Marvel Studios and its owner Walt Disney (DIS  ) are enjoying 2019 as another blockbuster year. According to Box Office Mojo, "Captain Marvel," released on March 8, made $1.128 billion globally. "Avengers: Endgame," released on April 26, shattered the previous world record with a worldwide gross of $2.793 billion. And "Spider-Man: Far from Home," released with Sony (SNE  ) on July 2, has already topped $1.036 billion globally in just a month. But Marvel has more new ideas for its millions of fans. At the San Diego Comic-Con on July 20, Marvel president Kevin Feige unveiled the ambitious Phase 4, meant to usher in a new generation of superheroes and stories after Iron Man (Tony Stark) and Captain America (Steve Rogers) received their bittersweet endings. Phase 4 will span diverse content scheduled for 2022 and beyond.

A few feature films are in the Marvel pipeline. First is "Black Widow," a prequel that focuses on Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff) in her life and friendship with Hawkeye (Clint Barton) before "Avengers: Infinity War." Scarlett Johansson's main villain will be Taskmaster, a character who can mirror any move against him. "Black Widow" has a tentative premiere of May 1, 2020. Second is "Eternals," an ensemble cast film about a group of immortals related to Avengers archenemy Thanos. The film will be directed by Chloe Zhao, star Angelina Jolie, Kumail Nanjiani, and Salma Hayek, and be released on November 6, 2020. Next is "Shang-Chi: And the Legend of the Ten Rings," which features the first Asian superhero. It will star Simu Liu and Tony Leung and has a debut date of February 12, 2020. Next is "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," a sequel to "Doctor Strange" that is being promoted as a horror flick. Its release date is May 7, 2021. Finally, Thor's story continues in "Thor: Love and Thunder," featuring Natalie Portman's return as Jane Foster. Taika Waititi will resume as director, and the premiere date is November 5, 2021. In 2022 and beyond, some potential prospects are "Black Panther 2," Captain Marvel 2", and "Guardians of the Galaxy 3," as well as remakes of "Blade" and "Fantastic Four."

Marvel will also add new content to Disney's upcoming video streaming platform Disney+. First is "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," a spy thriller show that will follow Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes after "Endgame." It debuts next fall. Second is "WandaVision," which focuses on Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) and her lover Vision. Third is "Loki," a show about Loki after he vanishes in "Endgame." Both shows will be released spring 2021. Next is "What If?," a counterfactual animated series that hypothetical situations involving the Avengers. It will premiere in summer 2021. Finally, "Hawkeye" features the hero taking on his protégé Kate Bishop. It will premiere in fall 2021. There was no update on the four Marvel shows on Netflix (NFLX  ), but "Daredevil," "Jessica Jones," "Luke Cage," and "Iron Fist" can be assumed done after the announcement of Disney+ shows.

When Disney bought Marvel a decade ago for $4 billion, few people expected the studio would achieve historic cinema success. Today the Marvel Cinematic Universe films have grossed over $22 billion at the box office, and Disney has earned over $18.2 billion from Marvel movies. Together with billions in toys, merchandise, and home video sales, Disney's Marvel purchase produced outsize returns. It has also created loyal fans across the world as Marvel readies Phase 4.

The author does not hold any positions in any of the securities above.