With Comic-con behind us, attention now turns to next month’s D23 Disney Expo. You might be thinking we should have our nerd guts full from all the MCU reveals over the weekend, but to you I say- NOPE.

Kevin Feige said it himself! They didn’t have time to talk Captain Marvel 2, Black Panther 2, GOTG Vol 3, Fantastic Four, and “mutants.”

Will we have phase five announcements with phase four not having yet begun? I wouldn’t be surprised if they did. After all, Feige confirms that they have their phase 5 mapped out.

We know the previously mentioned films are definitely happening. Therefore touching on them at next months expo doesn’t feel unreasonable.  Since Marvel Studios belongs to Disney, I would expect that the BIG news bombs would be saved for this event instead of Comic-con.

What kind of bombs?

1: Fantastic Four Casting: They managed to sneak attack us not only with the announcement of a Blade film, but the surprise casting of Mahershala Ali in the title role! It is wildly important to note that this is a phase 5 film. This backs Feige’s statement that the studio already knows exactly where they’re going for the next two phases.

This weekend we got confirmation that the FF film is happening. I think next month we could get the official cast announcement for the project. I’m still praying HARD to the nerd gods we get John Krasinski and Emily Blunt for Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman.

2: Storm for Black Panther 2: Do these news drops next month take away weight from phase 4? Yup. Then again, I think that’s ultimately why phase 4 is closing after just two years… There are some big projects on the slate for sure, don’t get me wrong, but just because something is an appetizer doesn’t make it not good!

Black Panther 2 is coming and with Marvel taking control of the mutants it means that the African weather witch is free to appear in the upcoming sequel. I think this strategy is perfect for the X-Men intro; bring in what fan favorites you can in other projects before bringing them all together.

Will they announce a Storm casting? I hope so! Though I would settle for the confirmation that she will make her debut with Black Panther.

3: X-Men to Disney+: One of the biggest, yet subtle, take away’s from the MCU panel at Hall H was the presence of the Scarlet Witch. Not only will she appear on her own limited series on Disney+ but she will also star alongside Doctor Strange in his upcoming 2021 sequel. This CONFIRMS that Disney+ is not a demotion for the MCU film stars nor will it have the Netflix effect of having those characters exist separate from the rest of the action. Indeed, both films and Disney+ will live together and will help each other further expand the MCU. For this reason, it seems VERY likely that the X-Men will not make their debut in a film but rather share space on Disney+ as well as appear in films later down the road. With this being the case, the X-Men will indeed likely make their appearance in phase 5 within the next 3-4 years.

Casting for the mutants? Nope. Not yet. If there should be any casting announced at D23 I think it’s fine to have the Fantastic Four take center stage.