past couple of months have been a little bumpy for the fandom.