Marvel Phase 5 is officially over with its last project, Ironheart, coming to a close in shocking fashion.
Now that the dust has settled on the Multiverse Saga's middle chapter, we're here to recap the full as Marvel Studios expanded its growing roster of heroes and villains in one of its most experimental Phases to date.
Marvel Phase 5 release dates
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) [Disney Plus] - out now!
- Guardians of the Galaxy 3 (2023) [Disney Plus] - out now!
- Secret Invasion (2023) [Disney Plus] - out now!
- Loki season 2 (2023) [Disney Plus] - out now!
- The Marvels (2023) [Disney Plus] - out now!
- What If...? season 2 (2023) [Disney Plus] - out now!
- Echo (2024) [Disney Plus] - out now!
- Deadpool and Wolverine (2024) [Disney Plus] - out now!
- Agatha All Along (2024) [Disney Plus] - out now!
- What If? Season 3 (2024) [Disney Plus] - out now!
- Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (2025) [Disney Plus] - out now!
- Captain America: Brave New World (2025) [Disney Plus] - out now!
- Daredevil: Born Again (2025) [Disney Plus] - out now!
- Thunderbolts* (May 2, 2025, movie) - out now!
- Ironheart (2025)[ Disney Plus] - out now!
Marvel Phase 5 is packed with movies and shows – and takes us all the way up to early 2025. After Ironheart wrapped in early July, we're heading into Marvel Phase 6, where Fantastic Four ushers in the new mutant-heavy era.
Marvel Phase 5 recap: the story in full
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania kicked off Marvel Phase 5 with a multiversal bang. The film saw the ant-family pulled into the Quantum Realm after Cassie Lang created a device that could send a signal to the tiny universe. There, they came up against the terrifying Kang the Conqueror, who planned to traverse the multiverse, erasing entire timelines in his quest to stop the many, many Kang Variants from wrecking things any further.
Luckily, Scott Lang and Janet van Dyne were able to put a stop to his plans, though only just. Everyone made it back from the Quantum Realm in one piece, but Scott couldn't quite shake the feeling that the threat posed by Kang wasn't resolved after all...
Then, in the post-credits scenes, all of Kang's Variants gathered in one place, with the leaders intending to stop Marvel's heroes from getting any closer to the multiverse. Loki and Mobius, meanwhile, were seen tracking one Kang Variant in particular, Victor Timely.
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 marked the last chapter in the Guardians of the Galaxy story. And it's certainly an emotional send-off to everyone's favorite A-holes. The movie sees the team all back together again to try and save Rocket after he's mortally injured by Adam Warlock.
The team heads across the galaxy and teams up with Gamora and the Ravagers to try and find the code that will save Rocket. When he was created by the High Evolutionary, he was given a kill switch that stops anyone from being able to operate on him. Not only are they in a race against time to find this, but Chukwudi Iwuji's villain is also on their toes to try and take Rocket for himself.
We find out about his dodgy motives to create a perfect society and see them in action on Counter-Earth, as well as taking a heartbreaking trip through memory lane to find out how exactly Rocket was made. Thankfully, our beloved Guardians get the upper hand, taking down the High Evolutionary, saving Rocket, and also saving all the beings the big bad was experimenting on.
It was touch and go for a bit there with some of the characters, but almost everyone makes it out unscathed (here's what you need to know about who actually dies in Guardians 3). At the end of the movie, everyone heads off on their own paths: Peter Quill heads to Earth to find his grandfather; Mantis sets out to find herself; Drax and Nebula become parents to the rescued children; Gamora returns to the Ravagers, and Rocket, Groot, Cosmo the Spacedog, and Kraglin form the new Guardians of the Galaxy.
We get to see the Guardians hard at work in the mid-credits scene, where they're joined by Adam Warlock, Phyla-Vel, and Blurp. The final Guardians of the Galaxy post-credits scene sees Quill eating cereal with Granddad Jason before we learn that "Star-Lord will return".
For more on the movie, check out the Guardians of the Galaxy 3 ending explained, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 Easter eggs, and Guardians of the Galaxy 3 cameos.
The follow-up to Guardians of the Galaxy 3 was Secret Invasion, which saw Samuel L. Jackson return as Nick Fury. Working together with Skrull ally Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), Fury and co. were trying to prevent a renegade band of shapeshifting Skrulls from taking over Earth by impersonating important political figures. One of these rebels is G'iah (Emilia Clarke), who just so happens to be Talos' daughter, while the group are led by Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir).
After Talos persuades G'iah to join their cause as a double agent, she uses Gravik's new technology to turn herself into a Super Skrull, which means she can quickly regenerate from injuries. It turns out that Gravik is seeking out even more power, though – he's hunting down the Harvest, which is a collection of DNA from those who fought during the Battle of Earth in Avengers: Endgame (including the Hulk, Captain Marvel, and Thanos), put together and hidden by Fury.
G'iah uses the Harvest to power up (making her seemingly the strongest character in the MCU) before taking it to Gravik, disguised as Fury. She asks him to spare Earth and find a home for the Skrulls on another planet but, when he refuses, the two battle it out. G'iah kills Gravik, and the humans who have been held captive while the Skrulls use their likeness are freed – including Rhodey (Don Cheadle).
However, the struggle isn't quite over, with President Ritson issuing a new bill that declares all alien species on Earth as hostile, but MI6 agent Sonya (Olivia Colman) proposes a partnership to G'iah that would protect the peaceful Skrulls left on Earth. Meanwhile, Fury departs for SABER (with his Skrull wife Varra in tow) to help negotiate a peace summit with the Kree.
Loki season 2 begins with the God of Mischief Time-Slipping in the TVA, which raises plenty of questions – luckily, Mobius is able to save him from becoming lost in time. We're also reintroduced to Sylvie, who shows up at an '80s McDonald's.
After a series packed with timey-wimey, Groundhog Day-style weirdness, everything comes to a head in the Loki season 2 finale when the God of Mischief finally finds a solution to their issues with the Temporal Loom. Unfortunately, it means Loki must become something like a new version of He Who Remains, managing all the various timelines of the multiverse with his magic – all on his lonesome.
The Marvels, meanwhile, picks up in the aftermath of both Ms. Marvel and Secret Invasion. The film sees Kamala Khan, Carol Danvers, and Monica Rambeau join forces after their powers are unexpectedly "entangled" – meaning they switch places every time they use their abilities at the same time. Not very convenient.
The villain, Dar-Benn, is seeking Kamala's bangle to assist her in harvesting resources from other planets to restore life to her own world. The Marvels unite to stop her, but Monica stays behind in another reality in order to avert a catastrophe for Earth-616. There, she meets none other than Binary, another version of her mother, Maria Rambeau (who has tragically passed away in the main universe). Excitingly, she also meets none other than Kelsey Grammer's Beast, which opens the door for the X-Men to return.
At the end of the film, Kamala also starts to put together a team of her own, recruiting Kate Bishop for what we can only assume is the Young Avengers.
Echo charted the fallout from Maya Lopez's shooting of Kingpin in Hawkeye, her return home, and discovering more about her Choctaw heritage.
We soon discover that Kingpin is still alive, which causes a war to come to Tamaha, Oklahoma. Maya later 'defeats' Kingpin after being granted mystical powers which allows her to 'heal' trauma, as well as granting her super strength. The series ends with an Echo post-credits scene suggesting that Kingpin is going to enter the running to be mayor of New York...
For more from the series, jump into our explainers on the Echo ending and a larger look at Echo's new powers.
Deadpool & Wolverine is a tricky entry in Marvel Phase 5, though, as it is set primarily in the year 2024 – so before Secret Invasion, Echo, and The Marvels. It’s also in a separate universe from the main Sacred Timeline, to make things more confusing for us. The movie starts with a flashback to 2018 with Wade Wilson applying to be an Avenger. After his application is rejected, he becomes a car salesman until the TVA comes knocking on his door one day.
Paradox is back and lets Deadpool know that he’s been offered a spot in the MCU. However, he also lets it slip that Deadpool’s timeline is dying due to the fact that the anchor being keeping it alive is dead – aka Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. Deadpool goes rogue and jumps through multiple timelines, looking for a Wolverine variant to save his world. You can read our Deadpool and Wolverine review for more information on the iconic frenemies. However, if you want a brief explanation, all you need to know is that the door is still open for both Deadpool and Jackman’s Wolverine to join the MCU.
However, as we mentioned in our Deadpool and Wolverine ending explained guide, the mutants’ future in the Marvel Timeline is still unclear.
This takes us to everyone's favorite witch Agatha Harkness. In the WandaVision spin-off, Agatha takes center stage when a young boy (simply called Teen at first) calls on her to recruit a coven to walk the Witches' Road. Bringing together a group of witches all in search of something, the gang head out onto the mythical path where they face a number of deadly trials. They're joined along the way by Aubrey Plaza's Rio Vidal (Agatha's ex) as their numbers quickly deplete until only a few are left standing.
Around midway through the season, it's revealed that Teen is actually Wiccan/Billy Maximoff, Wanda's son who had been transplanted into the body of a dying boy called William Kaplan. Over the past few years, he had been discovering his powers and learning the truth about his origins, ready to join the Witches' Road to try and find his lost brother Tommy.
When his true self is revealed, he and Agatha face no choice but to work together, along with Jennifer Kale, to make it out and win their prize. Things get sticky in the final trial, where Agatha helps Billy to find his lost twin Tommy and bring him back to life in another body. However, there's hell to pay with Rio (AKA Death) who views what's happened as an abomination. She needs a sacrifice to reset the balance, and Agatha volunteers herself, dying and becoming a ghost.
The twists aren't over yet, though... At the end of episode 8, it was revealed that the true architect of the Witches' Road was Billy after all. Just like his mother did with Westview, he made the road, and all the trials within it. Not only this, but the Road never truly existed. In a series of flashbacks showing Agatha's early days with her son Nicholas Scratch, it's revealed the ballad was a song he made up, which then spawned its own folklore. After Scratch's death, Agatha began to use the song to trick witches into forming a coven before she would steal their powers.
That all takes us back to the present day where Agatha reappears as a ghost. Billy is not too pleased to see her though, deciding to kill her once and for all, before Agatha reveals she can't face her son yet. She has another plan, they should team up to go and find Tommy, wherever he may be. The series ends with the duo stepping out into the unknown.
If you're still a bit confused, check out our guide to the Agatha All Along finale ending explained.
January brought with it another new arrival in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Now, things are a little complicated when it comes to this new Disney Plus series as it is set on an alternate timeline, meaning that it isn't canon to the MCU. That means that whilst we see some familiar faces, they are alternative versions of the characters we know and love from the MCU.
Following Peter Parker's early days as the web-slinging hero, we see the teenager be bitten by a spider which falls out of a portal Doctor Strange is trying to close during an attack on the Midtown School of Science and Technology. However, Peter doesn't just have his newfound superhero powers to deal with as Oscorp billionaire Norman Osborn also recruits him as an intern at his company, wanting to invest in the high schooler's knack for science. Given that Osborn is a classic Spider-Man villain (hello Green Goblin) maybe this isn't exactly great news for Peter...
Captain America: Brave New World arrived in February, marking the second to last movie in Phase 5. This one is the firmly in the MCU and sees Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson finally get his own Captain America movie. Set two years after Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Cap is working with Danny Ramirez's Falcon as a full-time superhero when he's called in on mission from Harrison Ford's Thaddeus Ross to help get the Celestial Island treaty passed.
Things quickly go wrong though when there's an attempt on the president's life, and Falcon and Cap must try and find out who is really responsible. The answer? The Leader, who has been using mind control as revenge on Ross for keeping him imprisoned, as well as secretly poisoning him with gamma radiation. Thankfully, Captain America manages to stop an attack from the US on Japan (that would destroy the treaty), but he still has one more issue to resolve: Ross is actually now Red Hulk. The pair face off, before Sam is able to calm him down with thoughts of his daughter, Betty.
The movie ends with Ross in prison on the Raft, along with The Leader, as Sam tells the Falcon he needs to train up to help him bring the Avengers back.
Phase 5's penultimate entry, Thunderbolts, sees a motley crew of anti-heroes (including Yelena, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, Taskmaster, Red Guardian, and John Walker) inadvertently team up thanks to the machinations of Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Val.
Where the CIA director wants to wipe out a few off-the-books loose ends, it actually brings them into the orbit of Bob (Lewis Pullman), the last subject of a Sentry program aiming to create an all-powerful 'Golden Guardian' for Earth in the wake of the Avengers disbanding.
The Thunderbolts soon discover that Bob, under the watchful eye of Val, can utilize a power known as The Void, a manifestation of his past grief and trauma.
Ultimately, Yelena and the rest of the Thunderbolts confront Bob in The Void and help him overcome his dark side.
Not one to miss a great PR opportunity, Val quickly assembles the heroes and labels them the 'New Avengers'.
In the Thunderbolts post-credits scene, an anomaly is detected in space. On the Watchtower/Avengers Tower screen, the team watch as the Fantastic Four's ship hurtles towards Earth...
Finally, Ironheart followed the continuing saga of Riri Williams after her appearance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Having been kicked out of MIT after a cheating scandal, she returns to her home of Chicago (with her iron suit in tow) and begins making a quick buck for repairs by falling in league with a gang of criminals, led by a hood-wearing Parker Robbins.
After one of the heists goes wrong and Parker's cousin is killed, Riri soon finds herself in the crosshairs of both Parker (AKA, The Hood) and a compromised Ezekiel Stane, son of Iron Man's Obadiah Stane.
As the walls close in on Parker's grab for power, it is revealed he got his powers thanks to a deal with Mephisto. After his ambition gets the best of him and his gang depart, he is soundly defeated by Riri. She then cuts her own Faustian pact with the Marvel villain, offering up her soul to bring her best friend Natalie back to life.
That's a wrap on Marvel Phase 5. While you wait for the next MCU project, check out our guide to the new superhero movies heading your way over the next few years. Or check out our guide on Daredevil: Born Again season 2 for more on the latest Marvel series.
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