“We go to escape – to get lost in a story, to feel connected – to share moments we will remember forever. “

These words form the foundation of the new Marvel Studios sizzle reel, Marvel Studios Celebrates the Movies. It’s a delight to the eyes, and for the Marvel fan, tonic for the soul.

The first half of it is a montage of some of the best moments from the 25+ motion pictures that form the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far.

Even though he died years before the pandemic gripped the world, the voice-over by the late Stan Lee starts speaks to the feeling of separation and isolation many people have felt during the time of Covid. He begins with “I love being with people. It’s the greatest thing in the world. As he continues talking about how “we’re all part of one big family”, the minute of the three minute, 10 second trailer recaps some of the more tender scenes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

It’s emotional, exciting, and moving, and punctuated by real audience reaction from a screening of Avengers: Endgame. It’s the final battle with Thanos as Lee says, “We’re all part of one universe that moves ever upward and onward (the literal definition of his favorite catchphrase, “excelsior!”) to greater glory.” At this point, his narration ends and we see an in-theater audience reaction to the Avengers and their allies assembling to confront Thanos.

The next part of the sizzle reel shows us exciting bits and pieces from the upcoming Marvel Studios release schedule. We get a couple of glimpses of is pretty amazing. newly minted Oscar winner Chloe Zhao’s Eternals and the title reveals for Black Panther 2, now called Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Captain Marvel 2, now called The Marvels.

We are treated The Eternals footage includes a strong closeup of Angelina Jolie, who joins the MCU with this film.

Following that, there’s a rapid flip through various MCU characters which echoes the familiar rapid flipping of comic book images in the Marvel Studios title card – which is smoothly segues into before transitioning to a scene from the upcoming Black Widow movie.

What follows are short teasers for the upcoming phase 4 movies and their release dates, covering the next two years:

• Black Widow: July 9, 2021
• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: September 3, 2021
• Eternals: November 5, 2021
• Spider-Man: No Way Home: December 17, 2021
• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: March 25, 2022
• Thor: Love and Thunder: May 6, 2022
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: July 8, 2022
• The Marvels: November 11, 2022
• Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania: February 17, 2023
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. III: May 5, 2023

There are some, perhaps unexpected reveals. As past readers of SciFi.radio’s articles will recall, Sony and Marvel inked a new production deal that kept Spider-Man in the MCU in exchange for Marvel financing a larger portion of the Sony productions centered around Peter Parker and his alter ego. It appears that one result is that Marvel’s name now appears on the title card.

And, this trailer marks the debut of the full name of the second Black Panther movie, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Perhaps the most intriguing part appears at the end with a rather familiar rendering of the number four Of course, a “4” could simply be a reference to Phase 4 of the MCU, now in its 13th year, but the style is that of Fantastic Four’s logo. This likely hints that Marvel’s First Family will be making its first appearance in the MCU since Disney bought Fox in 2019.

In the other immortal words of Stan Lee, “stay tuned, true believers!”

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