As the Black Widow. The franchise's confirmed slate is comprised of familiar and brand new faces - some of them are set to move forward to take on the spots vacated by the universe's inaugural figures.
Capping off the Infinity Saga last year with Joe and Anthony Russo's Spider-Man: Far From Home functioning as an epilogue, the MCU is set to tread new territory with a fresh overall narrative. As the culminating films mark the end of the journeys of some of their inaugural characters such as Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), and Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff), the universe is introducing a string of fresh characters who are expected to become of the next face of the franchise. While entirely new players like the Eternals and Shang-Chi are confirmed to the universe with their respective origin stories on the docket, Marvel Studios is also actively setting up the replacement for their original heroes with characters who either already exist in the film series or are still soon to debut.
As Marvel moves forward toward unchartered territories, fans can expect a new roster of heroes spearheading the universe against its next big villain. Here are all the MCU replacement heroes set to debut in Phase 4.
Sam Wilson as Captain America
At the end of Avengers: Endgame, Steve Rogers brings back all six Infinity Stones to their respective times and places to prevent creating branches of reality. Using Quantum technology, Cap travels back in time only to return as a much older man. Apparently, after accomplishing his goal, he traveled further back to the '40s to reunite with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) and together they lived a full life. He only returned to the primary MCU timeline to the shield and the Captain America mantle to his chosen successor - Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie).
It won't be an easy transition for Sam, however, as hinted by what's revealed about John Walker/U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell) who's supposedly the government's personal choice to wield the iconic shield.
Jane Foster as Mighty Thor
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) may have come out of Avengers: Endgame unscathed, but a brand new version of the character is set to take over his mantle in Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) in Taika Waititi's Thor: The Dark World and in a voice cameo in Endgame.
Announced during last year's San Diego Comic-ConLove and Thunder, mining narrative inspiration from Jason Aaron's Mighty Thor series, which ran from 2015 to 2018 tackling Jane assuming the superhero mantle. Specifics about how she's going to be incorporated back into the MCU are still scant at the moment, but with New Asgard now on Earth, it's much easier for the character to come into with the Asgardians. As for Thor, after ing on leadership of Asgard to Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Thor ed the Guardians of the Galaxy at the end of Avengers: Endgame.
Yelena Belova as Black Widow
Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) is in the unique position as the only MCU hero who has already died but with a standalone film still coming via Cate Shortland's Black Widow. Sacrificing her life in Vormir for the Soul Stone in Avengers: Endgame, Black Widow's solo adventure is set during the two years between Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz), and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), who is rumored to take on the primary Black Widow mantle in the MCU.
In the comics, Yelena went through the same training program as Natasha to be Black Widow. Marvel Studios seems to be adapting this on the big screen with Pugh's character also aware of the Red Room and is also dubbed as another Black Widow.
She-Hulk
After Hulk refused to come out after his defeat at the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War, Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) was successfully able to combine both of his personas, becoming Smart Hulk. This allowed him to sport the secondary infinity gauntlet and bring back those who perished due to Thanos' (Josh Brolin) snap five years prior, getting away with only a charred arm. It's unclear what role he'll play following the Infinity Saga, but the actor recently confirmed that talks are happening for him to appears as the Hulk on the She-Hulk series which will introduce fans to the titular character - Jennifer Susan Walters.
No actress has been cast for She-Hulk and there's no confirmed release date on Disney+. In the comic books, Jennifer is a tough, no-nonsense lawyer who spends her spare time as She-Hulk. She gains her powers following a blood transfusion from her cousin, Bruce. The Hulk doesn't typically factor in She-Hulk print storylines, but Marvel Studios can change that to better link the two characters. Bruce can even play somewhat of a mentor role to Jennifer as she navigates through the similar situation he went through.
Kate Bishop
Unlike the Hulk, Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) is set to get his mentee with the impending introduction of Kate Bishop in the MCU via the Disney+ series, with a brand new persona - the ruthless samurai, Ronin. Thanks to the time heist, which offered him the chance to bring back those who perished in the Blip, Clint returned to his tamer persona, ing his fellow Earth's Mightiest Heroes in the quest to resurrect half of life in the galaxy affected by the snap. By the end of the movie, he retired back on his farm with his family.
There's still one more narrative on the docket for Hawkeye in the MCU, however. As confirmed at Marvel Studios' Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con, he'll appear in Hawkeye on Disney+ where fans will also meet Kate Bishop. Comic book readers know that Kate is the daughter of a businessman who dabbles in illegal deals. Following her assault at Central Park, she took it upon herself to ensure that she'll never be vulnerable again. Kate trained in martial arts and eventually assumed the name of Hawkeye when Clint is presumed t0 be dead.
Interestingly, the only Marvel Phase 1 hero who doesn't have a direct contemporary is Iron Man. There are rumors that the franchise is looking to introduce Riri Williams/Iron Heart, but no credible reports back this up just yet. Regardless, considering the roster of characters the MCU will have moving forward, there's no rush to introduce any replacement for Tony Stark at this point.
