Ever since the conclusion of the Infinity Saga that made up the first three Phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, fans have been waiting to find out just what the focus will be for Phase 4. With no villain appearing as a front runner and such a wide range of projects promised, fans remain as baffled now as they were after watching Avengers: Endgame. But the more details emerge, the more the direction for the MCU becomes clear: Straight into the multiverse, and anywhere from there.
Endgame itself opened up the opportunity to explore alternate timelines and universes, but Loki's appearance in the Time Variance Authority prison uniform in a Marvel-centric Disney+ Super Bowl promo certified that the subject matter would serve as the focus of his upcoming self-titled series. The TVA of the comics is an organization of time cops that keeps all of reality in line, and the fact a past-timeline Loki wielding the Space Stone with reckless abandon would attract their attention is no great surprise.
But the introduction of the TVA possibly plays expertly into a meta-strategy on Marvel's part. In the comics, the TVA was staffed by cloned counterparts to Marvel's own editors, Mark Gruenwald and Tom DeFalco, both of whom acted as continuity experts responsible for making the Marvel Universe fit together. But in the context of the MCU, integrating the TVA allows the MCU to create and cultivate the continuity that they want. That could include introducing new elements, or getting rid of old ones.
Certainly the title of the upcoming movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness promises an exploration of the multiverse the MCU already set up, and between that movie and Loki there is no doubt that there are infinite worlds of possibility for the characters to explore. Marvel could try casting different actors in different roles, or play up different origins for preexisting characters or debut new characters in a trial run that kept them "safe" from becoming a permanent fixture in the MCU until they were proven to be fan-favorites.
The same possibilities certainly seem apparent in the What If... and Marvel Zombies series, both of which will likely take place entirely within alternate realities divorced from the franchise's main continuity. But if Loki introduces a TVA that takes responsibility for policing what is "right" and "wrong" with reality, then the possibility seems entirely open for the most popular What If... characters or concepts to be "corrected" back into the main timeline.
Logically, the kinds of corrections the TVA could create work both ways. Not only could new concepts and ideas be integrated into the main canon if Marvel felt they would be successful, but old ideas already in the canon could be scrapped and treated as a "wrong" the TVA sought to right. One possible example would be the death of Black Widow, who gave her life in Endgame but is all set to star in her own movie. If the movie were to do extremely well, and if its lead actress Scarlett Johansson were willing to do more movies, why wouldn't Marvel do what it needed to bring her back?
While Black Widow is set to explore a slice of the character's past, with time travel and alternate realities on the table, her death really wouldn't be a limitation if the film were to set up her re-entry into the main universe. Fans fully expect to get weird reality-warping/time-hopping shenanigans in Doctor Strange and Loki, but hitting them with it in a more grounded spy-thriller like Black Widow would really hit home Marvel's commitment to its new "anything goes" direction.
With so many eyes watching the franchise waiting to see what will happen next, opting for the unexpected may be the best bet. Certainly the expectation up until now was for Marvel to lean into the cosmic side of its mythos. After all, Guardians of the Galaxy introduced a vast array of species, cultures and concepts still ripe for exploration. But while the many galaxies of Marvel's spaceways hold a dizzying number of possibilities, there's no competing with the infinity offered by the multiverse.
Clearly, exploring the multiverse would mean anything is possible in the MCU. Not only does the decision create countless creative concepts that allow filmmakers to take their stories wherever they dream without being beholden to continuity, but from a business perspective, it allows Marvel to manage its inter-connected movie universe with more control than ever.
Directed by Cate Shortland, Black Widow stars Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Florence Pugh stars as Yelena Belova, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, O-T Fagbenle as Rick Mason and Rachel Weisz as Melina. The film arrives in theaters May 1.
The Disney+ series Loki is planned for release in 2021 and will feature six episodes. In addition to Tom Hiddleston, the series will star Owen Wilson, Sophia Di Martino and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.