Avengers: Endgame marked the end of the Infinity saga, which spanned over the last 10 years. Phase four is the beginning of a new era for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The journeys of titular characters who shaped the MCU from the very beginning, such as Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Widow, were concluded, leaving fans curious about what direction the franchise would take.

Many MCU fans chose to use quarantine as a time to watch old Marvel content before the releases of shows such as WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

“During the pandemic, probably about three weeks into when everything was shut down,… [my wife and I] walked to the Red Box, picked up a DVD, and brought it back. We [did] this maybe like, three or four times a week for like the following five weeks, and we got through all the Marvel movies,” physics teacher William Thomas said.

The new phase started with the highly anticipated Wandavision. The nine-episode series was a new format for Marvel Studios, as it twisted the format of classic sitcom television and each episode chronologically progressed through different decades.

“I watched WandaVision; it was a very odd take on sitcom television, which I enjoyed,” Thomas said. “It [also] left a lot of [unanswered] questions.” 

Many people found the series to be quite odd at first, but it quickly became a fan favorite.

“At the beginning, [WandaVision] was super confusing. A lot of people found that annoying, but I thought it was really cool how you could predict what was going to happen on your own,” sophomore Libby Salopek said.

The next phase four project was the six-episode series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The show simultaneously tackled big themes like racism, police brutality, and war crimes, while dealing with the continuation of the Captain America storyline with the absence of Steve Rodgers.

“I like the Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I think [Sam Wilson’s] origin story is really cool and he is a complete savage. He can go blow for blow with just about anyone,” junior Brigham Devore said.

With Loki set to be released on June 9 and the Black Widow movie being released just a month after that, Marvel fans have plenty to look forward to. 

“I am definitely most excited for the individual movies, especially Black Widow because she died and she hasn’t even had her own movie yet,” Salopek said.